Medea Benjamin

Medea Benjamin
Born Susan Benjamin
(1952-09-10) September 10, 1952
Freeport, New York
Residence Washington, D.C.
Nationality United States
Education Tufts University
Columbia University
New School for Social Research
Occupation Political activist, author
Children 2

Medea Benjamin (born Susan Benjamin; September 10, 1952) is an American political activist, best known for co-founding Code Pink and, along with activist and author Kevin Danaher, the fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange. Benjamin was also the Green Party candidate in California in 2000 for the United States Senate. She currently contributes to OpEdNews[1] and The Huffington Post.[2]

In 2003, The Los Angeles Times described her as "one of the high profile leaders" of the peace movement.[3]

Early life

Benjamin grew up in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, a self-described "nice Jewish girl".[4] According to the Capital Research Center, Benjamin received millions of dollars from trust funds which made her a "one-percenter".[5]

During her first year at Tufts University, she renamed herself after the Greek mythological character Medea and joined the Students for a Democratic Society.[6] She then dropped out of school and hitchhiked through Europe and Africa, teaching English classes to earn money.[6] She later returned to the United States and received master's degrees in public health from Columbia University and in economics from The New School.[6] Benjamin worked for ten years as an economist and nutritionist in Latin America and Africa for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the Institute for Food and Development Policy.

From 1979 to 1983, Benjamin lived in Cuba and married the national basketball team coach. She worked for a communist newspaper, initially describing the nation as "heaven". However, after writing a piece about censorship in Cuba, Benjamin was deported.[6] After returning, she met her current husband, Kevin Danaher.[6]

Career

Organizations

Benjamin speaking at a Code Pink rally.

In 1988 with her husband Kevin Danaher and Kirsten Moller, Benjamin co-founded the San Francisco-based Global Exchange, which advocates fair trade alternatives to what she describes as corporate globalization. In 2002, she co-founded the feminist anti-war group Code Pink: Women for Peace, which advocated an end to the Iraq War, the prevention of future wars, and social justice. Benjamin has also been involved with the anti-war organization United for Peace and Justice.

She later went on to create the Occupation Watch Center in Baghdad (IOWC) to monitor the United States military and the war's effect on civilian populations. Through this center she brought U.S. military family members to see the conditions of their children and to speak out against the war in Congress and the United Nations in 2003.[7]

Politics

In 2000, Benjamin ran for the United States Senate on the Green Party ticket from California. She campaigned on such issues as a living wage, education, and universal healthcare; she garnered 3 percent of the vote.[8] Since then she has remained active in the Green Party and has also supported efforts by the Progressive Democrats of America.[9][10] She is a member of the Liberty Tree Board of Advisers.

As of April 2015, she serves on the Green Shadow Cabinet of the United States as "Secretary of State".[11]

Protest actions

Medea Benjamin speaks at a rally during the 2007 State of the Union Address in Washington, D.C.

From 2002 to 2009, Benjamin engaged in numerous protests involving U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; U.S. President George W. Bush; U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, among others. Benjamin engaged in similar protest actions at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and the 2004 Republican National Convention.[12] On December 4, 2007, she was arrested by plainclothes police in Lahore, Pakistan, detained by the ISI for eight hours, and deported after protesting the house arrest of lawyers (including Aitzaz Ahsan).[13][14] In 2009, Benjamin joined the steering committee for the Gaza Freedom March.[15] In February 2012 Benjamin was arrested and deported[16] for illegal entry to Bahrain and participating in an illegal protest.[17]

During 2005–2010, she worked against threats of going to war with Iran, including lobbying Congress, taking Peace Delegations to Iran, and bringing Iranian youth to Congress.

On May 23, 2013, Benjamin heckled President Obama during a major foreign policy speech while he was speaking about closing Guantanamo Bay. Benjamin interrupted a major speech by U.S. President Barack Obama several times regarding United States policy in the War on Terror at the National Defense University on May 23, 2013.[18][19] After Benjamin was removed for her actions, Mr. Obama then went off script. "The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to," he said. "Obviously I do not agree with much of what she said. And obviously she wasn't listening to me and much of what I said. But these are tough issues. And the suggestion that we can gloss over them is wrong."

