Håfa adai,
“In a world without bombs
We honor generations of ‘ike
We seed forests of koa
We stand in the malu of our sacred mountains
Plant our ‘iewe in the frigid waters
We stare back at ‘āina,
And see our reflections
Kneel down, and are fed
In a world without bombs,
We rise from the sea they tried to conquer
Ea, mai ke kai mai”
- Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Cancel RIMPAC - A Collective Poem
Nearly 30 of the world’s militaries will convene in occupied Hawai‘i this summer, bombarding Hawaiian lands, waters, and animals with live fire, bombs, and 25,000 personnel. It feels eerily familiar to me. Just as the federal government destroyed Indigenous lands, peoples, sacred sites, and waters to conduct nuclear “testing,” at RIMPAC, the U.S. makes these choices over and over again for training, testing, and power posturing in the Pacific.
Every 2 years, the U.S. hosts the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC)--the world’s largest international maritime war games exercise. RIMPAC will take place in Hawai‘i again this summer. Below are 5 reasons we must CANCEL RIMPAC.
RIMPAC violates Native Hawaiian sovereignty and right to self-determination.
RIMPAC destroys sacred, cultural, and natural resources, immediately (e.g., with bombs and missiles) and in the long-term (e.g., leaving pollutants in the soil, releasing carcinogens into the ocean).
Instances of human trafficking and gendered violence, especially against Native Hawaiian women and girls, spike during RIMPAC.
RIMPAC endangers entire marine ecosystems, including 43 marine mammal species, five endangered whale species, and an endangered seal species.
Tactics trained at RIMPAC kill civilians in real life. Participating countries have used or now use their militaries to commit genocide of Indigenous Peoples, murder environmetal defenders, quell dissent, and perpetrate a myriad of human rights violations.
ICYMI: Last weekend, along with other sister organizations including Oahu Water Protectors, Affirm Hawaii, Eapono Peace Project, and others, WPLC held “Demilitarizing Oceania: Aloha ʻĀina, Wai, and Ending RIMPAC” addressing in part the harms that stem from RIMPAC and the impact on Pacific lands, waters, and relatives. We invite you to watch the recording here in case you missed it!
What you can do:
Share: Share our post on Instagram or Facebook.
Share the Community Safety Toolkit During RIMPAC & Beyond: www.waterprotectorlegal.org/rimpaccommunitysafetytoolkit
Donate: Ensure that WPLC and the organizations we mention below can continue this work by supporting our work. https://www.waterprotectorlegal.org/donate Thank you for your continued support of our work! You make this work possible.
Locate and assist organizations that provide support to survivors of human trafficking and other forms of violence.
Continue to educate ourselves and our communities. Some suggested resources:
Watch:
CANCEL RIMPAC: Stop War Games in the Pacific!, YouTube, uploaded by CODEPINK (2020)
Cancel RIMPAC - A Collective Poem, YouTube, uploaded by Cancel RIMPAC Coalition (2020)
Read:
Ray Levy Uyeda, US military activity in Hawai'i harms the environment and erodes Native sovereignty, Prism (2022)
Chloe Amos, Real-World Damages From RIMPAC Games, Honolulu Civil Beat (2018)
Jon Letman, RIMPAC Makes Its Mark in Hawaii, The Diplomat (2018)
Follow: @cancelrimpaccampaign, @koafutures, @eapono_hawaii, @oahuwaterprotectors
The federal government continuously puts its imperialist interests first–regardless of the immediate and long-term impacts on all our peoples, places, and futures. We must demilitarize and decolonize all lands to build toward a just, free, and safe future. Canceling RIMPAC is a crucial step in that direction.
In Solidarity,
Kyra Blas
WPLC Legal Fellow
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