Medea Benjamin's Blog, page 10

Why I Didn’t Make it to Gaza for International Women’s Day

by Medea Benjamin

When I boarded the plane to Cairo, Egypt, to make sure everything was in place for the women’s delegation headed to Gaza, I had no reason to think I’d end up in a jail cell at the Cairo airport and then violently deported.

 

The trip was in response to a call from women in Gaza to CODEPINK and other groups asking us to bring 100 women from around the world to Gaza for March 8, International Women’s Day. They wanted us to see, first-hand, how the seven-year Israeli blockade had made their situation intolerable. They talked about being unable to protect themselves and their families from frequent Israeli attacks and how the closing of the borders with both Israel and Egypt has made it impossible for them to travel abroad or even to other parts of Palestine. They wanted us to witness how the shortages of water, electricity, and fuel, coupled with severe restrictions on imports and exports, condemn most of the 1.6 million Palestinians in Gaza to a life of misery.

 

So we helped put together a 100-women delegation with representatives from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia, the UK, Ireland, Canada and the United States. The delegates, who ranged in age from 18 to 84, included Nobel Peace Prize winners, doctors, writers and students. We were also bringing hundreds of solar lamps and boxes of medical supplies for the women.

 

The only ways to enter Gaza is by land–either via the border with Israel or Egypt. Israel restricts entry to non-governmental and official delegations, so our only option was to go through Egypt. CODEPINK had already organized eight delegations to Gaza via Egypt since 2008, so we thought we knew the ropes. We had organized these delegations during Mubarak’s reign and after the revolution, but not since the July 2013 coup that toppled the government of Mohamed Morsi.

 

As in the past, we furnished the Foreign Ministry and the local Embassies with all the information they requested to get the delegates the necessary permits to cross the Sinai (which has become a dangerous place) and cross into Gaza.They said as long the situation was not too dangerous in the Sinai, they would help us get safely to the border. Otherwise, we would celebrate International Women’s Day together in Cairo.

 

I went early, on March 3, as part of the logistics team. When I arrived at the airport in Cairo, I was taken aside and put in a separate room.  First I was told “no problem, no problem, just checking the papers, just 10 minutes.” After 5 hours I realized that there was, indeed, a problem, as I was taken to a jail cell at the airport. Never once was I told what the problem was. Thank goodness I had hidden my phone and was able to get the word out about my plight over Twitter. Friends and family started immediately contacting the US Embassy for help.

 

At 8am, 5 plain-clothed men with handcuffs came into the cell, looking very ominous. One said, “Come with us, we’re putting you on a plane and deporting you.” I was scared to go with them and I had just received a message that someone from the US Embassy was just ten minutes away.  I politely asked if I could wait for an embassy official or if I could call the Foreign Ministry to straighten out what must be a miscommunication.

 

Instead, the men grabbed me, threw me on the ground, put their knees into my back, yanked my arms back so violently that I heard the pop of my arm coming out of my shoulder, and put two sets of handcuffs on me. I was screaming from the pain so they took my scarf, stuffed it in my mouth, and dragged me through the halls of the airport to a waiting Turkish Airline plane.

 

I was in such agony from a dislocated shoulder—you could see the bone just sticking up in the air—that the airline personnel refused to let me on and insisted that the Egyptians call an ambulance. When the ambulance arrived, the doctor immediately gave me a shot to ease the pain and insisted that I had to go to the hospital. By this time there were about 20 men on the tarmac, arguing about what to do with me while the Turkish plane with 175 people on board was prevented from taking off. After about an hour of fighting, the Egyptian security prevailed: I was not allowed go to the hospital but was forced to board the plane, with the two men who most abused me sitting on either side of me.

 

As soon as we were in the air, the stewardess asked if there was a doctor on the plane.  Finally, a stroke of luck! Not only was there a doctor, but he was an orthopedic surgeon. He created a makeshift operating bed in the aisle of the plane and got the stewardesses to assist. “Usually I’d put you out before doing this, so I warn you this will be painful,” he said as he manipulated my arm back into its socket. Once we got to Turkey, I went to a hospital for further treatment before flying back home. My doctors here say it will take months of physical therapy before I can recover full use of my arm.

 

Along with the physical trauma, I am left with many unanswered questions:

* Why didn’t the US Embassy in Egypt ever help me during this 17-hour ordeal, especially when I made it clear I was in danger? When questioned by a journalist at a State Department briefing, spokeswoman Jen Psaki falsely claimed that the Embassy had provided me with “appropriate consular assistance.” I have since lodged a complaint about the lack of assistance, and you can send a message to the State Department, too.

