The following post was written by Alina Evans and Anna Campanelli, interns with the Global Exchange Community Rights Program.

community_rightsHydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) is one of the most destructive energy processes on planet Earth – even the EPA reports show that fracking is the second-biggest contributor of U.S. Greenhouse gases. But as California activist RL Miller reports in the Daily Kos, “California’s oil is as dirty as the Canadian tar sands. State data shows that several California oil fields produce just as much carbon dioxide per barrel of oil as the tar sands do. A handful of fields yield even more.”

Contrary to gas and oil company propaganda, this drilling process is unsafe, unclean, and absolutely not renewable. The truth is fracking is yet another dirty energy scheme poisoning our air, soil and groundwater, and now it’s poisoning us. Gas and oil companies are quietly bringing fracking to the Golden State, placing not just Californians, but the planet at risk. In fact the process has already begun, promising to make California the #1 oil producing state, or as some call it—the Saudi Arabia of the USA—but at what cost? Global Exchange is working with communities to say “no” and along with our partners we’re leading a speaking tour April 15-22 through California’s  fracklands to educate and mobilize for action.

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Photo: thinkprogress.org

 

How Fracking works:
Fracking is an enhanced drilling technique that through a process of vertical and horizontal drilling enables fracking rigs to extract natural gas and/or oil from shale formations. Millions of gallons of water, sand, and “proprietary” carcinogenic chemicals are injected at high pressures, fracturing the underground shale and releasing “trapped” natural gas and oil. Vertical fracking is employed to increase the lifespan of a pre-existing well, while horizontal fracking is used to tap previously inaccessible shale deposits through an injection process. For a good fracking primer, check out EARTHWORK’s Hydraulic Fracturing 101.

Doing the numbers:

  • Between 3-5 million gallons of water are used to frack a single well one time; one well can be fracked 18 times; this means that one fracked well requires between 54-90 million gallons of water in its lifetime-that’s enough to fill up to 9 Yankee Stadiums!

    YankeeStadium-NewYork-SeatingBowl-990x442

    Water used for fracking just one well fills up to 9 Yankee Stadiums (Photo: Populus.com)

  • 90% of wells in the United States are currently being fracked, that’s over 800,000 wells and counting.
  • 596 chemicals (known carcinogens) are used in fracking.  These chemicals are undisclosed under the trade secret provision protecting energy companies’ proprietary “recipes”
  • Each time a well is fracked, millions of gallons of these toxic chemicals are pumped into our earth along with our water.
  • On average, 330 tons of chemicals are used per fracking operation—2/3 of the toxic chemicals remain underground.
  • Earthquakes in frack zones have skyrocketed in places like Ohio, (not a state previously known for seismic activity) placing geologically sensitive California at extreme risk.
  • Extreme energy methods = climate chaos. California’s 15 billion barrels of fracked oil will release 6.45 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, on par with the Keystone XL pipeline’s carrying capacity in its lifetime (7 million metric tons).

The millions of gallons of toxic waste water produced cannot be processed by wastewater treatment. If the steel/cement casing of a well cracks from the pressure the toxins seep into the water aquifers that we drink from. Exploding wells, dwindling ecosystems, toxic sink water, sickness and deaths of animals and even humans are not uncommon reports coming from US communities who have been subjected to fracking, depending on whether it is natural gas or oil being fracked. The latest report come from Columbus, Ohio where, since March of this year, 11 earthquakes have resulted from fracking operations in the area.

aerialFracking

Baldwin Hills (Los Angeles County) California’s largest frack field (photo Transition Culver City)

California’s Dirty Secret is about to blow
In the Golden state, fracking is unregulated and unmonitored. Corporations do not need to disclose the toxic chemicals they are using or inform communities that fracking is happening. As a water-poor state, fracking and its toxic wastewater presents a serious danger to our communities and ecosystems. And in a state prone to earthquakes, human induced fault pressures present an alarming geological risk. Fracking proponents claim fracking has been going on for 70 years in California with no harmful effects—a misleading apples and oranges statement at best.  Old-school fracking did not use the same chemicals or drill as deeply or horizontally, nor inject the kinds of chemicals that modern fracking uses. As a result of all of this, fracking in California is a well-kept secret: only 50% of residents know what fracking is.But that is about to change. Here in California, as communities are learning about fracking’s dangers, they want to stop it.

