Medea Benjamin
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Medea Benjamin is a well-known ultra liberal political activist and Founding Director of the San Francisco-based NGO Global Exchange, which advocates "fair trade" alternatives to corporate globalization.
Benjamin has also been involved with anti-war groups such as United for Peace and Justice and Code Pink: Women for Peace. In 2000, she ran for the Senate on the Green Party ticket from California, basing her campaign on such issues as a living wage, education, and universal healthcare. In 1999, San Francisco Magazine elevated her to their "power list" of the "60 Players Who Rule the Bay Area."
Despite her reputation as a powerful and charismatic activist, Benjamin is a hated figure among some in the anti-globalization movement due to her remarks during 1999's anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle that "anarchists" who engaged in property destruction should have been arrested by the police.
Benjamin is also despised by some right-wingers for her perceived anti-American views. These include support for Cuba and support for Palestinian militants.
Protest actions
- In 2002, she interrupted the testimony of Donald Rumsfeld in a Congressional committee room. She and another woman chanted "Inspections, not war" and were removed quickly by security officials. After the incident, Rumsfeld emphasized that Iraq had expelled the weapons inspectors and he hailed the concept of free speech, remarking that in Saddam's Iraq there was no free expression.
- At the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, Benjamin was removed from the convention floor and thrown out of the Fleet Center by police after unfurling a banner which read "End the Occupation! Bring the Troops Home Now!"
- At the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, Benjamin was removed from the convention floor and escorted from Madison Square Garden by police after unfurling a banner which read "Pro-Life: Stop the killing in Iraq" during a speech by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- In 2005, Benjamin & other members of Code Pink managed to obtain VIP access to George W. Bush's second inauguration. During Bush's speech, they managed to unfurl banners that read "No War" and "Bush Mandate: Bring the Troops Home" before being arrested.
External links
- Global Exchange biographical page (http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/speakers/12.html)