Israeli settler violence against Palestinians escalated in 2022 with West Bank settlers on the rampage, defiling mosques, vandalizing shops and assaulting Palestinians in Hebron and other Palestinian cities. Instead of stopping the settlers, the Israeli military turned on Palestinians, adding to the year’s death toll: 150 Palestinians killed, 33 of them children. Meanwhile, the most racist Israeli government returns to power with former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu – under criminal indictment – set to serve his sixth term. This new ultra-nationalist government stands in explicit – no longer implicit – opposition to a Palestinian state and threatens to strip the courts of their power.

US Secretary of State Blinken insists the US commitment to apartheid Israel is ironclad, despite whispers last month that the Biden administration might refuse to meet with some of the most reactionary members of the new Israeli government. 

Join us as we detail the situation on the ground in Palestine and examine US congressional and grassroots efforts to end US complicity in Israeli crimes. 

Featuring

Mazin Qumsiyeh is an activist, environmentalist and author. He is founder and director of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) at Bethlehem University. He served on the faculties of the University of Tennessee, Duke University and the Yale University, and now researches and teaches at Bethlehem university. He is the author of hundreds of articles and several books including Sharing the Land of Canaan and Popular Resistance in Palestine.

Anat Biletzki is a professor of philosophy at Quinnipiac and past professor at Tel Aviv University. She is a steering committee member of FISP – The International Federation of Philosophical Societies. She also serves as Vice-Chair of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, and is co-founder and co-director of the Program for Human Rights and Technology at MIT. Born in Jerusalem, she was Chair of the Board of B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights NGO, from 2001 to 2006, having served as a B'Tselem Board member for several years before. Her most recent book is Philosophy of Human Rights: A Systematic Introduction (2019).

Take Action!

Host a Living Room Movie Chat with Medea Benjamin's video presentation of her new book “War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict,” co-authored with Nicolas J.S. Davies. You can also view a how-to guide with an event script and questions to help you get started!

Google Group & Local Leaders

Join our CODEPINK Congress Google Group, a space for sharing events and actions. Request to be added here!

Become a CODEPINK Congress liaison in your district to mobilize support for demilitarization and progressive foreign policy! Sign up here as a volunteer organizer.

P.S. Our co-founder Medea Benjamin is currently on a book tour to talk about her latest release, War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, co-authored with Nicolas Davies. If you are interested in bringing Medea to your community, in attending upcoming events in your area, or in ordering the book, click here for more info!  

Finally, if you missed our last meeting, you can view it here on YouTube. View the entire CODEPINK Congress archives here.

Onward toward peace and justice,
Medea, Marcy, Hanieh, Maha, and the entire CODEPINK team