Along with our partners, Global Exchange’s Community Rights Program is embarking on a 7-day speaking tour from April 15-22. The tour will visit impacted California communities from San Francisco to San Diego and expose the reality of fracking in the state and engage community members in the movement to oppose and stop this harmful and dangerous practice, exploring with our partners all of the efforts underway statewide to stop fracking from transforming the state and the climate.

 

Tour stops include: San Francisco, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver City, and San Diego, **with others still to be added.**

Each stop on the tour will include a day of action: along with our allies, we are working with host communities to strategize and develop unique actions that meet each community’s needs. Each day’s activity will be preceded by a local media plan, social media outreach, collaborative efforts, and planned meetings with various community groups. We expect much of the energy we generate on this tour will build toward larger statewide action.

don't frack shannon

Community Rights Director Shannon Biggs

Confirmed Speakers and partners on the road:  We’ll bring Doug Shields, former Pittsburgh PA councilman enacting the first “rights-based” ban on fracking in the nation,

scientists, fractivists, and fracking experts from our partner organizations, many of whom take different approaches to regulate or ban or place a moratorium on the process.  Our allies on the road include the Center for Biological Diversity, Food and Water Watch, 350.org, Clean Water Action, Transitions Towns, community-based groups, host community partners, and you! If you are concerned about fracking in your community or in general we are here to help you too! If you would like to join the tour, if you are interested in having us visit your community or if you would like to attend one of the events set up for the tour we’d love to hear from you.

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Jessica Nuti and Executive Director Carleen Pickard at the Global Frackdown Bay Area

Global Exchange is helping Communities assert their right to say “NO fracking”

Five years ago, Global Exchange launched the Community Rights Program confronting corporate power at its core: by challenging unjust law and shifting the balance of power from one that protects the rights of corporations, to one that protects the rights of our communities and the environment. The Community Rights Program enters the California and national fracking debate via our expertise in grassroots, “rights-based” organizing, where we work with communities confronted by various corporate harms to enact local laws that place the rights of residents and nature above corporate interests. A right-based approach not only offers communities a way to stop the harmful practices of fracking in their midst, but addresses the core issue of a system of law that legalizes harmful corporate practices like fracking.

We’ve already been working with a handful of communities to pass rights-based fracking bans, including San Luis Obispo, and Culver City, and we hope to be working with many more. This efforts builds on the success of more than nine communities who have stopped fracking through passing rights-based fracking bans – the most notable in Pittsburgh, PA, led by featured tour speaker, Doug Shields.  Across Pennsylvania, New Mexico and New York, nine other communities have followed suit (with many more underway), declaring their right as communities to protect the health safety and welfare of residents and the groundwater they depend on.

LEARN MORE:  Want to be a part of the tour? Want the tour to come to YOU?

Contact Community Rights Program Director Shannon Biggs at: Shannon@globalexchange.org or 415.575.5540.
Stay updated on the specifics for the tour at our webpage: or join our list serve (emails twice monthly)

For another take on fracking in California from our Global Exchange colleague Corey Hill, check out this article at the East Bay Express.

Alina Evans and Anna Campanelli, authors of this blog post are interns with the Global Exchange Community Rights Program.

As we close out the remaining weeks of 2012, Global Exchange is also beginning to gear up for our 25th anniversary next year. Before we look forward to another 25 years of social justice activism, let us look back at what we have been up to in 2012.

Here’s a very special video with highlights from our year, and we do mean “our” because we cannot do the work we do without YOU!

