September, 25 2019, 12:00am EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jodie Evans, CODEPINK co-founder, heartofj@gmail.com, 310 621-5635
Rose Assaf, CODEPINK NYC coordinator, rose@codepink.org, 702 281-3275
Activists Disrupt US and Israeli Officials at NYC Event Calling for War with Iran
At the United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) summit taking place on the margins of this week's United Nations meetings, anti-war activists disrupted numerous speakers today--including the Treasury Department's Sigal Mandelker, who runs the Trump administration's campaign of maximum pressure on Iran, and Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer.
WASHINGTON
At the United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) summit taking place on the margins of this week's United Nations meetings, anti-war activists disrupted numerous speakers today--including the Treasury Department's Sigal Mandelker, who runs the Trump administration's campaign of maximum pressure on Iran, and Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer.
As Sigal Mandelker was speaking, Dylan Awalt-Conley of Democratic Socialists of America stood up and shouted, "Sanctions are an act of war. You're preventing food and medicine from getting in." Jodie Evans of CODEPINK walked up to the stage holding a large pink cloth banner reading "Peace with Iran." "You are killing people in Iran; you're denying them medicine," she said from the stage before being forcefully removed from the room.
Evans, citing the reasons she decided to protest Mandelker, said, "Sanctions as economic warfare are having a devastating effect on the Iranian people, preventing access to humanitarian supplies, including medicine," said Evans. "Sigal Mandelker, as the Trump administration official who oversees and imposes the sanctions on Iran, is personally responsible for suffering and death happening right now because of the sanctions. The provocations she is in charge of could easily, either intentionally or by mistake, lead to an all-out war. The US already has the blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of American soldiers on its hands and now the Trump administration is picking a fight that could even more devastating than the Iraq war."
UANI is a right-wing organization that has been lobbying against the Iran nuclear deal and has ties with the extremist group MEK, which was on the US terrorist list until 2012. Representatives of the MEK, a group hated inside Iran, were invited to this UANI conference.
Video of Mandelker disruption tweeted by Jodie Evans:
https://twitter.com/MsJodieEvans/status/1176892302108909568?s=20
On Monday, the Trump administration announced the deployment of 200 US troops to Saudi Arabia and new sanctions, including on the Central Bank of Iran. Iranians were already suffering from the brutal sanctions even before the announcement of the additional sanctions on Monday. Trump bragged that the new sanctions would be the "highest sanctions ever imposed on a country," and that the penalties would go "right to the top" of the Iranian government. But what the sanctions really hit are medicines and other humanitarian supplies. This is because it is the Central Bank of Iran that allocates the nation's limited foreign reserves to Iranian banks involved in humanitarian trade. Without this, Iranian importers don't have the currency to pay for humanitarian goods.
Though Trump and Pompeo--who also spoke at the UANFI summit today--are the public faces of the US's "maximum pressure" campaign Iran, it's Mandelker who pulls the actual levers of the sanctions. In 2008, while Mandelker served in Bush's Department of Justice, she approved the notorious deal that allowed the wealthy child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to escape federal prosecution.
While Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer spoke, activist Ben Zinevich walked onto the stage with a sign reading "Peace with Iran."Israel opposed the Iran deal in 2015, campaigned for the US to leave the deal, and has for many years been pushing for the US to go to war with Iran. Demer during his talk said Iran is selling weapons to terrorists rather than feeding their people, admitting that the sanctions are not about nuclear weapons but Iran being able to sell its oil.
"The Israeli government's constant war baiting in the region has only aided the US in warping policy away from true peace in the region, said Ben Zinevich. Supported by the US and Gulf states, Israel seeks the upheaval of Iran as it stands in direct defiance of US-Israeli imperialism in the region. As everyday Iranians wish, we must call for an end to sanctions, and a dialogue of peace going forward."
Pauline Salotti of CODEPINK also disrupted Dermer. She stood up while Dermer was speaking and said: "sanctions kill innocent people! You should stop killing people! Who are we kidding here? This is not about Nuclear, it's about dropping the US dollar! It happened to every country before. What happened to Syria, what happened to Iraq? let's not kid ourselves."
Video of Dermer disruption on tweeted from CODEPINK:
https://twitter.com/codepink/status/1176869132886786048?s=20
Anti-war protestors also held a protest on the sidewalk outside of the event. The groups involved in the disruption and protest included CODEPINK, World Can't Wait, Peace Action NY, War Resister League, and Brooklyn for Peace.
