Reflections on Gaza and Environmental Justice
This statement is a mission-aligned offering to our network to explore how global trauma and injustice connect to Maine through people and place.
Dear MEEA Network,
Over the last three months, we have been centering in our hearts all of our community members impacted by current violence - both near and far. It can feel overwhelming and sometimes impossible to navigate so much collective trauma and grief. At MEEA, we use co-created “Ways of Being” to care for one another and to ensure our work is centered on our deepest held values.
One of our Ways of Being is speaking out as brave, empathetic, and transparent communicators. To do so means to hold multiple truths, especially in times of crisis and conflict. Bravely speaking out means speaking out against injustice wherever it occurs, whether it is taking place in our very own neighborhoods or halfway across the globe. We have spent the last months in deep dialogue on how to meet this moment in alignment with our mission and Ways of Being. This statement is a chance at that — emergent, imperfect, and transparent.
We are also guided by MEEA’s mission: to build environmental awareness, accountability, and action by centering equity and advancing systemic change. As an education organization, providing opportunities, resources, and tools to explore the complexity of issues such as environmental justice is core to our mission. This statement, therefore, represents a mission-aligned offering to our network to explore how global trauma and injustice intimately connect to Maine through people and place.
We view the acts of violence, displacement, and occupation in Gaza as environmental justice issues. In Gaza, large areas of land have been flattened, and a lack of access to clean water and working desalination plants has created a water crisis. Furthermore, agricultural lands have been burned, polluted with chemicals, and are no longer able to produce food (see this PBS article to learn more). Today, the State of Israel denies Palestinians the right to manage their land and resources, which exacerbates the climate crisis Palestinians face. This is rooted in the longstanding history of the Israeli settler colonialism of Palestine. Now, Palestinians are also facing a humanitarian crisis of intentional withholding of food, potable water, life-saving medical resources, electricity, internet, and fuel. Palestinians deserve environmental justice, which includes the right to ethical, balanced, and responsible use of land and renewable resources (Source: EPA).
We also work at MEEA to advocate for the importance of building a connection to place for all people. We believe that humans are nature and that the way we treat each other is also reflected in the way we treat our lands and waters. Acts of violence harm our communities and our environment by taking human lives, destroying habitat, forcing entire communities to migrate, and polluting our airs and waters. These environmental impacts ripple far beyond the immediate conflict zone. We acknowledge how the war in Gaza impacts the stability and safety of the entire region, not just Gaza. Israeli citizens and citizens of surrounding Arab countries also face fear, uncertainty, and violence as international calls for a ceasefire continue to be ignored. An act of injustice somewhere is an injustice everywhere.
The United Nations, along with millions across the globe, calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the risk of Palestinian genocide and ethnic cleansing increases minute by minute. At MEEA, we join the calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, and the provision of humanitarian access and support. We feel deep concern with the rise of both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in our communities, and we stand with those who are rallying across the world in solidarity with Palestinian, Israeli, and all families who have lost loved ones in the war. We must work harder to open our hearts and slow down to listen across our differences.
The movement for Palestinian liberation also calls us to turn inward towards the local movement for Wabanaki self-determination. The violence in Gaza is a necessary reminder of the history of genocide of the Wabanaki, which still ripples through current and future generations. Wabanaki Nations collectively hold only 1.06% of the land in Maine today. The Wabanaki are still fighting for food sovereignty and against territorial dispossession. We have heard from Wabanaki leaders in our community a deep frustration that folks are not making the connection between what is happening in Gaza and what is and has happened to the Wabanaki in Maine. By acknowledging the history of occupation and genocide of Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Abenaki, and Mi’kmaq tribes, we can more fully show up as allies in global environmental justice work. You can learn more about the genocide of Wabanaki people in this testimony from Maria Girouard. We have to be intentional and curious about what we can learn from the United States’ past and present relationship to Indigenous peoples, a relationship that has been fraught with power imbalance and violence. We can then bring what we learn here at home to support freedom and safety for communities across the globe.
We are left asking ourselves — what is our mission-aligned role at MEEA, and how do we act accordingly in this moment? At MEEA, local action looks like our work to advance transformative policy. In the upcoming legislative session, we will support the passing of LD 1642 to improve the teaching of Wabanaki studies in public schools. We will also work with fellow members of the Wabanaki Alliance and Environmental Priorities Coalition to pass the Wabanaki Self-Determination Bill, which would restore tribal sovereignty by establishing that Wabanaki Nations have the same rights as the 570 other federally recognized tribes. MEEA believes advancing policy that expands Wabanaki education creates a foundation in our education system and communities that prioritizes all people's sovereignty. We will also be working on a number of educational initiatives in 2024 to increase Wabanaki Studies literacy in the Maine environmental education community. We invite you to join us in this important work.
As individuals, we can take tangible steps to call for an end to violence and environmental injustice, going beyond making statements to taking action. Those steps can look like calling our representatives, donating to organizations working on the ground in the communities we care about, volunteering with organizations building community power, and educating ourselves on current events. We can also hold space in our lives to have difficult discussions across our differences. Some of our staff members compiled a list of resources they have found helpful for their own learning here. We recognize it is a privilege to have a process in which we can make our voices heard, and we’re grateful for all of the ways people are showing up — no matter how big or small — in the public eye or at the dinner table.
And, we can feel. Feeling our emotions is the root of our power. If nothing else, we must feel as much of this moment in history as possible. Our grief. Our pain. Our rage. Our empathy. Because feeling is what makes us human. Feeling allows us to turn towards healing, awareness, and action.
We encourage our community to take care of one another. Spend time in nature, let the sun hit your skin, crunch your feet in the freshly fallen snow with a loved one, and witness the quiet turn towards winter, which allows us to take a breath. Taking time to rest is also an act of resistance. All of us, especially our children, need nature right now to help us regulate and feel connected. The work you do every day in your community to build connection, understanding, and action has never been more critical. Thank you for all you do. We appreciate you beyond words.
In solidarity,
Olivia
Emory
Deb
Negina
Red
Anna
**We are signing this statement as individual staff members in recognition of our privilege to speak up.**