Please consider this your official invitation to JOIN US in this unstoppable movement for change. Together we are strong.

DebMedeaStarbucks

Deborah James and Medea Benjamin pushing Starbucks to go Fair Trade, 1999.

We’re going to raise $25,000 by midnight on Dec. 31st.

Over the past 25 years, you have helped Global Exchange:

• transform the unfair practices of corporate giants like Nike, GAP, and Starbucks;
• build a thriving Fair Trade movement;
• monitor elections in Colombia, Mexico, and the U.S. and;
• build the Green Festival – the nation’s largest sustainability event.

Your support made all this, and much more, possible. Renew your commitment to social justice by making a donation today.

Global-Exchange-25-Year-AnnAs we set our sights on the next 25 years, with your support we will reform U.S. gun laws, force Hershey’s to go Fair Trade, and continue to oppose unjust policies in the U.S. and abroad.

Your continued support will help us build an unstoppable movement for change.

Please donate today and make great things possible:

• One Hundred $25 gifts will cover the cost of a trip to Ethiopia to meet with Fair Trade cooperatives and develop increase relationships with local artisans.

• Fifty $100 gifts will tour a speaker from the frontlines of the drug war in Mexico, educating and inspiring thousands across the U.S. to change the broken policies that are fueling this tragic war.

• Five $250 gifts will sponsor a year-long youth fellowship to inspire and train the leaders of tomorrow.

• Twenty-five $1,000 gifts will support all creative actions we have planned in 2013 to expose the havoc that lobbyists are wreaking on our democracy.

Want to see what we have accomplished in 2012? Watch this video (or re-visit our winter, spring, summer and fall roundups) to find out:

If we can accomplish all that in one year, think of what we have in store for the next 25 years!

Give today and ring in another year full of social justice victories.

… Tell Your Congressperson to Have Goodwill Toward Their Constituents!

In the results of the election, a lot of truths have been unearthed- the demographics and values of the United States, the power and limits of corporate money to influence elections, and the real significance of votes.

Over $629 million in Super PAC spending didn’t sway U.S. voters as significantly as expected, but in the coming months will the billions spent in corporate lobbying sway Congress?

Lobbying is a multi-billion dollar industry. While it’s technically true that you and I (or any constituent really) can lobby or try to persuade their legislators, most lobbying is funded by -and promotes- corporate interests. Since 2008, Wall Street has spent over $2.2 billion on lobbying, largely in order to weaken and squirm out of financial regulation. Add in the pharmaceutical, HMO, agribusiness, business, oil & energy, and defense/militarism sectors and we’re talking nearly $4 billion spent specifically to get corporations unprecedented (and undue) influence over all those folks we just elected to office.

We need to make sure all the new and re-elected members of Congress know that we elected them to represent us, not Wall Street and its cadre of lobbyists.

Can you take just a few hours in December to make a world of difference on this issue?

You and your representatives will both be back in your hometowns and districts during the month of December. Congress takes a recess, but you can still easily set up a meeting with your Congressperson in their district. Take the time to set up a meeting, put on a nice sweater and go tell your representative that you want them to commit to not being overrun by big bank lobbyists.

Here’s how:

