 |
Rachel Avnery 1932 – 2011 |  |
We were very sad to learn that our Laureate Rachel Avnery passed away on May 21.
Rachel Avnery received the Right Livelihood Award in 2001 together with her husband Uri Avnery "for their unwavering conviction, in the midst of violence, that peace can only be achieved through justice and reconciliation".
Together, Uri and Rachel Avnery founded the Israeli peace organization Gush Shalom which works for conciliation with the Palestinian people. The Israeli peace movement has now lost one of its most committed activists.
Uri and Rachel had lived together for 58 years. After her death, Uri wrote a beautiful article about his wife, which you can read here.
In our thoughts, we and the Right Livelihood Award Laureates are with Uri.
|
Chilean Government approves controversial dam project | |
The protests against the HidroAysén dam project were an important topic of our last newsletter. Now, sadly, we have to report that the government approved the project on May 9 despite strong opposition.
This, however, is just a first step: in order to bring the energy generated from the planned dam to consumers, a 1,400-mile corridor of power lines would need to be built as well. The decision on that part of the project has yet to be taken. The government's approval on May 9 was followed by massive protests.
Juan Pablo Orrego (Chile, RLA 1998) lately told us that the protest against the dam project has evolved into something bigger, maybe the beginning of a large social movement.
For more information, please see:
Article on the protests after the government decision (audio version available).
Short, but nonetheless fervent New York Times editorial.
Article providing some background on the political history of Chile that accounts for the need for such a movement and considers the potential of the current protests to fulfill this role.
|
Hired killings in Brazil | |
”I will protect [the forest] by any means. For this I am… I’d live with a bullet in my head at any time.”, said Jose Claudio Rebeiro da Silva in November 2010. ”Ask me, if I am scared. I am afraid. I am a human being – I have fear. But my fear won’t make me be quiet.”
On May 24, Jose Claudio Rebeiro da Silva and his wife were ambushed and killed by gunshots in the head. It is likely that the assassinations are contract killings aimed at shutting down campaigns against illegal logging in the area. Deforestation and murder in Brazil go hand in hand: a 2010 study by CPT (RLA 1991) showed that the trend towards violence over land conflicts is even growing.
Obede Loyla Souza, father to three children, was murdered on June 9 making him the fifth in a number of recent assassinations connected to illegal logging. And he won't be the last victim: According to CPT, the list of workers who have received death threats contains about a thousand names.
|
India: Building projects threaten local inhabitants | |
Medha Patkar (RLA 1991) and Swami Agnivesh (RLA 2004) have been lending their support to various protests.
In the end of May, Medha Patkar was on a hunger strike to protest against the eviction of people from slums in Mumbai. People are being forced from their homes in order for the area to be rebuilt under the slum redevelopment scheme. Medha Patkar demanded the ”scrapping of all slum redevelopment projects approved under the 3K clause that allows the government to take over land without residents' consent”.
Another protest both Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh support is directed against the forceful acquisition of land. In Orissa, the state promised POSCO, a steel producer, an area of 3000 hectares for the construction of an industrial site. Police forces threaten to break the peaceful opposition by locals who are halting the process by blocking access ways, sitting or lying there in all weather conditions.
Open letter signed by Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh and Vandana Shiva.
Cancel your subscription