"If he had indeed made significant policy changes, I wasn't going to say anything," Benjamin told The Daily Beast afterward. "I would have preferred that option, but given that he didn't make those kind of changes I was looking for, I was glad to be given the opportunity to speak out."[20]

On July 21, 2016, Benjamin disrupted Donald J. Trump's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention with a sign that read "Build bridges not walls".[21]

Organization efforts

Labor rights and corporate responsibility

During the 1990s, Benjamin focused her efforts on countering what she believed was unfair trade as promoted by the World Trade Organization. She participated in an anti-sweatshop movement, initiating campaigns against Nike and clothing companies such as the GAP. In 1999 Benjamin helped expose the problem of indentured servitude among garment workers in the United States territory of Saipan (the Marianas Islands), which led to a billion-dollar lawsuit against 17 United States retailers.[22] In 1999, she produced the documentary "Sweating for a T-Shirt" about the sweatshop industry.[23]

During the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in December 1999, Benjamin's organization, Global Exchange, helped organize the 1999 Seattle WTO protests.[24]

In 2000, she helped a campaign to pressure Starbucks to carry fair trade coffee in all their cafes. As a result, in October 2000, Starbucks introduced whole bean Fair Trade Certified coffee at over 2,300 stores.[25]

For 2001, Benjamin focused on California's energy crisis, assisting low-income ratepayers and small businesses. She headed a coalition of consumer, environmental, union and business leaders working for clean and affordable power under public control.[26]

In September 2003, Benjamin was in Cancún, Mexico challenging the policies of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in November, she was in Miami protesting the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) while trying to bring attention to global peace and economic justice movements.[27]

After several fact-finding visits to China, Benjamin co-sponsored with the International Labor Rights Fund an initiative to improve the labor and environmental practices of United States multinationals in China. The ensuring Human Rights Principles for US Businesses in China have been endorsed by major companies such as Cisco, Intel, Reebok, Levi Strauss and Mattel.[28]

Israel/Palestine

In 2006, Benjamin organized humanitarian aid for war refugees in Lebanon and spoke out against Israeli bombing. In 2008 during the Operation Cast Lead Israeli invasion of Gaza, she organized a daily protest at the hotel where President-elect Barack Obama was staying, and then went to Gaza to see the immediate effects of the bombing. She brought humanitarian aid and helped put together six other delegations to Gaza. She was one of the lead organizers of the Gaza Freedom March, where 1,350 people from dozens of countries came together in Cairo to try to march to Gaza. Benjamin criticized the United States government for passing legislation to send Israel $3 billion in aid, lobbied Congress and sailed on the U.S. Flotilla to Gaza in November 2011. Days after Israel launched its Pillar of Defense operation targeting Gaza targets in November 2012, Benjamin led a delegation to deliver medical supplies to the Shifa hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza.[29] She also helps organize a yearly gathering in Washington, D.C., to expose the "negative influence" of the United States lobby group AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee).

Iraq

After the United States invaded Iraq, she created the Occupation Watch Center in Baghdad[27] to monitor the United States military and the war's effect on civilian populations. Through this center she brought Iraqi women to the United States to speak about the occupation, organized delegations of U.S. military family members to see the conditions of their children serving in Iraq, and documented United States abuses, including at Abu Ghraib prison long before the scandal involving it broke in the United States media. She also organized medical aid delegations to Iraq to civilians harmed by the United States military.

She testified in Congress and the United Nations against the Iraq war.

In 2005, she focused on the abuses of United States military contractors such as Halliburton, the goal of which was to expose the awarding of corrupt no-bid contracts to corporations with close ties to the Bush administrations. Along with this, Benjamin also exposed Blackwater Worldwide's illegal activities, including protests at the headquarters of the International Association of War Contractors.[7]

In opposition to indefinite detention in Guantanamo, in 2007, Benjamin organized a delegation of prisoners' family members to Guantanamo Naval Base prison camp in Cuba, demanding its closing.[30] In 2007 as well, she continued to protest weekly outside the Justice Department concerning water boarding and indefinite detention, and called for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. She was arrested many times for protests in Congressional hearings. In 2008, she organized the Valentine's Day Kiss-Ins at military recruiting centers across the country.

