Recently, as the CODEPINK crew was making their rounds in the halls of Congress, they ran into Nancy Pelosi coming out of a meeting about the Uyghurs. Medea asked her ‘what about the genocide in Gaza?” Instead of answering Medea’s questions, she started spewing lies about CODEPINK being funded by the government in China. News flash, Nancy, CODEPINK is funded by individual peace activists. She’s the one funded by foreign aligned lobbyist groups like AIPAC, not us!
Join our letter to Nancy Pelosi: Stop lying about CODEPINK!
Dear Nancy Pelosi,
When CODEPINK ran into you in the halls of Congress to discuss our concerns about the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza you immediately started spewing lies about us and our organization.
We tried to discuss an ongoing genocide that has killed over 100,000 innocent people, 70% of who are women and children. Healthcare workers, journalists, aid workers have all been deliberately targeted. You have supported this ongoing slaughter by voting to send more weapons and aid to the military carrying out this brutality.
Your lies about us include that we are funded by the Chinese government, something you said to Cynthia Papermaster outside your home and something you repeated to Medea Benjamin this week. CODEPINK is NOT funded by the Chinese government. That is a lie and it insults us and those who do donate to support our work for peace. We are funded by tens of thousands of donors, mostly in small donations, out of gratitude of the work we do everyday to raise our voices against war and militarism. Our message is popular: the people of the United States want to be invested in. They want healthcare, housing, education, and everything that gives human life dignity. While members of Congress siphon our tax dollars to the Pentagon, that hasn’t ever passed an audit, CODEPINK advocates for peace and proper investment. While members of Congress are bought off by the weapons industry and pro-Israel lobby – we don’t have to be paid off by interest groups or foreign governments to voice the popular demands of the people.
On the other hand, you do take money and vote according to the demands of another country, Israel. Our last records show you have taken $620,000 from AIPAC, you even stood in Congress and clapped for the architect of Gaza’s slaughter: Benjamin Netanyahu. All while people in your district in California suffer from homelessness and lack of access to proper healthcare.
Another lie is that we call Uyghurs terrorists, we do not. We are just returning from a trip to Xinjiang where we spent almost a week, learning from, dancing with and being nourished by the Uyghur communities in 3 cities. They want to live in peace, and that’s exactly what CODEPINK advocates for.
Another lie is that we support President Xi. Our campaign China is Not Our Enemy is not about China, it is about the US making China an enemy. Our campaign is to stop another war on innocent people. As two nuclear armed super powers, it’s just common sense to advocate for peace and cooperation between the United States and China.
Under your leadership, you’ve voted for constant increases to the Pentagon budget. You’ve voted in support of weapons deals that have killed hundreds of thousands of Muslims all over the world – while you feign support for Muslims in China.
We hoped you would figure out that lying about a women’s peace organization isn’t a good look, but it appears you haven’t. We demand a retraction of your lies and a formal apology.