Estee Chandler
Overview
Estee Chandler has expressed support for terrorists, whitewashed anti-Semitism and promoted the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. She has also demonized Israel, defended violent protesters, praised anti-Israel agitators and promoted JVP’s Deadly Exchange campaign.Chandler founded the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) organization’s Los Angeles chapter (JVP LA) in 2010.
Chandler was also filmed assisting the 2018 National SJP Conference.
Chandler has spokenat an Al-Awda rallies, she has worked with the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and has worked with American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and CODEPINK.
In 2017, Chandler ran for a slot as a California State Democratic Committee delegate from the 46th Assembly District, on the Progressive slate.
As of April 2019, Chandler’s Twitter bio said she was the “Host/Producer of Middle East in Focus & Middle EAst Minute+ on KPFK,” since March 2016.
Support for Terrorists
On April 30, 2017, Chandler tweeted: “.@mikopeled will once again raise our ire by telling the truth about the prosecution of the HLF 5 [Holy Land 5]- Don't miss our conversation today 1pm!!”The HLF5 were five individuals associated with the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) indicted for funneling funds to Hamas in the guise of humanitarian aid. The men were were all convicted and sentenced in 2009 to federal prison terms ranging from 15 to 65 years.
On May 23, 2017 JVP-LA posted on Facebook a video of Chandler and other JVP members participating in the “Saltwater challenge.” The post said: “Tonight members of JVP-LA joined the #SaltWaterChallenge in solidarity with 1,500 Palestinian prisoners on their 36th day of hunger strike in Israeli prisons. Help us continue to spread awareness of their struggle and strength!”
On May 14, 2017, Chandler tweeted: “Don't miss @ArabBarghouthi on @MidEastInFocus at 1pm discussing his father Palestinian leader Marwan, hunger strikers & #SaltwaterChallenge.”
Whitewashing Anti-Semitism
Chandler claimed the Regents’ vote would: “definitely put a chilling effect on activism and maybe even further infringe on students’ rights to do pro-Palestinian or Palestinian solidarity activism on campuses.”
In 2015, following a number of high-profile anti-Semitic incidents on UC campuses, the UC Regents “began considering a new [intolerance] policy.”
These incidents included the UC Los Angeles (UCLA) Student Council’s singling out of a Jewish student government nominee for questioning whether her religious affiliation would interfere with her duties on the council and the spray-painting of swastikas on a Jewish fraternity house at UC Davis.
UC Regents rejected “the first draft of a document aimed at curbing anti-Semitism” on UC campuses “in part because it didn’t include the phrase ‘anti-Semitism.’”
In 2016, UC Regents “unanimously” approved “the amended ‘Principles Against intolerance’...which now state ‘Anti-Semitism, anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism and other forms of discrimination have no place at the University of California.’”
Chandler also denied the increased occurrence of anti-Semitic incidents on campuses, labeling it a “false narrative.” Chandler went on to accuse those who raised the issue of “...creating a solution for a problem that does not exist, to get a desired outcome.”
Promoting BDS
In April 2019, Airbnb reportedly reversed this decision and “will continue to list Jewish settler homes” in the West Bank.
On November 21, 2018, Chandler tweeted: “Change is here” and attached a tweet that said: “Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar says she supports the BDS movement for Palestinian human rights. She's the first sitting Congresswoman to do so.”
On September 16, 2018, Chandler tweeted: “.@RepBarragan on my birthday, I will wish that you and other ‘progressive’ withdraw your support of the Unconstitutional Israel Anti-Boycott Act which criminalizes our right to free speech including boycott. Please protect our constitutional rights! @PalestineToday @ISMPalestine.”
On September 7, 2018, Chandler tweeted: “.RepTedLieu Pleased to see your constituents are against your new bill- & your support of stripping Americans Constitutional right to Boycott Israel HR1697, and your failure to prevent our tax $$ from being used to kidnap, detain & abuse Palestinian children HR4391 @US_Campaign.”
On August 31, 2018, Chandler tweeted in response to singer Lana Dal Rey’s decision to cancel her performance in Israel: “Great to see @LanaDelRey this choice!...@jvplive @PalestineToday.”
On January 5, 2018, Chandler tweeted: “With @markkleiman at ICM delivering a 5700+ petition to @chrisrock agent urging Chris to cancel his upcoming concert in Tel Aviv ...@BFW_IL @BDSmovement @jvplive @jvp_la.”
