Codepink San Pedro and Peace Week on April 30 met with staff of CA-44 Rep. Nanette Díaz Barragán and the in her Long Beach office, who came down to the street in front of the Congressmembers office to talk with them. The two organizations had several large, critically pointed posters featuring Palestinian children who had been killed by the Israeli Defense Force.
The groups staged a vigil outside of the Congressmember’s Long Beach office on Dia del Niño or Children’s Day, to express their outrage at the Congressmembers’ continued votes to send money and weapons to Israel.
Group members asked Rep. Barragán’s staff, “[can’t] she see that this was yet another US-backed war, when a ceasefire, dialogue and diplomacy-and true justice and security, i.e. peace, was the only way forward, in Gaza, and in the world?”
Codepink San Pedro and Peace Week argued that her votes supporting the funding of Israel’s war on Gaza will visit repercussions for generations to come, not just for Palestinians, but for the whole world.
The activists discussed her shifting positions on Ukraine (at first she had said “No one wants a war on Russia”) and even held a “No War With Russia” sign at one of its first protests.
For her part, on April 15, Rep. Barragán tweeted her position on humanitarian aid in Gaza and on Oct 20, regarding funding for Israel and Ukraine.
“House Republicans have ignored our allies’ critical need for assistance & put our national security at risk. Our allies need to know we can be counted on in times of crisis. @HouseGOP needs to stop the games & put Senate-passed National Security Supplemental up for a vote so we can get aid to Israel, Ukraine, & Taiwan & humanitarian aid to Gaza NOW.”
On Oct. 20 2023, Rep Barragán tweeted:
“Congress must address the serious international threats to our allies.
@HouseDemocrats are ready to work with @POTUS to advance funding for Israel & Ukraine. House Republicans need to end their civil war & join us to uphold America’s commitments on the world stage.”
Activists also urged her staff, that as the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, it was incumbent upon her to uplift and speak for Latin Americans as a whole, who have undergone military, political and economic trauma at the hands of the U.S. Government, of which she was now a part…and that for years they have demanded she speak of root causes of why tens of thousands are basically refugees at the border.
Lastly, the activist’s told her staff about the #FreedomFlotilla, and that it had been de’-flagged and they were looking for help from ports to find other countries to flag the ships. Barragán’s staff seemed interested and asked the activists to send them information on it and its status.
Codepink San Pedro and Peace Week noted, calls to Rep. Barragán’s district office, at 310-831- 1799 will help, as well as asking, when her staff answers your call, how Rep. Barragán might help the Freedom Flotilla.