 

*If the Egyptian officials were so brutal to me– a petite, 61-year-old American woman who has dedicated her life to peace–what are they doing to their own citizens and others languishing in their prisons? And why is Secretary Kerry considering a resumption of US military aid to this brutal regime? According to a recent Amnesty International report, the current human rights situation is characterized by repeated excessive use of force by the security forces, leading to the death of hundreds of protesters; increasingly severe restrictions on freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression, as well as academic freedoms; the arbitrary imprisonment of protest leaders, university students, journalists and others; and a failure to protect vulnerable groups, including minorities and women. Take a minute to send a message to the Egyptian embassy in the US and tell them to end the government’s brutal crackdown on peaceful citizens.

 

*Did Israel put the pressure on Egypt to do a last-minute about-face to keep us out of Gaza? In the end, only 17 of our members made it into Cairo (but not to Gaza) and the rest were deported from the airport. The question of Israeli influence is one we’ll probably never have answered, but during the very time we were supposed to be there, rocket fire was exchanged between militants from Gaza and the Israeli army. This shows the vulnerability of the women of Gaza, caught between the Israeli siege, Egyptian blockade, and internal extremists. That’s why it was so important for us to go there, to show our solidarity with the civilian population. But that will have to wait until Egypt no longer deems peace activists to be a threat to their national security.

 

As long as the world ignores the ongoing siege of Gaza, almost 2 million people will continue to languish in the world’s largest open-air prison. If Secretary of State Kerry wants the US to be a meaningful peace broker and to reach an agreement that includes dignity and human rights for the Palestinians, he can no longer continue to support military aid to the perpetrators of the blockade: Israel and Egypt.

Tweet at Senate Intelligence Committee and President Obama to declassify the Senate Torture Report!

While Senator Feinstein is feuding with the CIA over its spying and lying, let’s not forget what’s at the heart of this feud: the post-9/11 practice of torture and the fact that no one has been held accountable. Help change that blight on our history by taking action now: Tell the Senate Intelligence Committee and President Obama to declassify the Senate Torture Report, tweet now!

Don’t you think it’s time to #FireJohnBrennan? Release torture report. Hold torturers accountable. Stop #CIA & #NSA spying! @SenFeinstein

 

Help us get #FireJohnBrennan trending! Tell @SenFeinstein & @BarackObama you want the Torture Papers released!

 

Tell @SenFeinstein & @BarackObama you want the Torture Report released and torturers prosecuted! #FireJohnBrennan

 

“4th Amendment for me, but not for thee!” – @SenFeinstein. Tell her to stop #CIA / #NSA spying & to release Torture Report! #FireJohnBrennan

 

Hey @SenFeinstein, #FireJohnBrennan, release whistleblower @JohnKiriakou!

 

.@BarakObama & @SenFeinstein will you release the Torture Report? #FireJohnBrennan http://bit.ly/1cUCYVa

 

Stop the #NSA / #CIA spying on the American public! @SenFeinstein

 

Hey @SenFeinstein release the Torture Report now! Send her & @BarackObama a message: http://bit.ly/1cUCYVa

 

Hey @BarackObama the American people are asking you to #FireJohnBrennan!

 

Tell the #NSA to stop spying on us! @SenFeinstein

 

Enough with the torture! Release the Torture Report and #FireJohnBrennan http://bit.ly/1cUCYVa

Who Deserves the Nobel Prize?

Years ago on at Whistler Mountain run

Exhausted at the end of day from the altitude and sun

I fell with arms outstretched  and experienced  a terrible jolt

Dislocating my shoulder- the pain like a lightning bolt.

 

The pain was in truth beyond excruciating

And in truth totally debilitating

Being  trained I swiftly popped it back into place

And continued down hill a few yards at a pace.

 

But caught a ski edge and crashed again—the searing pain beyond belief-

Fortunately  quickly reduced with instant relief

But as I rose on my ski poles to be on my way

It popped out again—that was all I could take

 

So after reducing the shoulder for the third time

In three minutes I removed the skis

And laboriously in the deep snow trudged

Down the slopes to the beckoning lodge

 

So at the same time Obama is pledging undying devotion

To Netanyahu and the Israeli nation

We learn of CodePink’s Medea Benjamin’s deportation

Following her overnight Cairo Airport incarceration

 

And after being manhandled by “five scary guys” she said

Who pushed her to the ground and cuffed her so tight she bled

Then trounced her, broke her arm and her shoulder dislocated

Then whisked her to a Turkish Airliner  that reluctantly waited.

 

So with her pain I totally empathize

Its contemplation  brings tears to my eyes

To think of this non-violent peace loving harmless person

Being mistreated treated so brutally is beyond comprehension

 

But in a sense this demonstrates the power of CodePink

For petite Medea  must be considered  a threat to the system I think

Who was it that ordered these five massive brutes to attack–

Like a howling wolf pack stomping on her back?

