Medea Benjamin's Blog, page 9

CREECH AFB Report Back (Part One)

by Martha Hubert

On Sunday, April 6th, Toby, Fred and I drove to Creech AFB via Fresno, where we visited the artist installation of a life size drone model.

We were greeted by Joseph DeLappe (the artist from Reno), Beverly and later, Teresa (both Fresno Activist friends).

We watched as the artist and his student assistants added the final wing to the Drone.



The point of this installation is to draw attention to drone warfare, and that it isn’t just another computer game.

Drone warfare is TERROR.  We said our goodbyes and were on our way.

There were a lot of miles to cover before we reached Creech.  We arrived at the Goddess Temple in Cactus Springs,

a short drive from Creech AFB, at 10:00 p.m. Sunday night, glad to get out of the car.Monday morning our friend John (VFP Albany) joined the three of us from the Bay Area to protest at the base entry.

Our numbers were small, but our messages were many (and STRONG), thanks to Toby’s obsession with banner making.

Between protests on Monday, we visited the wild horses at Cold Creek, not far from Creech at a higher elevation (cooler too).



On Monday night we were joined by our friend Barry (VFP Sacramento).

He was especially popular with some of us since he brought Coffee for Tuesday morning.

It’s wonderful being back here on the Goddess Temple property.

The huge Cottonwood trees provide shade and a great place to work on making new banners.

Barry picked up Catherine at the Las Vegas Tuesday afternoon, while some of us stayed behind.

We had banners to make!

CAUTION:  MILITARY LIFE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH

QUESTION AUTHORITY

It was nice to have both Catherine and Barry back with us for Tuesday afternoon’s commute.

Was it ever HOT out there!  Those cold beers that we got at the Oasis Bar in the tiny town of Indian Springs were exceptionally good!

The desolate landscape in this part of the country is a rock hound’s dream come true.

The Goddess Temple and grounds are evolving in a beautiful way, thanks to Candace Ross, the Temple Priestess.

We’re fortunate to have the Temple Guest House for a place to stay, a place filled with love and creative energy.

Each day we greet the commuters in and out of the base with our signs and banners.

We’re out at the most busy entrance to the base 6-8 am and 3-5 pm, sometimes longer.

Wednesday morning we dressed in black with white masks, carried tiny coffins, a baby (doll), and the huge banner saying

DRONE WARFARE IS TERROR, as well as another saying MOTHERS SAY NO TO WAR.

The five of us had a funeral procession down the highway next to the base.

We were back at the base entrance Wednesday afternoon, focusing on Justice for Chelsea Manning and all whistleblowers.

Wednesday evening we brought our messages to Las Vegas, and had dinner at Bacco, Lt. Ehren Watada’s restaurant there.

Edwina, Lisa, John, Mark, Ming and others joined us for dinner.

While waiting for our meal, we kept busy cutting out paper drones for an upcoming action.

It was very fitting to show our support of the restaurant owned and managed by the brave veteran

who stood up to the lies of our government leading us to the war in Iraq.  It was an excellent meal, enjoyed by all.

After dinner we split into two cars: one for grocery and hardware shopping and the other to pick up Renay and Peggy at the airport.





None of us got much sleep that night.  Barry’s coffee was essential Thursday morning.

We were all up bright (well, it was actually dark) and early Thursday morning (with five new participants!)

We gathered at the entrance to Creech wearing white clothing and white masks.

We wore blue scarves in solidarity with the Blue Scarf Movement (thebluescarf.org<http://thebluescarf.org/> )

“The Blue Scarf represents the expansive blue sky we all share and has become a global symbol for togetherness.

It was set in motion by a very brave group of women in Afghanistan ready to be heard and is now being worn around the world as a way for people to express their solidarity as global citizens for a better world.”

Every day we’re joined by more protesters!

There’s one nut of a counter protestor, on his huge motorcycle with a big American flag.  More on him later.

We’re having a blast.  Let’s hope we’re having an impact!

John Amidon’s beautiful video of the direct action/arrests on Friday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgAHoHVflBQ



http://thirdratetropics.blogspot.com/2014/04/creech-air-force-drone-protest.html

http://www.popularresistance.org/7-arrested-today-at-drone-protest/



http://nevadadesertexperience.org/programs/2014/nr.html

We Can’t Eat Weapons

By Janet Weil

Today, on the Global Day of Action against Military Spending, conscious people around the world take a long, hard look at how much of our shared wealth goes into military spending – the stealth fighter jets and the drones, the troops and the officers, the bases on land and the satellites in the stratosphere, the nukes and the literal nuts and bolts – and then help spread the information in the yearly report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The total? $1.75 trillion in 2013. What else could that money have bought?

The United States is the world’s biggest spender on the military – by a huge margin.  Even as the American public says “the wars are winding down”, military spending continues to consume over 55% of the federal discretionary budget – what’s left over after obligatory spending on Social Security and Medicare.

As IVAW member and combat veteran Aaron Hughes testified at a panel discussion on the 11th “anniversary” of the U.S. war on Iraq: “We ARE at war. The drones, the special operations, JSOC, the mercenaries…” In addition to direct military involvements and approximately 1000 overseas military bases, the U.S. also sells 75% of the weapons used in armed conflicts around the world, sometimes with “boomerang” effects to US interests.