On October 31, 2009, Benjamin led a group of Code Pink protestors at a protest aimed at military families queued up for a White House Halloween Party hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.[31] The event raised controversy when a Reuters News photo showing the protesters (dressed as wounded soldiers), including one identified as Medea, were described as "taunting" the children.[32][33]

Drones

In 2009 Benjamin began her efforts to bring attention to the effects of drone warfare, participating in demonstrations at United States bases where drones are piloted and at headquarters of drone manufacturers. On April 28, 2012 in Washington, D.C., she was responsible for organizing the first ever International Drone Summit with lawyers, scientists, academics, and activists to kick off an international campaign to rein in the use of drones in the U.S. and abroad.[34]

On April 30, 2012, Benjamin bemoaned the "innocent civilians murdered" by drone strikes in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, by interrupting a speech on United States counterterrorism strategy given by John Brennan at the Woodrow Wilson Center.[35]

In October 2012 she organized a 34-person delegation to Pakistan to protest U.S. drone warfare. While in Pakistan she allegedly met with drone victims, family members, lawyers, academics, women's groups, and Pakistani leaders, as well as the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan.[36] The delegation made international headlines when they joined a caravan to Waziristan organized by prominent political leader and former Pakistani cricket captain Imran Khan, a staunch opponent of American involvement in Pakistan. (See CNN video,[37] The New York Times,[38] The Washington Post,[39] Al Jazeera,[40] the BBC, and over 100 major news outlet,[41] 09/28 – October 14, 2012). She also organized a public fast in Islamabad in sympathy with alleged drone victims.

In 2012, she authored Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, published by OR Books,[42] and toured the country speaking out against drone warfare.

Other campaigns

As part of Code Pink's mission, Benjamin helped organize many International Women's Day Marches and Mother's Day Calls for Peace, the latter to bring back the original intent of Mother's Day as women mobilizing against war. These included bringing women from war torn countries such as Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan to the U.S. to speak about their experiences. Between 2003 and 2010, Benjamin helped organized anti-war mass mobilizations in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco.

Benjamin organized the campaign Bring Our War Dollars Home,[43] which fought to divert money from the Pentagon into social programs at home.

Support for Cuba and Venezuela

Benjamin has drawn criticism for her support of Hugo Chavez and her attacks on the U.S. embargo of Fidel Castro's Cuba. David Horowitz's FrontPageMag described her as "a long-time Castro acolyte", and wrote:

“ Many of the causes that Ms. Benjamin espouses are Communist in nature. The Washington peace rally at which she spoke last month, for instance, was organized by the Workers World Party, a Communist organization ... In years past, she staunchly opposed United States military aid to those fighting against Communist forces in Central America ... She favors the creation of a government-sponsored universal health care system funded by taxpayer dollars. She exhorts the United States government to lift its trade embargo against Cuba – a nation she notably lauds as a place where people have managed to "thrive despite the odds" against them.[44][45] ”

WTO protest violence

During the anti-globalization movement World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity in Seattle some alleged Benjamin said that anarchists who engaged in property destruction should have been arrested by the police. Benjamin said that the quote was "distorted" and "taken out of context" and said she did not support the tactics of the that group of anarchists.[46]

Anybody But Bush

Benjamin has been criticized by some Greens for her support for "Anybody But Bush" in 2004. Explaining why she supported this movement, she said:

“ ... maybe it's time for the people who voted for Bush in 2000, the people who didn't vote at all in 2000, and yes, people like myself who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000, to admit our mistakes. I'll say mine — I had no idea that George Bush would be such a disastrous president. Had I known then what I know now, and had I lived in a swing state, I would have voted for Gore instead of Ralph Nader.[47] ”

Todd Chretien, a leading member of the International Socialist Organization, responded:

