Activists with CODEPINK, Interfaith Peace Builders, the US Campaign to End the Occupation, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and other organizations gathered in Washington, DC on March 3 for ExposeAIPAC, a protest outside the America Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference. AIPAC is the leading Israel lobby organization in Washington, DC and is closely linked with the Israeli and US governments – Vice President Joe Biden and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor addressed the gathering, as did Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and, via video, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Protesters gathered outside the conference, calling for an end to US military aid to Israel and deep change in US foreign policy. As part of the protests of AIPAC, activists carried signs bearing the name of Palestinian hunger strikers, past and present, in Israeli jails, as well as long-time pre-Oslo prisoners, administrative detainees, and other Palestinians held in Israeli occupation prisons, highlighting the struggle of Palestinian prisoners for freedom and justice, particularly the lengthy hunger strike of Samer Issawi (who published this important piece in the UK’s Guardian March 3).
All photos by Emmanuel Jean Marie, CODEPINK.