We cannot eat weapons systems, but weapons “eat” our hard-earned taxes, even as austerity-pushers such as Rep Paul Ryan advocate for cutting food stamps and other much-needed social programs. To take only one measure of unmet needs in the richest country in the world: “Currently, 49 million Americans, including 8.3 million children, suffer from food insecurity, according to the most recent USDA estimates.”

The United States was not always this way, and it doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s get the word out. In the San Francisco Bay Area where I live, people from a wide coalition of peace, faith, and political groups – including CODEPINK — will be handing out info on military spending to morning commuters at 30 BART (light rail) stations: We call ourselves the New Priorities Campaign, because that’s what we are advocating for.

This morning I’ll be traveling from one BART station to another, sending out photos and quotes via twitter, then livetweeting from the press conference where a staffer for Congresswoman Barbara Lee will speak. This dedicated co-founder of the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus recently published an op-ed in USA Today, “Bring all our troops home.” Barbara Lee still speaks for me – and many!

Feed people, not weapons makers.

Janet Weil is a longtime CODEPINK-er who responds to general information inquiries, and works on the Bring Our War $$ Home campaign as well as supporting other CODEPINK national campaigns. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Janet is also a co-founder of the SF 99% Coalition and tweets from @wardollarshome and @sf99percent.

An Open Letter to Drew Houston, Dropbox CEO @DrewHouston @DropBox

Dear Mr. Houston,

I hope this letter finds you well. You don’t know me, but my name is Farah Muhsin Al Mousawi and I am an Iraqi citizen living in the United States. I wanted to address a letter to you personally in the light of your company’s recent decision to include former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a fourth board member.  I salute your work as a young and ambitious entrepreneur who has helped reshape the way we see and use technology. I also salute you for choosing a woman to be a member of your board, however, your choice of this particular person could not be more wrong!

You may have read by now the hundreds of articles and comments posted about your choice of the former Secretary of State. It seems obvious to many people, including myself, that she is a terrible candidate for your board, especially when she signed off on the Patriot Act to limit the privacy of individuals in the USA, and especially when your company is promoting itself as a trustworthy cloud service that people can trust to share their documents. But I will share with you this:

You and I are almost the same age, and we both lived in opposite worlds. I grew up in Iraq and my country was attacked and invaded, and you grew up in the US and yours, too, was attacked on 9/11, but because of President George W. Bush’s mistake my country ended up losing a lot.

On the eve of March 19, I was woken by the sounds of the sirens and bombing in my city. I felt the ground shake and the beaming light that broke into the room is a sight. I could never forget as I see it every time I close my eyes.

I saw American armed troops marching down my streets, creating military stations out of schools and hospitals. Hundreds of buildings were demolished and millions of lives were either killed or forced to leave their homes, including mine.

Lives in Iraq continue to be affected by this war that was waged on false pretenses by President George W. Bush and six key members of his administration, including Condoleezza Rice. Rice’s input and support of the war on Iraq before and during 2003, and her defending the decision to destroy my country continue to be part of the dark legacy of George Bush.

If her decisions as National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State has lead to the ultimate invasion of a sovereign nation (that ultimately lead to spending more than $3 trillion and lives of nearly 4,000 US troops, hundreds who are wounded, and more than 100,000 Iraqi lives), imagine what damage it will bring to your company that you have built and worked so hard on its success.

In fact, how could anyone trust any liar?

As an Iraqi citizen affected by the war, and as a young woman of your age, I urge you to reconsider your decision to include Condoleezza Rice as a board member of DropBox.

Your success is not contingent upon the welcoming of someone who was instrumental in killing innocent civilians and encouraged governmental spying on citizens of this country.

As there is more to discuss, I look forward to a response from your office.

Letter to be delivered to DropBox headquarters in San Francisco on Monday, April 14 at 9am. For more info email Nancy at codepink.nancy@gmail.com

No sir the war is not over!

No sir the war is not over!

by Farah Muhsin

Eleven years have passed since the historic day of the fall of Baghdad dawned on all Iraqis, marking the end of an era but the beginning of another deadly one. Eleven years have passed and over 100,000 lives were lost and millions were displaced, more than a million widowed and nearly 2 million orphaned. Children were born into war and no nothing different, the sounds of bombings and sights of blood splashes are few of many norms they are growing up with everyday.

While the US administration in 2008 advocated to bring an end to this “unnecessary” war, President Obama promised to withdraw the troops as soon as possible. Yet, the exit plan was poorly executed leaving a wounded country by war and turmoil without acknowledging the devastation it was living under.

President Obama is proud of this achievement, that he managed to cross Iraq off of his list of duties to complete before leaving the White House, he brings it up at every occasion possible to ensure that his mission is truly accomplished, that he fulfilled his promise and that no more troops are to be sent to Iraq and that Iraq should be and will be ruled by its people, that its resources are used to rebuild the country and the US-Iraqi relations continue to be smooth.

In a speech President Obama gave on March 26 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in the Belgian capital, President Obama said the one thing anyone wouldn’t imagine, he defended the Iraq war. President Obama said “But even in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq’s territory. We did not grab its resources for our own gain. Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people in a fully sovereign Iraqi state that can make decisions about its own future.”