  1. Look up your representative: {http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt}
  2. Call their office and set up a meeting for when you’re both home just before the holiday break.
  3. Do some research- look up how much campaign money your representative received from different companies and look into the DC connections of lobbyists representing those companies.
  4. Write this information down in a notepad, along with other questions you’d like to ask. If you need ideas, here are some of our favorites:
  • How many lobbyists from Wall Street arrange meetings with you?
  • How many lobbyists do you plan to meet with during this term?
  • If lobbyists give lots of gifts and throw lavish parties, does it influence your vote on their issues?
  • Are some lobbyists in DC perceived as bullies? Is there any way we can help you focus on your job without all these lobbyists trying to influence you all the time?
  • Have you ever seen a scorecard that shows campaign contributions before? Do you feel comfortable with how much money you received from Wall Street and your ability to put your constituents first? (If they were in office last year, you can show them Global Exchange’s Legislative Scorecard and measure  their ‘loyalty rate’ to Wall Street’s lobby position on key bills like Dodd-Frank!)
  • What would you like to see change in DC in the realm on campaign contributions and lobbying?
  1. When you meet, dress neatly and write down the answers!
  2. Take a picture with your senator/representative and an Elect Democracy sticker if you can.
  3. Email them to Global Exchange since students around the country will be sending in answers. Together, we’ll be able to see who’s willing to make some real commitments to say NO to lobbyists next year!

Boom- you’re done! All in all, it should take less than 3 hours, but it makes a huge difference not only for your Congressperson, but in helping to create a culture where politicians become more wary of the lobbyists and campaign contributions coming from Wall Street and other industries that want to put their profits before a healthy democratic process.


TAKE ACTION: Leave a comment confirming you can meet with your Representative in December!

Cuban School Children

Since 1989, Global Exchange has played a leading role in the national campaign to normalize relations with Cuba our Caribbean neighbor. Our primary goals are:

-End the U.S. blockade of Cuba

-End travel restrictions between the U.S. and Cuba

-Get Cuba removed from the U.S. list of “potential terrorist countries”

-Support and learn from Cuba’s struggles and successes in achieving sustainable development.

To this end Global Exchange organizes Reality Tours to Cuba. Learn more about how to travel to Cuba here.

Take action and support The International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5’s call to solidarity organizations and friends in the United States to support ‘5 consecutive days of freedom for the Cuban 5′, April 17-21 in Washington DC. Action in DC will include a demonstration and lobbying efforts, and thousands of ‘Obama, Give Me Five’ posters will be placed throughout the city.

Obama... Give me five!

Background on the Cuban 5: They are Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Rene González Sehwerert, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez and Fernando González Llort and in 1998, they were imprisoned in the United States. Danny Glover explains their case here in Danny Glover on the Five.

For a more detailed account of their case, read here. Also, check out the documentary called, ‘Will the Real Terrorist Please Stand Up?

Past Reality Tours participant Bill Patterson wrote this reflection on the changes that Fidel’s revolution brought to Cuba. For more information read here.

 

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruiz

By Bill Patterson

Cuba, after half a century of our country’s less than benevolent despotism was a small, plundered shell of a nation controlled by bloody handed President-dictator Fulgencio Batista, United States financial interests and the Mafia gambling structure. Over one-half of the 6,500,000 population lived in slums without electricity or sanitation. There were over 600,000 workers unemployed. Over 70% of the children had no teachers. Illiteracy was 37.5%. United States financial interests owned or controlled 80% of farm land, power generating companies, telephone services and banking interests, In the 1950-1960 decade the balance of payments favored U.S. interests by one billion dollars!

Cuban Doctor

When Fidel’s revolution triumphed in 1959 other militant rebel groups faded, including the Communist Party with which he later united. Victorious Fidel fit the classic description of a multi-talented Renaissance Man. Famed as a military conqueror, he was a skilled head of state, athlete, educator and humanitarian. While traditional Western governments might scoff at the unconventional Latin leader, none duplicated his generosity in nationalizing his family’s 25,000 acre ranch property!

Smarting financially from U.S. industries’ financial losses our government chose to militarily reverse Cuba’s political independence. Cubans defeated the counter-revolutionary army at the Bay of Pigs with surprising ease, capturing thousands of mercenaries.

Our CIA attempted eight highly imaginative attempts to assassinate Fidel. It’s efforts to destabilize fragile Cuba included 5,780 acts of sabotage, terrorism and subversion between January and August in 1962. The Cuban Olympic fencing team was destroyed when the CIA downed their aircraft in 1976.