In 2017, Chandler campaigned for an anti-Israel resolution, known as “The IPR: Israel-Palestine Resolution,” with the California Democratic Party. The resolution called for the support of BDS activists and criticized those who would “stigmatize and suppress activism for boycotts and divestment.”
Chandler was a delegate proxy at the California Democratic State Convention, held May 19 through May 21, 2017, where the IPR was approved, without debate.
On May 19, 2017, Chandler tweeted regarding the IPR: “Thanks to all who helped make this happen @jvplive @pal_legal @US_Campaign @PalestineToday @sjp”
A May 22, 2017 JVP press release noted that David Mandel, a leader in a local JVP chapter, was a “primary” author of the IPR.
On June 27, 2016, Chandler tweeted: “I'm Jewish & I want people to boycott Israel too. #StopAB2844.”
California Assembly Bill 2844 proposed the prevention of public contracts with businesses that boycott Israel. The bill was approved by then-Governor of California Jerry Brown, on September 24, 2016.
On August 27, 2014, Chandler spoke at an anti-Israel panel criticizing Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE). During her talk, Chandler claimed: “The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is the Palestinian Gandhi.”
Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
On October 25, 2014, Chandler and JVP LA spoke at a “Boycott HP” rally, in conjunction with Al-Awda. During the protest, Chandler compared Israel to apartheid South Africa and called for an international boycott against Israel.
On February 2, 2014, Chandler tweeted: “#ScarJo chose Team Apartheid. Side with Human Rights and join the #Sodastream boycott!.”
During Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) in 2013, Chandler encouraged [00:01:55]BDS at an event for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of California - Riverside (UCR).
Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) is a re-branding for American audiences of Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), originally presented as “an international series of events that seek to raise awareness of Israel’s settler-colonial project and apartheid system over the Palestinian people” and build support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Demonizing Israel
On Friday, October 16, 2015, Chandler was aspeaker at demonstration organized by Al-Awda and co-sponsored by JVP titled: “SoCal Rally in Solidarity with Palestine- Day of Rage.”
The event’s Facebook page described the demonstration as a protest against “Israel's recent killings of Palestinian youth” and urged: “Our youth are giving their lives to our just cause, the least we can do is make the time to come out and support their steadfastness.”
In October 2015, there was an upsurge in violence across Israel incited by Palestinian political and religious leaders. The wave of stabbings, known as the “Knife Intifada,” was characterized by young Palestinians throughout the country stabbing and attempting to stab Israeli civilians.
On April 14, 2015, Chandler was a guest speaker for Palestine Awareness Week (PAW) hosted by California State University Long Beach (CSULB) SJP.
Speaking at PAW at CSULB, as a representative of JVP, Chandler reportedly claimed: “anti-Zionism is only a response to the racism and ethnic cleansing that comes out of Zionism.”
On August 18, 2014, Chandler and JVP LA led a team of activists with AMP, CODEPINK and Friends of Sabeel in protesting U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s support of Israel during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July of 2014. Chandler was arrested along with 12 other protestors, after refusing to leave Feinstein’s office.
During the protest, Chandler declared: "So today we came to tell them in person, and to deliver a letter demanding that they actually take action and not just revert back to the status quo which of course will end in continued occupation, continued siege on Gaza, continuing disproportionate deaths of Palestinians, and we want to break that status quo."
Israel commenced OPE in July 2014 to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
On August 20, 2014, after the protest at Senator Feinstein’s office, Chandler authored an article for the anti-Israel publication Mondoweiss. Chandler accused Israeli society of being “similar to the structural inequality of the Jim Crow South in America” and labeling Israel the “longest military occupation in modern history.”
Chandler also protested Israel’s “horrors” and “violence against civilians” and “ killing of innocent civilians” during OPE.
Throughout the summer of 2014 — during Operation Protective Edge (OPE) — Hamas's deployment of human shields was extensively documented and publicized. Hamas encouraged Gazans to act as human shields to frustrate Israeli efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza.
On January 21, 2012, Chandler was featured in a Youtube video, where she accused [00:05:00] Israel of committing “human right abuses,” including [00:04:42] “arbitrary arrests” and [00:04:45] “torture.”
