Archive for December, 2023

Ret. Army Col. Ann Wright’s great talk at the UN

Thursday, December 21st, 2023
Ann Wright's UN speech
       Please share widely this excellent 8-minute speech, 
from a retired US soldier and diplomat.  It is is an absolutely 
powerful and moving talk.

https://youtu.be/3SeihfcvOOw?si=47_0OxzKP7CQAubj

Christmas letter to the editor

Wednesday, December 20th, 2023

The Need for Worldwide Christmas Peace:

Displacement in Bethlehem, Lahaina, and Gaza!

 

     In one of the most familiar verses from the Christmas story, Luke records that “she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7).

     In the August 2023 Lahaina fire, at least 100 people lost their lives. More than 2200 structures (homes and businesses) were destroyed or damaged and nearly 8000 people remain temporarily housed and being moved from hotel to hotel 100 days after the fire.  Full recovery, restoring the environment of aloha ‘aina, and new housing will be a long journey.

     In Gaza, the situation is even much worse than in Lahaina.  Gaza is an area as small as the island of Lanai, a little more than half as big as the military Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA) in the center of Hawaii Island, but with a population of 2.3 million people.  Since October 2023, the figures of deaths, injuries, and displacement from Israel’s bombing of Gaza with US weapons, are shocking.   More than 70,000 have been killed or injured and the numbers keep growing daily.  Many more are lost in the rubble of destruction.  More than 2 million of the 2.3 million Palestinian people in Gaza have been displaced from their homes.  That’s more than 90% of the population.  Half of Gaza is starving.  The World Health Organization (WHO) said weeks ago that more people in Gaza could die of starvation or disease than have already been killed by Israel’s bombs.  The WHO says about 3/4 of Gaza hospitals have shut down.  Child diarrhea cases are about 100 times normal levels. Patients wait for hours on hospital floors and in parking lots.  Clean water, sanitation, and medical supplies are severely lacking.  Nowhere in Gaza is safe.

     Lord hear our prayer for a Worldwide Christmas peace.  Permanent Ceasefire NOW!  Please help us relearn how to love one another.

Jim Albertini

Dec. 20, 2023


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

Monday, Dec. 25th Peace Meeting in Kea’au plus Hilo Christmas eve peace vigil

Wednesday, December 20th, 2023

Permanent CEASEFIRE in Gaza and Pohakuloa too!

REMINDER: There is a Peace Organizing Meeting on Monday, Dec. 25, 2023  (Christmas Day) from 6-8 PM at the Kea’au Community Center.  Meetings are held on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the Month.  Please mark your calendars.

There is the possibility of Zoom participation from 6:30-7:15.
Zoom Meeting https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9876901944… Meeting ID: 987 690 1944 Passcode: peace now Steve Paulmier in our group is the person who sets up Zoom. His email is <stephen.paulmier@verizon.net> and his phone 430-8866
 
Join the Weekly Hilo Peace Vigil every Friday (rain or shine) from 3:30-5 PM at the downtown Hilo Post Office.  Set up begins at 2:30.  Help is appreciated.  See this week’s peace vigil leaflet here https://malu-aina.org/?p=9585

The leaflet is also attached as a pdf file.  Pass it on.
 
There will also be a Dec. 24th Christmas Eve Hilo Peace vigil from 4 – 5:30 PM fronting the old Walgreens (Kanoalehua and Maka’ala Street) Bring a candle if you can and please pass the word. Mahalo.
 
A Merry Christmas and a Happy Holy Season to All. Peace Now!

Jim

— 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

Dec. 22, 2023, Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet — Peace on Earth!

Tuesday, December 19th, 2023

Peace on Earth!

A Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza is

Needed NOW!

 

Stop the Genocide in Gaza by Israel and

the U.S.

The death toll and injuries (tens of thousands) in Gaza keep mounting from Israeli bombing and shelling, with weapons provided by the U.S. A Jewish Voice for Peace post of Dec. 18, 2023, says the World Health Organization warned weeks ago that even more people in Gaza could die of starvation or disease than have already been killed by Israel’s bombs.

Summary: WHO says about 3/4 of Gaza hospitals shut down; Child diarrhea cases about 100 times normal levels; Patients wait for hours on hospital floors, car parks.

Today, half of the over two million people who live in Gaza are starving, and the vast majority of them have been forced to flee their homes. But nowhere in Gaza is safe… In just over two months, over 19,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza. Over 7,000 of them were children. 

Bombing Kids is NOT Self-defense!

Everyone Deserves a World Where They Can Live in Peace!

If You’re Silent During a Genocide You Are Complicit!

Join the Christmas Eve Hilo Peace Vigil 4 – 5:30 PM fronting the old Walgreens (Kanoalehua and Maka’ala Street)

Bring a candle if you can and please pass the word. Mahalo.

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

Dec. 22, 2023, Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet – week 1160Fridays 3:30-5 PM downtown Post Office

Dec. 15, 2023 Vigil photo

Sunday, December 17th, 2023

Dec. 15, 2023 Hilo Peace Vigil photo