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| Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from “The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation’s Chief Moral Dilemma,” April 25, 1957 |
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Ecocide
For the purpose of this Statute, “ecocide” means unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.
For the purpose of paragraph 1:
“Wanton” means with reckless disregard for damage which would be clearly excessive in relation to the social and economic benefits anticipated;
“Severe” means damage which involves very serious adverse changes, disruption or harm to any element of the environment, including grave impacts on human life or natural, cultural or economic resources;
“Widespread” means damage which extends beyond a limited geographic area, crosses state boundaries, or is suffered by an entire ecosystem or species or a large number of human beings;
“Long-term” means damage which is irreversible or which cannot be redressed through natural recovery within a reasonable period of time;
“Environment” means the earth, its biosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, as well as outer space.
https://www.stopecocide.earth/legal-definition
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| Greenpeace said a large share of emissions was associated with the ownership of carbon-intensive assets and investments such as property developments. Photograph: A Amsel/Alamy |
Ultra-wealthy people zooming across the world on their private jets, lounging on yachts and conspicuous by their Instagrammable consumption are among the most easily identified individual culprits when it comes to the climate crisis – but new research argues that it is not just their heady lifestyles to blame, but also their bank accounts.
Through their ownership of companies and private financial and physical assets, from oil producers to property developments, the super-rich are responsible for an outsized slice of the greenhouse gases that are overheating the planet. The top 1% of people by wealth, through their shareholdings and investments, control about a quarter of global annual emissions in total.
Greenpeace has calculated the “climate debt” of these high net worth individuals, by attributing to them their share of the damage done to the climate by the assets they own. By this reckoning, the world’s richest cause nearly $1tn a year of damage to the climate.
Clara Thompson, the global lead campaigner on socioeconomic systems at Greenpeace International, said: “At a time when people are facing rising energy bills, rising living costs, and growing climate impacts, many are asking why ordinary households should shoulder so much of the burden, while some of the world’s wealthiest people continue to profit from the industries driving the crisis.”
Greenpeace estimates that the top 1% by wealth are responsible for about 40% of all “ownership”-based emissions – that is, the emissions produced by businesses and associated with privately owned financial and physical assets – which themselves make up 60% of global carbon output. Within that group, the top 0.1% account for about 17% of ownership-based emissions, and the top 0.01% about 9%. The top 1% is made up of people with wealth above about $2m, the top 0.1% people with wealth above about $7m, and the top 0.01% is people with wealth above about $38m.
By contrast, the bottom half of the world by wealth accounts for just 3% of ownership-based emissions.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/10/super-rich-assets-outsized-amount-climate-harm-study
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Rampant political and corporate greed & corruption are surging here in America.
This is not good for the future of America. It is not good for our economy- it is not good for our communities, our local businesses, our schools, our neighborhoods, our families, and our commerce.
It is only good for the billionaires and politicians. Rules are
being laid down and data centers are being built to empower wealthy
individuals and corporations, while workers are struggling to make ends
met.
Anti-immigrant legislation and excessive funding for ICE are more
about protecting wealthy people and corporations, who can hire illegals
knowing that the workers and their families will be too afraid to
complain about dangerous working conditions, low pay, long hours, and
slum landlord housing.
"On June 25 the Supreme Court allowed Trump and his administration to end the legal status of more than 350,000 people who are in the United States under temporary protected status, or TPS, after fleeing wars and violence in Syria and Haiti. The six right-wing justices cited procedural reasons for their decision, but Trump loyalists read it as an endorsement of their white nationalism." Heather Cox Richardson- Letters from an American June 26, 2026
White Nationalism?! This is truly horrifying. There is nothing
wrong with being White AND there is nothing wrong with being Black or
Brown or any color or religion- we are all equals!
We are not equal in what we own or how much money we can earn, but we are all equal in essential human dignity.
We desperately need true diplomacy to shape a better way forward for ALL
people, not just a few lucky wealthy ones, and not just Christians, or Jewish people.
FYI AI computer tricks and/or
bully tactics will not bring prosperity to America.
Escalating racism, hate mongering, and endless wars are fueling our military industrial complex- polluting the earth and harming countless men, women, and children.