Defending Violent Protesters
On May 14, 2018, Chandler tweeted: “Dozens are not dying, unarmed protesters are being murdered for seeking human rights, liberation and equality.”On May 16, 2018, a Hamas senior official, Salah al-Bardawil, stated that 50 out of 62 protesters killed during the May 14 Gaza border protest were Hamas operatives. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) also claimed that three of its members were killed at the same protest.
JVP’s tweet also featured a poster with the words: “Popular protests for freedom should not be met with the killing and maiming of protestors.”
Praising Anti-Israel Agitators
Anti-Israel agitator Issa Amro is known for vandalism and attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. Amro heads the Youth Against Settlements (YAS) movement, an anti-Israel organization based in Hebron that promotes anti-Semitism, rock-throwing and violence against Israelis.
On March 24, 2019, Chandler tweeted a photo of herself with US Representative Ilhan Omar and wrote: “It was a great honor to accept Champions of Justice award on behalf of @jvplive at the 4th annual CAIR Valley Banquet last night & a privilege meet the very inspiring @IlhanMN a wonderful role model for Americans.
On October 26, 2018, Chandler promoted Dr. Mads Gilbert on Twitter. Gilbert has been banned indefinitely from entering Gaza through Israel because of his connections to the Hamas leadership.
In 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014 Gilbert was stationed at a hospital that served as a Hamas command center and rocket launching site. During that time he acted as a propagandist for the Hamas government in Gaza.
On October 21, 2014, Chandler co-hosted an event titled: “An Evening with Bassem Tamimi.” The event’s Facebook description said: “Nabi Saleh’s popular resistance movement is let [sic] by the Tamimi Family.”
The village of Nabi Saleh is a Tamimi family stronghold. It is notorious as a place where photographers gather nearly every Friday to document scenes of Palestinian residents and international activists clashing with Israeli soldiers. Much of this is instigated by the Nabi Saleh Tamimi clan.
On October 16, 2014, Chandler promoted an event on Facebook titled: “A Sunday Afternoon Tea With Palestinian Resistance Leader Bassem Tamimi.” The graphic for the event said: “Tamimi advocates grassroots, nonviolent resistance, while emphasizing stone-throwing.”
Bassem Tamimi has exploited young children as political props in staged confrontations with Israeli soldiers. In 2011, he was jailed for organizing violent rallies and inciting minors to commit violent crimes such as rock-throwing.
Tamimi’s United States visa was revoked in 2015, for his failure to disclose his prior arrest and conviction. Prior to the revocation of his U.S. visa, Tamimi delivered a controversial presentation to third-graders in Ithaca, New York. The presentation was geared to foster hatred of Israel and Tamimi concluded by encouraging [00:11:29] the children to become “freedom fighters for Palestine.”
Although romanticized as a form of “popular resistance,” rock throwing remains a deadly form of violence.
In October of 2013, Chandler participated in an anti-Israel delegation to Israel, alongside anti-Israel activist Brant Rosen, where Chandler met with Iyad Burnat.
Iyad Burnat is the coordinator of the Bil’in popular resistance committee, organizing weekly, often violent demonstrations against the Israeli security barrier since 2005. Burnat has repeatedly equated Israel with Hitler and ISIS. He has also claimed that Zionism is a “racist ideology” and accused “Zionists” of controlling American politics.
Promoting the Deadly Exchange Program
On January 20, 2018, Chandler tweeted: “Looking forward to speaking w/ @cwillse on @MidEastInFocus today about the @ADL_National in regards to...their role as a driving force in the @DeadlyExchange of worst practices between American law enforcement & Israeli military @PalestineToday”In 2017, JVP launched the “Deadly Exchange” campaign that accused American Jewish organizations of promoting human rights abuses.
JVP also released a video that blamed [00:04:04] U.S.-based Jewish organizations for violence that occurs against Black and Brown communities, immigrants and activists in the U.S."
The video accused mainstream Jewish organizations in the United States of coordinating exchange programs between American and Israeli security personnel, to advance “worst practices” and “racist policies.”
The campaign page claimed that these “policies” included: “extrajudicial executions, shoot-to-kill policies, police murders, racial profiling, massive spying and surveillance, deportation and detention.”
Assisting the 2018 National SJP Conference
2018 National SJP - Celebrating Violence
Since the early 2000’s, the term “intifada” has carried the connotation of violence. The second intifada was characterized by more than 120 suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians on buses and in cafes.