 

The  Square captured Egyptians dramatically

In their heart- wrenching struggle for liberty

And  for a government of dignity.

Serving  all the people with inclusivity

 

It documents the overthrow of a tyrant that was hated

And the subsequent exchange  of one oppressor for another

But in the end true to recent  history

Power resided in the military—no mystery.

 

The real betrayal of the Egyptian people is by the US

Who supported Mubarak over  thirty years of duress?

Who rendered persons there for torture?

And Medea too was herself brutally tortured

 

Our oxymoronic nobel-prize winning president we see

Still supports   the Egyptian military

For on  military dictators we seem to insist

On supplying them used armaments– we just can’t resist.

 

And  the commander (and assassin) in chief is willing

And even admits he has a knack for killing

And considering his NSA has wire-tapped the whole world in deed

It must be known who did this dastardly deed.

 

And now I should point out on my own

Medea has fought for peace and opposed the drones

And pointed out the administrations lies

Does not Medea and CodePink deserve the Nobel prize?

 

 

HP Charman MD  3-4-2014

Detained, Deported, but not Deterred: Egypt Stops International Women’s Day Delegation to Gaza

by Cayman Kai

Women protest in Cairo airport in support of the women of Gaza

             On International Women’s Day, although I woke up in America, my heart was in Gaza. After having been detained for over 22 hours in the Cairo airport without explanation, I had been deported to London and ultimately sent back to America. I was the youngest American of an International Women’s Day Delegation bound for Gaza to answer the call of the women of Gaza issued to the women of the world to come and stand with them in solidarity. We were “armed” with microscopes for hospitals, toys for children, chocolate gifts, and solar lamps as a gesture to give them light in the darkness caused literally and figuratively by the Israeli blockade. As I sat stuck with an amazing group of forty women from around the world between passport control and the arrival gates exit, our thoughts were constantly with the women we were on a mission to visit.

            Tired from my seventeen hour flight and looking forward to finally crashing in a bed at the hotel, I was surprised when the guard at passport control picked up the phone after stamping my passport and then told me to go sit down without giving my passport back to me. I knew that it would be difficult to get into Gaza, but I did not think it would be difficult to get into Cairo at least.

            At first I was still optimistic about getting in. Within the first hour of my detention, a large group of French women arrived, joining the eight French women who had been on my flight, all of them hoping to get to Gaza. When they learned that the French who had initially arrived had their passports taken while they were detained, the new group refused to even try to get in. They made it clear from the start: all of them were getting in or none of them were. They made it difficult for the authorities because they did not hand over their passports.

            I was at first surprised by their solidarity and did not join in when they started to chant and sing and wave Palestinian and French flags. However I quickly realized they had the right idea; by forming a group and making one loud and unified demand, the authorities were forced to listen to us. If we had tried our luck, one by one, we would have been swiftly shut down. It made me realize that in this fight to speak the truth and shed light on the countless injustices committed against the Palestinians by the Israelis, we cannot do it alone – we must join as many hands as possible and lift up our voices together.

            No one at the airport seemed capable of decision-making, not even the small redheaded man bopping around who was supposedly the owner. It quickly became clear that nothing was going to happen anytime soon, so I, along with my fellow American delegate, Donna, who had been on the same flight, abandoned trying to look like mere tourists and we slowly joined in with clapping, singing, and dancing.

            We relinquished our hope that we would be able to get to Gaza and we shifted to a hope that we could somehow make a difference right there, stuck between passport control and the arrival gates exit in the Cairo airport. The authorities roped off the area around us, attempting to separate us from the rest of the airport.

            Ironically, it was not our efforts, but theirs that were in vain. Their attempt to contain us only inspired us to clap longer and sing louder. Passerby took photos and videos; some even clapped and danced or cheered. A pilot jetting by us even stopped for a second to give us a thumbs-up.

            We were eventually given food and clean water, but as we brought out the solar lamps intended for the women of Gaza, we could not help but think how those women are constantly denied these simple things. The people of Gaza cannot treat their sewage and they must pump it back into the sea. Because there are electricity shortages every single day up to 18 hours a day, they sometimes cannot even do that. The sewage contaminates the aquifer and their drinking water and sometimes it floods entire towns and people and babies drown – yes, they die – in sewage.

            We were eventually all deported, not one of us let in even to Cairo, let alone Gaza. A few delegates had gotten in to Cairo before our large group, but they also will not make it to Gaza. As the authorities prepared to deport those of us in the airport, there were vague mutterings that we were “security threats,” but when I asked how I, as a twenty-year-old college student who has never been to Egypt, qualified as a “security threat,” no one could answer me.