Here’s what’s obviously wrong with this statement:

A) The US did not seek seek to work within the international system, if anything, the US ignored all arguments from the UN security council and former secretary General Koffi Annan was on the verge of resigning.

B) There are several US led corporation that have been actively investing in Iraq since early days after the invasion in 2003. In fact, the majority of these corporations hold their offices in Erbil, northern Iraq, where they are safe and protected from any potential insurgent attacks.

C) Yes, the US did in fact exit the country in 2011 just hours before Christmas Eve, and true no US soldier was deployed to Iraq after that. But the bloodshed and war did not end. In fact, the troop withdrawal ignited more conflict as fighting groups found the vacancy they needed to fulfil their own agenda based on their religious and political motives, supported by regional powers.

The failed exit strategy in Iraq has caused even more lives in Iraq, created more destruction and fear among the Iraqi people. The escalation of violence reached its highest last year a total of 7,818 civilians and 1,050 security forces died in violent attacks across Iraq in 2013 — making last year the bloodiest in Iraq since 2008.

Iraq today is worse off than it was 11 years ago, and if the US had truly sought to work within the international system as president Obama claimed, then Iraq would have had a better chance in maintaining its sovereignty and independence. Iraqi women would have more protected rights, and men would not have to choose between unemployment and joining a political group or armed militia.

Eleven years and I am still counting the numbers of dead and the displaced. I am also counting the days of when the war criminals who were responsible for this tragedy to spend their lives behind bars, instead of being celebrated with an art gallery or a documentary. Every penny that was spent on celebrating war criminals should be put in a fund to prosecute them. They have committed numerous crimes not only against my people, but against their people as well. Since when lying became an unpunished deed? And killing? Why is it OK for them to get away with causing the lives of 4000 men and women and thousands others who came back home wounded and damaged?

If Bush and his six gang members are not tried for failing to follow international law and unlawfully invade a sovereign country, then they should be at least tried for exploiting the ideals of American democracy.

The Truth about Condi Rice

The Truth about Condi Rice

By Coleen Rowley

The University of Minnesota’s promotion of Condi Rice (and paying her $150,000 via one of the University’s top donors, the Carlson Foundation) turns “free speech” on its head, especially since University officials refuse to give even 5 minutes of “equal time” to those who would tell the truth about Condi’s past criminal conduct. Officials refuse to ask Rice to discuss the hard questions about her involvement in war crimes and also refuse to let students meet with Rice (although a handpicked group of students apparently does get to meet with her). Dean Eric Schwartz of the Humphrey Institute who’s responsible for inviting Rice even refused to meet with students about his decision. What free speech?!

The powerful effort to rewrite (this sordid) history has raised the question of how to effectively get out information about Rice’s past commission of torture and other war crimes, because university officials and students seem mostly unaware of her past conduct, consequently falling for a ridiculous repackaging of Rice as a civil rights and feminist hero. (Even the various human rights groups and anti-torture organizations based in the Twin Cities such as Center for Victims of Torture and Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, not to mention the University’s own Human Rights Center, have fallen silent such is the hypocrisy and pressure to now lionize the woman who personally ordered the CIA to commence waterboarding!) Learn more how to take action in Minnesota!

 

Killer Drones in a Downward Spiral?

Medea Benjamin and Kate Chandley

Illegal US drone strikes continue (the Long War Journal says there have been 8 drones strikes in Yemen so far this year), but efforts to curb the use of killer drones have made remarkable headway this year.

 While the faith-based community has taken far too long to address the moral issues posed by remote-controlled killing, on February 13, the World Council of Churches–the largest coalition of Christian churches–came out in opposition to the use of armed drones. The Council said that the use of armed drones poses a “serious threat to humanity” and condemned, in particular, US drone strikes in Pakistan. This is a breakthrough in the religious community, and should make it easier for individual denominations to make similar pronouncements, as the Church of the Brethren has.

There have also been major developments in the secular world. In February, the European Union, with an overwhelming vote of 534-49, passed a resolution calling on EU Member States to “oppose and ban the practice of extrajudicial targeted killings” and demanding that EU member states “do not perpetrate unlawful targeted killings or facilitate such killings by other states.” This resolution will pressure individual European nations to stop their own production and/or use of killer drones (especially the UK, Germany, Italy and France), and to stop their collaboration with the US drone program.

People on the receiving end of US drone strikes have also stepped up their opposition. On April 1, a group of friends and family of drone strike victims in Yemen came together to form the National Organization for Drone Victims. This is the first time anywhere that drone strike victims have created their own entity to support one another and seek redress. The organization plans to conduct its own investigations, focusing on the civilian impact of drone attacks. At the official launch, which was packed with press, the group said any government official supporting the US drones should be tried in a criminal court. “Today, we launch this new organization which will be the starting point for us to get justice and to take legal measures on a national and international scale against anyone who is aiding these crimes,” said the organization’s president Mohammad Ali al-Qawli, whose brother was killed in a drone strike.

