2015 Black Solidarity Statement with Palestine

. DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A statement by Black activist individuals and organizations

The following statement was signed by Black people in 25 different countries, 37 U.S. states, and the District of Columbia, including South Africa, Australia, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Palestine, & Puerto Rico. Of the 1,100+ signatories, there are 650 activists or organizers, 400 current students, 240 artists, 165 scholars or professors, and 22 clergy. 11 currently incarcerated political prisoners, at least 5 former members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and 6 professional hip-hop artists signed the statement. Nearly 50 organizations signed onto the statement:

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Photo courtesy of Christopher Hazou

The past year has been one of high-profile growth for Black-Palestinian solidarity. Out of the terror directed against us—from numerous attacks on Black life to Israel’s brutal war on Gaza and chokehold on the West Bank—strengthened resilience and joint-struggle have emerged between our movements. Palestinians on Twitter were among the first to provide international support for protesters in Ferguson, where St. Louis-based Palestinians gave support on the ground. Last November, a delegation of Palestinian students visited Black organizers in St. Louis, Atlanta, Detroit and more, just months before the Dream Defenders took representatives of Black Lives Matter, Ferguson, and other racial justice groups to Palestine. Throughout the year, Palestinians sent multiple letters of solidarity to us throughout protests in Ferguson, New York, and Baltimore. We offer this statement to continue the conversation between our movements:

On the anniversary of last summer’s Gaza massacre, in the 48th year of Israeli occupation, the 67th year of Palestinians’ ongoing Nakba (the Arabic word for Israel’s ethnic cleansing)–and in the fourth century of Black oppression in the present-day United States–we, the undersigned Black activists, artists, scholars, writers, and political prisoners offer this letter of reaffirmed solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and commitment to the liberation of Palestine’s land and people.

We can neither forgive nor forget last summer’s violence. We remain outraged at the brutality Israel unleashed on Gaza through its siege by land, sea and air, and three military offensives in six years. We remain sickened by Israel’s targeting of homes, schools, UN shelters, mosques, ambulances, and hospitals. We remain heartbroken and repulsed by the number of children Israel killed in an operation it called “defensive.” We reject Israel’s framing of itself as a victim. Anyone who takes an honest look at the destruction to life and property in Gaza can see Israel committed a one-sided slaughter. With 100,000 people still homeless in Gaza, the massacre’s effects continue to devastate Gaza today and will for years to come.

Israel’s injustice and cruelty toward Palestinians is not limited to Gaza and its problem is not with any particular Palestinian party. The oppression of Palestinians extends throughout the occupied territories, within Israel’s 1948 borders, and into neighboring countries. The Israeli Occupation Forces continue to kill protesters—including children—conduct night raids on civilians, hold hundreds of people under indefinite detention, and demolish homes while expanding illegal Jewish-only settlements. Israeli politicians, including Benjamin Netanyahu, incite against Palestinian citizens within Israel’s recognized borders, where over 50 laws discriminate against non-Jewish people.

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Question for this article:

Presenting the Palestinian side of the Middle East, Is it important for a culture of peace?

Are we making progress against racism?

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Our support extends to those living under occupation and siege, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the 7 million Palestinian refugees exiled in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. The refugees’ right to return to their homeland in present-day Israel is the most important aspect of justice for Palestinians.

Palestinian liberation represents an inherent threat to Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid, an apparatus built and sustained on ethnic cleansing, land theft, and the denial of Palestinian humanity and sovereignty. While we acknowledge that the apartheid configuration in Israel/Palestine is unique from the United States (and South Africa), we continue to see connections between the situation of Palestinians and Black people.

Israel’s widespread use of detention and imprisonment against Palestinians evokes the mass incarceration of Black people in the US, including the political imprisonment of our own revolutionaries. Soldiers, police, and courts justify lethal force against us and our children who pose no imminent threat. And while the US and Israel would continue to oppress us without collaborating with each other, we have witnessed police and soldiers from the two countries train side-by-side.

US and Israeli officials and media criminalize our existence, portray violence against us as “isolated incidents,” and call our resistance “illegitimate” or “terrorism.” These narratives ignore decades and centuries of anti-Palestinian and anti-Black violence that have always been at the core of Israel and the US. We recognize the racism that characterizes Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is also directed against others in the region, including intolerance, police brutality, and violence against Israel’s African population. Israeli officials call asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea “infiltrators” and detain them in the desert, while the state has sterilized Ethiopian Israelis without their knowledge or consent. These issues call for unified action against anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and Zionism.

We know Israel’s violence toward Palestinians would be impossible without the US defending Israel on the world stage and funding its violence with over $3 billion annually. We call on the US government to end economic and diplomatic aid to Israel. We wholeheartedly endorse Palestinian civil society’s 2005 call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and call on Black and US institutions and organizations to do the same. We urge people of conscience to recognize the struggle for Palestinian liberation as a key matter of our time.

