Assembly Ribbons Honor 7 Hostages

Tourists spot the yellow ribbons tied to all 100 desks on the floor of the state Assembly and invariably ask: “Why?”

The answer is that the ribbons are California’s commitment not to forget the seven Americans, including one from Huntington Beach, who are still being held hostage in Lebanon.

The big, bright yellow ribbons are symbolic of the “welcome home from captivity” theme in the song, “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.”

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown ordered the ribbons affixed to the desks on June 28, when 39 Americans from a hijacked TWA jetliner were still being held captive in Beirut.

Although the TWA captives were released June 30, the ribbons remained.

“The Speaker has said that the ribbons are for all the captives, including those still being held in Lebanon,” explained Monica Neville, a Brown aide.

The seven Americans still being held in Lebanon were kidnaped individually by militant factions in that country. The seven include three Californians: David Jacobsen of Huntington Beach, Peter Kilburn of San Francisco and the Rev. Benjamin Weir of Berkeley.

Jacobsen, who was working in Beirut as director of the American University Hospital, has not been seen since he was kidnaped by six armed men in that city on May 28.

“These ribbons are telling the seven remaining hostages in Lebanon that we’re not going to forget them,” said Assemblyman Art Agnos (D-San Francisco), who co-authored a resolution with Brown memorializing the American captives.

“We’re not going to forget, and these ribbons are going to stay up indefinitely--until they get home,” Agnos added.