That the world’s strongest nation would label tiny Cuba a terrorist state and impose decades of cruel sanctions is shameful. One wonders if freedom and independence of small Latin countries is tolerable only if financial bondage is demanded and granted.

Sources: First paragraph statistics are from Fidel’s address to the United Nations September 26,1960, reported by Julio Garcia Luis, Dean, U. of Havana, Cuban Revolution Reader. Third paragraph statistics are fromFabian Escalante Font: The Secret War: Covert Operations Against Cuba 1959-62.

"Unity" 1st place painting winner by Christopher Minafo 15 years old, New York

We hear a lot of talk about war, violence and destruction, but what about peace?  This important question is the inspiration behind our international arts contest, aptly named What About Peace? The contest is for youth ages 14 – 20 to express ideas and thoughts about peace by responding to the question, “What About Peace?” through artistic expression.

Though the contest is in full swing and the deadline is closing in, there is still time to enter. All entries must be received in our office on or before February 15th, 2012 to qualify.

"What About Peace" 2012 submission table

I meandered over to the contest submission area at our office today to peek at the entries, and I have to say, I got a little verklempt. There are some really inspiring pieces already in, organized in boxes by category, with bigger pieces stacked behind. A surprisingly large haul of photographs and poems. Cool!

But I’m not the only one. Throughout the workday today I could hear other Global Exchange staffers milling about the contest submission table, checking out the newest arrivals.

Of course it’s not up to us who wins the big $1,000 prize. That will be up to the grand judge (to be announced soon right here on our People to People blog.) Last year Global Exchange’s Kirsten Moller was the What About Peace? grand judge and shared her reflections in this blog post about the contest winner.

The Contest Accepted Mediums are:

  • Telling a story (up to 500 words)
  • Writing an essay (up to 500 words)
  • Creating a poem (up to 200 words)
  • Painting a picture or collage (up to 18” x 24”)
  • Taking a photo (up to 11” x 14” on photo paper)
  • Designing a graphic, poster or comic strip/cartoon (up to 18”x24”)

It’s not too late to enter! If you are between the ages of 14-20 enter today. If you are a teacher, counselor or youth worker, please encourage your students to apply.

Download entry form here.

Download contest flyer to share with teachers here.

The Grand prize is $1000, but more than $2500 in total prizes will be awarded. Check out www.whataboutpeace.org for all the entry details.

WHAT ABOUT PEACE? RULES N SUCH:

  • You must be between 14 and 20 years of age to participate.
  • One entry per person…One person per entry.
  • Entries won’t be returned. What About Peace? has the right to use any and all entries on our website, in displays, and in publicity for the contest. Copyright belongs to the entrant.
  • Be sure that you and your teacher/sponsor understand our stance on copying and plagiarism.  They are not allowed.
  • Send your entry and the form to What About Peace ? at 2017 Mission Street, 2nd floor, San Francisco, CA 94110;  All entries must be received in our office on or before February 15th, 2012.

WHAT ABOUT PEACE? WINNER DETAILS:

  • The sponsor/teacher of each winner will be notified of their winner(s) by US Mail.
  • All winning entries will be posted on our website, www.whataboutpeace.org on April 20th, 2012.
  • Sponsors/teachers will present What About Peace? awards in our name.
  • All winning entries will be posted on our website on April 20th, 2012.

SPREAD THE WORD! An easy way to spread the word about this exciting contest is to Share and Tweet this post (buttons on top right of post.) Here’s to a peaceful tomorrow.

 

“They know precisely what they want. They want to reverse the corporate coup that has taken place in the United States and rendered the citizenry impotent. And they won’t stop until this happens …”
— Chris Hedges, author, journalist, blogger on truthdig.com, on The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, CBC tv

People flooded the streets of the world on Saturday October 15 for a global march of solidarity against economic injustice. San Francisco’s rally was much like the reports I’ve heard and seen of others: upbeat but frustrated masses, joined by a sense of outrage and taking solace with others by taking to the streets. We marched again up the city’s Market Street to City Hall where we sat and verbally amplified back the message of our speakers.