The Pakistani government has taken its opposition to drone strikes directly to the UN Human Rights Council. Pakistan, with the co-sponsorship of Yemen, introduced a resolution calling for transparency in drone strikes and for setting up a committee of experts to address the legal issues. Despite the opposition of the United States, which boycotted the talks and lobbied to kill the resolution, it passed on March 24 by a vote of 27-6, with 14 abstentions. The panel of experts that will be convened is scheduled to present its findings at the UN Human Rights Council session in September 2014.

 UN Special Rapporteur on Terrorism, Ben Emmerson, also used this session of the UN Human Rights Council to release a detailed report on the issue of drones. Emmerson examined 37 instances of drone strikes in which civilians were reportedly killed or injured and concluded that nations using drones must provide a “public explanation of the circumstances and a justification for the use of deadly force.” Emmerson said it was critical for the international community to reach a consensus on many issues presented by drones strikes, including state sovereignty and whether it is legal to target a hostile person in a non-belligerent state.

These new developments have come about due to increasing public scrutiny and protests against drone attacks, such as the ongoing protests at the Hancock, Beale, and Creech Air Force Bases, the headquarters of drone manufacturer General Atomics, the White House, CIA, Congress and the Pentagon. The entire month of April has been designated for Days of Action, with film showings, talks, die-ins, re-enactments of drone strikes and other creative actions happening throughout the country.

Activists opposing weaponized drones are pleased to finally see more movement at the international level, and hope this will result in heightened pressure on the Obama administration, both internationally and domestically, to stop its policy of targeted assassinations and instead adhere to the rule of law.

Medea Benjamin is cofounder of www.codepink.org and www.globalexchange.org, and author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.

Kate Chandley is an International Affairs and Political Science student at Northeastern University and intern at www.codepink.org.

Truth vs. Torture: John Kiriakou and the Torture Report

by Cayman Kai

Although the Senate Intelligence Committee voted on Thursday to declassify a report detailing the CIA’s use of torture that will confirm the 2007 revelations from John Kiriakou, former CIA analyst and case officer, Kiriakou himself is still languishing in prison. Kiriakou still has at least another year left in prison, but as Americans confront the horror contained within the Torture Report, they ought to also call for justice and freedom for the brave whistleblower who warned us about it years ago.

 

On December 10, 2007 in an interview with ABC News, Kiriakou discussed his involvement in the capture and questioning of Abu Zubaydah, accused aide of Osama Bin Laden. Kiriakou admitted the CIA’s use of waterboarding on Al-Qaeda suspects, specifically Zubaydah, making him the first U.S. official to do so. If it had not been for Kiriakou, the public would not have known about the use of torture, which has now led to the call for the release of the Torture Report. Kirakou expressed doubts that the information gathered from waterboarding was worth the damage to the United States’ reputation.

 

On January 23, 2012 Kiriakou was charged with revealing the name of an undercover officer and the role of another officer in classified activities and a year later was sentenced to 30 months in prison. However, the case of Scooter Libby, former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, suggests that Kiriakou’s punishment is about more than his revelation of an undercover officer. In October 2005, Libby was charged with revealing the identity of an undercover CIA officer, which had endangered her life. He was also sentenced to 30 months, but President Bush commuted his sentence and Libby simply paid a fine and had two years of supervised release and completed 400 hours of community service. Despite the fact that Libby’s transgression was more serious than what John was accused of, John was the one imprisoned. This fact suggests that perhaps John was forced to complete his full sentence to punish him for his revelation of torture, even though he was not officially charged for it.

 

Despite the CIA’s claims to the Department of Justice and Congress that their actions helped to obtain valuable information to disrupt terrorist plots and save thousands of lives, the torture report will show that this is false. For example, all useful information from Zubaydah was obtained well before he was waterboarded a grand total of 83 times. “The CIA conflated what was gotten when, which led them to misrepresent the effectiveness of the program,” said an anonymous U.S. official who has seen the report.[1]

 

The report details multiple ways in which the CIA misrepresented the utility of the torture program. It will reveal incriminating evidence about a network of secret detention facilities called “black sites.” It will also show that the CIA conflated the ranking of Al-Qaeda officials. In the case of Zubaydah, they claimed he was a senior Al-Qaeda operative, when in reality he was merely a facilitator for recruits.

 

While the CIA officials involved in administering torture and misrepresenting the program are protected, Kiriakou is stuck in prison. The torture report will confirm and expand upon Kirakou’s disclosures. John Kiriakou has sacrificed so much to speak the truth; he has five children and a wife and he has already now lost a year to prison he will never get back and has another year to go. Kiriakou’s bravery should have been rewarded, not punished. If it were not for Kiriakou, we may not have known about the use of torture and the call for the release of the Torture Report may not have been possible. Clearly the use of torture did not aid in garnering useful information, and as Kiriakou predicted, it will severely harm the reputation of the United States. As citizens, we must express our outrage and disappointment at the methods employed by our government, but we must also call for rights to be wronged while we still can. It is time for John to be released and for his courage to be recognized.

 

 

[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-misled-on-interrogation-program-senate-report-says/2014/03/31/eb75a82a-b8dd-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html

GAZA———WE’RE NOT COMING

by Barbara Briggs-Letson,

delegate from Sebastopol, CA who entered Egypt but was not permitted to travel to Gaza.

