When the leader of a foreign country is interrupted when giving a speech to Congress, it is not far-fetched to believe a member of Code Pink is behind it.
The left-leaning Berkeley-based activist organization has been at the center of numerous protests that have gained national attention.
Tuesday was no different for the group, who has previously made headlines for protesting Marine recruitment centers and interrupting President George W. Bush's Fourth of July speech.
SF Gate's Joe Garofoli reports that a woman who interrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday was a San Francisco-based member of Code Pink.
Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin wrote on Facebook that Rae Abileah had been admitted to a hospital because she was "attacked" after interrupting the speech. Pictures of her in a hospital bed were posted on Facebook.
The audio of the woman's protest was not caught on camera, but Mr. Netanyahu's pause while she was removed and his subsequent response was. You can watch the full video here.
"You know I take it as a badge of honor, and so should you, that in our free societies that you can have protest," he said. "You can't have these protest in the farcical parliaments in Tehran or in Tripoli. This is real democracy.'
Abileah, the "young Jewish American of Israeli descent," who was removed from Congress had her own statement released by Code Pink:
Prime Minister Netanyahu says that the 1967 borders are indefensible. But what is really indefensible is the occupation of land, the starvation of Gaza, the jailing of dissenters and the lack of equal rights in the alleged Israeli democracy. As a Jew and an American taxpayer, I can't be silent when these crimes are being committed in my name and with my tax money."
Abileah helps coordinates Code Pink's Middle East campaigns. She describes herself as an avid surfer and caller of Congress who is employed by Code Pink.
She was charged with disrupting Congress and reportedly told by police that she would be arrested once released from the hospital.