As the BDS movement grows, we offer G4S, the world’s largest private security company, as a target for further joint struggle. G4S harms thousands of Palestinian political prisoners illegally held in Israel and hundreds of Black and brown youth held in its privatized juvenile prisons in the US. The corporation profits from incarceration and deportation from the US and Palestine, to the UK, South Africa, and Australia. We reject notions of “security” that make any of our groups unsafe and insist no one is free until all of us are.

We offer this statement first and foremost to Palestinians, whose suffering does not go unnoticed and whose resistance and resilience under racism and colonialism inspires us. It is to Palestinians, as well as the Israeli and US governments, that we declare our commitment to working through cultural, economic, and political means to ensure Palestinian liberation at the same time as we work towards our own. We encourage activists to use this statement to advance solidarity with Palestine and we also pressure our own Black political figures to finally take action on this issue. As we continue these transnational conversations and interactions, we aim to sharpen our practice of joint struggle against capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, and the various racisms embedded in and around our societies.

Towards liberation,

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

UNHCR welcomes first arrivals of Syrian refugees in Canada

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article by The UN Refugee Agency

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 11 December 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

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UNHCR welcomes news of the arrival in Canada last night of the first group of Syrian refugees under a recently announced humanitarian programme which will provide a new life for 25,000 Syrian refugees. This first group of 163 refugees arrived from Lebanon by Royal Canadian Air Force jet.

Canada has acted swiftly to implement this initiative, which was announced in late November. UNHCR is continuing to work with the Canadian authorities in identifying vulnerable Syrians for settlement in Canada. The refugees’ welcome to Canada will be underpinned by its well-recognised community integration programmes.

The Canadian programmes are a practical expression of support to Syrian refugees and demonstration of solidarity to those countries in the region hosting more than four million Syrian refugees. The difficult situation for Syrian refugees continues to deteriorate, with increasing numbers living below national poverty lines.

UNHCR encourages other states to engage in these programmes. They provide critical support for refugees currently hosted in countries neighbouring Syria. To date some 30 countries have pledged a total of more than 160,000 places for Syrians under resettlement and other humanitarian admissions schemes. UNHCR estimates 10 per cent of the 4.1 million registered refugees in countries neighbouring Syria are vulnerable and are in need of resettlement or humanitarian admission to a third country.

Question for discussion
North America, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY

UN Security Council adopts resolution on Youth, Peace and Security

TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

A blog by UNOY, United Network of Young Peacebuilders

On 9 December 2015 the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2250 on Youth, Peace & Security. The historical document is the first of its kind to recognize the positive role young people play in building sustainable peace and to lay out the need for governments and other stakeholders to support young people in this role. It represents a landmark for the participation of young people involved in transforming conflict, peacebuilding and countering violence.

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With a larger global youth population than ever before, there is a demographic and democratic imperative to meaningfully involved youth in matters of peace and security, especially considering how conflicts impact on young people’s lives and futures.

At UNOY Peacebuilders we have been working intensively since 2012 to lay a path leading to this resolution. We have fostered dialogue between young peacebuilders and policy makers at the international level, bringing young peacebuilders to discuss with representatives at the UN in New York. At the same time, we have been working for the recognition of young people as actors of positive change with civil society partners including Search for Common Ground and World Vision, as well as key institutional partners through the Inter-Agency Working Group on Young People’s Participation in Peacebuilding.

The dominant policy discourse around youth has traditionally viewed young people as threats to global peace and security, or occasionally as vulnerable groups to be protected. In short, either as victims or perpetrators of violence. This is a harmful reduction of the role youth play in conflict and post-conflict settings and that’s why we have been calling for a third point of view – a point of view which sees youth as peacebuilders who deserved to have their efforts recognized and supported. It is this third point of view which is now being recognised by the UN Security Council.

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Question for this article

Is there a renewed movement of solidarity by the new generation?

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The new UN Security Council resolution outlines the duties of parties to armed conflicts to protect young people during conflict and in post-conflict contexts. Importantly, the resolution goes further and also calls on governments to promote youth participation in processes of peacebuilding and peacekeeping at all levels, including peace processes and dispute resolution mechanisms.  

The resolution calls on Member States to facilitate an enabling environment for youth to prevent violence, and to create policies which support youth socio-economic development and education for peace equipping youth with the ability to engage in political processes. It urges member states to support youth peace efforts in conflict and post-conflict settings, including through the the work of UN bodies involved in peacebuilding and development. The resolution also encourages all those involved in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration to ensure that programs are designed to consider the special needs of youth in these processes.

