Occupation, war and climate catastrophe
JVL Introduction
In their article David Whyte and Samira Homerang Saunders argue that the destruction of the environment in occupied lands is a deliberate strategy to weaken the resistance of, displace, and eradicate populations. Genocide and ecocide are partners in crimes against humanity.
The authors compare Indonesian oppression in West Papua, with the exploitation of Gaza and the West Bank and environmental destruction in the Vietnam war. The Indonesian occupation of West Papua is used to facilitate the extraction of minerals and natural gas and replace life-sustaining, biodiverse forests with cash crops. Agent Orange blighted agricultural capacity in Vietnam. Since 2014 herbicides have destroyed 50% of farmland and orchards in Gaza and vast numbers of olive trees. After October 7th ecocide has intensified and is particularly directed at food production, water supplies and sanitation.
Whyte and Saunders emphasise the general contribution of military action to climate catastrophe and claim that “the earth’s ecosystem can no longer bear the weight of military occupation”.
TB
This article was originally published by Al Jazeera on Tue 13 Aug 2024. Read the original here.
From Papua to Gaza, military occupation leads to climate catastrophe
Environmental destruction is not an unintended side effect, but a primary objective in wars of occupation.
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The real problem is that this destruction of valuable land is more than tolerated and often encouraged by the freedom loving Western Democracies.
Thank you for mentioning West Papua – almost the last remaining true colonial-genocide situation apart from Israel-Palestine. Indigenous people are being tortured and murdered , a process ongoing for decades but intensifying now. While the world noticed Tibet and now Palestine, very few in the UK are aware of West Papua. The Free West Papua movement is based near Oxford and should be supported and helped to grow. Glad to say Corbyn is a faithful supporter.