Oct. 16, 2019 Protest at Pohakuloa of B-2 bombing training for nuclear war
Thursday, October 17th, 2019
- Thursday, October 17, 2019
- Today’s Paper
84°
Hawaii News
Three dozen protest bombing at Pohakuloa Training Area
-
KEVIN DAYTON / KDAYTON@STARADVERTISER.COM
Activists gathered at the main gate of the Pohakuloa Training Area on Wednesday. Mary “Auntie Maxine” Kahaulelio, 81, who held a sign, said the protest was an effort to stop desecration of the land.
MAUNA KEA >> About three dozen activists gathered at the main gate of the Pohakuloa Training Area on Wednesday to protest continued bombing and shelling on the sprawling U.S. Army base, which regularly hosts life-fire training exercises for Hawaii-based soldiers and Marines.
A few Hawaii County and military police looked on as the protesters held signs and waved at passing vehicles on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway starting at about 10 a.m. The group remained within state right-of-way for the highway, and made no attempt to interfere with any military operations.
There were no arrests or other incidents, and the activists scattered shortly before noon as a light rain began to fall.
One of the protesters was Mary “Auntie Maxine” Kahaulelio, 81, who with Clarence Ching successfully sued the state for failing to enforce the terms of a lease of state lands to PTA. The base includes 22,988 acres of land that the federal government leases from the state. The state Supreme Court ruled in August that the state has failed to properly manage those lands.
Kahaulelio sat in a folding chair near the entrance of the base on Wednesday holding a sign that read “Enough already!”
She was arrested on Kahoolawe in 1977 for protesting military target practice on that island, and also was one of the Hawaiian elders arrested on July 17 for blocking the Mauna Kea Access Road in an effort to prevent construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.
Get the latest news by email
By clicking submit, you agree to Star-Advertiser’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The TMT opponents believe construction of the telescope would be a desecration of Mauna Kea, which many Hawaiians consider sacred. Kahaulelio said she was outside the PTA gate with her sign on Wednesday for “the same issue — desecration, whether it be a mauna, an island, or somebody’s home, that’s desecration.”
“The desecration is so enormous right now, and that’s why we’re here today, why we’re at the mauna, why I was up there getting arrested, was to stop the desecration. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bomb or dynamite” used in construction of the telescope, she said.
Michael O. Donnelly, public affairs officer for PTA, said in a written statement that military officials there “support the right to free speech as long as it does not impede our mission to support the training of soldiers, Marines, local law enforcement and soldiers of the Hawaii Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve.”
“Training at PTA is essential to ensure that service members and law enforcement personnel can successfully accomplish their missions,” Donnelly said in the statement.
Jim Albertini 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 Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
“Enough Already”
Stop Bombing Pohakuloa!
More than 40 Protectors came together on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019 at the main gate of the 133,000-acre Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) in the center of Hawaii Island to say stop the desecration of aina at Pohakuloa by bombing, artillery training, mortars, helicopter gunships, etc. The message was simple and clear: Stop the Bombing, clean up your mess, and end the illegal US occupation of Hawaii. US B-2 Strategic Bombers do regular training for nuclear war at Pohakuloa that could end civilization as we know it.
One of the US $2 Billion B-2 bombers is named “Spirit of Hawaii.” The US spends $32 million per minute on war!
Oct. 5, 2019 Honolulu Aloha Aina Unity March
1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties.
4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
5. Seek peace through peaceful means and work for justice in Hawaii and around the world.
Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action
P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown), Hawaii 96760 Phone (808) 966-7622 Email ja@malu-aina.org
For more information and to receive our posts go to www.malu-aina.org
October 18, 2019 Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet – week 942 – Fridays 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office