Unity found in ‘We are the 99%’ chants seem unending and it’s clear that whatever happens in San Francisco (which has yet to land in a permanent location and face daily harassment), folks are intending to stay.

I’ve been thinking about Chris Hedges’ interview in The Lang and O’Leary Exchange on October 10 and I encourage you to watch it here (because then you can log comments!). Hedges responds to Kevin O’Leary’s comment that the folks in the street don’t know what they ‘want’:

“They know precisely what they want. They want to reverse the corporate coup that has taken place in the United States and rendered the citizenry impotent. And they won’t stop until this happens and frankly if we don’t break the back of corporations we are all finished anyway since they are rapidly trashing the eco system on which the human species depends for survival. This is literally a fight for life, it’s that grave, it’s that serious … The bottom line is that we don’t have much time left. We are on the cusp of perhaps another major banking crisis in Europe … There have been no restrictions no regulation on Wall Street, they have looted the US Treasury, they’ve played all the games they were playing before, and we are about to pay for it all over again.”

He’s then called a ‘left wing nutbar’ by O’Leary which falls flat after Hedges points out that he’s saying nothing more than what the thousands in the streets, the 99%, are saying.

This ongoing debate of ‘what do they want/what are they saying?’ is losing it’s interest as a media story as mainstream understanding of ‘We are the 99%’ takes hold outside of corporate media and in the streets. O’Leary’s insistence on marginalizing this call garners a comment from Hedges about being treated the way a guest would be on Fox News.

Another point of unity emerging as the 99% continues to greet each other with ‘I love you’ is anti-greed as a community quality. Journalist, author and co-author of the ‘Trouble with Billionaires’ Linda McQuaig, spoke this weekend about the movement’s recognition that the top 1% are too rich and too powerful and that these qualities are being elevated collectively as no longer acceptable in society. She says that changing attitudes about greed could have profound implications on our society. The Sunday Edition interview begins at the 7:00 min mark here.

Jeffrey Sachs also speaks to this idea that the 1% must first regain a sense of collective responsibility and community participation to have any legitimacy in the eyes of the 99% here.

Get active!
Our friends at Yes! Magazine have posted ten local and anywhere/everywhere ways to take action – check them out here.

And think global – support the call for a tax on financial transactions and demand that some of the money going into the profits of few are redistributed back to us, in our society for public works and in our community for a better future. The campaign for a ‘Robin Hood Tax’ is explained here.

Finally, on October 18th, Goldman Sachs reported a quarterly loss – its first since the financial crisis and only its second since going public in 1999. When asked directly about what should be done with Goldman Sachs on The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, Hedges replied, “Prosecuted, they should be prosecuted.”

Global Exchange staffers share what they love about their work in these short n sweet videos. We invite you to add your comments!

Kylie starts things off:

Next, Kirsten Moller encourages activism:

Chie Abad talks ending sweatshops & the power of global community:

Jocelyn Boreta loooves Fair Trade!

Corey Hill is giddy about GX members…

Behind the scene with Zarah:

Ted loves solidarity and presence:

Shannon loves BIG ideas sprung from Global Exchange

Paula loves Green Fests!

Carleen is a fan of our holistic approach…

Kevin Danaher sums it all up for us:

JOIN THE GLOBAL CONVERSATION!

Tim DeChristopher will be sentenced on July 26 after being found guilty of one count of violating the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act, and one count of False Statement March 3rd. He participated in the auction “won” $2.7 million in oil & gas leases in a brave creative nonviolent act to protect land from destructive oil and gas extraction. He is now facing 10 years in federal prison.

