CODEPINK Women in Gaza, global support network grows

CODEPINK from Gaza on War’s aftermath, women of peace who prevail

April 4th, 2009

WHUS Radio’s Emily Corwin and Dori Smith produced Pacifica’s Sprouts for March 26, 2009
Listen to the program here

CODEPINK, Women for Peace delegation to Gaza put pressure on Israel to end blockade. A partial victory after President Obama joins his voice to theirs on getting food into starving survivors of war.

Codepink blog re Gaza here Press coverage here
and here
as well as our previous interviews with Medea Benjamin here and there is a lot more on their web page www.codepinkalert.org

Produced by Dori Smith, WHUS, FM 91.7 at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT

Download in various formats suitable for broadcast via conventional radio station, LPFM, podcasting, or other here.

Hosted by Emily Corwin of WHUS, The Thought Spot
Left KU Channel
Thursday, March 26, 2009 3PM EST
TRT: 29:21 music fades 7 sec.

Download as broadcast quality .mp3 here

We follow the delegation’s journey to Gaza through Cairo and the Rafah crossing. Finally, the 20 month long blockade is partially ended but not before hundreds have lost their lives and thousands have been wounded.

Included in this week’s program are:

-UN Special Rapporteur to Gaza, Richard Falk
-MidEast expert Phyllis Bennis of IPS, the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C.
-CODEPINK and Women For Peace: USM Col Retired Ann Wright, Pam Rasmussen, Medea Benjamin, and Gael Murphy, in Cairo, Al Arish, Egypt, and Gaza
-Clip from Democracy Now, writer Alice Walker in Gaza.
-Jordan Elgrably, Director of the Levantine Cultural Center in L.A. California, an evening benefiting women in Gaza, 3-4-09
-Don Bustany, KPFK, Middle East in Focus, his interview with actor Eric Roberts, seen in Dark Knight, The Pope of Greenwich Village, and many other TV programs and films.
-Singer Annie Lennox, clip of her speech at London demonstration protesting Gaza War
-Nile Alwardini, at the Levantine Cultural Center to Don Bustany, Middle East in Focus
-clip-Ran Yaron, Director of PHR Israel’s Occupied Territories Department

Seventy percent of 1,455 reported killed in the Gaza War were civilians, 40 percent of them were women and children. The blockade went on for more than 20 months. But in the end Israeli leaders blinked, giving in to growing pressure from CODEPINK, Hollywood stars and peace activists all over the world. They have allowed food aid into Gaza. But not until US President Barack Obama apparently heard the call you heard CODEPINK’s Medea Benjamin make at the start of the show, President Obama finally joining his voice with others complaining that Israel would not even allow vital food, the World Food Program’s chickpeas, for example, into Gaza. Chickpeas are a Palestinian food staple, used in hummus.

On March 23, 2009, Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, informed Washington and Brussels that all types of food will now be allowed into the Gaza Strip. (Haaretz Newspaper, Israel, 3-23-09)

On the same day Physicians for Human Rights Israel announced the release of a major new report charging the Israeli military with violations of medical ethics. The group cites the Israeli army for killing 16 medical workers and wounding 25 while they performed medical duties. The army also hit 34 medical facilities, eight hospitals and 26 primary care clinics. The report is sure to cause a stir in Israel where Israel Defense Force soldiers have been admitting they were ordered to shoot unarmed civilians, even children.

This week’s Sprouts edition is produced in Storrs, CT featuring music from Michelle Schocked, Annie Lennox, Naser Musa, and Fritz Heede

Sprouts is a weekly program that features local radio production and stories from many radio stations and local media groups around the world. It is produced in collaboration with community radio stations and independent producers across the country. The program is coordinated and distributed by Pacifica Radio and offered free of charge to all radio stations. For information, or if you would like to feature your work on Sprouts, contact Ursula Ruedenberg at ursula@pacifica.org

Don't miss this interview on Democracy Now with Alice Walker.

Photos of delegates handing out gift baskets in Gaza, plus, invitation to spend Mother's Day in Washington D.C. with CODEPINK!

CODEPINK's blogs with photos from 60 person delegation to Gaza, especially their link to ReliefWeb on Gaza. Plus this Q&A on Gaza

Codepink Alert
Levantine Cultural Center
Middle East in Focus with Don Bustany