Finally, the resolution requests the UN General-Secretary to carry out a study on the impact of conflict on young people, as well as their contributions to peace, and to report to the Security Council on the implementation of the resolution in one year’s time.

UN Security Council Resolution 2250 is a huge step forward in the right direction, recognising and supporting young people’s contributions to building peace. However, a UN Security Council resolution is not the end of the road. Young peacebuilders around the world, youth-led and youth-focused organizations must now focus their efforts on ensuring that the resolution gets translated into real policies at regional, national and local levels.

UNOY Peacebuilders welcomes the adoption of the declaration as a tool for young people’s empowerment and calls on every young peacebuilder to join us in the next steps.

Read the full text of UN SCR 2250 here and take part in the conversation through #Youth4Peace and #scr2250 on Twitter or following us on Facebook.

For more information, contact Matilda Flemming (matilda.flemming@unoy.org) or Sölvi Karlsson (solvi.karlsson@unoy.org).

global, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY, United Nations,

Porto Alegre, Brazil: Fifteenth anniversary of the World Social Forum

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article by Suzy Scarton, Jornal do Comércio

From 19 to 23 January next year, Porto Alegre will host the 2016 Thematic Social Forum (TSF) which aims to address challenges and perspectives under the theme “another world is possible .” In addition to taking stock of the actions taken in the last decade and a half the event also celebrates the 15th anniversary of the first World Social Forum that was held in Porto Alegre in 2001. The opening march will be held on January 19, at 15h, from Glênio Peres.

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Jonathan Heckler/JC

Topics of the meeting include the crisis of capitalism, domestic and international political context, youth participation, culture of peace, racism, Latin American integration, activism and how to combat xenophobia and homophobia. Mayor Jose Fortunati reaffirmed the importance of the event to consolidate ideas that can change the world. “Just changing the current system is enough to allow us to move forward,” he said yesterday to the social and trade union leaders who are organizing the event. He reiterated that the city will contribute to the organizational and structural support.

The activities will be carried out mainly in the old Gasometer factory, at the City Council, in the Park of Redenção, at the Legislative Assembly and in the plaza Zumbi dos Palmares. The Deputy Municipal Secretary for Local Government, Carlos Siegle added that while the guidelines have changed in the space of 15 years, “we need to reflect for a profound debate on the role of the citizen.”

Registration to participate in the forum is now open and can be made on the site www.forumsocialportoalegre.org.br.

The first forum in 2001 was considered a novelty in the international arena by its coordination capacity in the anti-capitalist struggle as well as for its radical policy proposals regarding social, economic and environmental issues. Among the guests this year will be former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva , former Uruguayan President Pepe Mujica, the writer and sociologist Manuel Castells Spanish, the Brazilian activist against violence to women Maria da Penha and the Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai.

(Click here for the original version in Portuguese.

 

Question related to this article.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin America

Brasil: Evento fará balanço de ações dos últimos 15 anos do Fórum Social Mundial

. LIBERTAD DE INFORMACIÓN .

Um artigo de Suzy Scarton, Jornal do Comércio

Entre os dias 19 e 23 de janeiro do ano que vem, Porto Alegre será sede do Fórum Social Temático (FST) 2016, cujas discussões pretendem abordar desafios e perspectivas na luta por outro mundo possível, além de realizar um balanço das ações realizadas na última década e meia. O evento também comemora os 15 anos do primeiro Fórum Social Mundial realizado em Porto Alegre, em 2001. A marcha de abertura será realizada no dia 19 de janeiro, às 15h, a partir do Largo Glênio Peres.

forum
Jonathan Heckler/JC

Crise do capitalismo, contexto político brasileiro e internacional, participação da juventude, cultura de paz, racismo, integração latino-americana, ativismo e combate à xenofobia e à homofobia são alguns dos temas que serão trabalhados durante o encontro. O prefeito José Fortunati reafirmou a importância do evento para a consolidação de ideias que podem mudar o mundo. “Só alterando o atual sistema conseguiremos avançar”, declarou ontem, no lançamento da edição do evento do ano de 2016. Fortunati também destacou a liderança de movimentos sociais e sindicais para que o evento tenha tomado forma, reiterando que a prefeitura contribui com o suporte organizacional e de estrutura.

As atividades serão realizadas, principalmente, na Usina do Gasômetro, na Câmara de Vereadores, no Parque da Redenção, na Assembleia Legislativa e no largo Zumbi dos Palmares. O secretário municipal adjunto de Governança Local, Carlos Siegle, afirmou que, embora as pautas tenham mudado neste espaço de 15 anos, “a reflexão segue necessária para um profundo debate sobre o papel do cidadão”.

