December, 05 2014, 11:15am EDT
'Build Clean Community Energy,' Activists Tell UN Climate Talks
LIMA, Peru
One week before UN climate talks conclude here, Friends of the Earth International activists urged the participating 195 nations to start building clean, sustainable, community-based energy solutions.
"We urgently need to decrease our energy consumption and push for a just transition to community-controlled renewable energy if we are to avoid devastating climate change. We must stop subsidising fossil fuels and put this money towards community-based energy solutions," said Susann Scherbarth, climate justice and energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe.
Community-owned renewable energy solutions bring wide ranging benefits, including reduced CO2 emissions, reduced energy consumption, increased public acceptance for renewables, stronger communities, and green jobs.
A proposal presented by African nations (pdf) earlier in the year calls for an energy transformation and was welcomed by climate justice activists including Friends of the Earth International.
"Africa as a continent contributed the least to the climate crisis. Now Africans are pointing to the real solutions to stop global warming and for environmental justice," said Godwin Ojo, executive director of Friends of the Earth Nigeria.
"We urgently need a transition to clean energy in developing countries and one of the best incentives is globally funded feed-in tariffs for renewable energy," he added.
Today, the What Next Forum and Centre for Science and Environment launch their report on a 'Global Renewable Energy Support Programme' which shows how globally funded feed-in tariffs can promote community energy.
"Solutions to the climate and energy crisis exist. Among the most innovative ones is a mechanism to deliver international climate finance to Southern communities through feed-in tariffs. These are subsidies that cover the difference between actual costs and affordable, clean energy for people. It is a way to promote decentralised, community controlled energy and is the most effective and visionary approach to tackling the urgent need for transformation to renewable energy", said Niclas Hallstrom of What Next Forum.
Our current energy system - the way we produce, distribute and consume energy - is unsustainable, unjust and harming communities, workers, the environment and the climate. This is fundamentally an issue of corporate and elite power and interests outweighing the power of ordinary citizens and communities.
"We believe it is possible and indeed crucial to transform our energy system to one which ensures access for everyone to sufficient energy to meet their basic needs for well-being and lives with dignity," said Dipti Bhatnagar, Climate Justice and Energy Coordinator of Friends of the Earth International.
"We need an energy system which supports a safe climate, clean air and water, biodiversity protection, and healthy, thriving local societies that provide safe, decent and secure jobs and livelihoods," she added.
Friends of the Earth International is the world's largest grassroots environmental network, uniting 74 national member groups and some 5,000 local activist groups on every continent. With over 2 million members and supporters around the world, FOEI campaigns on today's most urgent environmental and social issues.
LATEST NEWS
Rights Groups List 50+ Calls for Gaza Genocide on Israel's Channel 14
"Incitement to war crimes is part of the Channel 14 poison machine, and its aim is to create a forever war here," said one campaigner.
Sep 25, 2024
Since the October 7 attack, Israel's right-wing Channel 14 has broadcast over 50 statements by presenters, panelists, and guests advocating or defending genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and more than 150 calls for war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to a report published Tuesday by an Israeli newspaper.
Haaretzreported that the Israeli human rights groups—Zulat for Equality and Human Rights, Hatzlacha: Movement for the Promotion of a Fair Society, and the Democratic Bloc—have compiled a list of genocidal statements and incitements to war crimes made by individuals appearing on Channel 14 since October 7.
The groups have written to Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara requesting a criminal investigation into the station for "systematic and widespread incitement." The organizations want Channel 14 sanctioned and fined.
"On October 7, the terrorist organization Hamas committed war crimes and crimes against humanity," attorneys Michael Sfard, Alon Sapir, and Einat Gaier—who are representing the groups—told Haaretz. This caused "massive grief, deep sorrow, and burning and understandable fury."
"Israeli society is deeply traumatized, and this trauma will take years to heal," the lawyers continued. "This is exactly the type of ground upon which moral monstrosities are liable to flourish, and are flourishing."
The Haaretz article lists each incident in which genocidal statements have aired on Channel 14, with one program, "The Patriots," appearing repeatedly on the list.
On October 12, former Israeli lawmaker Moshe Feiglin—who has quoted Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, while arguing for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza—said on "The Patriots" that "if the goal of this operation isn't destruction, occupation, expulsion, and settlement, then we've done nothing."
