Code Pink is hiring

Code pink is hiring.

You may remember the women-led grassroots initiative from their protests at the Berkeley Marine Recruitment Center, or from their "Mimes for Gaza" campaign.

Code Pink Mimes for Gaza

Code Pink Mimes for Gaza

Code Pink Mimes for Gaza

Because everyone loves a mime.

You might remember their 2 hour hunger strike at the Egyptian consulate. 

You might remember their full -on embracing of open anti-semites.

Ariel Gold, Elleanne Green, Medea Benjamin

Silly, silly Code Pink.

Sometimes Code Pink likes to dress up.
Sometimes they like to, erm, dress down.

Rae Abileah Code Pink

Code Pink is now hiring a "Middle East Campaign Manager", and nothing in the job description requires either silly costumes or public nudity.

From their posting:

CODEPINK is seeking a passionate and hard-working Middle East Campaign Coordinator to strengthen our work on "ending the US-Saudi relationship", and  "ending the US support for other Middle Eastern human rights abusing countries like Egypt and Israel. " The ideal candidate "must be committed to working towards peaceful relations between the US and Iran."

To work for Code Pink, you must overlook the murderous homophobic regime of the Iranian mullahs.  Don't let the bodies hanging from cranes bother you.  Ignore the young women imprisoned for decades for daring to remove the compulsory hijab. Turn your back on the leading state sponsor of terror in the world.

Do it for "justice",  a  glowing sense of self righteousness, and a 401k.

Starting date is flexible. Salary is based on experience.

In which Code Pink loses it. Again

You might remember them from their two hour hunger strike at the San Francisco Egyptian Consulate, or for their tendency to remove their clothing at the slightest provocation.

Rae Abileah of Code Pink

If you want serious discussion you’d best look elsewhere. Given the chance to participate in a cable television discussion, Code Pink's Nancy Kricorian  simply turned tail and fled.  Code Pink might be the best example of how, with  increasingly frequency, the tactics of anti-Israel groups are crossing the line from political activism to serious pathology.

From an email sent to the Code Pink mailing list,  attributed to Comedy Central talk show host Jon Stewart:

February 27, 2013
I like the president, but if he's going to claim the right to kill me with a flying robot, don't I at least deserve to know why?
Last week, we did a segment on The Daily Show about President Obama’s refusal to release the classified memos justifying his use of killer drones. Now, I've always said that I'm a comedian, even after my role in Big Daddy. But this story got me thinking a little more seriously.
Then I got a call from my friend Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CODEPINK. She saw that my correspondent Aasif Mandvi had the memos and wanted us to release them. But ever since he read them, Aasif's been too scared to come out from under his desk. So Medea asked me to join her in demanding that Congress do something. Naturally, I said no. I'm a comedian, not an activist. But then she said I could have one of the giant vaginas she sometimes wears and I said “absolutely.” As a virile man, I'd do anything for a vagina.
So join me in calling on Patrick Leahy – the big, bald-headed Democrat who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee – to get his hands on those drone memos. If he does, he'll be doing a public service. And he can have my vagina.
Yours, 
Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show

Trouble is, Jon had nothing to do with this.

”This letter was absolutely not written by Jon Stewart,” a Comedy Central spokesperson said.

Afterwards, Code Pink activists squealed about the “success” of their little publicity stunt controversy at Facebook

This might very well be a jump the shark moment for Code pink, as they once again lower the bar on both good sense and good taste.  

Do you want to know what Jon Stewart really thinks of Code Pink? This classic from comedy Central might give you a hint

The Divestment Lobby turns its Attention to the United Methodist Conference

Anti-Israel lobbyists, led by Jewish Voice for Peace and the US campaign to end the Occupation have spent thousands on efforts to pressure the United Methodist Church to divest from holdings of companies that do business in Israel.

Andrea Whitmore introduces the key players:

"Sydney Levy of Jewish Voice for Peace is a new friend, Anna Baltzer from the US Campaign is a long-time friend, Rabbi Brant Rosen, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Rae Abileah (the young woman who got assaulted for speaking out at an AIPAC gathering, Bishop Swenson, Rev. Alex Awad (whom many of you know), Daoud Nassar from Tent of Nations near Bethlehem, Frances Remillard representing the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, and United Methodists and others from around the country whose names you wouldn't know ..."

Andrea- Rae was not "assaulted at an AIPAC gathering". Rae deliberately interrupted the US Congress in a much publicized temper tantrum. But Rae Abileah is well known for her near hysterical theatrics. Does she look like a rational voice for peace and tolerance?

Thanks to the Houston press for this photo of Rae Abileah at a local protest:



Andrea continues:
"Yesterday we (UMKR) held a luncheon for voting delegates to let them hear Israeli Jew Dalit Baum explain the cost of the occupation."

Andrea- "Israeli Jew" Dalit Baum has come out publicly calling for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State.

The anti-Israel divestment crew has sent out frantic emails asking for additional funding- having vastly underestimated the cost of propagandizing the United Methodist delegates. The costs of hotels, transportation and food for the anti-Israel team is also escalating. But its all for a good cause- the demonization and destruction of the only democracy in the Middle east. With techniques that might have been cribbed from "Mad Men", the divestment lobbyists are keeping up the pressure.

Stay tuned. The United Methodists will be voting on Divestment very soon.

If you Plant Ice You're Gonna Harvest Wind. Heckling the Hecklers at JVP

On Sunday night Nov 14, a group of pro Israel supporters attended a Jewish Voice for Peace meeting at the South Berkeley Senior Center. The Jewish Voice for Peace meeting was a celebration of a group of 5 activists who had heckled Netanyahu's appearance at the GA in New Orleans, a fact carefully omitted from subsequent JVP incident reports. The group, calling themselves "Young Jewish and Proud" is already inspiring parodies across the web.

Inspired by famed community organizer Saul Alinsky whose 1971 publication Rules for Radicals stresses “the difference between being a realistic radical and a rhetorical one.”, the pro-Israel activists used the meeting as an opportunity to heckle the hecklers- to give them "a taste of their own medicine".
From 'Rules for Radicals"
Rule 3: Whenever possible, go outside the experience of an opponent. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat.
Rule 4: Make opponents live up to their own book of rules.
Rule 5: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack
ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

The activists succeeded. Frequent interruptions made it impossible to continue the meeting, and it was effectively shut down, with many people simply walking out. Conflicts over filming and photography escalated into a much publicized attack, followed swiftly by a cyber-attack directed towards the victim, a 58 year old disabled woman. Robin Dubner, an attorney, ethical vegetarian and animal rights activist who frequently speaks for the silenced voices in our community was physically isolated and attacked, and responded by pepper-spraying her assailants. JVP tweeted, spammed and mass marketed their version of the events across cyberspace in an effort to intimidate the pro-Israel activists into submission. It has failed. The truth can not be silenced.

How ironic that the group that claims to be "muzzled" celebrates the "muzzling" of people that don't share their point of view. How ironic that the group that claims to be "muzzled" refuses to allow comments on their blog.

JVP phoned the incident into the Berkeley police department as a " riot". 6 squad cars, 1 firetruck and an ambulance showed up at the scene. One assault. One pepper spraying. Two brief musical interludes reminiscent of the Titanic.

And hopeful a reminder to all (or at least to the smart ones) that the only real way to achieve peace is with dialog, mutual respect and compassion.