Flora Bernard, Co-Director of Peaceful Uprising, shares her thoughts about Tim DeChristopher’s prosecution:

When I first joined Peaceful Uprising, I didn’t know Tim DeChristopher. I was aware of the creative and bold action he took to derail an illegal, immoral federal auction of thousands of acres of Utah’s most cherished public lands. More importantly, I knew that Tim sees the climate crisis as the most urgent and universal issue of our era, and recognizes the need for more confrontational actions—the kind that require real sacrifice. That was enough for me to stand with Tim, and commit to fighting the industry and politics that continue to forfeit our living world and value profits over people.

Over the years, Tim and I have become close friends. As his sentencing date draws nearer every moment, I have a hard time believing that this honest, kind, hardworking, and relentlessly intelligent young man could actually spend time in a federal penitentiary for such a selfless, ingenious, peaceful and morally upright action.

Those of us who have followed Tim’s prosecution since his action in late December of 2008 are well aware that this is a purely political case. The federal government knows that this is a lose-lose situation for the prosecution; whatever sentence they give Tim will only galvanize and further empower climate justice activists. The prosecution’s attempts to disperse or dissipate solidarity, awareness, and actions around Tim’s trial failed, time and time again. Tim’s supporters recognize that the government is attempting to intimidate others from taking similarly bold action to combat the climate crisis. Our response will be one of continued joy and resolve: we will not be deterred in our fight for a just and healthy world. We refuse to be intimidated by an unjust system; one that seems hell-bent on condemning our generation and future generations to an unlivable climate and a ruined planet.

On July 26th, we will stand in solidarity with Tim. And regardless of what happens to Tim in that courtroom, we will continue to fight—for our climate, our planet, our right to our public lands and shared natural resources, and our future. I can’t think of a more meaningful way to honor Tim’s sacrifice than to continue to empower activists to take effective, nonviolent action, and make sacrifices of our own for the cause and the values we all share with Tim DeChristopher.

We here at Global Exchange  encourage you to take action in support of climate justice, Tim DeChristopher, and the rights of nature. Global Exchange works to promote the Rights of Nature and encourage communities to take action to protect land, nature and livelihood before oil and gas companies ‘bid’ for their ‘right’ to exploitation. When corporate executives decide to site an unwanted project in our communities, we are told we cannot say “no,” because that would be a violation of the corporation’s Constitutional rights. But we can rally to assert our rights to truly govern in the places where we live. Find out more here.

TAKE ACTION IN SUPPORT OF TIM DECHRISTOPHER

Tim and the folks at Peaceful Uprising in Utah are listing actions across the country to take on the day of Tim’s sentencing for folks who wish to participate in non violent actions and support climate justice and Tim. Below are some of those actions:

But first, check out this video of Tim speaking after his verdict for some inspiration:

Ok, now it’s time to get busy on these actions:

1) WRITE LETTERS TO MEDIA EDITORS – print or online The goal is to flood the press leading up to July 26th. You can use this letter to the editor template, these tips on writing a letter to the editor, and these talking points as tools to buttress your own personal perspective.

2) JOIN OR ORGANIZE A SOLIDARITY EVENT See the map to find a non-violent solidarity event at your nearest federal district court to join in or if there isn’t already an action near you organize your own and register it.

3) SPREAD THE WORD Publicize on social media (e.g., facebook and twitter). Simply click the “Share” and “Retweet” buttons next to this blog post!

Visit Peaceful Uprising’s website for other ways to spread the word and to find updated information.

Medea Benjamin

The following was written by Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK: Women for Peace, and a passenger on The Audacity of Hope.

Instead of high-fiving each other for their success in thwarting the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Israeli officials should be throwing overboard the propaganda hacks who catapulted the flotilla into headline news for weeks and left Israel smelling like rotten fish.

Last year, when the Israeli military killed nine aboard the Turkish ship, the incident made waves around the world. But in previous years, the same international coalition had sent boats to Gaza five times, successfully reaching their destination with a symbolic shipment of humanitarian aid. No blood, no military interception, no story. That’s why the advice of many of Israel’s best buddies, including the lobby group AIPAC, was to just ignore the flotilla.