            It breaks my heart that the women of Gaza, contained in the largest open-air prison in the world, cannot even have visitors. In America we would call this cruel even for some of our worst criminals, yet we continue to pay for this oppression with our tax dollars by giving $3 billion a year to Israel, one of the world’s wealthiest nations.

            Although we did not get in, we hope that our message has been heard by the women of Gaza and the people around the world: we have not forgotten the women of Gaza and we will continue to carry them in our hearts and speak, yell, and sing the truth until there is justice and accountability for what is being done to the Palestinians.

Celebrating International Women’s Day with the Women of Gaza, Not in Gaza, but in Cairo

By Ann Wright

Five years ago in March, 2009, only two months after the 22 day Israeli attack on Gaza, I was on an international delegation of sixty women organized by CODEPINK who traveled to Gaza for International Women’s Day. In the week in Gaza, we met with women where their homes used to be before they were destroyed by the Israeli attack that killed 1450, wounded 5,000 and left 50,000 homeless.  We also met with women in 13 community centers throughout the country, to listen to their stories of life under attack and under siege.

Five years later, I joined an international delegation of 100 women from 7 countries to travel to Gaza in solidarity with the women of Gaza for International Women’s Day.  Women of Gaza are over 50 percent of the 1.7 million people who live in tiny Gaza.  As they care for their families, they face extreme circumstances with daily attacks from the Israeli military, lack of electricity and water, environmental disasters of sewage flooding into the streets, and a lack of basic necessities.  Hundreds of tunnels under the border with Egypt that previously brought food and supplies denied by the Israelis in their land blockade of Gaza, have been destroyed by the Government of Egypt, reportedly to prevent weapons smuggling by militant groups.  Travel in and out of Gaza through the Egyptian border for medical treatment, education and family visits to relatives around the world has become even more difficult have in the past.  The Egyptian border with Gaza now has been closed for 28 consecutive days and was only opened once in February for a number of pilgrims to Mecca to return.

Palestinians who have never been charged with a crime, never seen the inside of a court are now treated as convicted prisoners  in the “open air prison” called Gaza— the walls on all sides of the prison, the Israeli land and sea blockades on three sides and the Egyptian blockade on one side,  are closing tighter and tighter.

It is because of those conditions in the lives of women of Gaza, that our delegation wanted to join women in Gaza to show our concern and solidarity as women-to let them know we have not forgotten them.

Today, on International Women’s Day, 16 of our 100 delegates are celebrating International Women’s Day in Cairo, Egypt, not Gaza.  However, 62 of our delegates were refused entry into Egypt by immigration authorities and are sending their greetings from their home countries of France, Belgium, the United States, Algeria, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia. 22 of the 100 initial delegates decided at the last minute not fly to Egypt, including Djamila Bouhired, the 79 year old Algerian independence icon.

 
Photo of in Cairo of French, Swiss and American delegates of the International Women’s Delegation to Gaza

Our message on International Women’s Day to the women of Gaza is:
We, the International Women’s Delegation to Gaza, greet you on International Women’s Day.

Although we can never know your suffering as you feel it, we hold you in our hearts, and pledge to you our continuing, ever-deepening solidarity. We will tell your story to all who will listen.

We will tell your story to our Parliamentary and Congressional representatives so they can better understand the injustice they support and the suffering they cause by the billions of dollars they send to Israel and Egypt.

Our sisters who were not allowed even to enter Egypt have a strong additional motive for solidarity.

We celebrate International Women’s Day in different parts of the world, but our hearts and our perseverance in the struggle make us one.

Ann Wright served 29 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and retired as a Colonel.  She spent 16 years in the US Diplomat Corps and served in US Embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia.  She resigned from the US State Department in March, 2003 in opposition to the war on Iraq.  She has traveled to Gaza six times since 2009 and was on the two Gaza Freedom Flotillas and was an organizer for the 2009 Gaza Freedom March that brought 1300 persons from 55 countries to Cairo to travel in solidarity with the people of Gaza (only 100 were allowed to travel to Gaza).

Free, Free Medea Benjamin!

Hey folks, you may have heard that Medea was detained and beaten badly by the Egyptian authorities while trying to enter Egypt to go to Gaza with a larger international delegation of women. She was violently deported to Turkey, where she’s now in the hospital until her flight back to the US on Wednesday. It’s heartbreaking to think of the wonderful peacemaker we all love being harmed in any way! It’s also scary to think about all the Egyptian activists (and journalists!!) who continue to languish in Egypt’s prisons indefinitely for speaking out against the new government. Medea being barred from going to Gaza also reminds us that the Palestinians remained trapped in Gaza as long as the Egyptian Rafah border remains closed or tightly controlled.

