FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 25, 2014

Contact:

Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK Co-founder, 415 235 6517, medea@codepink.org

Alli McCracken, CODEPINK Organizer, 860 575 5692, alli@codepink.org

Activists to Stage Protest Outside of Annual Israel Lobby Conference, Demand an End to AIPAC’s Dangerous Foreign Policies

When: Sunday, March 2, 2014, Press Conference at 2 pm; Protest from 8:30AM-8:30PM

Where: In front of the Historical Society across from the Washington Convention Center on Mt Vernon Place between 8th and 9th St.

Visuals: Giant letters to spell out “NO WAR ON IRAN”, “BOYCOTT Israeli Goods”, mock military checkpoint and Israeli Annexation Wall

Washington, DC–– During the Israel lobby AIPAC’s annual policy conference, CODEPINK and other activists will demonstrate outside as a part of a protest dubbed “Boycott AIPAC,” calling for an end to AIPAC policies that promote war and human rights violations. The name of the protest is a reference to the growing international movement to impose Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) on the state of Israel until it ends the occupation of Palestine, complies with international law, and allows Palestinian refugees the right of return to their homeland. Protesters will have “boycott stations” set up to inform about which products to boycott to support the Palestinian BDS movement.

Themed protests will take place throughout the day to expose AIPAC’s dangerous foreign policy positions. These themes include calls for no war on Iran, an end to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, and an end to billions of US taxpayer dollars every year in military aid to Israel. Activists have been bolstered by the global expansion of the BDS movement and the weakened AIPAC stranglehold over Congress.

AIPAC experienced a serious blow to its clout in early 2014 when legislation it was pushing through Congress to tighten the sanctions on Iran received serious opposition from the administration and ultimately died in the Senate. CODEPINK and other human rights groups organized to oppose the legislation, mobilizing tens of thousands of people to contact their elected officials to let them know that AIPAC’s bill would sabotage the nuclear negotiations underway.

“AIPAC has pushed for US military intervention in Syria and for the ‘military option’ in Iran, but both of these positions are rejected by the American people, who want a foreign policy that focuses on diplomacy,” says CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin. “So it’s time our elected officials show their independence from AIPAC’s belligerent stand.”

The 2pm press conference will include representatives from Students for Justice in Palestine, CODEPINK, Jewish Voice for Peace, and more. Activists will be available for interviews all day.

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