Anti-Israel activist Omar Zahzah also reportedly [00:00:07] led National SJP attendees in chanting, in Arabic, “With our bodies and our blood, we will free Palestine.”
As of November 2018, the 2018 National SJP website glorified “radical hope and upfront defiance of Zionism,” citing as examples the “early revolts through the Intifadas to the Great Return March.”
The Great Return March of 2018 was organized and funded by the terror group Hamas as a campaign of violent protests along Israel’s border to spotlight the demand of Palestinians to “return” to Israel.
Tens of thousands of rioters gathered on Israel’s Gaza border, attempting numerous breaches of Israel’s border fence, with leaders andparticipants declaring their intention to harm Jews.
National SJP originally promoted a conference logo featuring a keffiyeh-wearing bear, looking toward a kite bearing the colors of the Palestinian flag.
On October 27, 2018, National SJP said the kite signified “the power in the Gaza March of Return.”
Since March 2018, March of Return participants and Hamas’s “Kite Unit” have sent hundreds of kites bearing incendiary devices and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) across the border into Israel to terrorize Israelis. The kites are often marked with swastikas.
By the time National SJP produced its 2018 conference logo highlighting the kites in October 2018, Gazan terror kites and balloons had ignited more than 1,300 fires in Israel, over seven months.
2018 National SJP - Undermining U.S. Support for Israel
On November 18, 2018, the US Palestine Community Network (USPCN) posted on Facebook the 2018 National SJP keynote speech by Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN’s co-founder.Abudayyeh has supported [00:08:45] convicted terrorists, praised terror organizations, called for Israel’s destruction and is an activist in theBoycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In his 2018 National SJP Keynote, Abudayyeh said [00:53:01] that the “specific role” of Palestinian and Arab students was to organize [00:53:42] in order to weaken “Zionist Israel” and force [00:54:23] the U.S. to “no longer provide it with diplomatic, political, financial and military cover and support.”
Abudayyeh predicted [00:55:37] that once U.S. support to Israel ends, National SJP attendees would return to Palestine as “conquering heroes,” end [00:54:38] the “occupation and colonization of all Arab lands including the Golan Heights” and replace “Zionist Israel” with a Palestinian state.
2018 National SJP - Whitewashing Terror Organizations
During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh also painted [00:14:01] terrorist organizations as “liberation movements” and “resistance organizations,” stating [00:14:21] “what we also know is that the majority of the resistance organizations in Palestine are on the U.S. state department list of foreign terrorist organizations.”Abudayyeh also celebrated [00:52:00] that all of the “armed resistance” organizations in Gaza are part [00:52:14] of a “unified resistance in Gaza, that includes all of the resistance organizations, working together under a unified military command.”
2018 National SJP - Defending Terrorist Rasmea Odeh
During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh claimed [00:08:28] that pro-Israel organizations “go after students like you,” adding [00:08:20] “just like they went after my friend and colleague, Rasmea Odeh.”2018 National SJP - Demonizing Israel and Jews
During his keynote speech, Abudayyeh defended [00:27:25] the “Irvine 11” — eleven Muslim Student Union (MSA) members who were arrested in 2010 for repeatedly shouting down former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren during an address at the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine).Abudayyeh referred [00:27:37] to Oren as a “racist fascist speaker, representative of a racist, fascist country.”
Abudayyeh went on to claim [00:29:48] that “today, even in the United States, Israel is finally being seen as the criminal, apartheid, racist state that it is.”
Abudayyeh also called for increased action in the face of President U.S. Donald Trump, and referred [00:48:41] to Jared Kushner, Trump’s Jewish son-in-law and senior advisor, as “that pig son-in-law of his.”
2018 National SJP - Excluding Students
The 2018 National SJP Conference welcomed only students who were verified and vouched for by an SJP (or otherwise named campus Palestine solidarity group). Media requests needed to be “approved by the NSJP press team” prior to the conference.A November 7, 2018 Columbus Jewish News article reported that the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on UCLA to cancel the 2018 NSJP conference, stating that a “public university should not allow any group to implement a litmus test for event participation on their campus.”
On November 12, 2018, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that criticized National SJP’s exclusion of members of pro-Israel student groups.
JVP
JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.
JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).
Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.”
JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish values.”
The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”
BDS
The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true.
