8 O’Clock Buzz host Brian Standing interviews author, peace activist and Codepink co-founder Medea Benjamin. Benjamin has just released a new book Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S.- Saudi Connection.
Saudi Arabia is perhaps the single most important source of funds for terrorists worldwide, promoting an extreme interpretation of Islam along with anti-Western sentiment, while brutally repressing non-violent dissidents at home. Why, then, over a period of decades, has the United States supported a regime shown time and again to be one of the most powerful forces working against American interests? Medea Benjamin’s new book Kingdom of the Unjust: Behind the U.S. Saudi Connection researches the nature of the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of the human rights and peace organizations CODEPINK and Global Exchange. A long time peace activist and organizer, she has become famous for disrupting political speeches, most recently Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention. Benjamin is currently on a book tour to promote her new book Kingdom of the Unjust published by O/R Books.
The book Kingdom of the Unjust is available now from the CodePink website: codepink.org. You can meet Medea and find out more about the book:
Tuesday 19 Sept.
Daisy Cafe on Madison’s east side where she is the invited speaker for a peace movement breakfast . Reservations are necessary and space is limited. Call Daisy Cafe for information: (608) 241-2200.
Madison Central Library as part of the Wisconsin Book Festival. Her book talk takes place at the Central Library from 6:30 to 8:30.
From the publisher Or Books‘ website:
About the Book
The co-founder of CODEPINK has become famous for fearlessly tackling head-on subjects most of us studiously avoid. Sometimes, she does so in person—as during President Obama’s speech at the National Defense University, or during a reception for drone manufacturers and members of Congress, or in Cairo, where she was assaulted by police. Here, she’s researching the sinister nature of the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
In seven succinct chapters followed by a meditation on prospects for change, Benjamin—cited by the L.A. Times as “one of the high-profile members of the peace movement”—shines a light on one of the most perplexing elements of American foreign policy. What is the origin of this strange alliance between two countries that seemingly have very little in common? Why does it persist, and what are its consequences? Why, over a period of decades and across various presidential administrations, has the United States consistently supported a regime shown time and again to be one of the most powerful forces working against American interests? Saudi Arabia is perhaps the single most important source of funds for terrorists worldwide, promoting an extreme interpretation of Islam along with anti-Western sentiment, while brutally repressing non-violent dissidents at home.
With extremism spreading across the globe, a reduced U.S. need for Saudi oil, and a thawing of U.S. relations with Iran, the time is right for a re-evaluation of our close ties with the Saudi regime.
Publication September 8, 2016 • 246 pages
Paperback ISBN 978-1-682190-46-3 • E-book 978-1-682190-47-0About the Author
Medea Benjamin is one of America’s best-known 21st-century activists. Co-founder of CODEPINK and the fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange, she is the author of Drone Warfare (OR Books, 2012) and has played an active role in the Green Party. A frequent contributor to Alternet, she has a Master’s Degree in both public health and economics. In 2012, she was awarded the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation’s Peace Prize; she is also recipient of the 2014 Gandhi Peace Award and the 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize from the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She is mother of two children and currently lives in Washington, D.C.