top
Anti-War
Anti-War
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Diverse group of protesters greets guests at AIPAC dinner

by Tom Joad (Tom at tomjoad.org)
Over 160 people formed a picket line at the Oakland Marriot as AIPAC guests celebrate U.S. taxpayer funding of Israeli militarism. Assemblymember Loni Hancock among those to cross picket line.

A wildly politically diverse group gave the annual AIPAC membership dinner guests a special unwelcome to the Bay Area. Some people participating in the protest of this banquet for military occupation were Jess Ghannam of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in San Francisco; Michael Lerner of Tikkun, Mitchell Plitnick of Jewish Voice for Peace, Barbara Lubin of Middle East Children's Alliance and many others. These people had a common demand: Do not fund this occupation with our tax money.

Some politicians, to their credit, who have attended as guests of AIPAC in the past, chose, for whatever reason, not to attend this year. Local officials not attending this year included State Senator Don Perata, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, and Assemblymember Wilma Chan.

At this time, it is known California State Assemblymember Loni Hancock defied people advocating for human rights and did attend the dinner as a guest of AIPAC, the lobby for Israeli militarism. Her office has stated that "she continues to advocate for a two-state solution to the Palestinian – Israeli conflict and for a stable peace in the Middle East." These words about the future ring hallow as she supports taxpayer funding of a brutal military occupation today. We will not be dismissed so easily by such empty phrases.

Please call Assemblymember Loni Hancock Berkeley-El Cerrito at (510) 559-1406 (local office) or her Sacramento office at (916) 319-2014 Full contact information, along with mailing address here.

Demand that Loni Hancock go on record as opposing taxpayer funding for this military occupation, and instead advocate for human needs at home.

Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
yet another lie from SF-IMC
Thu, Dec 16, 2004 10:06AM
just curious
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 5:30PM
heard it before
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 3:47PM
tom joad
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 12:38PM
Critical Thinker
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 12:32PM
Racism
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 11:53AM
and all that
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 11:08AM
Alex
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 10:58AM
get your facts straight
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 10:22AM
because to them
Wed, Dec 15, 2004 9:58AM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network