January, 09 2009, 06:41am EDT
Muslim Women and CODEPINK to Deliver White Roses TODAY to Obama Hotel
Urge Obama to call for ceasefire on Gaza attacks
WASHINGTON
To plea with President-elect Barack Obama to speak out
against Israel's war on Gaza, CODEPINK and Muslim women will deliver a
flood of white roses, purchased by concerned citizens nationwide, at 12
p.m. TODAY to Obama's Washington, DC hotel, the Hay-Adams Hotel at 16th
and H Streets NW.
WHAT: CODEPINK, Muslim women deliver white roses to Obama's DC hotel, plea for ceasefire
WHEN: 12 p.m. Jan. 9 - TODAY
WHERE: Begin at 16th and H Streets NW (across from the Hay-Adams Hotel where Obama will be staying)
Speakers: Anisa Abd el Fattah, chairwoman, National Association of Muslim American Women
Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK co-founder
Moderated by Gael Murphy, CODEPINK
They will host a press conference outside the hotel with their message,
"Please do not be silent - the children of Gaza need your help," to
highlight how one in five of the 600 Palestinians killed in the
attacks of the past 13 days have been children. Speakers at the press
conference include Anisa Abd el Fattah, chairwoman, National
Association of Muslim American Women, Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK
co-founder, Palestinian-American Mary Kate Chaath, and Yusuf Bashir, of
Gaza.
This plea to Obama comes at a particularly alarming time, as on
Thursday, the Senate passed a resolution to unilaterally support
Israel's right to "support" to "defend" itself against Hamas, and the
House plans to vote Friday morning. Obama has been made no condemnation
of the massacre, nor a call for an immediate ceasefire.
"We must push Obama to show moral leadership and truly be the peace
president the American people elected," Benjamin said.
The white rose plea to Obama to speak out harkens back to the White
Rose Society - the World War II non-violent resistance group in Germany
- a tiny band of college students and their professor adopted the motto
"We will not be silent" and exposed what they saw and knew was
happening around them.
Following the press conference, the women will gather in front of the
White House and march at 1 p.m. to Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill
for a rally from 2 to 4 p.m. The march and rally are organized by the
National Association of Muslim American Women.
CODEPINK is also selling white roses through its Web site here
for people to send to Obama -- in about three hours, 404 people had
purchased these roses. It is also asking its members to contact Obama's
transition team at 1-202-540-3000 (x 2) to ask for an immediate
ceasefire and massive humanitarian aid to the civilians. CODEPINK will
participate in the National March to Stop the U.S./Israeli War on the
Palestinian People on Washington at 1 p.m. Saturday, beginning at the
White House.
For information about the action, please call Medea Benjamin at 415-235-6517.
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.
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