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- Pacific Peace Speaking Tour commences in Brisbane this weekend
- Speakers from Guam and Okinawa headline voices highlighting fear of U.S. war with China
- Devastating recent storm in Guam: call for climate action – not war – in the Pacific
Representatives from two of the most heavily U.S. military-occupied lands in the pacific are headlining a Pacific Peace Speaking Tour commencing in Brisbane this weekend, being facilitated by the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN).
Guest speakers in Australia, Ms Monaeka Flores from Guam and Ms Shinako Oyakama from Okinawa have lived experiences of the fear that comes from living in U.S.-occupied territory.
Both indigenous women express the fear that their people feel if there were to be a war against China. They question the competition between great powers at the very time where cooperation is urgently needed to address the climate crisis.
The people of Guam have just lived through one of the worst storms in their history with a great deal of civilian damage and a very slow response to assist the country.
“Pacific nations need support from other nations to prevent the worst impacts of a warming planet and to stop fuelling it with ongoing burning of fossil fuels. What we do not need is more and more military exercises which are constant in our lands, and the world does not need another war.” stated Ms Flores.
The Pacific Peace Speaking Tour is taking place as the 2023 Talisman Sabre military exercises take place across northern Australia. 30,000 troops from the US and Australia and other countries will participate in the largest-ever joint war exercises to develop the coordination between forces under US command in preparation for war. Every indication is that the preparation is for a war against China.
Upcoming Speaking Events in Brisbane:
Friday 28 July: Meeting of nurses at the Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union (QNMU)
Friday 28 July: Meeting around a fireplace at Musgrave Park
Saturday 29 July: Pacific Peace Conference will focus on sharing knowledge and building a Pacific wide movement for a zone of peace throughout the pacific
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Media interviews: Monaeka Flores and Shinako Oyakawa are arriving in Australia at midday Friday
To arrange media interviews, contact Media Liaison: Annette Brownlie 0431 597 256
Email: ipan.australia@gmail.com
See link to the Pacific Peace Speaking Tour to Australia visiting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Darwin July 28th-August 4th, including the ‘Call for Peace in the Pacific’ one-day conference in Brisbane. https://ipan.org.au/regional-peace-initiatives-and-network/
Bios
Monaeka Flores is a queer CHamoru activist, artist and daughter of Guåhan. She is a member of several community organizations that focus on CHamoru self-determination, environmental justice and the protection of sacred sites. Independent Guåhan empowers the Chamoru people to reclaim its sovereignty as a nation. “Inspired by the strength of our ancestors and with love for future generations, we educate and unify all who call our island home to build a sustainable and prosperous independent future.”
Shinako Oyakawa (Okinawa) is a native Okinawan mother, activist, writer, co-director of the Association of Comprehensive Studies for Independence of the Lew Chewans (ACSILs) and part time lecturer of Okinawa University. She also runs after school kids programs in Naha. Shinako specializes in language revitalization, de-militarization and de-colonization of the Ryukyu islands. Shinako has attended the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) to report on the colonized situation of the Ryukyu islands.
Annette Brownlie is a founding member of the Brisbane based community Peace organisation Just Peace Qld and the Chairperson of the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network IPAN.