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For Immediate Release
February, 23 2020, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Lindsay Meiman,Senior U.S. Communications Specialist,lindsay@350.org,us-comms@350.org,+1 347 460 9082,New York, USA
Climate Justices Means Respecting Indigenous Rights - 350.org Statement Supporting Wet'suwet'en Land Defenders
350.org stands in solidarity with the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation – along with allied Indigenous land defenders in Tyendinaga and beyond – in their assertion of Indigenous rights and title over their ancestral homelands. We condemn the police raids, colonial violence, and divisions being sown by the Canadian and BC government in pursuit of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline.
NEW YORK
350.org stands in solidarity with the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en Nation - along with allied Indigenous land defenders in Tyendinaga and beyond - in their assertion of Indigenous rights and title over their ancestral homelands. We condemn the police raids, colonial violence, and divisions being sown by the Canadian and BC government in pursuit of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline.
The Canadian Supreme Court Delgamuukw decision tells us that rights and title to the lands through which the proposed Coastal Gaslink pipeline will cross are under the care and jurisdiction of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs.
We denounce the actions of both Prime Minister Trudeau and Premier John Horgan. They have built their political legacies upon promises of reconciliation and climate leadership. Yet they are allowing the militarized Royal Canadian Mountain Police officers to enter unceded and unsurrendered Wet'suwet'en territory to enforce an illegal injunction. They have encouraged similar actions by the Ontario Provincial Police in Tyendinaga. These actions serve to protect the interests of the Coastal GasLink corporation over the collective rights of the Wet'suwet'en people who have been saying no to fracked gas and tar sands pipelines for over a decade, and over Indigenous rights more broadly.
The Government of Canada must honour its obligations to Indigenous Peoples enshrined in Article 35 of the Canadian Constitution and within the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Canada also has an obligation to the planet as a signatory to the Paris Climate Accord and thus we, as 350, unequivocally stand with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who are not only protecting their lands, but all of us and our collective future. Climate justice means justice for Indigenous peoples everywhere.
Donate to the Wet'suwet'en Legal fund here, learn more about how to support and organize a solidarity action here.
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
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Just hours after a
cease-fire between the Israeli government and Lebanese group Hezbollah took effect, the Financial Times revealed that "U.S. President Joe Biden has provisionally approved a $680 million weapons sale to Israel," which has also spent the past nearly 14 months decimating the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the British newspaper reported that "U.S. officials recently briefed Congress on the plan to provide thousands of additional joint direct attack munition kits to Israel, known as JDAMS, as well as hundreds of small-diameter bombs."
The Biden administration's decision to advance the sale was subsequently confirmed by Reuters, which reported that "the package has been in the works for several months. It was first brought to the congressional committees in September then submitted for review in October."
Human rights advocates critical of Israel's assaults on Lebanon and Gaza—which has led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—responded with alarm to the new reporting.
"If these reports are true, it's heartbreakingly devastating news," said Amnesty International USA. "These are the weapons that our research has shown were used to wipe out entire families, without any discernable military objective."
Amnesty highlighted a trio of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that would have halted some arms sales to Israel. Although they failed to pass the Senate last week, the group was among several that noted over the course of three votes, 17, 18, and 19 senators supported halting weapons sales, "sending a clear signal that U.S. policy must change."
"Yet, the Biden administration seems to be ready and willing to keep piling more and more, despite Gaza descending into what President Biden just yesterday described as 'hell,'" Amnesty added Wednesday. "Sending more weapons that have been used to maim and kill with impunity doesn't just put in jeopardy Palestinian lives and the elusive cease-fire the president is seeking, but also President Biden's own legacy."
The Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project declared Wednesday that "President Biden is spending the final days of his presidency going against the will of most Americans, U.S. law, and international law."
"The weapons included in this package have been used by Israel in numerous apparent war crimes," the organization noted. "On July 13, 2024, Israel attacked a so-called 'safe zone' in al-Mawasi, in which internally displaced Palestinians were sheltering, killing at least 90 people and injuring hundreds more. A
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According to the Financial Times:
U.S. officials have denied there is any explicit link between the cease-fire deal and approval for the latest weapons delivery. While the cease-fire deal includes a so-called side letter from the U.S. to Israel, setting out Washington's support for a certain freedom of Israeli action, people familiar with the text said it included no guarantees of weapon sales.
U.S. officials also deny that there have been deliberate delays to weapons shipments, aside from shipments of 2,000-pound bombs, which Biden paused earlier this year over concerns about their use in densely populated areas of Gaza.
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The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said in a statement that Israel's blocking of deliveries including blankets, shoes, and clothing has left Gaza's 2.3 million—nearly half of whom are children—vulnerable to the elements, especially since at least 70% of homes in the enclave have been destroyed in the last 13 months.
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