Earth Activist Training teaches permaculture and ecological design with a grounding in spirit and a focus on activism and organizing. Our acronym spells ‘eat’, and we are devoted to feeding and nourishing people and creating resilient systems that meet human needs while regenerating the environment around us. We realize that we cannot sit back complacently while people are being starved, displaced, bombed, maimed, and killed in Gaza or elsewhere.
The issue of justice for Palestine and an end to the current war on Gaza is one that is close to the hearts of the Earth Activist Training team. Our staff and teachers include those of Jewish, Palestinian and indigenous heritage, as well as those who have journeyed to the West Bank and Gaza, and participated in active solidarity with non-violent Palestinian efforts to end the Occupation.
We condemn the horrific assault committed by Hamas on innocent Israelis on October 7, and we condemn the Israeli military assault against the entire population of Gaza, the vast majority of whom are not Hamas but are children, elders, and civilians who simply want to live their lives. This mass collective punishment will not be effective in attaining Israel’s security or the release of the hostages who are also suffering unjustly.
We stand by some simple truths: children deserve to be protected, hospitals should be places of healing, getting food should not require risking one’s life, and all people should have a voice in what happens to them and their communities. The people of Gaza have the right to be secure in their homes, go to school, have healthy food and clean water, take part in the governance of their lives, and do it all while feeling safe, just as Israelis do.
Vengeful retaliations against Palestinians will not bring security to Israelis. We urge
Israeli and American policymakers to look at the root causes of the Hamas attack. Decades of a siege that has turned Gaza into an open-air prison, restriction of Palestinian rights, and settler incursions in the West Bank that have undermined any potential for a Palestinian state all create an atmosphere of hopelessness, rage, and fear that will breed more acts of hate. Injustice can never be the foundation of real security. Only justice can create the conditions that will further peace.
Solutions are complex, but the situation is not hopeless. A durable peace is possible, and it begins with the cessation of aggression, access to basic human needs such as food, water, and medicine, and the recognition of people’s right to self-determination.
We urge an immediate ceasefire, negotiations to assure the safe return of the hostages, massive deliverance of aid and resources to succor the people of Gaza and rebuild the land, and meaningful progress toward a just and lasting peace.