#UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

[indizombie]

Let us remember India is a signatory to the above UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Hence, India is morally bound to honour these resolutions. The fact of the matter is rather different. “There are no indigenous people in India,” says the Government of India. This is a clear plot in the actions of the government. It is evident from the fact that on one hand, the government liberally signs the resolutions of UN Conventions and on the other hand, it keeps denying that there are indigenous peoples in the country. As such it feels it is not obliged to abide by the decisions taken in the UN. It is a denial of the very existence of about 10 crore Adivasi people. Instead, they have been put in the conveniently created Scheduled Tribes category and some bits and bobs are thrown at them, most of which are eaten up on the way by middlemen and government bureaucrats; and hence, do not reach the deprived and deserving among them. Consequently, poverty is deepening among Adivasis.

'I am not a Silent Spectator', Stan Swamy

#Stan Swamy #India #UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples #Government of India #Adivasi people #Scheduled Tribes #Adivasis #poverty #rights of tribal people

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canada led efforts to weaken the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations, working secretly with Australia to develop a watered-down substitute in the early 2000s, newly released Australian cabinet records show. Crafting the state-friendly alternative was the Chrétien Liberal government's idea, but one Australia backed as a pressure tactic against Indigenous leaders who wouldn't alter their 1993 original draft, the records say. "Australia has aimed to negotiate with Canada a strong and complete alternative text to counter the status of the existing draft and prevent it from attaining the status of customary international law," two Australian ministers wrote in anow-public May 2003 cabinet submission. Canada saw Australia "as its most promising partner" in drafting the new text and was prepared to devote "significant resources" to it, a 2002 Australian departmental memo to cabinet says.

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Tagging @politicsofcanada @allthegeopolitics

#cdnpoli #canada #canadian politics #canadian news #australia #indigenous rights #settler colonialism #settler violence #settler states #united nations #systemic racism

[dailyhistoryposts]

On This Day In History

September 13th, 2007: The UN General Assembly adopts the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The votes were:

143 vote for 4 voted against 11 abstained 34 absent

The 4 countries that originally voted against it (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States of America) have since reversed their positions and now support the Declaration, as have three of the abstaining countries (Colombia, Samoa, Ukraine).

The Declaration is legally non-binding but delineates certain rights of Indigenous peoples, including:

Rights of self-determination Rights to protect their culture, including intellectual property Rights to own type of government and economic development Health rights Land rights

#history #world history #australia #canada #new zealand #usa #indigenous history #UN

[thebrightestwitchofherage]

Religion and the conflict- an excuse for antisemitism

Many users seem to use everyone's interest in the conflict to spread misinformation and antisemitic beliefs. Antisemitism today is being rebranded as antizionism.

Zionism is simply the notion that the Jewish people should have a state of their own, in Zion (AKA the historical and religious name for Israel).

Debunking some common musconcepti0ons about Zionism -It's not a new movement- This concept has been around ever since the Jewish people were first expelled from Israel. Jews have tried to immigrate to Israel ever since and were often met with refusal. They were then sent back against their will to nearby territories such as Cyprus.

But I’m not antisemitic, I’m just anti Israeli

-Antisemitic hate crimes rates have gone up globally:

from slurs, genocidal chants and violence in American college campuses, to hate crimes and violence spiking across Europe…

Take London for an example - there’s currently a 1,350% spike in antisemitism.

People are killed for being Jewish. Swastikas are drawn, and the hashtag “Hitler was right” is trending all over social media.

You can’t deny that chanting “gas the Jews” in protests in antisemitic…

It's not like what happened in Canada & the USA -Treatment of Palestinians after the founding of the state of Israel: To better understand the situation, you'll need to understand the difference between Palestinian territories outside of Israel, Palestinian territories inside Israel, and Israeli territories.

-Palestinians living in Palestinian territories Outside of Israel (The Gaza Strip) are governed by Hamas. -Palestinians living in Palestinian territories within Israel are governed by the Palestinian Authority and not Israel. *For further reading, you can read about the differences between A, B, and C zones.

-Arabic Muslims and Arabic Christians living within Israeli territories have the exact same rights as Jewish Israelis. There are many "mixed" cities in which Arabic people and Jewish people live peacefully, it's a nonissue.