Show Medea some love! Take a picture of yourself with a Get Well Soon message, and email it to Sara.codepink@gmail.com and/or tweet it at @codepink! Use the hashtag #FreeGaza on your message too! We’ll put all the pics we get in an album and share it with Medea when she gets home safely.

You can read more about the delegation at www.GazaSolidarity.com. Although Medea didn’t make it, two of our CODEPINK DC interns are still flying over for the trip, so stay tuned for reportbacks from them!

Thanks for showing support for Medea during this difficult moment,

Alli
CODEPINK DC

p.s. please pass this message along!!

Israel Lobby AIPAC Down, But Not Out—Yet

by Medea Benjamin

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is still one of the most powerful lobby organizations in the country, but fortunately, it is starting to lose its iron-clad grip on our policymakers. AIPAC lost the fight to stop Chuck Hagel from being confirmed as Secretary of Defense; it lost the push for the US military to attack Syria, and it is losing its effort to derail nuclear talks with Iran. In the old days, AIPAC bragged that it could, within 24 hours, get the signatures of 70 Senators on a napkin if it really wanted to. This year, AIPAC got stuck at 59 cosponsors for its S.1881 sanctions bill–not enough support to force Senator Harry Reid to bring the bill to the floor or to override a threatened presidential veto.

Another sign of AIPAC’s waning influence is the fact that this year, at their March 2-4 Policy Conference in Washington DC, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend but not President Obama or Vice President Joe Biden—both of whom have spoken in past years.

But it’s certainly not time to sound the death knell. AIPAC still has a lot of muscle and will keep trying to flex it. Here’s what we have to look forward to coming out of AIPAC 2014:

1. AIPAC continues to gun for a military confrontation with Iran. AIPAC has been pushing for increased sanctions during these delicate international nuclear talks, a move that would violate the terms of the agreement, signal to Iran that the US negotiating team cannot deliver on its commitments, divide the US from its international negotiating partners, and embolden Iranian hardliners. AIPAC is still pushing for this, but as a backup is trying to set the conditions for the talks. AIPAC’s policy would lead us down a path to yet another disastrous war in the Middle East (AIPAC was a big promoter of the war in Iraq–and look how that one turned out!).

 

2. AIPAC’s call for unconditional support for the Israeli government undermines a possible negotiated solution between the Israelis and Palestinians. AIPAC promotes Israeli policies that are in direct opposition to international law, including the establishment of settlements in the Occupied West Bank and the confiscation of Palestinian land in its construction of the 26-foot high concrete “separation barrier” running through the West Bank. On February 27 Amnesty International published a report calledTrigger Happy providing chilling detail of Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank. AIPAC’s support of these illegal practices is in direct opposition to a negotiated solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. AIPAC has also been pressuring Secretary of State Kerry to keep the political representatives of Palestinians in Gaza–Hamas–completely out of the peace talks. How can you come to a negotiated solution if 40 percent of all Palestinians are not represented?

 

3. AIPAC’s influence on US policy–pushing it in the direction of unconditional support for Israel–increases anti-American sentiment around the world, sowing the seeds of more possible terrorist attacks against us. Even General David Petraeus admittedthat the U.S./Palestine conflict “foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel.” He also said that “Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the [region] and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support.”

 

4. AIPAC makes the U.S. a pariah at the UN. AIPAC describes the UN as a body hostile to the State of Israel and has pressured the U.S. government to oppose resolutions calling Israel to account. Since 1972, the US has vetoed 44 UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israel’s actions against the Palestinians. President Obama continues that practice. Under Obama, the US vetoed UN censure of the savage Israeli assault on Gaza in January 2009 in which about 1400 Palestinians were killed; a 2011 resolution calling for a halt to the illegal Israeli West Bank settlements, even though this was stated U.S. policy; a 2011 resolution calling for Israel to cease obstructing the work of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees; and another resolution calling for an end to illegal Israeli settlement building in East Jerusalem and the occupied Golan Heights.

 

5. AIPAC attacks politicians who question unconditional support of Israel. AIPAC demands that Congress rubber stamp legislation drafted by AIPAC staff. It keeps a record of how members of Congress vote and this record is used by donors to make contributions to the politicians who score well. Members of Congress who fail to support AIPAC legislation have been targeted for defeat in re-election bids. These include Senators Adlai Stevenson III and Charles H. Percy, and Representatives Paul Findley, Pete McCloskey, Cynthia McKinney, and Earl F. Hilliard. AIPAC’s overwhelmingly disproportionate influence on Congress subverts our democratic system.