As inscrições para participar do fórum já estão abertas e podem ser feitas no site www.forumsocialportoalegre.org.br. A primeira edição do evento, que se considera uma novidade no cenário internacional pela capacidade de articulação de matizes na luta anticapitalista e pela radicalidade de propostas políticas, sociais, econômicas e ambientais, foi em 2001. Entre os convidados dessa edição estão o ex-presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, o ex-presidente uruguaio Pepe Mujica, o escritor e sociólogo espanhol Manuel Castells, a ativista brasileira de violência contra a mulher Maria da Penha e a ativista paquistanesa Malala Yousafzai.

(Clique aqui para uma versão inglês

 

Question related to this article.

Uncategorized

ICLEI Declaration to the Ministers at COP21, Paris, France

. . DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION. .

A Declaration by ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability, a network of over 1,000 cities

In these days, the world anxiously follows your national and global efforts to collectively agree on an ambitious and inclusive global Paris Climate Package as the outcome of COP21.

With the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goal 11 on sustainable cities, all countries have a mandate and an obligation to create the necessary conditions for a peaceful and healthy planet. We expect that the Habitat III Conference next year on the new Urban Agenda will further strengthen these.

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However, it will not be possible to transform our world towards a sustainable world without a clear commitment from Parties and a pathway towards low-carbon and high-resilient societies and economies.

A failure in Paris to agree on a global framework will worsen our life scenarios. We do not see the negotiations of this agreement as one among Parties but as one with people at risk.

We worriedly take note of the fact that the Intended Nationally Determined Commitments and Contributions (INDCs), curb the global GHG emission trajectory to only 2.7-5.0 °Celsius until the end of this century, and not below 2°C, as requested by the IPCC to ensure a climate-safe future for all people.

This will gravely impact the most vulnerable citizens and populations who suffer from the impacts of climate change that they have not caused.

In overall terms, we request Parties to provide an ambitious response to address 4 basic realities:

* the legacy of a fossil-dependent era and ineffectiveness of piecemeal solutions;

* the unstoppable transformation into a development model that is based on 100% renewables and a circular economy;

* the need to develop innovative governance models in a multi-polar, multi-stakeholder, multi-level Urban World of the 21st Century;

* the need to develop a global and sufficient framework to mobilize additional financial resources for climate change mitigation, adaptation and loss-and-damage through public as well as private finance, including carbon pricing, phasing out of fossil-fuel subsidies, divestment of carbon intensive infrastructure and other assets, and revenues to be generated from regulations on international finance markets or transactions;

Acknowledging the fact that some 50% of submitted INDCs refer to local and subnational action, we urge our Ministers to be more ambitious and to:

* Emphasize the importance of taking into account human rights, gender equality, rights of indigenous peoples, and the needs of particular vulnerable groups when taking action to address climate change;

* Confirm the recognition of the crucial role of local and subnational governments as governmental stakeholders and non-state actors, as key partners in the global climate efforts;

* Develop innovative processes to enhance engagement of local and subnational governments as governmental stakeholders, building on the experiences of the ADP Workstream-2 Technical Examination Processes, and the efforts through the Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA);

* Adopt long-term mitigation goals with a clear vision and target for2050, and for the end of the century, in particular goals on carbon/climate neutrality, phase-out of fossil fuels, and 100% renewables by the latest by 2050;

* Close the emission gap and accelerate the implementation of the pre-2020 mitigation commitments in particular by developed countries, so that transformation happens faster, based on the principles of differentiated responsibilities, equity, and solidarity;

* Support developing countries to achieve their mitigation INDCs, technically and financially, and adopt a finance plan that includes five year financial commitments and assessment periods to help achieve their pre-2020 and post-2020 goals;

* Agree on a global, periodic revision process, every five years, of the individual and aggregate implementation progress of the mitigation INDCs and their upscaling, with science and equity-based assessments, and with civil society participation;

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Question for this article

Sustainable Development Summits of States, What are the results?

Can cities take the lead for sustainable development?

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* Set specific goals and targets for adaptation until 2050, including a financial target to reach at least 35 billion USD via grant-based provisions for developing countries,

* Create a robust framework that addresses loss and damage from the impacts of climate change; and

* Mobilize and ensure direct access to financing authority, legislative capacity, and other tools to maximize our climate change actions based on territorial/place-based approaches and empower each level of government, together with enhanced multilevel governance and vertical integration to make its maximum potential contribution toward climate change progress.

As the world’s leading sustainability network of over 1,000 cities, towns and metropolises, and building on our Seoul Declaration and Strategy 2015-2021 adopted in April 2015, ICLEI commits to:

1. INSPIRE – EXPAND – SCALE UP LOCAL CLIMATE ACTION

Our combined sustainability actions currently reach over 20% of the global urban population.