International Women’s Day Delegation to Gaza, March 8,2014

Having spoken with 3 Egyptians (2 women and 1 man) and had about 45 minutes of conversation with the Deputy Chief of Mission and 2 of his staff at our Embassy I am an expert, so will share my impressions about Egypt and Gaza…….

Egypt, both government and citizens, are losing interest in Gaza, maybe all of Palestine. Three specific comments: There were hundreds of tunnels at the border between Egypt and Gaza, lifelines for years, recently blown up by Egypt. I heard stories that cars stolen in Egypt went via tunnel to Gaza, that people on the Gaza side ordered KFC and Pizza Hut for delivery from Egypt through the tunnels. Whether or not these are tales or truth, they are believed.

Citizens and government know that Hamas is training disaffected Egyptians as terrorists, particularly for terrorism the Sinai. The Sinai is not safe for Egyptian military, police and civilians, for which people blame Hamas/Gaza. This is the most important!

The whole world knows that Gaza desperately needs fuel and Egypt was supplying a lot. When fuel shortages developed in Egypt, those I spoke with didn’t like sending scarce fuel to Gaza.

These are small examples of how/why Egypt has lost interest. Gaza is now alone. I cannot imagine life being more difficult than it was when I visited Gaza in 2009, but am sure it is , both in terms of the physical situation and now, knowing that so few people in the world care. In a conversation about the women of Gaza with an Egyptian woman, she said ‘not to worry about the women of Gaza’ now, that it is the women of Syria who are ‘really suffering.’ Another woman said they had brought it on themselves. This is very different! It felt to me as if human concern I remember from 2009 has morphed into exasperation.

I had wanted, in my heart, to respond to the invitation from women of Gaza to be present with them. Now that I understand more deeply how alone they are, our failure to get to Gaza feels deep and painful. From the beginning, Egypt had known why we were coming and exactly who was coming. They had our names and passport numbers. It is hard to understand why they didn’t tell us before we arrived that we could not travel across the Sinai, that it was dangerous, or that they did not want us in their country.

Egypt looked and felt to me like a police state. In front of the glorious Egyptian Museum there are a row of huge camo tanks, a soldier sitting atop each with machine gun pointed and several other soldiers in and around each tank. All the military wear bulletproof vests. At the Museum, at the Sound and Light Show, even in Luxor, monster dark blue solid-sided trucks swoop in, pocked with peep-holes. They are filled with young men, sitting in benches along the insides, wearing dark blue uniforms, awaiting trouble.

Military and police, armed, are along streets, at intersections, in front of buildings in Cairo and we were told that civilian-clad security people are everywhere. Each person who visited us in our hotel, just to talk with us, Egyptian or foreigner, had to provide passport or identity card to be copied. Egyptians were not comfortable meeting us, in the hotel, or, sometimes, outside the hotel.

Two young activist Egyptian men came to our hotel and 2 of the French delegation went with them to a restaurant; on the return in a taxi, at a checkpoint, one of the Egyptian men was dragged from the taxi after the driver told police he was an activist. Egyptians say there is a campaign about “being a good neighbor” and reporting other citizens. there are about 20,000 citizens in jail, many without charges or trials. Journalists are particularly at risk.

We were told that Sisi’s military takeover is not a coup. “Don’t call it a coup.” “It was necessary and within a few months we will have presidential elections and 2 months after that, we will have parliamentary elections.” There seems to be a general belief that Sisi will be elected President. His picture, smiling benignly, in uniform with lots of gold braid and red trim, is everywhere.

Ah yes, you wonder about the delegation. Seventeen English-speaking/American delegates traveled to Egypt; eight entered Egypt. Our “arrivals” spread over 4-5 days, involved phone calls, texting, messages, e-mails, and was very confusing. Here is a general synopsis. (You need to know that any nation has the right to refuse entry to any person and they don’t have to give a reason.)

We planned to be 100 women, arriving at different times from different countries, but to meet on the night of the 5th in Cairo. Medea arrived the 2nd, was denied entry, resisted and was physically injured before and during deportation. (Actually, she wasn’t technically deported because she never officially entered Egypt.) Ann Wright arrived the 3rd on and entered with no problem. Two other delegates from the US and I arrived later on the 3rd and entered. Then, more difficulties. US delegates entered, were called back and held, then some admitted. Others were not admitted, held alone and in small groups, then denied. There was some talk of a blacklist, but we don’t know who was on it and the whole process didn’t make any sense. They let in some very strong activists, then refused others, including a 20 year old college student, a Nobel Laureate from Ireland and a former US Ambassador to Ireland.

During the 5 days, Ann Wright was constantly fielding information and calls, trying to keep track of all our delegates, making sure they were safe, knowing where they physically were, their situations, contacting the US Consulate, blogging and tweeting the latest news. We stayed together, close to the hotel.

Our Embassy sent an Egyptian national to try to meet with the US delegates who were not admitted and was unsuccessful. The following day, the deputy to the Deputy Chief of Mission and the Egyptian national returned to the airport and met with our US delegates who were detained. Our delegates departed.