Israeli people are European settlers \ white colonizers

Are they all white? I can't believe I have to write this, but contrary to popular belief, not all Jews are white, just like not all Christians are white ... Stop being ignorant: there are Jewish People from Asian, Arab, and African countries. Please stop telling Arabic\African Jews to go back to Europe, You are embarrassing yourself. The reason why there aren't a lot of them in those countries right now is that they were either killed or forced to leave them (often without any of their possessions) after years of discrimination and violence. *Are they collonsiers?

The Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel. There is much historical, and archeological evidence for that. There is evidence that supports that the Jewish people have been here for thousands of years. The Jewish people all originated from Israel, and are an Ethnic group that originated from Israel. How can we be colonizers on our own land?

Most of the land of Israel was either given by the British mandate or purchased legally.

Obviously, some land was occupied- but that was during wars that were forced on Israel, after many terror attacks. -Many of the people claiming Israeli people are colonizers, are European, American, or Canadian.... AKA the biggest colonizers in history, who have 0 connection to the land they occupied. While Israel was a British colony until 1948-and Unlike popular belief, the conflict doesn't start there. That's what Hamas wants you to think. Your favorite Maps are a lie

They won't tell you about the Balfour declaration in 1917, the 1936 Peel Commission, or the 1947 UN partition plan which the Palestinian people rejected. Do you know what followed that rejection? Foreign armies from Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia attacked.

Many peace accords including the 1993 Oslo Accords (which since then were violated by the Palestinians)- were all initiated by Israel.

Not one of the wars in Israeli history was initiated by Israel. * Besides the occupation of the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula** Most of the lands that make up Israel were either given by the British after their mandate over the country had ended or purchased legally*. *Besides the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula**. **The Sinai peninsula was returned completely to Egypt in 1982. as part of the 1977 peace accords between Egypt and Israel. Further context and more information:

I suggest you read about the Suez Crisis \ The Sinai War of 1956, The Egypt- Israel Peace Accords, the Oslo Accords, the British mandate over Israel (especially the end of it), and different UN decisions made in the years before the founding of Israel.

#israel #israeli #jewish #jewblr #טאמבלר ישראלי #politics #human rights #Gaza #Gaza strip #Hamas is Isis #bring them back #bring them home

[bfpnola]

image description by @swosheep

ID 1: All images are screenshots of a post made by walidalwawi on Instagram. They are all of black text on a plain white background. The first image is titled "Indigeneity in Palestine and Israel's Co-Opting of Indigenous Struggles" in large font. The body text, much smaller, reads: "Any discussion of Indigeneity regarding a group of people must delve into colonialism, particularly settler colonialism." Below the body text there is text reading: "1/10", with an arrow pointing left.

ID 2: The second image is titled: "1. What Is Indigeneity?" in underlined text. The body text reads: "In a broader scientific context, the term 'Indigeneity' or 'Indigenous' refers to the origin of a species or organism from a specific location. However, when referring to a people in the context of human rights and international law, 'Indigenous' refers to the original inhabitants of a particular region who have lived there for generations before the arrival of colonial settlers from another country. The immigrants view the natives as detrimental to the colony; therefore, they dispossess them of their lands, resources, and cultural heritage and marginalise or suppress their rights and identities."

ID 3: The third image reads: "In 2007, The UN formally recognised the rights of indigenous peoples by adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The working definition of 'Indigenous Peoples': '…those communities, peoples and nations who, having a 1. historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves 2. distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They 3. form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are 4. determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples…'"

ID 4: The fourth image reads: "Example of indigenous people: - First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia A group is not referred to as indigenous if they are not within or experienced a colonial power structure, even if they practically originate from their current locality, for example: - Frankish People in France - Anglo-Saxon Englishmen in the British Isles - Dutch, Italians, Germans. In face, Indigenous groups may cease to be referred to as indigenous if their colonial relation is dismantled. Thus, to Identify the Indigenous we must identify the coloniser as the two are often closely intertwined."

ID 5: The fifth image is titled: "2. Israel, A Proud Colonial State." In underlined text. The body text reads: "Historically, colonial expansion was a source of European pride, with no understanding of Indigeneity as a right to land but as a negative status indicating savagery and backwardness. Political Zionism, a movement that emerged in late 19th century Europe, was heavily influenced by colonial ideologies of the time, a fact that is well- documented in the writings of Zionist thinkers and politicians, including Theodor Herzl, regarded as the 'Father of Modern Zionism.' In his quest for support and recognition, Herzl sought alliances with colonial powers such as France and the United Kingdom and other settler colonial states like the United States and Canada."

