By Climate 4 Palestine, March 22, 2024
Learn why there can be no climate justice without a free Palestine!
Gustavo Petro, the President of Colombia, warned that Gaza is a “blueprint” for the rapidly approaching world of climate chaos and Global North-imposed eco-fascism.
What did he mean?
This virtual panel of experts explores how true climate justice must tackle the legacy of North-South inequity and colonial violence that define our world today.
Expand your understanding of the ties between capitalism, settler colonialism, imperialism, and the climate crisis – and how to actively work for Palestinian liberation in so-called ‘Canada.’
Webinar Speakers:
Ellen Gabriel
Yafa Jarrar
Harsha Walia
Rachel Small
There are obvious ties between the genocide in Palestine and the climate crisis – from offshore gas reserves in Gaza to skyrocketing military emissions. Yet the relationship runs much deeper than this. As settler colonial states, there are parallels between Canada and Israel. In the Canadian context, many climate activists are familiar with the ties between the climate crisis and settler colonialism. Land theft has violently dispossessed Indigenous peoples of their land, violating their rights to practice their culture and steward their lands. Indigenous peoples bear the burden of environmental degradation in Canada, as evidenced by elevated rates of cancer in communities downstream from fossil fuel projects, and lack of access to clean water. In spite of five centuries of colonial onslaught, Indigenous peoples are leading the fight against extractivism and for climate justice by protecting their lands and waters across so-called Canada. However, Indigenous resistance is routinely met with state violence and criminalization.
In Palestine, 75 years of settler colonial occupation has left Gaza and the West Bank more vulnerable to climate impacts. Israel restricts Palestinians’ basic human rights such as access to safe drinking water and the autonomy to manage their own lands and resources. It steals agricultural land to turn into “green zones”. Olive trees which are critical for food sovereignty and ancestral connection have been burned, bulldozed and bombed. Now, with the current genocide, Gaza looks different from space, having faced higher levels of destruction than the most devastated cities of World War II. The process of genocidal accumulation by dispossession is happening around the world, from Turtle Island to Palestine, with the same goals – domination, extraction, and profit at the expense of people and the planet. This process is burning our planet to the ground. As we witness the genocide of Palestinians unfold in real time it is essential that our movements broaden as we build toward a just future for all people.
One Response
I was able to watch this. A very informative and moving Webinar. Well done Rachel and Bianca!