We commit to lead ICLEI members through our GreenClimateCities Program and other initiatives, and to mobilize more local and subnational governments so as to reach 30% by 2030 and 50% by 2050 of the global urban population, as well as to explore 100% renewables scenarios by 2030 and 2050.

2. INTENSIFY – DEEPEN – INTEGRATE CLIMATE ACTION TO ALL AREAS OF SUSTAINABILITY

Our ICLEI 10 Urban Agendas help our members to make their cities and regions sustainable, low-carbon, resilient, eco-mobile, biodiverse, resource-efficient and productive, healthy and happy, with a green economy and smart infrastructure.

Building on the achievements of our Low Carbon City Agenda, we commit to engage all our members in the 10 Urban Agendas and thus comply with SDG.11 by 2030 as well as mobilize more like-minded local and subnational governments.

3. CONNECT – INCLUDE – ENGAGE WITH GOVERNMENTS AND STAKEHOLDERS

Our climate work since 1990, strengthened by the Local Government Climate Roadmap since 2007, has mobilized an unprecedented scale of political commitment and action towards a climate-friendly human development at our levels of government.

We commit to raise compliance with national, subnational, and global initiatives, including the Compact of Mayors, Compact of States and Regions, Mexico City Pact, Durban Adaptation Charter, Earth Hour City Challenge, Covenant of Mayors, working in partnership with citizens, the business sector, and other stakeholders.

We commit to support vertically integrated climate action and explore collaboration with national governments, in particular those that have included local and subnational climate action in their INDCs.

4. TRANPARENT – ACCOUNTABLE – OPEN MUNICIPAL ACTIONS AND GOVERNANCE

Our carbonn Climate Registry with publicly available commitments, emissions inventories and actions reported by more than 600 local and subnational governments, currently aggregates to 1 billion tons of GHG emission reductions until 2020.

We commit to expand the number of reporting entities to include all ICLEI members reporting in the carbonn Climate Registry, to annually aggregate these commitments and to report to the UNFCCC NAZCA.

5. RESOURCE – EMPOWER – ADVOCATE FOR TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION

Our pilot of the Transformative Actions Program (TAP) 2015 has brought forward 125 applications to demonstrate ambitious, crosscutting, and inclusive local action plans that have the potential to contribute to keeping global warming below 2°C.

We commit to continuing the TAP on an annual basis, and present the applications to the climate finance institutions and programs. In addition, we commit to providing an interactive platform to share best TAP projects from around the world, as well as providing tools and knowledge systems necessary for local and subnational governments to design and implement transformative climate actions.

This ICLEI Declaration was adopted unanimously at the Joint Meeting of ICLEI Council and ICLEI Global Executive Committee at Paris City Hall on 6 December 2015

DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global, United Nations,

Indigenous Elders Send Stern Message to UN Paris Delegates: Preventing 2°C Is Not Nearly Enough

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Alternet

Thousands are gathered in Paris for the United Nation’s climate talks that began on November 30 and will run through December 11, 2015. Among the world leaders in Paris, including President Barack Obama, are indigenous peoples from around the world. The SPIRET Foundation released the following statement, entitled “Indigenous Elders And Medicine Peoples Council Statement United Nations Convention on Climate Change,” to the media that provides a voice to the indigenous peoples of the North America:

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Photo Credit: VectorLifestylepic/Shutterstock.com
Click on photo to enlarge

This statement reflects the wisdom of the Spiritual People of the Earth, of the four directions, working in unity to restore peace, harmony and balance for our collective future and for all living beings. This statement is written in black and white with a foreign language that is not our own and does not convey the full depth of our concerns.

The Creator created the People of the Earth out of the Land and gave us a Way of Life. This Sacred Way of Life has been passed down generation-to-generation since the beginning of the Creation of Life. The sanctity of this Way of Life has been violated and abused by people who are living without regard for the well being of Mother Earth and our collective future.

We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, have no choice but to follow and uphold the Natural Law, which sustains the continuity of Life. We recognize our umbilical connection to Mother Earth and understand that she is the source of life, not a resource to be exploited. We speak on behalf of all Creation today, to communicate an urgent message that man has gone too far, placing us in the state of survival.

There is no more time for discussion on preventing “Climate Change”. That opportunity has passed. “Climate Change” is here. The Air is not the same anymore. The Water is not the same anymore. The Earth is not the same anymore. The Clouds are not the same anymore. The Rain is not the same anymore. The Trees, the Plants, the Animals, Birds, Fish, Insects and all the others are not the same anymore. All that is Sacred in Life is vanishing because of our actions. The truth is we have moved beyond climate change to survival.