ID 6: The sixth image reads: "In 1902, Herzl famously wrote to Cecil Rhodes, one of the most significant British colonial figures in Africa, seeking support for his Zionist endeavour:". A block quote, all in underlined text, reads: "You are being invited to help make history. That cannot frighten you, nor will you laugh at it. It is not in your accustomed line; it doesn't involve Africa, but a piece of Asia Minor, not Englishmen but Jews. But had this been on your path, you would have done it by now. How, then, do I happen to turn to you, since this is an out-of-the-way matter for you? How indeed? Because it is something colonial.!" Body text continues: "In his address to the first Zionist Congress, Herzl rationalises his colonial mission in Palestine:". Another block quote with underlined text reads: "It is more and more to the interest of the civilised nations and of civilisation in general that a cultural station be established on the shortest road to Asia. Palestine is this station and we Jews are the bearers of culture who are ready to give our property and our lives to bring about its creation."

ID 7: the seventh image reads: "Jabotinsky, a Russian Jewish Zionist leader and founder of the Zionist terrorist organisation Irgun which helped establish israel. Wrote in his book The Iron Wall:". A block quote, all in underlined text, reads: "'Zionist colonisation must either be terminated or carried out against the wishes of the native population. This colonisation can, therefore, be continued and make progress only under the protection of a power independent of the native population an iron wall, which will be in a position to resist the pressure to the native population. This is, in toto, our policy towards the Arabs…' "'If you wish to colonise a land in which people are already living, you must find a garrison for the land, or find a benefactor who will provide a garrison on your behalf…. Zionism is a colonising venture and, therefore, it stands or falls on the question of armed forces.'" Body text continues: "This colonial history is not limited to the past, as we can see it vividly today in israel's colonial practice of daily oppression against the Palestinian natives."

ID 8: The eighth image reads: "Examples of standard methods used by settler colonies to oppress indigenous peoples: a. Land Theft and Dispossession: 1948, upon the establishment of israel, around 700,000 Palestinians were forced to flee or were expelled from their homes by israeli forces 1950, israel established the "Absentee Property Law", which allows the israeli government to seize control of land belonging to Palestinians who fled or were forced to leave during the 1948 war. b. Forced Assimilation: The "Judaization" of Palestinian neighbourhoods by promoting Jewish settlement and adopting Hebrew as the official language in education and public life while restricting Palestinian cultural expression, including banning books, films, and other media that are critical of israeli policies. E.g. The ban of the Palestinian flag in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank in 1967 and the prohibition of artworks containing the flag's four colours in 1980. c. Economical Exploitation: israel controls the majority of the water resources in the region as well as exploits Palestinian natural resources, including minerals, quarries, and agricultural land. Palestinian farmers have reported that israeli settlers have uprooted their olive trees, destroyed their crops, and polluted their farmland."

ID 9: The ninth image is titled: "Israeli Exploitation Of Indigeneity." in underlined text. The body text reads: "The international community's significant shift towards acknowledging indigenous people's struggles against colonisation, and the broad negative sentiment towards colonialism, forced israel to rethink its history and create a new narrative to legitimise its presence in the region and strip Palestinians from their indigenous status. By reframing its colonial mission as one of indigenous people's decolonisation of their rightful territory, israel appropriates the rhetoric of indigenous empowerment while in contradiction continuing to seek funding and legitimisation from other settler colonial states, who continue to suppress other indigenous groups, as well as openly and publicly practices settler colonial oppression against the Palestinians."

ID 10: The tenth image reads: "israel bases its argument on a supremacist ethno-nationalist and misleading definition of Indigeneity, claiming it to be an innate Jewish characteristic and not one imposed by colonialism. Such a claim severely harms indigenous groups on their mission to decolonisation by providing a legitimising framework for colonial tactics like ethnic cleansing, land theft and genocide to any group that claims ancestral ties to the land. Yet, even if one was to entertain the Zionist claim of Indigeneity through lineage, multiple genetic studies have already shown that many Jews and Palestinians share ancestry, rendering such claim unjustifiable, as the ethnically cleansed Palestinian are population shares the same ancestral history."

