Action at Kaho`olawe ceremony

Action: Signholding against militarization
10:00 am; meet on the State Library grounds
Wear Black!

On Wednesday morning, DMZ-Hawai`i and AFSC are calling on all people who oppose the further militarization of Hawai`i to gather at the Hawai`i State Library at 10:00 am, and to hold signs against militarization on the outside of the Palace grounds as the turn-over event begins. Signholders are asked to wear black.

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Tomorrow (Wednesday, November 12) is the day the Federal Government will turn Kaho`olawe over to the State of Hawai`i. The hand-over will take place during an official ceremony on the grounds of Iolani Palace. Speakers will include military officials, Federal reps, Governor Lingle, Hawai`i's congressional representatives, reps from the Protect Kaho`olawe Ohana, and others. There has been a lot of coverage in the local media about the hand-over, much of it praising the military for doing such a good job and hiding the fact that if the military had not continously bombed the island for 40 years it would never have been destroyed. 8.9 million pounds of metal (mainly ordnance) has been removed from the island, and Kaho`olawe is still covered with unexploded ordnance ( 9% of the island has been cleared down to 4 feet, and only 70% of the surface has been cleared).

The military, the feds and the State, will be using this ceremony to create the illusion that the military is a good steward of the land. Nothing could be further from the truth - and Kaho`olawe is still powerful testimony to the devastation and destruction they are causing.

On Wednesday morning, DMZ-Hawai`i and AFSC are calling on all people who oppose the further militarization of Hawai`i to gather at the Hawai`i State Library at 10:00 am, and to hold signs against militarization on the outside of the Palace grounds as the turn-over event begins. Signholders are asked to wear black.

NION-Hawai`i urges everyone who can to support this action. Kaho`olawe was taken in the context of World War II and is only being returned because of the militant action of the people. While we celebrate the struggle that forced the military to return the land, we are outraged that the island was devastated and remember that Makua and other Hawaiian lands were also appropriated during that war and are still being destroyed. Today the Federal Government is attempting to grab 24,400 acres of additional land for their proposed Stryker Brigade. We must not allow Wednesday's ceremony to be used as a cover for yet another land grab.

Posted: Tue - November 11, 2003 at 05:43 PM

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Action at Kaho`olawe ceremony

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