Ecocide in Palestine (a resource guide)
a collection of sources, google slides, articles, pdfs & references I have compiled over the last six months. genocide = ecocide. Protecting the planet means protecting people as well.
Hello friends. A lot of information incoming here. Most of it is grim.
I’m making it accessible, no strings attached, because we know that knowledge is power. F*ck gatekeeping. The more we can read and learn, the stronger our minds. The stronger our minds, the more steadfast our convictions. No knowledge (or art, for that matter) should be kept in the dark. I believe in Information Anarchy.
I have had many opportunities in recent months to be in spaces with other pro-Palestinian activists, climate-conscious and visionary folks, and fellow artists. In short, comrades. And I had the chance twice over to give, or help give, a presentation about the ecological destruction that is happening in Gaza (+ the West Bank) right now, about the environmental damage that always accompanies settler colonialism… ecocide and genocide happen in tandem. They are often one and the same.
The violence done against Palestinians is another iteration of the violence that is done to their land, their homes, their gardens…. their olive trees and clean water…. the soil on which they stand. None of it is fair. All of it is intentional.
I invite you to take a breath with me.
Breathe in…. Breathe out.
I am about to include/link/reference a long list of sources that all talk about this, in the present moment and how it has happened in the past. Ecocide = Genocide. I am attaching a slideshow pdf and the links to many articles. This knowledge is important, it can arm us in the long struggle for a free Palestine, for a safe and healthy planet. For a better future. It will help us draw connections between the climate crisis, humanitarian crises, human rights violations, and how the ongoing destruction of both people and planet are all linked. They are all linked. And as we see, they happen in tandem.
Here is a pdf of the slideshow I made:
Here is a list of (most of) the info I used for the slideshow, and other resources:
Articles:
Article about climate justice & Palestinian justice, published last October 5
Destruction of Palestine's olive trees & orchards, + more recent stats as of 2024
Environmental impacts of Israel's genocide against Gaza: Ecocide in Gaza: The environmental impact of Israel's war
some facts about water and sewage problems in Gaza....
Destruction of Palestinian olive trees is a monstrous crime
‘no Traces Of Life’: Israel’s Ecocide In Gaza 2023-2024 ← Forensic Architecture
An incredible research paper entitled: “On the Importance of Date, or, Decolonizing the Anthropocene” (free pdf here)
Podcasts:
Drilled: Abeer Butmeh: Living on the Front Lines of a War and the Climate Crisis, in Palestine
Occupied Thoughts: Why Palestine Is Part of (& Central To) the Movement for Climate Justice
Spill: Welcome to Spill and Happy Earth Day: Freeing Palestine Is a Climate Issue
Books! (an incomplete list):
Pal. History & Climate Justice:
The Question of Palestine (1992), by Edward Said, late Palestinian scholar and writer.
A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples (2003), by Ilan Pappe
It’s Not That Radical (2023), by Mikaela Loach; British-Jamaican climate activist breaks down the basic inequities of climate change, including Palestine as an example of deep injustice and struggle.
On Fire (2019), collected essays by Naomi Klein; an entire chapter discusses Edward Said, Israeli crimes against Palestinian people and environmental health, and other key aspects of climate justice.
Greater Than the Sum of our Parts: Feminism, Inter/Nationalism, and Palestine (2022), by Nada Elia
Required Reading: Climate Justice, Adaptation, and Investing in Indigenous Power (2021), edited and put together by the NDN Collective Climate Justice Campaign
Poetry:
Blood Orange (2023), by Yaffa As
Things you May Find Hidden in my Ear (2022), by Gazan poet Mosab Abu Toha
Unfortunately, It Was Paradise (2003), selected poems by Mahmoud Darwish
I hope that all of this was helpful, interesting, and gave you something to think about. It’s hard stuff to think about, impossible to grasp all at once. The polycrisis keeps exacerbating. But learning is important, reading is liberation, and we all have more to find out. We are the children of the earth, our siblings are dying, our mother is crying out for us to change the world. Ecocide = Genocide. Saving people, therefore, means saving the planet. Saving the planet means saving other people in turn.
Thank you very much for being here.
May the new world that is approaching come to bloom across the dawn.
Peace, Sophia
great long compiled list, sophia <3 thank you for sharing