#reaux speaks #israel #free palestine #palestine #zionism #anti zionism #indigenous #indigeneity #language

[crabussy]

Happy Waitangi Day, if you celebrate!

thank you!!! I'd like to take this opportunity to make people aware that the current government of Aotearoa are attempting to change the treaty in a way that puts decades of work towards Māori rights at risk.

this article provides some excellent info on the situation. please notice how they're framing it- saying that "all new zealanders will be treated the same" is their way of saying "we don't think the oppressed indigenous people deserve special protection of their land and taonga". it is fucking nasty how they are reframing it as a positive thing for equality when they are simply destroying attempts at equity. it sssuuuuuucks and its bad and I would love for more people to know about it. the article also touches on the other shit things they're doing like forcing organisations to remove the te reo māori translation of their names, and withdrawing from the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous people.

basically!!!!! it sucks really really really bad and it goes so much deeper than this but I won't get into it here. happy waitangi day and let's hope future amendments of te tiriti o waitangi are made that support Māori rights!!!!

#waitangi day #māori rights #raising my hand. I am pākehā so if I have worded things wrong or my facts are off PLEASE let me know!!!! #it is important to amplify māori voices about this! #ask tag #thank you lovely tumblr user davtroc42! #ask to tag #I CAN VOTE NOW THANK FFFFUCK. I want these cunts GONE they are so vile. Act is spreading malicious rumours about māori people #by the way #talking about the 'māori elite'. saying they're not indigenous. #saying that the 'māori elite' (any māori person who engages with their culture proudly) must be eradicated #fucking disgusting! get hit by traffic now #rant #racism #ANYWAY. I DO APPRECIATE THIS ASK AND THANK YOU!!!! its important to use events like this to spread awareness!!!!! #everyone. I know there are a LOT of awful things happening across the world right now. thankyou for staying strong

[survivingcapitalism]

Canada and Australia crafted government-friendly UNDRIP substitute in 2002-03, documents show

[jyndor]

just read an article from euronews of a holocaust survivor hoping for a united middle east, like the eu, while also denying the accusation of genocide against israel and demanding a two-state solution. it's so fucking sad that a genocide survivor is weaponizing the crimes that were perpetrated against her in order to excuse and deny crimes against palestinians.

like I'm sorry you believe that the un "gave" land away that wasn't its land to give, and I do think everyone who wants to live in a secular, pluralistic democracy should be able to live there - but ma'am. you literally said you are not going to let genocide happen again and then denied a genocide that is happening right now. and in fact you justify genocide.

here's the thing - this is the wishful thinking of someone who does not want to acknowledge the reality of occupation and displacement. it is historical revisionism.

let's not forget for a second that this land was not "given" to israel by the un but rather that it was stolen from the indigenous population of palestine/falasteen by yishuv/israeli soldiers after the uk terminated the mandate in 1948.

basically, the uk wanted to terminate the mandate of palestine* (issued by the league of nations in 1922 after WWI when britain occupied palestine) because dealing with the growing tensions between jews and arabs living there (due to the growing zionist movement to establish a jewish state in palestine, which the british commission aided and abetted ofc) was becoming a bit of a headache. so they took it to the un general assembly for the un to deal with.

and that these soldiers carried out the nakba after the un general assembly made a partition plan in a resolution that the palestinians were under no obligation to accept because unga resolutions are NON-BINDING, and when the security council tried to come to a consensus it could not.

from the actual general assembly resolution, in which you can see that these are recommendations to the uk and to the mandate of palestine and makes REQUESTS to the security council. none of this is an order, which if course is not something that the general assembly has the power to do.

you can even see that on this first page, the general assembly points out that this plan will likely "impair the general welfare and friendly relations among nations."

frankly the resolution was extremely unfair to the palestinians, as the partition would have given them about 44-45% of the land and the jewish population about 55-56%. and bear in mind that not only was there a much larger arab population, but that due to the 4th and 5th aliyah (jewish immigration to palestine) most of the jewish population had not been there for more than 20 years.

now I'm not bothered about people making aliyah, I believe in freedom of movement. what I am bothered about is the settler colonial project that used the expulsion of jews in europe to promote the expulsion of palestinians in palestine.

but the thing is, the israelis didn't even follow the un plan - nor was the un ready for such a plan to be implemented. and funny enough the us** delegate warren austin said at the time that the uk planned to terminate the mandate (may 15th) that "the Security Council is not prepared to go ahead with efforts to implement this plan in the existing situation."

instead what happened was this. the yishuv***, lead by ben gurion, rejected us requests to postpone the declaration of statehood and to cease military operations, which had already resulted in the expulsion of 300,000 palestinians even before the war. this is because ben gurion and many others wanted the entirety of palestine (as well as parts of syria and lebanon) to be a jewish state and did not want the partition - you can see this today in "greater israel" which would be a state of israel from the river to the sea, so would require the annexation of palestine as well as some parts of syria, lebanon and sometimes jordan. it would require mass displacement of non-jewish palestinians and possibly genocide. this is largely a belief of far right people like smotrich and netanyahu, but my concern is that the further right israeli society goes, the more people will become either indifferent to people around them believing in a greater israel or will actually believe in it themselves for the sake of their safety.

