Palestine is a climate justice issue!

JVL Introduction

In this article the Palestinian BDS National Committee connects the struggle for climate justice with the fight for Palestinian rights and the rights of all oppressed people. Originally published at the start of the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, the statement calls for an interconnected, intersectional struggle.

The authors draw particular attention to the plight of political prisoners in Egypt.  They document the way apparent environmental concerns are used to obscure, to greenwash, the occupation of Palestine: for example the Jewish National Fund (JNF) planting non-native, ecology-destroying trees to cover up the remains of Palestinian villages.

The capacity of Palestinians to mitigate climate breakdown is severely reduced by their lack of control over their land, water and natural resources. Palestinian recognition of the need to shift away from fossil fuels is undermined by the extraction and transportation of gas from their lands through contracts between Israel and Chevron.

They are not calling for financial benefit from this exploitation but, rather, for the rapid phasing out of fossil fuels.

This article was originally published by bdsmovement.net on Mon 7 Nov 2022. Read the original here.