U.S. CITIZENS REQUEST A "CHANGE" IN THE OBAMA EVENT AT THE VICTORY COLUMN IN BERLIN

The Obama campaign should not restrict freedom of expression in Germany, they say

Berlin, July 23 2008. Like many German citizens, some U.S. citizens living in German are somewhat taken aback that the campaign of presidential candidate Barack Obama has prohibited the bringing of signs or banners to his speech at the Victory Column in Berlin on July 24th. (See http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/berlin_event/)

According to Mr. Malchin (a liaison of operations management for the Berlin Senate) and to Mr. Maass of the Berlin police, the Berlin firm Media Pool represented the Obama campaign in applying for a special event permit for the area surrounding the Victory Column, an area extending from the Soviet War Memorial to the Tiergarten railroad station. Within this area, the Obama campaign is allowed to configure the event as it wishes -- "as though for a garden party," according to Mr. Malchin. Unwelcome guests will be removed by the police and possibly charged with disturbing the peace.

At this "garden party," Senator Obama, who has just visited U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, will push for more German troops in Afghanistan. He will also push for the German government to allow the deployment of German troops in the most intense battle zones in Afghanistan.

A key reason that Senator Obama prevailed in the primary elections of the Democratic Party was his opposition to the U.S. intervention in Iraq: this stance was in line with the anti-war outlook of the majority of voters in the U.S.

But now the Senator from Chicago has declared that he wants to substantially increase the war effort in Afghanistan. Over the past months, more U.S. soldiers have died in Afghanistan than in Iraq. The presidential candidate of the Democratic Party is already being called "Field-Marshall Obama" by U.S. critics. (See http:// www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20233.htm)
Many anti-war U.S. citizens will nevertheless vote for him, because for them Senator McCain is not an alternative.

Yesterday a representative of Media Pool (the firm also managed the celebration for the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin on July 4th weekend) told Elsa Rassbach, a U.S. citizen living in Berlin, that only the Obama campaign in Chicago can decide whether signs and banners can be brought, for example, to the 17th of June Street in Berlin (at some distance from the Victory Column). For clarification, Ms. Rassbach sent the following letter per email to the Obama campaign in Chicago. She has not yet received a reply.

"Change?"
An open letter of U.S. citizen Elsa Rassbach to the Democratic Party presidential candidate, Barack Obama, on the occasion of his speech at the Victory Column in Berlin

Dear Senator Obama,

I am a U.S. citizen (Denver /New York). I reside often in Berlin, Germany, and have been active in Democrats Abroad.
I worked hard on the voter registration campaign in Berlin in 2004.

As a friend of your campaign, I want to alert you to a message problem here in Germany. Your speech on July 24th is supposedly “free and open to the public,” but your Website states: "No signs or banners permitted.” Many U.S. and German friends are outraged because this undercuts civil liberties in Germany, where 70% disagree with participation in the war in Afghanistan. The German authorities say that they have not issued the prohibition against signs and banners: your campaign has issued the prohibition, but people will be arrested for disturbing the peace if they bring signs.

At the least, you must state in your Website the precise area in Berlin in which signs and banners will not be permitted. Otherwise, you will send a message to Germans: that your presidency is about “pax Americana,” with no dissent allowed. This will further exacerbate the cultural error of choosing a site for your speech associated with militarism, conquest, and Hitler.
I would appreciate a reply.

Elsa Rassbach