A women-initiated, grass-roots peace and social justice organization will host a series of events next week to protest the use of drones overseas and violence in the Middle East.
Medea Benjamin, author and co-founder of CodePINK, will discuss empowering women globally in the peace movement Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Ustler Hall
She will present on her latest book, “Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control,” on Nov. 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Wild Iris Books at 22 SE Fifth Ave.
A reception and book signing will follow both events, which are sponsored by the UF women’s studies department, the National Organization for Women, the Civic Media Center and the Samuel Proctor Oral History Project.
“I think we need to focus much more on seeking political solutions to global problems because the military ones are not working,” Benjamin said. “If you look at the last 13 years, the U.S. has not crushed extremist groups. It’s only allowed them to proliferate.”
On Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., CodePINK and Students For Justice in Palestine will host a discussion on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the Mennonite Meeting House, located at 1236 NW 18th Ave.
CodePINK, in conjunction with Occupy Gainesville and Veterans For Peace, will then lead a protest against drone warfare starting on Main Street from 3 to 5 p.m.
Scott Camil, a Vietnam War veteran internationally known as the “Winter Soldier” for his exposure of war crimes, is a member of Veterans For Peace.
“The world should be allowed and able to solve their problems without murdering each other,” Camil said. “To me, war is just organized murder.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 10/31/2014]
