Episode 170 with Medea Benjamin
This week we’ve got the most incredible conversation prepared for you — with a leading antiwar activist, Medea Benjamin of CodePink. “Involved” is an understatement when it comes to the commitment Medea has been making in the past weeks and months to Palestinian liberation and an end to the genocide in Gaza. We were lucky enough to sit down and talk to her about how the efforts she’s part of responding to the unthinkable atrocities of Israel in Palestine, and what they’re building toward. Watch below:
Medea Benjamin has had an incredibly busy week on Capitol Hill. First, there’s talking to the less-than-allies: publicly challenging the Secretary of Defense, who’s on the record saying there’s no evidence of genocide in Palestine. Same thing with Samantha Power, who has written about, studied, and spoken on genocide and human rights extensively in her political and academic career. She and her co-organizers have also attended a hearing regarding journalist safety, raising, of course, the massively overlooked tragedy of journalist killings in Gaza. At the same time, there are bright spots too — talking, for example, with Rashida Tlaib about potential bills and resolutions to support Palestinians and oppose the genocide.
As we speak, Medea is preparing for the Freedom Flotilla — hundreds of people from 30 countries bringing tons of humanitarian goods by boat to Gaza. As she explains, based on a past tragedy, they’re prepared for the eventuality that they face violence and even death at the hands of Israelis. The purpose, she says, is to provide necessary aid, or to show that Israelis aren’t letting it in; and to challenge the idea that Israel should be given the power to inspect that aid, when its interest is so clearly the massive destruction of Palestinian society.
We talk about these incredible efforts and much more on this week’s episode of KK&F. You can listen to this episode as a podcast when it’s released on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more, tomorrow evening.