 

6.  AIPAC attempts to silence all criticism of Israel. Journalists, think tanks, students and professors have been accused of anti-Semitism for merely taking stands critical of Israeli government policies. These attacks stifle the critical discussions and debates that are at the heart of democratic policy-making. Most recently, AIPAC has been attacking supporters of the movement that calls for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions on Israel (BDS), a movement that has gained rapid momentum and multiple victories to put pressure on Israel to end the occupation. In December, the American Studies Association passed a measure supporting BDS. In direct response, AIPAC is trying to push a bill through Congress that would cut federal funding to American academic institutions that advocate a boycott of Israel. Several state-level bills are also in the works. Seems like AIPAC has a hard time with the First Amendment!

 

7. AIPAC feeds U.S. government officials a distorted view of the Israel/Palestine conflict. AIPAC takes U.S. representatives on sugar-coated trips to Israel. Every year, AIPAC takes dozens of members of Congress—and many of  their spouses—on a free junket to Israel to see precisely what the Israeli government want them to see. It is illegal for lobby groups to take Congresspeople on trips, but AIPAC gets around the law by creating a bogus educational group, the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), to “organize” the trips for them. AIEF has the same office address as AIPAC and the same staff. These trips help cement the ties between AIPAC and Congress, furthering their undue influence.

 

8. AIPAC lobbies for billions of U.S. taxdollars to go to Israel instead of rebuilding America or funding the truly needy. While our country is still suffering from a prolonged financial crisis, AIPAC is pushing for no cuts in military funds for Israel. With communities across the nation slashing budgets for teachers, firefighters and police, AIPAC pushes for over $3 billion a year to Israel.

 

Israel is the 27th richest country in world, but thanks to AIPAC, it gets more U.S. taxdollars than any other country. At a time when the foreign aid budget is being slashed, keeping the lion’s share of foreign assistance for Israel means taking funds from critical programs to feed, provide shelter and offer emergency assistance to the world’s poorest people.

 

                        *****

The bottom line is that AIPAC, which is a de facto agent for a foreign government, has influence on U.S. policy out of all proportion to the number of Americans who support its policies. When a small group like this has disproportionate power, that hurts everyone—including Israelis and American Jews. From stopping a catastrophic war with Iran to finally solving the Israel/Palestine conflict, an essential starting point is breaking AIPAC’s grip on U.S. policy. Join us by sending a message to AIPAC today.

Israel Lobby AIPAC Down, But Not Out—Yet

by Medea Benjamin

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is still one of the most powerful lobby organizations in the country, but fortunately, it is starting to lose its iron-clad grip on our policymakers. AIPAC lost the fight to stop Chuck Hagel from being confirmed as Secretary of Defense; it lost the push for the US military to attack Syria, and it is losing its effort to derail nuclear talks with Iran. In the old days, AIPAC bragged that it could, within 24 hours, get the signatures of 70 Senators on a napkin if it really wanted to. This year, AIPAC got stuck at 59 cosponsors for its S.1881 sanctions bill–not enough support to force Senator Harry Reid to bring the bill to the floor or to override a threatened presidential veto.

Another sign of AIPAC’s waning influence is the fact that this year, at their March 2-4 Policy Conference in Washington DC, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will attend but not President Obama or Vice President Joe Biden—both of whom have spoken in past years.

But it’s certainly not time to sound the death knell. AIPAC still has a lot of muscle and will keep trying to flex it. Here’s what we have to look forward to coming out of AIPAC 2014:

1. AIPAC continues to gun for a military confrontation with Iran. AIPAC has been pushing for increased sanctions during these delicate international nuclear talks, a move that would violate the terms of the agreement, signal to Iran that the US negotiating team cannot deliver on its commitments, divide the US from its international negotiating partners, and embolden Iranian hardliners. AIPAC is still pushing for this, but as a backup is trying to set the conditions for the talks. AIPAC’s policy would lead us down a path to yet another disastrous war in the Middle East (AIPAC was a big promoter of the war in Iraq–and look how that one turned out!).

2. AIPAC’s call for unconditional support for the Israeli government undermines a possible negotiated solution between the Israelis and Palestinians. AIPAC promotes Israeli policies that are in direct opposition to international law, including the establishment of settlements in the Occupied West Bank and the confiscation of Palestinian land in its construction of the 26-foot high concrete “separation barrier” running through the West Bank. On February 27 Amnesty International published a report called Trigger Happy providing chilling detail of Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank. AIPAC’s support of these illegal practices is in direct opposition to a negotiated solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. AIPAC has also been pressuring Secretary of State Kerry to keep the political representatives of Palestinians in Gaza–Hamas–completely out of the peace talks. How can you come to a negotiated solution if 40 percent of all Palestinians are not represented?