“ Medea Benjamin ... and many other liberal and progressive leaders tell us that a Kerry regime "would be less dangerous" than Bush ... But, even if Kerry is "less dangerous", he will be more capable of wreaking havoc on Iraq, Palestine, Venezuela, abortion, gay rights, civil rights and unions if we sacrifice our political movement to getting behind him ... any movement that ever aims to win, must learn to stand up for itself precisely when it is darkest.[48] ”

Views on United States involvement in Middle East

Benjamin writes in The Huffington Post that the United States never had any "justification for invading Iraq", that there is no "justification for continuing the war in Afghanistan", and that in Pakistan, the United States "drone attacks are only fueling the violence and creating more Osama Bin Ladens". Regarding the killing of bin Laden, she says "Let us not sink into a false sense of triumphalism in the wake of Bin Laden's passing."[49]

Arrest In Egypt

On March 3, 2014, Benjamin was arrested in Egypt. She had flown there en route to participating in a women's conference in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. Upon her arrival at Cairo International Airport, Benjamin was detained by airport police and held overnight, during which time she said she was assaulted by police officers, resulting in a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder. She was later deported to Turkey. Questions arose regarding the role of the United States Embassy in her detention, as embassy spokesman Mofid Deak said that Benjamin left the country following assistance from the embassy, while Code Pink's Alli McCracken said the embassy did not help Benjamin.[50][51]

Awards and accolades

In 2010 she received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.[52] In 2012, she won the Marjorie Kellogg National Peacemaker Award, the Thomas Merton Center Peace Award, and the Peace Foundation Memorial Award "in recognition of her creative leadership on the front lines of the antiwar movement".[53] In 2014, she received the Gandhi Peace Award from Promoting Enduring Peace "to honor her for her unyielding advocacy for social justice of more than 30 years".[54]

Personal life

Benjamin is married to activist Kevin Danaher and has one daughter, Arlen, from her first marriage in Cuba and another daughter, Maya, from her marriage with Danaher. Her daughter Arlen is named after Sandinista revolutionary Arlen Siu, with her daughter once writing "I grew up believing that protest lines and teach-ins were normal family outings ... I was born in Cuba to an Afro-Cuban father and Jewish-American mother, and the fact that I was named for the first woman to die fighting for the Nicaraguan [Sandinista] Revolution gives you an idea of my politically oriented upbringing".[3]

Benjamin lives in Washington, DC.[55]

