Medea Benjamin Quotations

I feel like this is the time when the American public understands something is wrong. When we are awash in money and we can't provide universal health care. School systems are falling apart.

We've found that people are hungry for information no matter where they are.

It is interesting that you don't have a congressperson that's a leader.

I think he hurt the effort to change Nike by whitewashing their abuses. He did just what you shouldn't do ? conduct a whirlwind tour by someone who doesn't speak the language.

There are not supposed to be designated cages where you can exercise your First Amendment rights. It's supposed to be all over this country.

We are somewhat consoled by the fact that Marla died doing what she really wanted to do: help people less fortunate than herself. Many of us believe that character trait to be the most beautiful quality a human being can possess. And Marla had an abundance of it.

These women are not politicians, but ordinary Iraqis who are desperate to see an end to the violence and are taking great personal risk to come to the US. It's a rare opportunity to hear from Iraqis themselves, and we hope that US officials will listen.

It's a strange feeling to go from being fringe, ridiculed and called un-American or being ignored to representing the majority view and having these counterprotesters look pretty desperate,

It's appalling that the US military killed these women's families and then the US government rejects their visas on the grounds that they have no family to return to in Iraq. These women have no desire to stay in the United States. We had a very hard time convincing them to come, but we told them how important it would be for their stories to be heard by Americans.

I can't tell you how many people have called me crying. The feeling of helplessness of the people you're seeing on television translates into this desperate need to help. A lot of people are feeling like, 'These are Americans. These are my people.' They really want to do something concrete to make people's lives better.

Hip to the fact that well-behaved women rarely make history, Diane [Wilson] has already inspired a new movement of totally uncontrollable, irresistible and unreasonable women!

If it weren't for people like the people in Berkeley, standing up for what they believe, we'd be living under Hitler.

I think that you hear more opposition to the government in Venezuela than you would here in the United States. That's in the TV, in the radio and in the print media.

I wouldn't characterize anybody who fought in Vietnam as a war hero. In 23 bombing sorties, there must have been civilians that were killed and there's no heroism to that.

I actually think it is people like myself who have been fighting for our rights to free speech and I would like the right to defend my own right to free speech, not have soldiers doing it for me. I don't think I need soldiers.

It hit me very early on that something was terribly wrong, that I would see silos full of food and supermarkets full of food, and kids starving. ... In Fair Trade, we see ourselves as this infinitesimal part of the world economy. But somebody's got to come up with an alternative model that says children eating is No. 1.

I wonder if you are ashamed of calling a Democratically elected government a fascist government.

When Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was asked why there was so much animosity in her country towards the United States, she gave a one-word answer: “drones.”

...Israel is run by war criminals.

We civilians defend our own right to free speech. The military in Iraq does not defend our right to free speech.

It is so inspiring to see a new group coming together not to focus on a particular war or weapons system, but on all war-everywhere. And it's great to have such beautifully crafted arguments about why war is not inevitable and how war contributes to so many other global ills. This coalition is worthy of Martin Luther King's call to end violence and instead put our energies and resources into 'life-affirming activities.' Bravo!

Changing the structure and rules of the global economy will require a mass movement based on messages of compassion, justice, and equality, as well as collaborative and democratic processes ... If we stay positive, inclusive, and democratic, we have a truly historic opportunity to build a global movement for social justice.

These are multibillion-dollar companies that have the ability to bail themselves out without our help.