3. AIPAC’s influence on US policy–pushing it in the direction of unconditional support for Israel–increases anti-American sentiment around the world, sowing the seeds of more possible terrorist attacks against us. Even General David Petraeus admitted that the U.S./Palestine conflict “foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel.” He also said that “Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the [region] and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support.”

4. AIPAC makes the U.S. a pariah at the UN. AIPAC describes the UN as a body hostile to the State of Israel and has pressured the U.S. government to oppose resolutions calling Israel to account. Since 1972, the US has vetoed 44 UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israel’s actions against the Palestinians. President Obama continues that practice. Under Obama, the US vetoed UN censure of the savage Israeli assault on Gaza in January 2009 in which about 1400 Palestinians were killed; a 2011 resolution calling for a halt to the illegal Israeli West Bank settlements, even though this was stated U.S. policy; a 2011 resolution calling for Israel to cease obstructing the work of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees; and another resolution calling for an end to illegal Israeli settlement building in East Jerusalem and the occupied Golan Heights.

5. AIPAC attacks politicians who question unconditional support of Israel. AIPAC demands that Congress rubber stamp legislation drafted by AIPAC staff. It keeps a record of how members of Congress vote and this record is used by donors to make contributions to the politicians who score well. Members of Congress who fail to support AIPAC legislation have been targeted for defeat in re-election bids. These include Senators Adlai Stevenson III and Charles H. Percy, and Representatives Paul Findley, Pete McCloskey, Cynthia McKinney, and Earl F. Hilliard. AIPAC’s overwhelmingly disproportionate influence on Congress subverts our democratic system.

6.  AIPAC attempts to silence all criticism of Israel. Journalists, think tanks, students and professors have been accused of anti-Semitism for merely taking stands critical of Israeli government policies. These attacks stifle the critical discussions and debates that are at the heart of democratic policy-making. Most recently, AIPAC has been attacking supporters of the movement that calls for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions on Israel (BDS), a movement that has gained rapid momentum and multiple victories to put pressure on Israel to end the occupation. In December, the American Studies Association passed a measure supporting BDS. In direct response, AIPAC is trying to push a bill through Congress that would cut federal funding to American academic institutions that advocate a boycott of Israel. Several state-level bills are also in the works. Seems like AIPAC has a hard time with the First Amendment!

7. AIPAC feeds U.S. government officials a distorted view of the Israel/Palestine conflict. AIPAC takes U.S. representatives on sugar-coated trips to Israel. Every year, AIPAC takes dozens of members of Congress—and many of  their spouses—on a free junket to Israel to see precisely what the Israeli government want them to see. It is illegal for lobby groups to take Congresspeople on trips, but AIPAC gets around the law by creating a bogus educational group, the American Israel Education Foundation (AIEF), to “organize” the trips for them. AIEF has the same office address as AIPAC and the same staff. These trips help cement the ties between AIPAC and Congress, furthering their undue influence.

8. AIPAC lobbies for billions of U.S. taxdollars to go to Israel instead of rebuilding America or funding the truly needy. While our country is still suffering from a prolonged financial crisis, AIPAC is pushing for no cuts in military funds for Israel. With communities across the nation slashing budgets for teachers, firefighters and police, AIPAC pushes for over $3 billion a year to Israel.

Israel is the 27th richest country in world, but thanks to AIPAC, it gets more U.S. taxdollars than any other country. At a time when the foreign aid budget is being slashed, keeping the lion’s share of foreign assistance for Israel means taking funds from critical programs to feed, provide shelter and offer emergency assistance to the world’s poorest people.

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The bottom line is that AIPAC, which is a de facto agent for a foreign government, has influence on U.S. policy out of all proportion to the number of Americans who support its policies. When a small group like this has disproportionate power, that hurts everyone—including Israelis and American Jews. From stopping a catastrophic war with Iran to finally solving the Israel/Palestine conflict, an essential starting point is breaking AIPAC’s grip on U.S. policy. Join us by sending a message to AIPAC today.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of the peace group CODEPINK and human rights organization Global Exchange. On March 8th she’s joining a 100-women international delegation traveling to Gaza for International Women’s Day.

Shareable Image Contest

 

CODEPINK & National Priorities Project Invite You to Enter the Bring Our War $$ Home Shareable Image Contest!

Set your creativity free to express your frustration with the money spent on war and militarism instead of human needs.
The winning images – First, Second and Third Place – will be published on 2 high-traffic websites – codepink.org and nationalpriorities.org – promoted on social media, and seen across the US!
Contest Prizes: First Place – $200 plus Large PINK Swag Package; Second Place – $100 plus Medium PINK Swag Package; Third Place – $50 plus Small PINK Swag Package.