A group of about 60 French had arrived together and were denied entry. They started actions in the big hall where they were detained: banners, singing, statements, calling the French Ambassador. That is a group which doesn’t go quietly! The French Ambassador went to the airport to see their delegates; he was unable to convince the authorities to let them enter and told the delegates that they should stop their protest actions or they would be dealt with harshly. The whole group departed. (On the night of the 13th, as we were preparing to depart Egypt, a member of the French delegation appeared at our hotel. She been denied entry into Egypt with the group, went back to France, and had returned alone to Egypt [she had business she needed to take care of] with no problems. She must not have been on the fabled blacklist or possibly it does

100 + solar Lucy Lamps are on their way, bit by bit, into Gaza, as the border is opened sporadically and individuals take them across. Eventually, more than 100 women of Gaza will have light at night for them and their families, thanks to your generosity! I packed 100 lamps into a huge blue suitcase from Goodwill and it safely arrived in Cairo. Individuals who must remain nameless will see that they get into Gaza. We send good energy along with each lamp!

AFTER IT BECAME CLEAR THAT WE WERE NOT GOING TO GAZA AND THAT ANY KIND OF POLITICAL ACTIVITY WOULD NOT BE TOLERATED BY THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT, WE ENGLISH-SPEAKING DELEGATES MORPHED INTO TOURISTS.

 

BEING IN EGYPT

(In Cairo, Luxor and Giza)

Ears teach me: CRACK of whip, children’s voices scream with delight and excitement, cacophonous calls to prayer, “give me a dollar”, a lion growl which turns out to be a camel’s loud complaint, “hello what is your name” the horse pulling my cart whinnying in pride after he returned us from the loose sand, “Madam, madam, MADAM………HEY”

Peered into a streetside bakery as circles of dough were flopped on a conveyor belt, disappeared into the oven, exited brown, puffed and ready for sale out the window.

Eleven horses (10 men, 1 woman) cantering down the street near the Pyramids as I drank a Coke. Asymphony of clops.

I walked around the back of the smallest pyramid to quiet and a little wind. Turned it into a walking meditation…”I have arrived, I am at home in the here and the now. In the infinite I dwell.” Being part of the infinite is easier to feel in a place where most of what I touch or see is thousands of years BCE.

White VW vans, side door slid open to shredded bench seats, stop and go in the cities. One jumps in, then gets out wherever you wish. I hear it costs 1 Egyptian Pound which is about 15 cents. I never had the courage to try it.

Giza has, along with black and white taxis (which have meters) and motorcycles and buses, horses, camels, horse carts painted yellow like dilapidated Charlton Heston chariots and tuk-tuks. An occasional donkey, infrequently a pair of donkeys.

Changing money here is easy. I found a bank, handed over my passport and US dollars, and after a few minutes, was handed Egyptian Pounds at about 7 EP=1 USD. In Cairo there is at least one ATM machine where one can insert USD (tried 20s and 50s) and EPs come out.

Security to enter the many-starred Novotel Hotel at the airport is more careful than for catching a plane. WRONG: their tough security is at the gate for international flights and with 2 screening lines, is mayhem.

Of a morning ,,…….a man pedals the narrow street with puffed pitas balanced on his head,  carefully arranged in a “box” of sticks longer than his bike and wider than the

Clang, cling, clang, wafts in our window on the 6th floor, morning sounds of the

“Papyrus and flower-scent-oil, please come to my shop, I have a shop, very nice, you

Only guards and king Tut in the glorious museum, surrounded by scarabs and mummies and a smell of oldness.  In a country where at least 20 percent of the economy  is funded by tourism, we seem to be the only visitors.

Were I an 80 year old woman of Egypt I might be  vending tissue packets, crouched  beside a shattered sidewalk, leaning against a building, dressed in black.  One packet, one Egyptian pound (15 cents).  Ann bought a packet.

Negotiating Tahir Square, of recent and ancient history, means scooting across lanes of traffic, then through more lanes.  The secret is to wait for an Egyptian male, slide to his side keeping him between me and the traffic, then cross with him.  Which means that I need not look at the terrifying buses, cars, trucks and motorcycles, just stay by his side.  Yesterday, I waited and waited for such a man to come along to cross.  No luck. A kind youth, watching from the other side, smiled, crossed, motioned me to follow, then guided me across, dodging traffic.  Bumper cars, Tahir style, with a dash of kindness.

Out hunting for the hotel where I stayed the other time I was in Cairo, I was “lost”.  It’s Saturday morning and the streets are quiet, while  chairs for waterpipe-smokers appear in lots of alleys.  A young woman, her hair  tautly  covered, long sleeves, shiny lipstick and wearing brightly colored everything sat alone.  The bendy tube snaked into her hand……….SHE WAS SMOKING.  It felt ok to ask directions of her.

On Talak Harb, a main street off Tahir square, are shops and shuttered storefronts and the Egyptair office.  As a policeman directed non-existent street traffic in the road in front and I turned in to buy a ticket,  3 men shouted at me, gesturing.  “whoops, danger” said my body and I didn’t even pause.    The woman who sold me the ticket said they wanted me to buy from their private agency.  That little experience  tells my gut how desperate Egypt is;  the tourist industry is on its knees and people behave in ways they would never have in their proud past.

