monta.nitisa – Pike & Hurricane

Boycott: A Silent Revolution

monta.nitisa — Sun, 11 Mar 2018 12:07:12 +0000

In the classic story of nonviolent resistance “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”, Martin Luther King, Jr. states six principles of nonviolence. The first principle is as follows—nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It does take audacity to directly oppose anything, to stand against injustice. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Ronnie Barkan, an Israeli human rights activist, who could be one of those people who King wrote about 60 years ago.

Ronnie Barkan defines himself as a privileged Israeli Jew. Besides being a human rights activist, Barkan is a co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which is a global Palestinian-led campaign for freedom, justice and equality. It started in 2005, combining 170 different Palestinian organisations that signed up to a shared mission, which urges to put pressure on Israel until Israel acts in accordance with international law and respects fundamental human rights.

How Does a Boycott Work?

Barkan looks at the BDS campaign as a grassroots movement. He states that there is a way how boycotts can be something that everyone of us can participate in:

“When you choose where your money goes, you choose whether you buy products that are produced in a sweatshop or not, and you can also choose whether you buy products that come within the expense of oppressing Palestinians.’

Nonetheless, BDS goes far beyond economic consumer boycott; it also involves around cultural and academic spheres. One part of boycotting is divestment—the controlling of companies which fund, for example, pension funds. Students can ask universities not to invest in companies which are acting against human rights.

When talking about who is being boycotted, Barkan explains:

“For cultural and academic boycott, we have clear BDS guidelines, which make sure that we are not boycotting every Israeli simply because they are from Israel. We are only boycotting those that are the representatives of that state. We don’t boycott the individuals.”

Even Music Takes Part in Boycott

As and example of cultural boycott Barkan mentions the recent case with an artist from New Zealand, Lorde:

“There was a call on her not to perform there and she decided to hear the call and not to perform and this raised a lot of international attention. This is more about symbolism. The fact that a certain artist doesn’t perform in Israel doesn’t harm the economy or any individuals. It is just that some artists decide not to perform there but it really touches the nerve.’’

Nonviolent Resistance versus Arms

When being asked about the role of nonviolence, Barkan does not hesitate to share his thoughts on the present situation:

“I am not here to condemn Palestinian armed resistance, but it is not very effective. When you struggle to fight against the fourth of fifth largest nuclear superpower in the world, it doesn’t really make sense to resist with weapons. I am happy that I have the opportunity to not use weapons against anyone […] Our power as activists is gained by doing things transparently and not being ashamed by what we do.’’

The Unclear but Promising Future

Towards the end of the discussion, Barkan shifts towards the hopeful picture of the upcoming. He talks about reassuring signs that keeps his outlook on the future positive:

“Firstly, I am very optimistic about the media’s campaign to change the discourse and it is definitely happening. This discourse is slowly seeping into the mainstream media. Secondly, that I am optimistic about is the whole blockchain technology—cryptocurrency. There are a lot of discussions, misconceptions about that but we are just at the beginning with this revolution, which makes banks and authorities pretty much abundant. There are endless possibilities that come up with that—from the distribution of wealth to the redistribution of information.”

In the fast-paced world we live in today, it has become too effortless to accept the illusions of equity. Slipping out of this mindframe, re-evaluating our values is indeed challenging, but if nonviolence combined with courageousness is our hope, I think we are on the right path.

By Christiana Nitisa

Photo credits:

Gaza, Elvert Barne, 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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It’s fast, it’s cheap, it’s fashion

monta.nitisa — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 22:28:39 +0000

“Look what I bought, it was such a bargain!” and “I heard that the sales season is starting tomorrow, we must go shopping” are just some harmless phrases that we as a consumer society have gotten used to. The fashion industry might seem mundane especially in today’s world when clothes are so cheap and easily available, but in fact the fashion industry has grown into a 3 trillion dollar industry with a profound impact on environmental sustainability, economic inequality and various other aspects of our everyday lives.

We are constantly reminded about all of this, but we are not really given any options on what we might be able to do about it. Recycle? Turn lights off when leaving the room? I found myself feeling powerless against this issue.

But what if I told you that we actually hold the power? That power is what we wear every day – our clothing. What we are not told about is the fact that the apparel industry has actually become one of the most polluting industries in the world, moreover this is the industry were child labour and forced labour is assembling.

Industry worth trillions

Over the past several decades globalisation has continued at an accelerated speed, trade barriers have softened, enabling major brands to outsource the production in pursuit of cheap materials and even cheaper labour. This is the rise of a system in which fashion is produced at low cost, high volume and incredibly high speed in terms of time taking from design to hitting the shop floor. In other words; this is fast fashion.

How does this cycle work? People find new trendy clothes, they fall in love with the design and buy them at extremely low cost. Then either when the low quality clothing falls apart or there is no longer a use for it (because, hey – it is already out of fashion, right?) it is been thrown away and people go buy more items. According to EPA (The United States Environmental Protection Agency), 13.1 million tons of textile are trashed every year and only 15 percent or 2 million tons are recovered to reuse or recycle.