See also

Books

References

  1. ↑ "Medea Benjamin author page at OpEdNews". OpEdNews. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Medea Benjamin author page at Huffington Post". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Devotion to Life of Political Activism in Family's Blood". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  4. ↑ Garofoli, Joe (October 26, 2002). "S.F. Woman's Relentless March for Peace". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 18, 2013.
  5. ↑ "The 'Responsibility to Protect' Doctrine". Capital Research Center. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "MEDEA BENJAMIN". Discover the Networks. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "US Peace Registry: Individuals". US Peace Memorial. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  8. ↑ Archived November 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Medea Benjamin, Peter Coyote, John Eder, Daniel Ellsberg; et al. (July 23, 2004). "An Open Letter to Progressives: Vote Kerry and Cobb". CommonDreams. Archived from the original on February 15, 2005.
  10. ↑ "Medea Benjamin to Speak at Summit 2005". Progressive Democrats of America. Archived from the original on January 14, 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
  11. ↑ "Green Shadow Cabinet Members". Retrieved 2015-04-07.
  12. ↑ "VIDEO: Maliki Speech Interrupted By War Protester". Think Progress Blog. July 26, 2006.
  13. ↑ "Update: US peace activists released". Common Dreams.org. December 4, 2007. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Pakistani police arrest activists". Khabrein.info. December 5, 2007.
  15. ↑ Gaza protest planned on Cast Lead anniversary 05-12-2009, Andrew Bossone, Al-Masry Al-Youm.
  16. ↑ "Thugs attack police after funeral". Gulf Daily News. February 18, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Rioters on rampage". Gulf Daily News. February 18, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Medea Benjamin v. President Obama". May 24, 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  19. ↑ Brett LoGiurato (May 23, 2013). "Here's The Protester Who Heckled Obama in the Middle of His Big Speech on Terrorism". Business Insider. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Medea Benjamin, the Woman Who Heckled Obama, Is Not Sorry". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  21. ↑ Gupta, Prachi (July 22, 2016). "Meet the 63-Year-Old Woman Who Crashed Donald Trump's Speech at the RNC". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  22. ↑ Amy Goodman (April 3, 2000). "Medea Benjamin Runs for U.S. Senate on Green Party Line". Democracy Now. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  23. ↑ "Sweating for a t-shirt". The Sociology Video Project. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  24. ↑ Bogardus, Keven (September 22, 2004). Venezuela Head Polishes Image With Oil Dollars: President Hugo Chavez takes his case to America's streets. Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  25. ↑ "Starbucks Campaign". Global Exchange. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Medea Benjamin". WIMN's Voices. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  27. 1 2 "Medea Benjamin". Global Exchange. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  28. ↑ "Activist, Green Party Candidate to Speak at Middle East forum on Wednesday". Fresno State News. April 2002. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  29. ↑ "CODEPINK : Support GAZA!". Codepink4peace.org. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  30. ↑ Glantz, Aaron (January 9, 2007). "On Guantanamo Prison Camp's Fifth Birthday, New Pressure to Shut It Down". Common Dreams. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  31. ↑ Code Pink Press Release, accessed 14 Nov 09
  32. ↑ Reuters News Blog
  33. ↑ Big Government
  34. ↑ "Drones Watch". Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  35. ↑ Benjamin, Medea (May 2, 2012). "'Shame on You': Why I interrupted Obama counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan". Archived from the original on July 30, 2012.
  36. ↑ "CODEPINK : CODEPINK Peace Delegation to Pakistan". Codepink4peace.org. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  37. ↑ "CNN Coverage of CODEPINK Stop Drones Delegation in Pakistan". YouTube. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  38. ↑ McDonald, Mark (October 7, 2012). "Western Peace Activists Protest in Pakistan Against Drone Strikes". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  39. ↑ Leiby, Richard (October 7, 2012). "Imran Khan and Codepink blocked from tribal area". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  40. ↑ "Medea Benjamin interviewed on Al Jazeera about CODEPINK Delegation in Pakistan". Drones Watch. October 8, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  41. ↑ "Pakistan Delegation News". Code Pink. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  42. ↑ "NEW Book: Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control". Code Pink. Archived from the original on January 8, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  43. ↑ "Bring Our War $$ Home". Bringourwardollarshome.org. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  44. ↑ Ben Johnson (July 28, 2003). "America's Fifth Column Goes to Iraq". FrontPage Magazine. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  45. ↑ John Perazzo (November 15, 2002). "The Anti-American: Medea Benjamin". FrontPage Magazine. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  46. ↑ Medea Benjamin. "Window-Smashing Hurt Our Cause". ZMag. Archived from the original on May 3, 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
  47. ↑ Medea Benjamin (October 11, 2004). "Bush Can't Admit Mistakes, But We Can". CommonDreams. Archived from the original on July 18, 2005.
  48. ↑ Todd Chretien (July 26, 2004). "Believing in a Green Resistance: A Reply to Norman Solomon & Medea Benjamin". CounterPunch. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  49. ↑ Benjamin, Medea (July 2, 2011). "Osama Bin Laden Is Dead; Let the Peace Begin". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  50. ↑ "U.S. activist, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin held overnight in Egypt jail, claims abuse". CBS News. March 4, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  51. ↑ Kirkpatrick, David D. (March 4, 2014). "U.S. Activist Says Egyptian Police Assaulted Her". The New York Times.
  52. ↑ "Founders & Staff: Medea Benjamin". Code Pink. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  53. ↑ "Medea Benjamin Awarded 2012 Peace Prize". US Peace Memorial. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  54. ↑ "Medea Benjamin to Receive the 2014 Gandhi Peace Award". peacenews.org. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  55. ↑ Jay, Paul (17 February 2014). "Obama Sucked the Steam Out of the Anti-War Movement - Medea Benjamin on Reality Asserts Itself". The Real News Network. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  56. ↑ "Drone Warfare - OR Books". OR Books. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Medea Benjamin.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.