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.
(818) 275-7232LATEST NEWS
UN Chief Urges 'Maximum Restraint' as India-Pakistan Tensions Flare After Kashmir Massacre
"Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement," said a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
Apr 24, 2025
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday led calls for India and Pakistan to "exercise maximum restraint" as the nuclear-armed neighbors took tit-for-tat measures against each other in the wake of Tuesday's massacre of 26 people in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan warned India that it was committing an "act of war" by suspending the landmark Indus Waters Treaty, which allows both countries to share the vital river system's flow. Pakistan announced the suspension of trade and closed its airspace to Indian flights. Both countries closed border ports of entry, canceled visas, and took other measures against each other.
India said it was downgrading relations with Pakistan, whom it blamed for supporting "cross-border terrorism" after gunmen killed 25 Indians and one Nepali and wounded at least 17 others at a popular vacation spot in Pahalgam, Kashmir on Tuesday.
"May sanity prevail between both nations."
A front group of the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed mostly tourists.
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif countered that his country's government believes "very strongly" that the attack "was a false flag operation."
Speaking Thursday, Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesperson,
said that "we very much appeal to both the governments of Pakistan and India to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we've seen do not deteriorate any further."
"Any issues between Pakistan and India, we believe can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement," he added.
Progressives from both sides of the border echoed calls for restraint.
"We, the people of Kashmir, have already suffered so much over the years—and now, more than ever, we want peace to prevail in our homeland," Kashmiri social activist Jasib Shabir Bhat said on social media Wednesday. "We stand united for peace, for humanity, and for a better future for all."
Pakistani authori and activist Ehtesham Hassan wrote that "as a Pakistani who visited India and received immense love, I am devastated by the news from Pahalgam."
"I wish peace for the common people of India and Pakistan regardless of religion," Hassan added. "May sanity prevail between both nations."
Keep ReadingShow Less
In 'Victory for the People,' Judge Blocks Parts of Trump's Attack on Voting Rights
"The president's attempted takeover of federal elections is a blatant overreach to seize power that doesn't belong to him," said lawyers for one coalition challenging the executive order.
Apr 24, 2025
Voting rights advocates on Thursday welcomed a federal judge's move to block some of U.S. President Donald Trump's "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections" executive order, which critics called an "authoritarian power grab."
The temporary decision stems from a trio of legal challenges to Trump's March order: one from groups including the League of United Latin American Citizens; another from the Democratic National Committee and other party entities; and a third from organizations including the League of Women Voters (LWV) Education Fund.
Plaintiff coalitions "contend that under our Constitution and the relevant law, the president has no role in regulating federal elections," explained U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton.
"Their motions do not call upon the court to decide whether the president's executive order reflects good policy choices or even whether the policies it describes would be legal if implemented," she wrote. "Rather, this court's task is to decide whether the president can dictate those policies unilaterally, or whether that power is reserved to Congress and the states alone."
"The many defendants in these consolidated cases—federal officers and agencies—say little about that question," the Washington, D.C.-based judge noted. "They have offered almost no defense of the president's order on the merits. Instead, they argue that these suits have been brought by the wrong plaintiffs at the wrong time."
Kollar-Kotelly granted a preliminary injunction to pause provisions including the addition of a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form. However, she declined to halt Trump's restrictions on voting by mail or his directive to the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Government Efficiency to review state voter lists.
"President Trump's attempt to impose a documentary proof of citizenship requirement on the federal voter registration form is an unconstitutional abuse of power," said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, in a Thursday statement. "If implemented, it would place serious and unnecessary burdens on everyday Americans and strain already overburdened election officials."
"This executive order is part of a broader attack on our democratic elections by promoting baseless nativist conspiracy theories," she continued. "Today, the court blocked a key strategy of this attack. And we will keep fighting to ensure every eligible voter can make their voice heard without interference or intimidation."
The national and D.C. arms of the ACLU are among the legal groups representing the LWV coalition. In a joint statement, the lawyers said:
The court's decision today provides crucial protections for eligible voters, and the organizations that help them register to vote, while the fight continues against this illegal executive order. Millions of U.S. citizens lack easy access to a passport or other documents proving citizenship, and that shouldn't interfere with their ability to register to vote.