Two days later on the program, presenter Nave Dromi said that "there are no innocents" in Gaza.
"In 1948, they brought the Nakba on themselves," she added, referring to the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs from Palestine by Jewish militias during the foundation of modern Israel. "Now they'll have a second Nakba, but for real, to finish the job."
The following day, October 15, Channel 14 aired a prerecorded message from Israeli singer Eyal Golan, who asserted that "Gaza should be totally wiped out, not one person should be left there."
Golan's message was cited in the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Israeli State Attorney Amit Aisman is also considering a criminal investigation of Golan's remarks.
The human rights groups and Haaretz documented many other instances of on-air calls for indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, shooting civilians, and to "just exterminate" Palestinians.
Channel 14 personalities were aware of the legal implications of these statements. Following the ICJ's January order for Israel to avoid genocidal acts—which the country's far-right government has been accused of ignoring—Israeli journalist Shimon Riklin said on air that a law professor "warned me before the broadcast that if I say these things on the show I could be sued in The Hague."
"But I want you all to know that since October 7, one of the things that helps me to sleep is when I see all kinds of buildings flying through the air in Gaza, I enjoy it," he said. "Let's have more! Destroy as much as possible, so they won't have anywhere to go back to. Hang on a second, The Hague is calling... Hello?"
That same day another Israeli journalist, Itamar Fleischmann, argued on air that "the more humane solution is to starve" Palestinians in Gaza.
"And the choice is up to the civilians there," he added. "You want to keep starving? Keep supporting Hamas... That's why in my view, the Israeli interest is starvation in Gaza and a humanitarian disaster in Gaza."
At least dozens of Gazans, mostly children, have starved to death amid Israel's siege of the embattled enclave, where more than 147,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured by Israel's nearly yearlong onslaught.
"Incitement to war crimes is part of the Channel 14 poison machine, and its aim is to create a forever war here," Zehava Galon, a former left-wing Israeli lawmaker and president of Zulat for Equality and Human Rights, told Haaretz.
In a social media post, Zulat for Equality and Human Rights said Tuesday that "we specifically present here evidence of a serious crime being committed on Channel 14 and it needs to be stopped immediately."
Channel 14 "turned these statements into a systematic agenda," the group added. "An urgent investigation is required so that this incitement cannot be legitimate and allowed in Israel. It's time for the instigators to pay the price."
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With All Eyes on Gaza, Israel Bulldozed 'Mile After Mile' of West Bank
"We watched their bulldozers tear up streets, demolish businesses, pharmacies, schools," said one local leader. "They even bulldozed the town soccer field, and a tree in the middle of a road."
Sep 25, 2024
As the world watched Israel's assaults on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, The New York Times on Wednesday also directed attention to the West Bank, detailing how "Israeli military bulldozers tore up mile after mile" of Jenin and Tulkarm in recent weeks.
While "nearly nightly raids" by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) "have become the norm" in the West Bank since the Hamas-led October 7 attack, the military last month "launched one of its most extensive and deadliest raids" in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory in years, the newspaper reported, citing videos and interviews with residents.
"We watched their bulldozers tear up streets, demolish businesses, pharmacies, schools. They even bulldozed the town soccer field, and a tree in the middle of a road," said Kamal Abu al-Rub, governor of Jenin. "What was the point of all of this?"
In addition to ground operations in the West Bank, the IDF has increased airstrikes that critics say run afoul of international law. The military defended the strikes and told the Times that in recent raids, troops found weapon stockpiles and killed or arrested dozens of militants—but also caused some "unavoidable harm to certain civilian structures."
In response to videos included in the reporting, freelance journalist Pete Tucker accused Israeli soldiers of "methodically laying waste to" the West Bank.
Malini Ranganathan, an associate professor at American University's School of International Service, said on social media that "Israel's criminality knows no limits. IDF bulldozers have been obliterating the West Bank, even tearing up roundabouts."
Israeli forces have damaged homes, shops, and roads along with internet, electricity, phone, water, and sewage lines in the West Bank. Emergency crews have been unable to respond to hundreds of calls per day, because they can't reach people in need.
"They are imposing conditions, materially and psychologically, that make people feel: Gaza is coming to you," Al Haq director Shawan Jabarin told the Times. "There is a feeling among Palestinians across the West Bank that what is coming is very bad—that it will be a plan to kill and expel us."