One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”
Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”
In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”
The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.
BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.
The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.
Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.
BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.
SJP
SJP is a student organization engaged in anti-Israel activity on North American college and university campuses.
The first chapter of SJP was founded in 2001 at the University of California at Berkeley by Professor Hatem Bazian. Bazian has spread classic anti-Semitism, reportedly promoted religious anti-Semitism and defended the Hamas terror group. In 2004, Bazian called for “intifada” in America.
SJP organizes anti-Israel campaigns, including running annual Israel Apartheid Weeks, often in collaboration with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Muslim Students Association (MSA) campus chapters.
SJP has been a major force in pushing the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on campuses. Chapters have initiated dozens of BDS resolutions in student governments, which have been proposed on or around Jewish holidays, a time when many Jewish students are off-campus.
SJP activists have reportedly physically assaulted, intimidated and harassed Jewish students, disrupted pro-Israel campus events and demonized pro-Israel campus organizations.
Chapters have often endorsed and campaigned for numerous terrorists and whitewashed terrorism.
CAIR
CAIR describes itself as a “grassroots civil rights and advocacy group” and “America's largest Muslim civil liberties organization, with regional offices nationwide.” Its official mission is “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.”
CAIR reportedly has “significant ties” to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Hamas. A number of former CAIR employees have been convicted on fraud and terrorism-related charges that resulted monetary fines, jail terms and, sometimes, deportation.
CAIR was founded in 1994 and opened its first office in Washington, DC, with the help of a $5,000 donation from the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), a charity founded by Mousa Abu Marzook.
Marzook, who was listed as a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1995, is reportedly a senior member of Hamas.
In May 2007, CAIR was listed as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a U.S.-filed action against the HLF for providing funds to Hamas.
CAIR was also listed as a terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates, in 2014.
AMP
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) was founded by UC Berkeley Professor Hatem Bazian as a vehicle to generate mainstream support in the United States for the Palestinian national cause.
On its website, the organization lists Bazian as the chairman of its national board and describes itself as “a national education and grassroots-based organization, dedicated to educating the American public about Palestine and its rich cultural, historical and religious heritage.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused AMP of promoting “extreme anti-Israel views and has at times provided a platform for anti-Semitism under the guise of educating Americans” about Palestinians. The ADL further stated that AMP is directly involved in campus-based anti-Israel activity through Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Prior to founding the AMP in 2006, Dr. Bazian created SJP together with fellow UC Berkeley Professor Snehal Shingavi in 2001. The close working relationship between AMP and SJP has been documented several times over the years by several organizations, including NGO Monitor and StandWithUs.
In addition to providing financial, public relations and legal assistance to SJP, AMP has also been accused of having connections to Hamas. The AMP national board includes former members of both the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP) and Holy Land Foundation (HLF), both of which were found liable for aiding and abetting Hamas. The IAP was founded by Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook, a senior member of Hamas.
Code Pink
CODEPINK is a U.S.-based activist group founded in 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and other activists to oppose the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The group actively opposes “U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine” and has been criticized for maintaining close ties to Hamas. CODEPINK also promotes the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.
CODEPINK has led a number of solidarity delegations to Gaza under Hamas protection. In March 2014, CODEPINK also helped organize an “International Women's Day” delegation to Gaza. However, upon arriving at the Cairo airport on March 3, 2014, Benjamin was detained by Egyptian authorities and refused entry into Gaza. She was then forcibly deported to Turkey.
CODEPINKBDS campaigns have targeted RE/MAX, Ahava, SodaStream, Hewlett Packard and Airbnb. On November 20, 2016, CODEPINK leader Ariel Gold disrupted a speech given by the actor Ashton Kutcher, an Airbnb investor who defended the company. Gold was escorted off the stage by security.
In September 2008, a number of CODEPINK leaders met with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a notorious anti-Semite and Holocaust denier. CODEPINK reportedly initiated its anti-Israel campaign followeding meeting. In November 2008, Jodie Evans and a CODEPINK contingent visited Iran at the personal invitation of Ahmadinejad.
As the North American branch of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center (Sabeel), FOSNA works to convince Christian churches of their spiritual duty to divest from Israel by teaching “Liberation theology,” which fuses Christian religious teachings with Palestinian national ideology.
The group has numerous branches and offers “witness trips” to the West Bank, as well as advocacy training.
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