Egypt Kangaroo Court Sentences 529 Morsi Supporters to Death

By Medea Benjamin

The Egyptian court has just handed down one of the most grotesque sentences in Egyptian history, condemning 529 people to death in one fell swoop.  The US State Department said it was “shocked” and that the verdict defies logic. “While appeals are possible, it simply does not seem possible that a fair review of evidence and testimony consistent with international standards could be accomplished with over 529 defendants after a two-day trial,” a State Department official said. Amnesty International issued a condemnation, and CODEPINK has launched a campaign to pressure the Egyptian government to overturn the verdict and respect political dissent.

The court sentenced supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi for their alleged role in the murder of a single police officer in the southern city of Minya last August. In addition to the murder, the 529 defendants were accused of attempting to kill two other police officers and attacking a police station. The incident occurred after the military overthrew President Morsi in July 2013 and violently broke up two pro-Morsi encampments in Cairo, leaving nearly 1,000 people dead and arresting some 16,000 people, including most of the Muslim Brotherhood leadership.

The court held two sessions. In the first session, the judge angrily shouted down requests by defense lawyers for more time to review the prosecution’s case. In the second session, the judge barred defense lawyers from even entering the courtroom. “We didn’t have the chance to say a word or to look at more than 3,000 pages of investigation to see what evidence they are talking about,” attorney Khaled el-Koumi told The Associated Press.

A senior official involved in courtroom security, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 154 defendants were in the courtroom in a cage, and upon hearing the verdict, screamed at the judge “You butcher!” The rest of the defendants were tried in absentia.

The group is among some 1,200 Muslim Brotherhood supporters on trial; a second group of 683 Morsi supporters is due to go on trial on March 25, including the leader of the group, Mohamed Badie, and the head of its political wing, Saad al-Katatny.

Since the overthrow of Morsi, Egypt has been wracked by militant bombings, suicide attacks and other assaults targeting police and military forces. The authorities have blamed the Brotherhood for the violence, branding it a terrorist organization, confiscating its assets and exposing its members and supporters to harsh sentences under anti-terrorism laws. But al-Qaeda-inspired group Ansar Beyt al-Maqdis has taken credit for many of the attacks. The Brotherhood has denied any links and has denounced the violence, and the regime has not produced any evidence linking the Brotherhood to the attacks.

Death sentences of this magnitude in a single case makes Egypt surpass most other countries’ use of capital punishment in a year. “This is the largest single batch of simultaneous death sentences we’ve seen in recent years, not just in Egypt but anywhere in the world,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Program Director at Amnesty International.

Human rights lawyers say the verdicts are subject to appeal and are likely be overturned. But many worry that the verdict, which has angered millions of Morsi supporters, will compel some Brotherhood members to take up violence, a move that will justify an even heavier crackdown.

Another indication of the political nature of Egypt’s courts is the fact that they have ignored gross human rights violations by the security forces. Just one police officer is facing a prison sentence, for the deaths of 37 detainees. No one else is being held responsible for the deaths of hundreds of peaceful protesters or the torture of prisoners. At least 16,000 political dissidents have been arrested since the overthrow of Morsi and many of those imprisoned have been tortured by the authorities.

CODEPINK has launched a campaign for human rights in Egypt, including protests at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington DC, and petitions targeting the Egyptian government and the US State Department.

 

Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the peace group CODEPINK and the human rights organization Global Exchange. She is the author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control.

CODEPINK Snow Day at the Department of Homeland Security

by Medea Benjamin and Alli McCracken

 

Back in November, the CODEPINK DC office hosted a movie screening about drone warfare on the side of Jeh Johnson’s elegant home in Georgetown. Jeh Johnson was chief counsel at the Department of Defense from 2009-2013 and wrote the legal memos that justified the targeted killing of people overseas by drones. He had just been nominated to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and we decided to do a creative protest at this house because we didn’t think that one of the architects of the US drone program—a program that kills so many innocents and makes us so hated around the world—should be put in charge of  “homeland security”.

So we invited our friends, and the press, to join us for the movie night. We brought a popcorn machine, set up chairs on the sidewalk across the road from his house, and rigged the projector up to a car battery. Even the neighbors came out with glasses of wine to join us as we watched footage of almost life-sized killer drones projected onto the side of his house and villagers talking about how the drones terrorized their communities and killed their loved ones.

When the documentary ended, to our surprise, Johnson himself came out to talk to us. After an intense discussion about the ethics and efficacy of drone warfare, he invited us for a followup meeting once he was confirmed at the DHS.

That meeting was scheduled for Monday, March 17, 2014. It had snowed the night before, and the federal government was shut down. We thought that the meeting might be cancelled, but Secretary Johnson’s scheduler informed us that even though most employees wouldn’t be there, the meeting was still on.

We had been told beforehand that we could bring a total of 5 people, so in addition to Alli McCracken, Medea Benjamin, and Tighe Barry of the CODEPINK staff, we had invited two colleagues from the immigrant rights community since DHS is responsible for the unprecedented number of deportations (an astounding 1,100 people a day) occurring every day under President Obama, dubbed the “Deporter-in-Chief”. Our colleagues were Catalina Nieto of Detention Watch Network and Roxana Bendezú of School of the Americas Watch.

