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A
coordinated international campaign this week will try to
save South Korea's beautiful Jeju Island from
destruction. We have the chance to participate, and in
so doing to help form a badly needed partnership between the
environmental and antiwar movements.
The World
Conservation Congress 2012 is being held on Jeju Island in
two weeks -- while just four miles away, in the island's
Gangjeong Village, construction is beginning on a massive
new naval base to be used by the U.S. Dredging of the
seabed and coral has already begun.
Help
put a stop to it now.
The extraordinary
biological diversity, unique volcanic topography, and the
culture of Jeju Island attract many tourists. The Sea of
Gangjeong is a national cultural treasure adjacent to a
UNESCO biosphere reserve. Only 114 Indo-Pacific bottlenose
dolphins remain, and they live here -- one of many species
threatened by base construction. The damage will be
devastating.
But Samsung, the primary contractor
for base construction, is sponsoring the World Conservation
Congress (WCC), which is pretending all is
well.
Let
them know we aren't fooled. Demand that Samsung halt
construction and the WCC oppose the
base.
94% of the residents of Jeju Island
have voted against construction of the base.
If
the base is constructed, it will host nuclear-powered
submarines and aircraft carriers, as well as Aegis
missile-carrying warships. U.S. taxpayers will pay the
cost of the Obama administration "pivot" into the
Asia-Pacific, while Jeju Islanders pay with a damaged
home. Ultimately, the cost to the earth and the risk of
war will belong to all of us.
Villagers have been
arrested during nonviolent protests. Police and construction
workers have assaulted elderly members of the community, who
represent a large portion of the activists. Raising
our voices in solidarity is the least we can
do.
"Touch
not one stone, not one flower."
Please
forward this email widely to like-minded
friends.
--The RootsAction team
P.S. Our small
staff is supported by contributions from people like you; your
donations are greatly appreciated.
P.P.S.
RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim
Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg,
Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura
Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Coleen Rowley,
and many others.
Allies:
Save Jeju Island
Jeju
Island, South Korea
Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear
Power in Space
Veterans For Peace
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Fellowship of Reconciliation
Environmentalists Against War |
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