CODEPINK
peace activist Rae Abileah injured and hospitalized.
Police arrested CODEPINK peace activist Rae Abileah at the George Washington
University Hospital in Washington DC. Abileah was taken to the hospital
after having been assaulted and tackled to the ground by AIPAC members
of the audience in the House Gallery during Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu's
speech to Congress.
Abileah interrupted Netanyahu with a banner that said “Occupying Land
Is Indefensible” and shouting, “No more occupation, stop Israel war crimes,
equal rights for Palestinians, occupation is indefensible.” She rose up
to speak out just after the Prime Minister talked about the youth around
the world rising up for more democracy.
As this 28-year-old Jewish American woman spoke out for the human rights
of Palestinians, other members of the audience—wearing badges from the
conference of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee—brutally attacked
her. The police then dragged her out of the Gallery and took her to the
George Washington University Hospital, where she was being treating for
neck and shoulder injuries.
“I am in great pain, but this is nothing compared to the pain and
suffering that Palestinians go through on a regular basis,” said Abileah
from her hospital bed. “I have been to Gaza and the West Bank, I have
seen Palestinians homes bombed and bulldozed, I have talked to mothers
whose children have been killed during the invasion of Gaza, I have seen
the Jewish-only roads leading to ever-expanding settlements in the West
Bank. This kind of colonial occupation cannot continue. As a Jew and a
U.S. citizen, I feel obligated to rise up and speak out against stop these
crimes being committed in my name and with my tax dollars.”
Abileah explained that she stands in solidarity with the Palestinian
and Israeli activists who are routinely jailed and beaten for speaking
out for democracy.
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