Social Security should be fully funded- instead our elected leaders opt to hand Israel billions and to spend billions more on waging war on Iran... all for what?! More and more war and cruel injustice and suffering for the people... and more and more profits for the greedy.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes
'The annexation process is taking place on the ground in full view of the entire world. It has been halted in the media, but it hasn't stopped on the ground'
- Mu'taz Bisharat, settlement expert
"The United Nations is the only place on Earth where all the world's nations come together to discuss common problems and find shared solutions that benefit all of humanity. This intergovernmental organization born out of the ashes of the Second World War remains indispensable to the pursuit of world peace, justice, equality and sustainable development" https://www.un.org/en/
The right of refugees to return to homes and lands they were expelled from is an individual right and cannot be unilaterally abrogated by third parties. https://imeu.org/resources/resources/fact-sheet-palestinian-refugees-the-right-of-return-under-international-law/441
"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..." https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
'The annexation process is taking place on the ground in full view of the entire world. It has been halted in the media, but it hasn't stopped on the ground'
- Mu'taz Bisharat, settlement expert
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| Palestinian farmers in the Jordan Valley have been forced to flee their lands, known as the 'breadbasket of Palestine', as Israel accelerates construction of another separation wall (Muhammad Ateeq/MEE) |
Khairallah Bani Odeh feels as if he's living in a giant prison.
Forced to leave his lands in the village of Atouf in the northern Jordan Valley, he relocated to the town of Tammoun, south of Tubas, after a combination of settler attacks, water shortages and sweeping Israeli land grabs made life unbearable.
Like many Palestinians in the northern Jordan Valley, Bani Odeh relied on sheepherding and farming for his livelihood.
But since Israel began construction on a new separation wall and road that will cut through the Buqe'aa Plain, large areas of land have been swallowed up, reshaping daily life for residents.
Israel has named the project "Crimson Thread". It involves the construction of a 22-kilometre-long and 50-meter-wide separation wall and accompanying road along the eastern lands of Tubas.
The project will leave large parts of the Buqe'aa Plain and eastern Atouf behind the road and wall, making it impossible for farmers and shepherds to access their agricultural land and grazing areas.
Bani Odeh told Middle East Eye that when construction began, Israeli settlers used bulldozers to destroy water lines supplying hundreds of hectares of farmland in the plain, causing crop damage and leaving livestock without water.
For many families, it was the final push to leave.
"They cut off our water supply, so I had to buy water from neighboring villages for the livestock. I used to walk long distances to fetch water. Then they burned the barley and made our lives unbearable, so we were forced to leave," he added.
Dozens of families, including Bani Odeh's, depended on livestock farming in Atouf, while hundreds more relied on agriculture across the plain. Residents say both sources of income have been devastated by the new project.
Three months after leaving Atouf, Bani Odeh says he still feels trapped. He struggles to find grazing land for his livestock and dreams of returning home every day.
Local estimates indicate that more than 20,000 dunams (2000 hectares) are threatened by drought or damage because of water shortages.
Many families in Atouf and Ras al-Ahmar depend on livestock farming. As pastureland shrinks and access to water becomes more limited, farmers fear declining livestock numbers and rising production costs.
Anis Bisharat once carefully tended fields of melons, okra, cucumbers and zucchini. But after water lines were cut, his crops began to wither as irrigation became impossible, resulting in significant losses.
"In addition to the water cut, they closed the road we used to reach the plain. Now we have to travel twice the distance and pay twice the fuel cost," ... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/crimson-thread-israel-separation-wall-cuts-through-palestine-west-bank
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Photograph: AFP/Getty Images |
The report by the UN independent international commission of inquiry examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war in Gaza, and said about 30% of the people killed by Israeli forces have been children.
A previous report by the commission in September found that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that Israeli officials, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts. Netanyahu is separately wanted by the international criminal court (ICC) for war crimes.
The Israeli mission in Geneva said Israel rejected the commission’s “libellous sham”. Israel has fought hard against allegations of genocide, while receiving critical diplomatic support from its allies, including the US and the UK.
A significant body of research by legal and rights experts has concluded that Israel is intent on destroying Palestinians, including analyses by UN investigators, rights bodies such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and genocide scholars worldwide.
Genocide, which became a crime after the second world war and the Holocaust, is considered the most serious international crime.
The convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide defines it as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
The UN commission said in its report, released on Tuesday, that Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed during the war, including after a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025.
It said this was a key element in establishing genocidal intent by Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” ... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/23/israel-deliberately-targeting-gaza-children-to-commit-genocide-un-inquiry-finds
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18 June 2026- Human Rights Council- Sixty-second session
“The essence of childhood has been destroyed”: Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October 2023
Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel ... READ MORE https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session62/a-hrc-62-crp-2.pdf
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