The COP21 Climate Summit in Paris, France is being held to contemplate strategies to prevent more than two degrees Celsius of warming. Though this is important, it is not nearly enough. To truly heal Mother Earth and ensure our survival, we must recognize that the entire natural system is one life system rather than fragmented parts. Our concern is with the acceleration of the cumulative and compounding devastation that is being wrought by the actions of people around the world. Modern living and all that it encompasses does not respect the Sacredness of Life and has ruptured the sacred seal around the Earth. This has contributed to extreme weather patterns and the melting of the Ice – the sacred cooling system of Mother Earth.

Man-made creations of vehicles, trains, railroads, airplanes, bullets, guns, weapons, spaceships, building of high rise towers, shopping malls, pipelines, roads, slaughtering of animals for recreation, the genetic alteration and pollution of our food and water sources, introduction of invasive species, drilling and digging deep into Mother Earth, and into the mountains for oil, gas, gold, silver, minerals, precious stones, coal and uranium, and all the others. Changing whole ecosystems forever by draining wetlands, changing the course of rivers, clear cutting of forests, damming rivers and flooding lands to cool nuclear reactors and natural gas plants, damming rivers for hydroelectric power, using rivers and lakes for dumping toxic chemicals and sewage, polluting the Earth and Oceans with toxic chemicals and waste and piling up and burying garbage has contaminated and polluted our Earth. All these actions and more created Climate Change.

Aboriginal Indigenous Peoples have seen first-hand the impacts these destructive actions have had on our sacred places and the natural world. We have sent out messages to the people of this world warning that “this dark time” or “this day” would come if the people did not immediately stop their destructive activities and re-align themselves in harmony and balance with the Creator’s Natural Law. Our messages of prophecy fell on deaf ears and remained unseen by eyes blinded by money, greed and power.

Today, we lack leadership. We have misplaced our trust in governmental leaders and the leaders of industry. They failed us by trying to maintain their profits, economies and their power over the people. Their lack of action to adequately and seriously work to prevent “climate change” has brought us to the state of survival, threatening the collective future of All Life. Leaders meeting in Paris have a responsibility to create real solutions and do something right for the future of all life. We strongly urge all leaders to work and consult with us, the spiritual people of the Earth, to solve the world’s problems, without war. We, the Original Caretakers of Mother Earth, offer our spiritual insight, wisdom and vision to the global community to help guide the actions needed to overcome the current threats to all life and shift from the path of self-destruction to the path of peace, harmony and balance with All Creation.

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Question for this article

Indigenous peoples, Are they the true guardians of nature?

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We cannot live on the Moon or Mars so people must change their behavior. We must sacrifice and move beyond our own comforts and pleasures. We must stop the damaging activities and begin working on healing the natural environment for the future of All Life. To date, the Sacred has been excluded from all discussions and decisions.

We must heal the Sacredness within ourselves, within our families, within our communities and within our Nations. We must respect, follow and uphold the Creator’s Natural Law as a foundation for all decision-making, from this point forward. This begins with a deep respect and understanding of the human life cycle. To bring sacredness back into this cycle, human beings must bring forth life in a conscious way, honoring our sacred obligation to care for that life. With the creation of life comes a responsibility to ensure the care and survival of that life throughout the lifespan of the child. When we bring forth life haphazardly and without sacredness, with no concern for how that life will be sustained, we violate our sacred responsibility and bring imbalance to Mother Earth. We must restore our balance with Creation and respect the sacredness of our sexuality, and our ability to bring new life into this world.

We must open our hearts to Love, Care and have Respect for one another and All Creation to create peace. No one can survive without clean Air, clean Water, and a clean Earth. We cannot breathe money, we cannot eat or drink money. The people of the world must recognize that man made laws have failed us and will continue to fail us, because those laws attempt to place profit and power over our sacred obligation to All Life and our shared future. Those seeking profit and power have created a business of war and destruction that now threatens the lives of billions around the world. It is time to address this spiritual illness and begin the process of healing, together.

Aboriginal Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples are not scientists, but we do have a connection to the source of Truth and Life, we have our “Prophecies“ and the “Signs” of disharmony. All of these sources of knowledge tell us clearly what will happen if we do not change our behavior. All of the things that are happening today are the very same things that were spoken of in the earlier days, the very things that the Creator warned would happen, if we failed to respect and follow His Natural Law. There are scientists and experts that know the scientific reality of what is going on. They know that life will vanish if we continue in the direction we are going. These scientist and experts must speak the truth to the people and not be controlled by those that provide their paychecks.

We are all responsible and we are all capable of creating a new path forward with new sources of energy that do not harm the people or the Earth. We are obligated to all take action now to protect what is left of the Sacredness of Water and Life. We can no longer wait for solutions from governmental and corporate leaders. We must all take action and responsibility to restore a healthy relationship with each other and Mother Earth. Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of humankind. Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people in a time of such terrible danger? Know that you yourself are essential to this World. Believe that! Understand both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself are desperately needed to save the soul of this World. Do you think you were put here for something less?