The president's attempted takeover of federal elections is a blatant overreach to seize power that doesn't belong to him. Under the Constitution, that power belongs to the U.S. Congress and states. The president lacks authority to rewrite the country's election rules on his own by weaponizing an independent, bipartisan commission to harm eligible voters. The order should ultimately be struck down.
Our clients are conducting voter registration using the federal form on an ongoing basis, including for elections scheduled for this summer and fall. Not only would our clients be harmed by the mandate to include this unnecessary and cumbersome requirement but the voters they serve would be too.
Other voting rights advocates also welcomed the development. Common Cause president and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said in a statement that "today is a victory for the people in the ongoing fight to protect voting rights. We said in March that presidents don't set election law, and now a district judge has reaffirmed that fact."
"While today is a victory for the people, we know it is not the last battle in the fight for the ballot," she added. "Common Cause and our members will continue to protect the vote, whether attacks come from a president, Congress, or in the states. Voting is a right for the many, and we will fight for as long as we need to ensure it."
The Associated Pressreported Thursday that "other lawsuits against Trump's order are still pending. In early April, 19 Democratic attorneys general asked the court to reject Trump's executive order. Washington and Oregon, which both hold all-mail elections, followed with their own lawsuit against the order."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Workers in 600+ US Cities to Protest 'Billionaire Takeover' on May Day
"Billionaires are attacking unions and immigrants because they fear our collective power. But we're not afraid."
Apr 24, 2025
As labor unions and rights advocacy groups announced a mass mobilization planned for May 1, or May Day, one leader said the protests aim to "send a loud and clear message" to U.S. President Donald Trump, his adviser Elon Musk, "and the rest of the billionaire oligarchs trying to destroy our democracy."
"There will be no business as usual while they are disappearing people off the street, slashing critical services, and taking away our freedoms," said Saqib Bhatti, executive director of Bargaining for the Common Good. "They're causing a crisis in our communities. We're going to bring that crisis directly to their doorsteps."
The protests will take place in over 600 cities in all 50 states, said organizers, with advocates demanding an end to Trump's "billionaire agenda"—one characterized by plans to slash Head Start, Medicaid, and Social Security in order to secure $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the richest Americans.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who Trump named to lead his Department of Government Efficiency, has provoked nationwide outrage with his cuts to more than 280,000 federal jobs, while the president's push to root out pro-Palestinian advocacy—which his administration has explicitly conflated with antisemitism and support for terrorism—has resulted in the arrests of several student organizers.
The president's deal with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, under which he has expelled hundreds of migrants—many of whom had no criminal records—to a notorious prison, has also garnered outrage among Americans and human rights groups.
"Our communities are mobilizing for May Day because we want a world where it's workers, students, immigrants, and working-class communities who thrive."
"Billionaires are attacking unions and immigrants because they fear our collective power. But we're not afraid," said Jade Kelly, president of Communication Workers of America (CWA) 7799, a coalition of unions in Colorado. "Our labor movement is building something stronger than fear. May Day isn't a holiday, it's a call to action for workers across the world. Across the nation, we're reclaiming May Day in the spirit it was born, in solidarity with immigrants, in defense of all working people who make our schools run, our hospitals heal, our trains move, and our cities thrive."
The May Day protests will call for:
- An end to the billionaire takeover and corruption under the Trump administration;
- Full funding for public schools, healthcare, and housing for all;
- Protection and expansion of Medicaid, Social Security, and other critical social programs;
- An immediate halt to attacks on immigrants, Black, Indigenous, trans, and other targeted communities; and
- Union protections, fair wages, and dignity for all workers.
Rallies are planned in New York, the District of Columbia, Chicago, and Atlanta, among other cities.
Loan Tran, co-director of Rising Majority, said Trump and the billionaires who will benefit from his policies want Americans "to abandon our neighbors in favor of a future where only the ultra wealthy and political elites profit."
"Our communities are mobilizing for May Day because we want a world where it's workers, students, immigrants, and working-class communities who thrive; and a democracy where activists like Mahmoud Khalil can exercise their free speech while advocating for a cease-fire in Gaza or demanding that our government invest in housing, education, and healthcare for all instead of weapons and bombs," said Tran.
"On May Day," Tran added, "these attacks will be met with our people power, and we will fight for a real democracy in the U.S. that prioritizes the well-being of all people and the planet."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular