CODEPINK and Human Rights Activists to Protest Netanyahu Outside White House During His Visit with President Obama

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 29, 2014


Contact: Alli McCracken, CODEPINK National Coordinator, 860 575 5692, alli@codepink.org


CODEPINK and Human Rights Activists to Protest Netanyahu Outside White House During His Visit with President Obama


When: Wednesday, October 1 at noon

Where: The White House (1600 Pennsylvania Ave)

Visuals: Giant Netanyahu bobblehead, large banners


Washington, DC –– CODEPINK and other activists will hold a protest outside of the White House during Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with President Obama at noon on Wednesday, October 1. Activists are calling for an end to unconditional US aid to Israel that is being used to deprive Gaza residents of basic freedoms, occupy and colonize the West Bank, and cause regional instability.  They also demand that Netanyahu be held accountable by the international community for the deaths of 2,000+ Palestinians  during the latest round of violence between Gaza and Israel. At the White House, activists will display large banners, introduce a Netanyahu impersonator, and read out loud a list of truce violations by Israel.


“Since the agreement on a truce on Aug. 26, Israel has violated the terms on an almost daily basis, shooting at fishermen for merely trying to fish six miles out in their own harbor and at farmers for being on their own land by the border,” says Pam Bailey, a freelance journalist and co-founder of a nonprofit called New Generations for Palestinian Children and Youth. “Life in Gaza is worse in so many ways than it was before the assault, and as governments begin to think about reconstruction, they must remember that basic human rights are just as critical.”  Bailey has been keeping a “tracker” of every violation, and will read out loud many of Israel’s truce violations at the protest.


Iman Hadieh, a young Palestinian activist and one of the protest organizers, adds, “I will be protesting President Obama meeting with Netanyahu because it’s my duty as a patriot of the United States and as a citizen of this planet. To be on the right side of humanity is to stand in the face of what is unjust, immoral and even evil. I come to fly in the face of Netanyahu and to charge him with dehumanization and with murder. I would come to the White House Wednesday even if I weren’t Palestinian and especially to the White House because they don’t want us there.”


Activists are available for interviews.


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