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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 4, 2009
CONTACT Jean Stevens, CODEPINK national media coordinator, 646-723-1781

WHAT:  Nightly candlelight vigil to urge President-Elect Obama to speak out, call for ceasefire and stop killing of innocent Palestinians
WHEN:  5:30 p.m. every evening beginning Sunday, Jan. 4
WHERE:  Begin at 16th and H Streets NW (across from the Hay-Adams Hotel where Obama will be staying), Washington, DC

WASHINGTON — CODEPINK, other organizations and concerned Americans will gather TODAY outside the Hay-Adams hotel here, where President-Elect Barack Obama is staying before the inauguration, to protest the illegal and brutal Israeli assault on Gaza and demand that he speak out against it and call for a ceasefire. They will vigil outside the hotel each night, while Obama stays there, until he takes a stand.

The call for the vigil comes after Israeli ground troops entered Gaza Jan. 3 eight days after launching an offensive against Hamas Jan. 3.

“Obama is not waiting until inauguration to deal with the economic crisis, so why is isn’t he taking a stand on this humanitarian crisis?” said CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin, who has visited Gaza. “He spoke out against the massacre in Mumbai, so why is he silent in the face of this massacre? The suffering Palestinians need him now, not just on January 20.”

Thousands of protests to demand a halt to the Israeli bombing in Gaza have taken place across Europe, the Middle East and in the United States.

For more information on the Washington vigil, contact Jean Stevens at 646-723-1781.

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