But no, the Israeli government refused to listen and instead announced with great bravado that it was prepared to stop the flotilla with lethal force—including snipers and attack dogs. Smelling blood, the media frenzy began. Before even leaving home, passengers were besieged with press calls inquiring why we were willing to risk our lives and giving us a chance to talk about the plight of the people of Gaza. Worse yet from the Israeli government perspective, mainstream media began bombarding us with requests to come along. With space for only ten media on our boat, we ended up choosing reps from CNN, CBS, Al Jazeera, AP, The Nation and Democracy Now. Other boats in the flotilla also started scrambling to accommodate more press. Thanks to Israel, we were guaranteed that no matter what happened, the whole world would be watching.

The Israeli government’s next blunder was a doozy. It sent a letter to foreign journalists warning them that if they participated in the flotilla, they would be denied entry into Israel for ten years and their equipment would be impounded. The outcry from journalists and media organizations worldwide was immediate. Israel’s Foreign Press Association said the threat “sends a chilling message to the international media and raises serious questions about Israel’s commitment to freedom of the press.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to rescind the decision, blaming it on his underlings.

But the blunders continued. A YouTube video of a “gay rights activist” who claimed he was not allowed to join the flotilla because he was gay and linked the flotilla to Hamas was exposed as a hoax disseminated by employees of the Israeli Government Press Office and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Senior Israeli defense officials told journalists that flotilla activists were intending to dump bags of sulfer on Israeli soldiers to paralyze them and/or light them on fire “like a torch.” We countered by holding an open house on the boat, inviting the media to inspect every nook and cranny and meet with nurses, lawyers, musicians, writers, grandmothers and other “terrorists” on board. The Israeli government looked so silly that even cabinet ministers criticized Netanyahu’s “media spin” and “public relations hysteria.”

Then there was the sabotage of the Irish and Swedish boats, the frivolous lawsuits and legal complaints by the Israeli Law Center (Shurat HaDin), the strong arming of the Greek government to issue a ban on all boats traveling to Gaza, and undoubtedly more dirty tricks that will be exposed in the future.

Through it all, the Israelis helped us turn a potential non-story into a media blitz that has not ended. The passengers are now returning home to the local public spotlight. Rather than being depressed by Israeli maneuvers to prevent the flotilla from reaching its destination, they are more motivated to speak out about the siege of Gaza and bullying tactics of the Israelis. Flotilla organizers are still fighting to get their boats released by the Greek government and vow to try again.

Our modest and peaceful initiative has exposed, for the world to see, the lengths the Israeli government will go to to stop nonviolent international initiatives. We have put the plight of Gaza and the illegality of the siege once again on the radar where it was previously ignored. We have exposed the sad but ultimately unsustainable fact that the Israelis have managed to extend their vindictive siege of Gaza to the shores of Europe and have widened the gulf between the Greek government and Greek popular sentiment with regard to Palestine.

Most importantly, we have given a boost to the larger, massive, multicultural, multinational movement for Palestinian rights. This Friday, hundreds of international activists are flying to Ben Gurion airport where they plan to tell border control agents of their intent to visit Palestine. This “flytilla,” as it has been dubbed, has also aroused a hysterical response from the Netanyahu government. Here again, the world’s attention will be focused on Israel’s control and blockade of movement in and out of the West Bank. The Knesset is on the verge of passing a bill that will effectively outlaw boycotts, a law that will likely only strengthen the resolve and increase the size of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. And then there will be the showdown at the United Nations, when Palestinians will be calling for recognition as a state.

The Israeli government can only continue its egregious violations of human rights and torpedoing nonviolence initiatives for so long. Eventually, justice will prevail and Palestine will be free. And initiatives like the flotilla will be remembered as part of a continuous wave of resistance that helped turned the tide.

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