Malu 'Aina

Feb. 2, 2024, Hilo Peace Vigil photos

Faithful vigil participants! But we need MORE!

Car loaded with signs for the vigil, but we need more people!

Please join the weekly Friday Hilo Peace Vigil  3:30 – 5 PM

at the downtown Hilo Post Office rain or shine!

End the Cycle of Violence!

     Joe Biden said “We Shall Respond” to a recent drone attack that killed 3 US military troops at a US base in Jordan and wounded dozens more. This attack on a US base (the US has more than 750 bases in 80 countries throughout the world) is part of the escalating pattern of violence in the Middle East. The US is providing a massive amount of weapons to Israel in its genocidal policies against Palestinians in Gaza. In a little more than 100 days, Israel‘s bombardment with US weapons has killed or wounded more than 100,000 Palestinians, displaced more than 90% of the 2.3 million population of Gaza, and caused massive destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, and even refugee centers. Much of the population is now facing starvation. Anger in much of the world is growing against the genocidal policies of Israel and the US. Violence is increasing and the war is widening. More violence is NOT the answer. What is needed? An immediate and permanent Ceasefire in Gaza; an end to all US military aid to Israel, an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, a two-state solution, and a massive humanitarian inflow of aid to Gaza.

     The US spends over a TRILLION dollars a year on its war machine, more than the next 10 countries combined. Much of the money is hidden such as Billions per year for nuclear weapons in the US Energy budget and billions for interest on the national debt due to US imperial wars. Meanwhile, the number of poor, homeless, and others in desperate need continues to grow. Here in Hilo, Hawaii in the past 2 weeks, a poor homeless woman in need of mental health care gave birth on a sidewalk within 30 minutes of a homeless man dying from an assault less than a block away. Days later nearby homeless encampments were swept by Hawaii county officials to make way for the display of the visiting Vietnam War Memorial “Wall that Heals.” That wall includes the names of 58,281 Americans who died in that war. No mention of the more than 60,000 US Vietnam vets who committed suicide since that war nor the millions of Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians killed by the US in that war of corporate global domination.

     It’s time to reset priorities and end our addiction to war. Stop the cycle of violence. Stop funding and glorifying war. Fund unmet human needs. Our Malu ‘Aina Peace Farm has been an emergency food pantry for more than 42 years, and the situation keeps getting worse. When will we ever learn?

War Kills! Peace Heals!

Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action

P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown), Hawai’i 96760

                                Phone (808) 966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org to receive our posts.

For more information see https:malu-aina.org

Feb. 2, 2024, Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet – week 1166– Fridays 3:30-5 PM downtown Post Office

Stop Bombing Gaza &

Stand up & Speak Out

Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024 – 10 AM till Noon

Pohakuloa Main Gate

Call County, State, and Federal elected officials for 1. An immediate and permanent Ceasefire in Gaza; 2. End all US military aid to Israel; 3. Terminate the Hawaii/Israel Strategic partnership signed in Oct. 2022; 4. Stop US Bombing of Yemen.

Call for 1. An immediate end to all bombing and live fire at the Pohakuloa Toxic Area (PTA) contaminated with a wide range of toxins from 75 years of bombing and shelling, including Depleted Uranium radiation. These tiny DU oxide particles can be carried long distances in the wind and cause various cancers if inhaled. 2 Cancel, not renew, 23,000 acres of State leased conservation zone land for bombing at PTA. 3. Revoke the presidential Executive Order signed in 1964 that seized 84,000 acres of Hawaiian crown and government lands at Pohakuloa at zero cost for bombing. 4. Make the military clean up its toxic mess and return the lands to the Hawaiian people.

Bombing a dry, windy area like Pohakuloa is a Lahaina fire in the making! Many fires have been started, and large areas burned, by bombing and shelling at PTA. The extremes of climate change are only adding to the risks of further disaster.

Please spread the word. Mahalo.

Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown), Hawai’i 96760

Phone (808) 966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org to receive our posts.

For more information see https:malu-aina.org

Honor Veterans!

     This week in Hilo, Hawaii, Jan. 22 through 28, 2024, will be a motorcycle escort and display of “The Wall That Heals.” The wall is a ¾ replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. that includes the names of 58,281 Americans who died in that war. The Wall will be available for the public on the Hilo Bay Front soccer fields from 2 PM on Wed. Jan. 23 around the clock to 2 PM Sunday, Jan. 28 to honor the memory of those Americans who died in that war.

     Many of us had family and friends who died in that war, and I know the pain and loss are still very real and deep. Many of us believe that war should never have been fought. Some of us, instead of going to war, joined in non-violent resistance to oppose and stop the war and went to jail and prison out of conviction. Others left the country. It was a war that divided the country and much of the world. Many saw the war, not as a war for freedom and democracy, but a war for US profiteers. I was very moved by US Vietnam War veterans returning from Vietnam who joined in protests against the war. Many even threw their medals on the US Capitol steps in protest. On a single day in 1970 more than 13,000 people, including many vets, were arrested in Washington in a protest against the war.

     More than 3.5 million Vietnamese died in that war. Many more died in Laos and Cambodia too. Hawaii was a command center and staging ground for that war. Since Vietnam, it has been endless wars and regime changes for US global domination, When will we ever learn? It used to be that weapons were manufactured to fight wars. Now wars are manufactured to sell weapons. In the process, good, decent people are sacrificed as pawns to make money for the weapons makers. And tax payers money is diverted away from pressing human needs like housing, medical care, education, etc.

     Today, the US is funding the Israel Genocide in Gaza. The bombs killing Palestinians are US-made. More than 25,000 people have been killed in 3 months in Gaza, mostly women and children. More than 70,000 were injured, and thousands are unaccounted for, likely buried under rubble, 90% of the 2.3 million Gaza population has been displaced. Many people are starving. It’s time for an Immediate Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza. End all US military Aid to Israel. Stop a wider war that could spread to Lebanon, Syria, Iran, etc. even to a global nuclear war. The US is now bombing Yemen. Enough!

Don’t Fund More Wars!

1 . Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject violence & war as solutions. 3. Defend civil liberties.
       4. Oppose all discrimination: anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, anti-Black, anti-Asian, anti-Russian, anti-LGBTQ, etc. 5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawai`i and around the world.

Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action

P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown), Hawai’i 96760

                   Phone (808) 966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org to receive our posts.

For more information see https:malu-aina.org

Jan. 26, 2024, Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet – week 1165– Fridays 3:30-5 PM downtown Post Office