Follow this simple guideline:

Create an image that visually and viscerally contrasts the cost of some aspect (weapons system, overseas bases, military marching bands, etc.) of US militarism with unmet/underfunded human needs! When people feel they are more likely to act.
See example below (CODEPINK’s most shared image ever) – but feel free to use your own creativity in design.

Contest Rules:

Open to all ages and all nationalities.
Create a shareable graphic (JPEG format only) to contrast US war/militarism/surveillance expenses with an unmet/underfunded human need.
All facts (such as cost of the F-35 jet, or number of US children living below the poverty line) must be sourced with a URL (such as http://nationalpriorities.org/tradeoffs/041713/). Entries will be fact-checked by judges.
Must use some color pink in the design.
Optional: you may include 1 hashtag in your design.
One entry per person – one person per entry.
Entries won’t be returned. CODEPINK has the right to use any and all entries on our website and social media. Copyright belongs to the entrant.
All entries must be received on or before March 31, 2014.

Judges Panel:

The winning entry will be judged by members of CODEPINK and our partner, National Priorities Project. CP Local Coordinators & National staff will announce/publish the winner on April 14, just in time for publication and social media sharing for Global Day of Action on Military Spending.

Email your entry as a JPEG attachment

with the following information to info@codepink.org:

Full Name
Street Address
City
State
Zip Code
Email address
Optional: twitter handle
Reason why you are entering this contest – 140 character answer
Indicate that you have read and agreed to the contest rules

Another Example:

This got shared when Congress failed to extend unemployment benefits:

 

Sample tweets to jam #AIPAC14!

This year during AIPAC’s annual policy conference in Washington DC we’ll be outside protesting at Boycott AIPAC. Whether or not you can join us, help us generate a twitter storm by using the hashtags #BoycottAIPAC and AIPAC’s own #AIPAC14. Here are some sample tweets!

Why #BoycottAIPAC? Because we support justice, dignity, and equality for all in Israel & Palestine #AIPAC14

#AIPAC14 is beating the drums for war with Iran. Say yes to diplomacy instead! #BoycottAIPAC

.@AIPAC lobbies for billions of U.S. tax dollars to go to Israel instead of rebuilding America http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014

#AIPAC led us into Iraq, and now they want to bomb Iran. Say no to war, yes to diplomacy! #BoycottAIPAC #AIPAC14

.@AIPAC promotes Israeli policies that are in direct opposition to international law http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014

Take action now: tell @AIPAC you want diplomacy, not war!http://bit.ly/1kguY2K #BoycottAIPAC #Iran #Israel #Palestine #AIPAC14

Separate roads, utilities, housing & more = apartheid. Boycott #Israel! #AIPAC14

Our tax dollars subsidize Israel’s brutal occupation. Boycott apartheid, #BoycottAIPAC! #AIPAC14

.@AIPAC undermines American support for democracy movements in the Arab world http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014

Because demolitions of Palestinian homes to make room for Israeli settlements is an egregious offense #BoycottAIPAC #AIPAC14

Take action now & tell @AIPAC we don’t want to subsidize Israel’s occupationof #Palestine http://bit.ly/1kguY2K #BoycottAIPAC #AIPAC14

#BoycottAIPAC because settlements are an obstacle to peace. #AIPAC14

Why #BoycottAIPAC? Congress is in a thrall to AIPAC ~ free our foreign policy from #AIPAC14!

Take action now & tell @AIPAC we don’t want war with #Iranhttp://bit.ly/1kguY2K #BoycottAIPAC #AIPAC2014

.@AIPAC attempts to silence criticism of Israel by labeling critics as “anti-Semitic,” http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014

Take action now & tell @AIPAC it’s time for a free #Palestine! http://bit.ly/1kguY2K #BoycottAIPAC #AIPAC2014

Take action now & tell @AIPAC it’s time for a free #Palestine! http://bit.ly/1kguY2K #BoycottAIPAC #AIPAC2014

Why #BoycottAIPAC? @medeabenjamin gives us 10 reasons http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014 #Israel #Palestine #Iran

.@AIPAC is lobbying Congress to promote a military confrontation with Iran http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl#AIPAC2014

.@AIPAC’s call for unconditional support for the Israeli government threatens our national security http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014

.@AIPAC makes the U.S. a pariah at the U.N. http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014 #BoycottAIPAC

.@AIPAC attacks politicians who question unconditional support of Israel http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014

.@AIPAC feeds U.S. government officials a distorted view of the Israel/Palestine conflict http://bit.ly/1mNZ2Bl #AIPAC2014

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