Aftermath of consumerism

Often, the products are cut in one location, assembled in another and have to cross multiple oceans before they end up in our hands. Your super trendy shirt had a long trip across the world in a container ship, which was fuelled up by fossil fuels. That is an often forgotten aspect of globalisation. Comes to no surprise that it has been estimated that fashion industry itself is responsible for 10 percent of the world’s carbon footprint. But the story does not end here.

The manufacturing processes is where things get distressing. Firstly, each kilogram of cotton (did you know that cotton is the fourth largest pesticide consuming crop?) leaves behind 3.3 kilos of carbon emissions. Thus, it takes 2700 liters of water to make just one cotton shirt and that is enough for one person to drink for 900 days. Secondly, 90 percent of dye houses in the developing world release the dye directly into local freshwater sources, and that eventually infers the industry of apparel as the second greatest polluter of fresh water globally. Finally, polyester, a polluting plastic made from fossil fuels, is now in over half of our clothing and is used four times as much as cotton.

Consumer capitalism

The whole fashion industry connects millions and millions of people all over the world – starting from agriculture and manufacture and ending with retail. It is no secret that today in 2017 we have some of the highest levels of inequality and environmental destruction the world has ever experienced.

As much as global capitalist economy depends on extensive consumption in the well-off countries, it also depends on extensive cheap labour in less developed countries. Therefore, there is no such a thing as individual or personal consumption – your consumption affects us all.

Consumption is a tool for maintaining the global capitalist economy. We must find an approach to continue to work in a globalised world that appreciates our planet and people, which are the fundamentals for growth.

Buy or not to buy?

Wearing the same clothes over and over again does not sound that charming, does it? What to do then?

- Try to take better care of the products that we own already.

- Be adventurous – go on a gem hunting in secondhand shops.

- Choose ethical brands.
- Buy less. It is worth asking yourself a few questions before making the decision. Do you really need the item? Is it good quality and durable? Is it made from sustainable material? Was it made fairly and humanely?

By Christiana Nitiša

Photo Credits:

Venere degli stracci, Morry39, CC BY-SA 4.0

Mannequins, SofiLayla, CC0

Fashion shopping bag, webandi, CC0

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Environmental leadership: When doing good ends with death

monta.nitisa — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 22:19:05 +0000

Have you ever been in the situation when you have tried to help the other person but your input was not appreciated? Some environmental leaders in today’s world don’t end up appreciated for their effort. They end up dead.

Lives at stake

People who try to defend the environment are being killed at a rate of almost four a week all across the world. They mostly die in distant forests or villages. Only few killers are ever arrested but the ones who are identified are hired. And it is important to add that the actors behind the hired killings are corporations or state forces. Therefore, the cases are by nature problematic to investigate. In addition, many more environmental activists, who are trying to defend their land are threatened with death.

Environmental conflicts are not only becoming more and more common around the world but also more violent, say researchers. Global corporations are seeking poor countries for having an access to property and resources because these countries usually do not have strong law enforcement and are more corruptible.

Defenders tend to seek help from governments but it is not rare that a corrupt government is involved with violence, which makes the magic cycle of environmental conflict endless. Authorities usually fail to protect the courageous men and women who should be lauded as heroes for risking their lives to protect the environment and the rights of others.

Environmental activism in Latin America

One of the most intense situations is in Latin America which is still the most deadly region when it comes to river, forest, ocean, mountain protection. Perpetrators are still walking free and will continue to do so, if governments and the international community continue to not step in. It is no secret that with growing population the pressure upon natural resources, which are becoming scarcer and scarcer, is rising.

One of the most notorious of all the murders was the Berta Cáceres case that took place in Honduras, which was announced as the deadliest place to be an environmental activist. In 2015, she won a prestigious award which recognizes grassroots environmental activists from around the world – the Goldman Environmental Prize. She was not only an environmental campaigner and activist but also the head of the indigenous rights group Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous organizations of Honduras (COPINH). She was brutally murdered in her hometown La Esperanza, Honduras when gunmen broke into her home and shot her.

Months after the death of Berta Cáceres, another Goldman prize winner Isidro Baldenegro López got killed. He was a well-known leader of the Tarahumara community in Mexico’s northern mountain region and also a recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize for his campaign to protect local forests from deforestation by non-violent means in 2005.

“The killing of Isidro Baldenegro Lopez is a tragic illustration of the many dangers faced by those who dedicate their lives to defend human rights in Latin America, one of the most dangerous regions in the work for activists,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

Global warming – global responsibility

Chasing communities off their land, destroying ecosystems and violating human rights are standard operating procedures for too many businesses around the world. Global Witness, which is a climate organization that investigates and exposes these crimes across the continents and is campaigning to end human rights abuses and environmental destruction.

Often global warming is talked about as it is a far-off scenario that only future generations will experience, predictions are being made using phrases such as “sea level rises within the century”, but the reality shows us that the effects of global warming are already present and future changes will only make the process more severe. Natural ecosystems nowadays are under a threat which is bigger than ever. Therefore environmental leaders, who can provide a plans of development which are sustainable and does not cost us the Earth, are needed more than ever before.

By Monta Christiana Nitisa

Photo credit:

Gun Club, Peretz Partensky, CC BY-SA 2.0

Manifestación Berta Cáceres, Daniel Cima/CIDH, CC BY 2.0

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