I've seen israelis say things like "no one wants gaza, leave us alone" and I have to laugh because that's just not true at all, there are frankly far too many people who are fine with the occupation as long as they don't have to see the harm their state is doing. I understand this because I see it in every settler colony. it's not unique to israel.

you cannot demand to live alone in peace when your country is built on ethnic cleansing, occupation, apartheid and yes, even though im sure it hurts to acknowledge, genocide. and you cannot expect to be allowed to peacefully occupy millions of people.

because what - is an independent palestine allowed to have a military? is it allowed to be fully autonomous? no of course not to zionists because that would threaten their security I guess. and I mean it probably would to some extent since there is no justice in partition.

would there be reparations? no because israelis generally do not know the history of how israel was founded, and if they do they largely don't care. or at the very least don't want it to be relevant to what we're seeing now. I mean the us still hadn't made reparations to descendants of slaves and frankly if we've done a little bit of reparations to native americans it isn't near enough.

would there be right to return for those in the diaspora? of course not, because israel would never allow palestinians the right to return to land in israel.

and those israelis who understand the situation are calling for a single secular state of palestine, or acknowledging that this is a genocide, or reckoning with the nakba. they are not demanding palestinians tolerate oppression. they do not value their lives above palestinian lives.

the colonizers do not get to make demands of the colonized. I feel great sorrow for what the woman in the article has gone through - I cannot fathom what she experienced in the holocaust and I totally agree with her that it is so important for future generations to hear testimonies from survivors of genocide. this is why I find it appalling that she denies the genocide of the palestinians.

*this essay goes into much more of the minutia surrounding resolution 181 and the myth of israel's founding.

**and this was a country that WANTED to establish a jewish state in palestine (he even wanted to have the us take on a trusteeship until the jews and arabs could come to an agreement lmao).

***yishuv refers to the jewish community in palestine prior to 1948. there is a further distinction between old yishuv - those who lived in palestine before the first zionist immigration wave in 1882 and their descendants until 1948. they tended to be more religiously observant, while new yishuv were those who emigrated to palestine in the zionist immigration waves until 1948 and tended to be more nationalist, secular and socialist. old yishuv had been there for centuries and has a fascinating history of how their communities developed btw.

#free palestine #holocaust tw #anti-zionism #antisemitism #the nakba #racism #colonialism #settler colonialism #history #anyway i hope she realizes that she is incorrect but i mean thats for her to live with #its fucking sad is all #free gaza #israeli occupation #israeli apartheid #western imperialism #british imperialism #unpleasant reminder that much of this is the uk's fault #long post

[saybiwithme]

How the fuck is the first thing I see the new government declare is that they are gonna ignore the UN and it’s rights for indigenous people

#nzpol #I wanna leave so bad #I’m literally part Māori what the fuck

[manessha545]

Indigenous peoples in Bolivia

Indigenous peoples in Bolivia, or Native Bolivians, are Bolivian people who are of indigenous ancestry. They constitute anywhere from 40 to 70% of Bolivia's population of 11,306,341, depending on different estimates, and belong to 36 recognized ethnic groups. Aymara and Quechua are the largest groups. 

Languages spoken: Spanish Language, Paraguayan Guaraní, Aymara language

Geographic distribution: Bolivia

Aymara ceremony in Copacabana, on the border of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia.

Created by two friends in 2019, the female collective ImillaSkate wear the traditional Bolivia polleras dress associated with the indigenous women of the highland regions as a symbol of resistance

Indigenous Peoples in Bolivia Walk Over 300 Miles to Demand Respect for their Lands and Cultures

In 1991, the Bolivian government signed the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, a major binding international convention protecting indigenous rights. On 7 November 2007, the government passed Law No. 3760 which approved of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In 1993, the Law of Constitutional Reform recognized Indigenous Rights

In 2015 Bolivians made history again by selecting the first Indigenous President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Justice Pastor Cristina Mamani.