Water is Life

We are the People of the Earth united under the Creator’s Law, with a sacred covenant to follow and uphold and a sacred responsibility to extend Life for all future generations. We are from various Nations and we are spiritually related. We will not be divided by any terminology that defines us as “recognized” or “unrecognized”, by the Government of the United States or any other body. We are expressing deep concern for our shared future and urge everyone to awaken spiritually and take action. It is critical that we come together with good minds and prayer as a global community of all faiths, to honor the Creator and the Creator’s Gift. We must work in unity to help Mother Earth heal so that she can bring back balance and harmony for all her children.

Representatives of the Council:

Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred
White Buffalo Calf Pipe
Spiritual Leader The Great Sioux Nation Peoples

Bobby C. Billie
Clan Leader and Spiritual Leader
Council of the Original Miccosukee
Simanolee Nation Aboriginal

Faith Spotted Eagle
Tunkan Inajin WinBrave Heart Society
Grandmother/Headswoman & Ihanktonwan Treaty Council
Ihanktonwan Dakota from the Oceti Sakowin 7 Council Fires

Leland Grass, Dine’ Traditionalist

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, United Nations,

This new initiative out of Paris will help fight climate change with trees

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Wanjira Mathai, Grist

When world leaders gathered in Paris to open negotiations for a pivotal international climate agreement, I was happy to see so many heads of state reaffirm the central role of trees and forest landscape restoration in fighting and adapting to climate change. As an African woman and the daughter of Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, the restoration agenda is very close to me. The movement my mother established has been mobilizing communities for close to 40 years to restore their landscapes by planting trees for food, for fuel, and to bring barren land back to productive life.

Mathai
Planting a tree in Kenya photo: USAID Kenya

Restoration is also Africa’s best chance to protect itself from climate change. Even though the continent as a whole has contributed minimally to the global climate change problem, Africans will be among those most affected.

By mid-century, Africa’s population is expected to nearly double — from 1.1 billion to 2 billion — pushing the demand for already scarce resources of soil and water. Nearly three-quarters of all drylands in Africa — 1 billion hectares (3.86 million square miles) — are affected by desertification, while a quarter of African agricultural land is seriously damaged, costing an average of 3 percent of GDP each year due to the loss of soil and nutrients on farmland. In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly half the population, 47 percent, earns less than $1.25 a day.

Restoration holds the potential to shield us from those dangers while also providing a wide range of benefits: trees as a source of energy; trees as a source of nutritious food; trees to bind the soil so that agriculture thrives; trees that make our landscapes beautiful. And especially in the developing world, restoring landscapes and planting trees is something we can do right away — we have boots on the ground! By investing in this amazing opportunity, we can tackle a suite of problems with one useful tool.

A new movement called AFR100 — the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative — is poised to take advantage of this opportune moment. This new pan-African, country-led effort aims to restore 100 million hectares (386,000 square miles) of degraded and deforested landscapes in Africa by 2030. It’s an ambitious goal, but within reach — at the initiative’s launch in Paris during COP21, African countries committed to restore more than 30 million hectares (116,000 square miles), an area larger than the nation of Gabon or the United Kingdom. And AFR100 partners are earmarking more than $1 billion in development finance and $600 million in private sector investment to support restoration activities.

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Question for this article

When you cultivate plants, do you culivate peace?

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AFR100 builds on global commitments for landscape restoration, specifically the Bonn Challenge and the New York Declaration on Forests. It is also inspired by programs such as Initiative 20×20, which focuses on landscape restoration in Latin America and the Caribbean. We are proud to contribute so substantially to this global movement, as restoration is both in our own self-interest and benefits the whole world.

I get energized by the landscape restoration movement in its power to address so many issues simultaneously — health, environment, energy security, and empowerment of women — in a way few other interventions can. Restoration can be especially powerful when paired with other solutions like clean cook stoves and lighting, which I also advocate as director of the Women’s Entrepreneurship in Renewables (wPower) Hub at the Wangari Maathai Institute, where we spotlight and support the important role women play in their communities.

The challenges are great, but so are the opportunities. More than 700 million hectares of land are ripe for restoration in Africa, according to analysis by World Resources Institute and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). These lands are diverse, offering the potential to both restore natural forests and wooded landscapes and also increase the density of trees in highly populated landscapes to help farmers and protect watersheds.

At the opening ceremonies at COP21, many African leaders called for more climate action from the developed world, and that is appropriate. There are a handful of countries we know are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, and this is going to cause catastrophic suffering in Africa. We must then call upon the developed countries to play their part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and finance mitigation and adaptation activities like restoration in other parts of the world.

