free gaza

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2009
10:20 AM

CONTACT: CODEPINK
Jodie Evans, CODEPINK co-founder, 310-621-5635 (international number)
Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder, 20 2 018 956 1919 (Israel number)
Tamara Schreiber, Coalition of Women for Peace, 0527 912972

CODEPINK and Israeli Feminist Group Protest at Erez Checkpoint at Israel/Gaza Border

Will host continued protests through Israel, West Bank this week

EREZ, Israel - June 8 - More than three dozen Americans and Israelis rallied today at the border checkpoint here into Gaza, hoping to be let through into the war-torn area with playground building materials, food and other products to delivered to the Gazan people, after Israel authorities barred them from entering.

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CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. CODEPINK rejects foreign policies based on domination and aggression, and instead calls for policies based on diplomacy, compassion and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.

CODEPINK Links:

Posted in free gaza

Grief and Solidarity on the Road to Gaza

The opening announcement at our first CodePink and Coalition of Women for Peace meeting was stunning and sobering: a 35 year-old Palestinian father of two children, with another child on the way, was killed at a nonviolent demonstration in Ni'lin. He had been shot in the chest by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Posted in nonviolence, free gaza, Israel/Palestine

Obama in Cairo: A Bush in Sheep's Clothing?

Once you strip away the mujamalat - the courtesies exchanged between guest and host - the substance of President Obama's speech in Cairo indicates there is likely to be little real change in US policy. It is not necessary to divine Obama's intentions - he may be utterly sincere and I believe he is. It is his analysis and prescriptions that in most regards maintain flawed American policies intact.

Posted in Afghanistan, free gaza, Israel/Palestine, middle east, Pakistan

Obama Should Visit Gaza

US President Barack Obama will give a major policy talk at Cairo University on 4 June, intended to start mending the rift between the United States and the Arab world. During the Bush years, many Arabs turned against the United States because of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. But the issue that is really at the crux of the tensions with the United States is the intractable conflict between Israel and Palestine, and what many perceive as a one-sided US policy in support of Israel.

Posted in foreign policy, free gaza, Israel/Palestine

The Rape of Gaza

How would you feel if you found out that an American school, paid for with your tax dollars, was bombed and completely destroyed by a US ally? This happened in Gaza just a few months ago, during Israel's now-infamous Operation Cast Lead.

Posted in Human Rights, war crimes, free gaza, Israel/Palestine

Mr. Abbas Goes to Washington

If the Oval Office guest list is an indicator, President Obama is making good on his commitment to try to revive the long-dead Arab-Israeli peace process. On May 18 President Obama received Israel's new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu; today he met with Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

Posted in foreign policy, free gaza, Israel/Palestine

Defending Israeli War Crimes

In response to a series of reports by human rights organizations and international legal scholars documenting serious large-scale violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli armed forces in its recent war on the Gaza Strip, 10 U.S. state attorneys general sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defending the Israeli action.

Posted in war crimes, free gaza, Israel/Palestine

During His Trip to Egypt, Obama Should Visit Gaza

Obama will give a major policy talk at Cairo University on June 4, intended to start mending the rift between the United States and the Arab world. During the Bush years, many Arabs turned against the United States because of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Graib. But the issue that is really at the crux of the tensions with the United States is the intractable conflict between Israel and Palestine, and what many perceive as a one-sided U.S. policy in support of Israel.

Posted in free gaza

Rethinking the Costs of Peace

In pledging to trim ineffective spending, President Obama declared that "there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects. All across America, families are making hard choices, and it's time their government did the same."

Posted in peace, free gaza, Israel/Palestine

Gaza: Pursuit of the Laws of War

The Israeli government and its supporters have lashed out at the report of the UN board of inquiry into Israeli attacks on UN installations during Israel's latest offensive in Gaza. The report, they say, is biased, tendentious and inaccurate. According to Robbie Sabel, writing in Comment is Free, the "unbalanced report" does "little to bring understanding or justice to the conflict in Gaza".

Posted in Human Rights, war crimes, free gaza, Israel/Palestine