Indigenous peoples in Bolivia - Wikipedia

[blue-village]

The Saami Council, through this message, ardently advocates for a world where peaceful coexistence is the norm, grounded in a mutual respect and a shared commitment to the principles enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other key instruments of international law. We emphasize that lasting peace and stability in the region can only be achieved through earnest and equitable negotiations, addressing the fundamental issues at the heart of the conflict. The Saami Council demands that Israel ends its occupation of the West Bank and dismantles its settlement policy, which involves an unlawful annexation of occupied territories. We call on all states and international bodies to pursue an international agenda that contributes to: -Israel ending its occupation of the West Bank and the annexation of occupied territories. -The implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 242 and a two-state solution based on 1967 borders. -An international boycott of trade and investments from the occupied territories. -The lifting of the blockade on Gaza. -UN investigation of allegations of war crimes and violations of international law.

This statement seeks not only to frame the broader political dialogue but to urgently call attention to the suffering of innocent lives, underscoring the imperative to uphold and protect the rights of indigenous peoples, particularly the Bedouins, who are often overlooked in these conflicts. As we envisage a future marked by a two-state solution, with new borders potentially dissecting these ancestral lands, it is paramount that the inherent rights and dignities of these communities are safeguarded and respected.

[The Saami Council is a voluntary Saami organization (a non–governmental organization), with Saami member organizations in Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden.]

#palestine #saami council #sámi #it's a start is all I'm saying

[tandembicycles]

"Fun" fact: In 2007, the UN had a vote on "The Declaration of the Right of Indigenous Peoples". Only 4 countries voted no. Those countries? The US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Ah. Uh. Yes. I believe I read this somewhere.

#sorry I'm just not sure where this came from lol #post: my ask #anon

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24Leaders #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental justice #environment protection #environmental health #Youtube

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Yesterday, the federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault announced that his government is developing regulations that would allow for “treated” tailings wastewater to be drained into the Athabasca River as early as 2025, when the current ponds will run out of capacity.

Alberta's toxic tailings ponds — which cover an area over twice the size of the city of Vancouver and are growing daily — contain dangerous levels of mercury, arsenic, and naphthenic acids. Even after treatment, tailings remain high in salinity and naphthenic acids.

While the Minister also stated that this was not the only option being explored, it is the only option that is fast-tracking significant changes to the federal Fisheries Act. Releasing tailings effluent will not only have a detrimental effect on life within the Arctic Ocean Drainage Basin but will also significantly impact what little environmental protections are left for life-giving water across the settler state of Canada.

Our position remains unchanged, and we vehemently oppose the release of “treated” tailings. This is nothing more than another handout to oil companies that will allow them to continue to avoid their responsibility of reclamation and the high cost of cleaning up their own mess. Releasing tailings into the watershed is not a safe or just option for solving Alberta’s ever-growing tailings crisis.

This is a decision that accepts northern Indigenous communities and lands will remain a sacrifice zone for the profit of settler governments, southern populations, and some of the world’s richest mining corporations. Indigenous peoples have already been saddled with the burden of the negative impacts of oil sands extraction on their traditional homelands. This decision will impact Indigenous communities across this country already facing accessible clean water issues. Keepers of the Water demand Free, Prior, and Informed Consent before Canada enacts Fisheries Act regulation changes.

There are many harmful impacts from the oil sands production and leaking toxic tailings ponds, such as low water levels and loss or contamination of critical species, which have effectively forced Indigenous people off their own land. These impacts are exacerbated by increasing impacts from climate change and other expanding industrial activity that changes landscapes forever.

“There is no proven way to turn treated tailings into safe drinking water, but the government process is pushing for tailings release and nothing else,” said Jesse Cardinal, executive director of Keepers of the Water. “It is no coincidence that the oil industry, which is banking record profits, continues to push for ineffective half measures that hurt the communities.”

If Canada is serious about implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples then they need our Free, Prior and Informed Consent before releasing tailings into the water.

You can Take Action Today!

Send a letter to the Minister for Environment Climate Change Canada, Steven Guilbeault, and the Deputy Minister for Environmental Protection, John Moffet, that says NO to the release of “treated” tar sands tailings effluent into the Athabasca River. Link: https://www.keepersofthewater.ca/call-to-action

- 30 -

For more information contact:

Jesse Cardinal - cell: 780-520-7108, email: [email protected]

Daniel T’seleie - cell: 867-444-0509, email: [email protected]

#submission #water protectors #water is life #pollution #tailings pond #UNDRIP

[thenuclearmallard]

"Statement of the Indigenous Peoples in connection with the full-scale military aggression of Russia against Ukraine.

We, representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine and Russia:

– express support to the Peoples of Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression;

condemn;

– the barbaric and unprovoked war unleashed by Putin’s regime against the peoples of independent Ukraine,

– persecution and repression against the indigenous peoples, both on the territory of Russia and on the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation;

– russian organizations of indigenous peoples that have publicly supported Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and its indigenous peoples;

– pay special attention to the violation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular Art. 30, which prohibits any military activity on the lands of indigenous peoples without their free, prior, and informed consent, including the conscription of representatives of the indigenous peoples of Russia and Ukraine into the ranks of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation;

– call for the creation of an independent international commission to study and prepare a report on the impact of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine on the indigenous peoples of Russia and Ukraine;

recommend

– the Human Rights Council to establish the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of indigenous peoples in situations of interstate conflict;

– include the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the list of standards of the Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council;

– develop a UN humanitarian response plan to protect the rights of indigenous peoples affected by Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine."

#indigenous #culture #indigenous russia #indigenous russian #russia #important #colonization #fypシ #fypage #landback #indigenous ukraine #no war #no to genocide #against genocide #stop the genocide #russian imperialism #russian genocide

[daisyachain]

“The [Canadian and Australian] governments jointly proposed deleting references to demilitarization, restitution of land, armed conflict and cultural genocide, while adding language affirming the territorial and political integrity of sovereign states.”

Article published as the Canadian and Australian governments refuse to acknowledge the ongoing Palestinian genocide. The goals of colonial governments are unified through history: to kill indigenous people, to destroy indigenous culture and identity, to remove protections of indigenous rights, and to deny these goals when they fail to achieve them.

#note that this was under a Liberal government. a progressive colony is a creature whose footsteps we have never seen #canpoli

[readingsquotes]

IH: It’s true, international law is meaningless if there is no political will to enforce it. And the discourse of human rights has always failed peoples of the global south: it was produced almost entirely by Europeans, did not address coloniality, and it took the nation state as the framework without accounting for indigenous peoples and their rights, for example. Also, the Declaration of Human Rights was written and ratified in 1948, the same year as the Nakba [“the catastrophe”] and the founding of Israel. This is sort of a weird fact. That same year 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes, and meanwhile the UN was signing this abstract document about universal principles. Then Israel was admitted into the UN on condition that it implement resolutions 181, on internationalising Jerusalem, and 194, which “resolve[s] that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return”. Obviously, Israel did not do any of this. So from the very beginning, the “universality” of this declaration was questionable and the people who immediately fell out of its purview were the Palestinians. Even if the origin of the discourse itself is flawed, though, should not protecting human rights still be some kind of baseline? I know the discourse comes out of the UN, which came out of the League of Nations, which came out of European imperial power, and the whole system needs an overhaul, but is it not at least one implement, one framework that is broadly legible across different countries, that might, if actually applied, be used to restrain an otherwise pretty horrible “might is right” attitude of post-imperial or neo-imperial nation states hungry for power? Do you think this is outweighed by the way that human rights discourse ends up functioning like a fig leaf for the crimes of the powerful? Speech in support of Palestinian rights in the west has been repressed for a long time, but it’s true that the repression is happening more in the open now, and it is happening at scale. I do think the backlash is a sign of fear: repressing speech is an indication that speech is powerful. And perhaps it happens more at moments when speech is seen as particularly powerful (which would explain the change you experienced). Whether we should be optimistic, though, I don’t know. It’s good to feel encouraged, so long as that doesn’t lead to complacency. Solidarity with Palestinians may be waking up in what you call the “imperial core” (which is also what I think people are often referring to when they talk about “the international community” –especially the US, the UK, France and Germany), but at what cost? The numbers killed, maimed, people without any family, small children without parents… the mass graves. At the moment international solidarity has not even produced the bare minimum: a ceasefire. The bombs are still falling. My heart breaks every day. It’s unbearable.

‘The bombs are still falling. My heart breaks every day’: novelists Sally Rooney and Isabella Hammad on the Israel-Palestine conflict

#free palestine #palestine #gaza #isreal #genocide #apartheid #sally rooney #isabella hammad