All five of us had filled out the required security forms days in advance. We braved the snow and drove out to the DHS headquarters in Northwest DC, following an elaborate treasure-hunt-type map once we got inside the DHS compound, in case we lost our security escort Don. Don was a nice guy who drove a silver pickup truck about 5 miles an hour just ahead of us from checkpoint to checkpoint.

To our amazement, while we had to show our IDs, no one ever searched us. No metal detectors, no looking through our bags—nothing. We parked in an empty parking lot and when we got inside, the place was practically deserted, with most folks home for the snow day. We couldn’t help but feel like we were in some sort of Trojan horse inside the walls of the fortress. Why would Secretary Jeh Johnson agree to have a meeting with CODEPINK (…possibly because we told him if he didn’t, we would show up at his house again)?

We were shuffled into a conference room, where we waited for our meeting to begin and chatted with a member of the Secretary’s staff. When asked if there was anything we would like, Medea asked if we could get tea or coffee. With a serious and somewhat sad face, the staffer told us they couldn’t provide tea to guests because of budget cuts! We laughed at the absurdity of a $60-billion-dollar institution not being able to afford 30-cent Lipton tea bags for guests.

But our laughter was cut short when a large, disgruntled-looking employee–– Christian Marone, who turned out to be Johnson’s Chief of Staff–– stormed into the room and announced that the Secretary would only meet with Alli. Flabbergasted, we protested, pointing out that we had all been invited to the meeting and our names had all been cleared by security. After much back and forth and a threefold increase in security guards, Marone angrily offered us an ultimatum: the Secretary meets with Alli down the hall in his office, or no one. We asked him to leave the room so we could discuss our options.

We decided not to accept their offer of meeting with just Alli—it was all or nothing. Just as we starting hatching plans for a sit-in, Marone came back in the room and hastily told us that Secretary Johnson was on his way. We figure the room must have been bugged, and that they definitely didn’t want to deal with a CODEPINK protest inside DHS on an understaffed snow day!

Johnson and a young assistant rushed into the room. Johnson looked at Medea and asked, “Alli??” …We were off to a good start.

He told us he had agreed to meet because he had seen CODEPINK “express our views in a variety of creative ways”–from his home to Congressional hearings to Medea’s disruption of President Obama’s speech in May of 2013. He said he believes in open dialogue and thought it would be good to hear us out.

We spent the next 40 minutes talking about our concerns. Alli opened the meeting by telling the Secretary that the drone program that he legally sanctioned continues to kill innocent people abroad, including the targeting of a wedding party in Yemen in December. She told him about CODEPINK trips to Pakistan and Yemen, where we’ve met with innocent drone strike survivors who have related their harrowing stories and pointed out that there has yet to be any apology or compensation for the victims.

Tighe and Medea talked about the domestic use of drones. They asked why DHS is giving grants to police departments across the country to buy drones when there aren’t any regulations in place for their use and why drones along the border are being illegally lent to law enforcement agencies. They expressed the concern of civil liberties’ groups throughout the country about the invasion of our privacy that will come when our airspace is totally opened up to drones in the next year or two, and how DHS seems to be working with the drone industry to help them increase sales. Medea gave him a copy of her book Drone Warfare, which he asked her to autograph.

Then we moved into the immigration issues, with Catalina giving a moving testimony about the struggles of life in America as an undocumented person. “I’m an ‘illegal alien,’ that’s how you refer to us in all your documents, right?” she asked him. “Well you are meeting one in person right now. Have you met with people going through detention and deportation? Have you met with the families of those who are being deported? You talk about conducting a review to make immigration enforcement more ‘humane,’ but let me tell you that there is nothing humane about enforcement, even from the way you refer to us, as aliens, not even humans. There is nothing humane about drones at the border, a border patrol that is out of control, or operation streamline. There is nothing humane about putting someone in deportation proceedings, then locking them up in a cage, away from their families and any support system, making it almost impossible to get legal counsel, without any due process rights, in horrible conditions, and then deporting them. There is nothing humane about that.”

She went on to suggest specific detention centers that the Secretary should visit to see the horrid conditions that people are kept in. When asked if DHS is lobbied by special interest groups like GEO, one of the largest private companies running detention centers for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the DHS), he acted like he didn’t know what GEO was.

Roxana gave him several reports that outlined specific recommendations to improve immigration policy. She quoted Martin Luther King and even quoted Jeh Johnson himself quoting Martin Luther King, and pleaded that he see immigrants as real people and feel their humanity. She asked if the Secretary had any friends who were undocumented. “Probably,” he shrugged, “and I just might not know it.”

We appreciate that the Secretary heard us out and took the time to meet. However, he’s mistaken if he thinks that chatting with us for 40 minutes is going to make us forget about drone victims and the horrible treatment of the immigrant community. On the contrary. We’ve already signed up for the Women’s Fast for Families on April 7-9, part of a month of actions and fasting to demand fair immigration reform and we’re eager to participate in the April Days of Action to End Drone Killing, Drone Surveillance and Global Militarization. Join us in actions like these that will make our homeland more humane, peaceful and secure.

 

Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the peace group CODEPINK and the human rights group Global Exchange.

Alli McCracken is a National Coordinator with CODEPINK based in Washington DC.