Grand Rapids teach-in on greenwashing of Israeli occupation of Palestine
Grand Rapids, MI – On December 14, 30 people gathered at Fountain Street Church, a non-denominational church and event space in downtown Grand Rapids, for a teach-in about the role greenwashing plays in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids (PSGR), the event educated community members on the struggle for environmental sovereignty and national liberation in Palestine. The teach-in also connected this struggle to similar struggles around the world, including here in the U.S.
Greenwashing is a term used to describe a deceptive strategy employed by companies and politicians that uses the environment to sell products and projects.
“The environment and economy of Israel and Palestine are inseparable,” says Tony O’Hegarty, who has a background in science and a longtime political interest in the environment. “Israel’s weaponization of the environment is just one tool used to justify its existence and to displace Palestinians from their homes.”
O’Hegarty connected the plight of migrant farm workers and day laborers in California to the experiences of Palestinian farm workers under Israeli occupation.
“Human beings are treated as commodities,” O’Hegarty said. “When the bombs stop falling, Palestinians will be forced to clear the rubble, and Israel will take no responsibility for its crimes.”
Teach-in attendees viewed clips of interactions between the Israeli occupation forces and Palestinian farm workers in the West Bank. The clips showcased the tactics of intimidation and violence used by settlers to forcefully remove Palestinians from their farmland.
Attendees also discussed greenwashing as a public relations strategy for Israel and the Jewish National Fund dating as far back as the 1940s. Pre-Nakba and post-Nakba Zionist propaganda was compared to similar propaganda used by colonizers during westward expansion in the U.S.
“Imperial violence generates ecological waste,” says O’Hegarty.
The best thing for the environment in Palestine is a free Palestine.