We didn’t choose this challenge. But we also can’t afford to wait for others to take action. We have a huge responsibility to mitigate and adapt for our own sake and the sake of our children, because a world of extreme climate change is grim for us all. We have to be diligent in our advocacy for climate justice, but at the same time, we cannot be asleep. We have to put the measures in place in our own countries that will protect our people from the climate crisis. Planting or nurturing a tree seedling in African soil is a good place to start.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

International Peace Delegation to Syria 24-30 Nov. 2015

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article by Mairead Maguire for Transcend Media Service

Our delegation has just spent five days with the people of Syria visiting the cities of Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Qara and Ma’alula. We have been deeply moved by the kindness and warmth of the Syrian people whom we have had the privilege and joy of meeting. Although they have suffered unimaginable violence, they have inspired us by their vision of a peaceful Syria and deep commitments to solutions in their country. These are the findings of our delegation, consisting of eleven peace and human rights advocates from six countries. Over the course of five days, we met with internally displaced persons, refugees, affected communities, religious leaders, combatants, government representatives and many others in Syria.

maguire
Mairead Maguire

We call on the international community to protect the territorial integrity of Syria and to respect the fundamental rights of Syria as a sovereign State. We deplore any intent to breach the integrity of Syria’s frontiers or to damage the unity and rich diversity of the Syrian people.

We recognize the legitimacy of the aspirations of the Syrian citizens for change, reforms and an end to all violence and we support those working for the implementation of a democratic life that respects and protects the fundamental rights of all citizens and we believe that effective and lasting reforms can only be achieved through non-violent means.

Our primary appeal is that all countries stop their interference in Syrian affairs, more specifically, that they halt the supply of arms and foreign combatants. If foreign countries agree to stop the influx of arms and fighters, we are confident that Syrians can find their own solutions to their problems and achieve reconciliation.

We consider it beyond debate that the Syrian people have the right to determine their own government and their own future. Foreign interference is currently preventing the Syrian people from exercising their right to self-determination. We are concerned that such pernicious intervention is tearing apart the fabric of the country itself, with long-term consequences that can only be imagined.

The cautionary examples of Iraq, Libya, Yemen and other countries serve to remind us of the dire consequences of such international folly. This humanitarian crisis is already spilling into neighboring countries. A collapse of Syrian society will destabilize the entire region. We appeal to the international community that it can learn from history and make better choices in the case of Syria that will spare further tragedy for the courageous Syrian people.

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Question for this article:

How can there be a political solution to the war in Syria?

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Secondly we appeal to the international media to stop the flow of misinformation regarding the Syrian conflict. We believe that every Syrian should be given the right to be heard and we do not see this reflected in the international coverage of this crisis.

Thirdly, we urge the international community to review and reconsider the crippling sanctions that are taking such a heavy toll on Syrian people.

Fourthly, we urge the international community to take seriously the vast numbers of refugees and persons who have been internally displaced by this conflict.

We appeal to the entire religious community to call the faithful to nonviolence and peacemaking, and to reject all forms of violence and discrimination, and we express our admiration and respect for the many Syrian religious leaders who have refused to endorse the use of violence and have dedicated their lives to working for a peaceful solution to this conflict.

We pay tribute to the Patriarch Gregorios III Laham and Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun for their inspirational work for peace and reconciliation for Syria and the Patriarch Gregorios III Laham for his kind invitation to our delegation. Our delegation would like to express to Mother Agnes Mariam and Sheik Sharif Martini our deep gratitude and appreciation for all their commitment to peace and reconciliation in beloved Syria.

As we leave Syria we are filled with hope that the Syrian people will have peace and so be a light of hope to the world.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Mideast

UN adopts Bangladesh-sponsored resolution on “culture of peace”

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from bdnews24

United Nations has adopted a Bangladesh-sponsored resolution on “culture of peace”, as it has done in the previous years.

bangladesh

Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN Masud Bin Momen introduced on Thursday the resolution that emphasised on the importance of a “culture of peace” to deal with growing terrorism and intolerance worldwide.

The resolution was adopted unanimously without any voting.

This resolution based on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s vision of peace has been adopted by the UN with majority support since 1999. But this was the first time the resolution was passed without any voting and supported by 93 member nations.

Permanent representatives of 20 countries spoke in support of the resolution.

Momen said the implementation of this resolution would help increase compassion in the world. “Hatred among people and wars will be reduced. Mutual respect and love will become stronger. This will establish peace in the world.”

After Bangladesh introduced the resolution on “culture of peace” in 1999, 2001-2010 was observed across the world as a “decade of culture of peace.”

President of the United Nations General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft in his inaugural address appreciated the role of the Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission to the UN and stated that the promotion of culture of peace has assumed more importance now in confronting terrorism and growing intolerance.

[Click here for the resolution.]

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, United Nations,