CODEPINK

CODEPINK was founded on November 17, 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and other anti-war activists. The group's name is a play on the United States Department of Homeland Security's color-coded alert system in which Code Red signifies the highest level of danger.

In September 2008, a number of CODEPINK leaders personally met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York City. CODEPINK subsequently launched an aggressive anti-Israel campaign that included open support for Hamas. That November, Jodie Evans and a CODEPINK contingent visited Iran at Ahmadinejad's personal invitation.

In March 2009, CODEPINK led an international delegation of anti-Israel activists to Gaza. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh addressed the activists in Gaza by phone while other Hamas officials addressed them in person.

Hamas protected the demonstrators during their two-day stay in Gaza by tightly controlling CODEPINK’s movements and contacts which included Palestinian homes, local NGO’s and Palestinian refugee camps run by the United Nations. Activists also stayed in a luxurious hotel owned by Hamas.

In 2009 CODEPINK further escalated the intensity of its international campaign to stop the blockade that Egypt and Israel had imposed on Gaza (to prevent the importation of weaponry) after Hamas's 2006 election as the region's dominant political entity.

CODEPINK helped to organize an “International Women's Day” delegation to Gaza in March of 2014. Upon arriving at the Cairo airport on March 3, 2014, however, Benjamin was detained by Egyptian authorities. She was reportedly injured by Egyptian security forces and deported to Turkey. Other members of the international delegation who arrived the next day were also deported. Some members made it into Cairo, although none from the delegation made it to Gaza.

On June 14, 2014 - CODEPINK founder Benjamin posted a photo on Facebook, with the caption: “Foto from last night here in Yemen with Nasser Al-Awlaki, whose son Anwar and grandson Abdulrahman were killed by drones.”

Anwar al-Awlaki was linked to the Fort Hood Shooting and, identified by the U.S. government as involved in senior recruitment and planning for Al Qaeda terrorist operations.

On June 17, 2013, Benjamin and fellow CODEPINK founder Jodie Evans organized a protest in Yemen with Al Qaeda-affiliated group al-Karama. Later that year, the U.S. Treasury Department determined that al-Karama’s founding president, Qatari history professor and human-rights activist Abdul Rahman Omeir al-Naimi, was an Al-Qaeda financier.

CODEPINK's official position is to "stand(s) in solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent activists and human rights advocates working to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law" and to "educate Americans about the realities of Israel's occupation and to change U.S. foreign policy in the region."

CODEPINK divestment campaigns have specifically 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, who later defended Airbnb. Kutcher stated, “I can appreciate that where there is change there will be a fringe case that feels objectified. But this company is about bringing people together and about loving one another.” Gold was escorted off the stage by security.

Prior to the “Gaza Freedom March,” CODEPINK endorsed the “Cairo Declaration to End Israeli Apartheid" that calls for a comprehensive boycott of Israel.

During the march, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin coordinated the organization's stay with the Hamas government. Members stayed in the Commodore, a Hamas-owned five-star hotel in Gaza City.

While Benjamin claimed that the Hamas government had "pledged to ensure our safety" other CODEPINK leaders accused Hamas of hijacking the initiative and imposing prohibitions on the organization's movements around Gaza.

CODEPINK has received financial support from the Benjamin Fund, Global Exchange, the Streisand Foundation, the Threshold Foundation and the Tides Foundation.