Since the October 7 attack on Israel that killed more than 1,100 people, Israeli forces have slaughtered at least 41,455 Palestinians in Gaza and 716 in the West Bank. Across the Palestinian territories, over 100,000 others have been injured over the past year. The bloodshed led to an ongoing genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The ICJ in July issued a nonbinding advisory opinion that Israel's decadeslong occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and must end "as rapidly as possible." Instead, Israel has ramped up attacks on not only the Palestinian territories, but also Lebanon, home to the political and paramilitary group Hezbollah.
This week's bombing campaign in Lebanon—which has killed at least 569 people—sparked fresh calls for the Biden administration to finally cut off weapons to Israel, as did the new reporting from the Times, which has been accused of pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the assault on Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli destruction in the West Bank continues. The International Middle East Media Centerreported that "on Wednesday, Israeli soldiers invaded the town of Beit Ula, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank's southern part, [and] bulldozed over 20 dunams of land, uprooting more than 600 fruit-bearing trees, and demolishing several agricultural structures and wells."
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Progressive US Lawmakers Call for Arms Embargo to Halt Israeli Escalation in Lebanon
"We cannot continue to stand idly by while innocent civilians are being bombarded with our tax dollars," said U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Sep 25, 2024
Progressive lawmakers in the U.S. House expressed alarm Wednesday over Israel's ongoing bombardment of Lebanon and called on the Biden administration to take immediate steps to stop the deadly violence, including halting the flow of American weapons to the Israeli military.
"Our district is home to one of the largest, most vibrant Lebanese communities in the nation," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the lone Palestinian American in the U.S. Congress. "While our families mourn the ongoing genocide in Gaza, they are now witnessing the Israeli government's indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon."
"The Biden-Harris administration continues to allow Netanyahu and the Israeli government to operate with impunity as they carry out war crimes," Tlaib added. "Deploying more U.S. troops and sending more U.S. bombs will only lead to more suffering and carnage. The Biden-Harris administration is capable of stopping the bloodshed. President [Joe] Biden must implement an immediate arms embargo to end the slaughter and deescalate the risk of a wider regional war."
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) implored the Biden administration—which has supplied Israel with more than 50,000 tons of military equipment in less than a year—to "use every single tool to deescalate tensions," including cutting off military aid to "stop the violence both in Lebanon and Gaza."
"We cannot continue to stand idly by while innocent civilians are being bombarded with our tax dollars," said Omar.
"We must use our leverage with regional actors to deescalate regional tensions and prevent further violence from erupting."
Separately, CPC chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)—who heads the CPC's Peace and Security Task Force—said in a statement Wednesday that they are "deeply concerned by the disturbing number of civilian deaths in the latest bombings in Lebanon as well as new missile fire preventing thousands from returning to their homes in northern Israel."
"We have long warned of the dangers of escalating violence in the region, which has killed U.S. service members and harmed communities across the Middle East," said Jayapal and Lee. "The American people have made clear they do not want another war in the Middle East and we must use our leverage with regional actors to deescalate regional tensions and prevent further violence from erupting."
"As members of Congress," they added, "we also reaffirm our solemn responsibility to ensure that any use of U.S. force be brought first for a vote before Congress, consistent with the Constitution."
The statements from the progressive U.S. lawmakers came as Israel carried out another barrage of airstrikes in Lebanon and signaled a possible ground invasion.
"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day," General Herzi Halevi told Israeli troops Wednesday on the border with Lebanon. "This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah."
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly earlier this week, Biden said that "full-scale war is not in anyone's interest" and called for a "diplomatic solution."
But Biden's remarks were not well-received in Lebanon. Abdallah Bou Habib, the country's foreign minister, said the president's address in New York was neither "strong" nor "promising," adding that only decisive action from the U.S. "can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon."
The U.S. is Israel's top ally and arms supplier. While it's unclear whether American-made weaponry has been used during Israel's deadly bombing campaigns in Lebanon this week, Stephen Semler of the Security Policy Reform Institute toldThe Intercept that it would "almost be more shocking to see a non-U.S.-supplied weapon being used in southern Lebanon," given how heavily Israel relies on U.S. arms.
"As more forensic evidence is recovered in Lebanon," said Semler, "we shouldn't be surprised to see U.S. fingerprints all over it."
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