[News] Halt the destruction and surveillance underway by Israel's Elbit Systems on the Tohono O'odham Nation

Wed Aug 25 15:58:13 EDT 2021

bsnorrell.blogspot.com
<https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2021/08/oodham-voice-against-wall-releases-new_25.html?m=1>
O'odham
Voice Against the Wall releases new report exposing violations of Elbit spy
towers
August 25, 2021
------------------------------
*New report details violations of human rights by Elbit Systems and urges
divestment*

Article by Brenda Norrell

Censored News

O'odham Voice Against the Wall demands a halt to the destruction and
surveillance underway by Israel's Elbit Systems on the Tohono O'odham
Nation and an end to the militarization by the U.S. Border Patrol, in a new
81-page report released to the world today.

Ophelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham and founder of O'odham Voice Against the
Wall, describes the militarization on her homeland and the devastating
impact of Elbit System's integrated fixed towers.

With a contract from the U.S. Homeland Security, Elbit is now conducting
surveillance on the most vulnerable Tohono O'odham -- women, children and
elderly -- at their homes, and on their land.

Sacred land has already been destroyed by the construction of Elbit Systems
spy towers and O'odham ceremonies disrupted by the constant harassment of
out-of-control U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Rivas said in her community of Ali Jegk hunters have been unable to bring
back a deer for six years during their ceremonial hunt, because of the
constant disruption by border patrol agents.

"It's our spiritual food, our kind of energy food for the whole year, and
for six years we didn't have that," Rivas says in the report released to
the world today.

"In Pisinemo -- the district next to us -- when they were doing their
ceremony hunt, the border patrol surrounded them, tied their hands behind
their back, and made them sit there until someone came and verified that
they were hunters on a ceremonial hunt."

The 81-page report, "A Global Call for Divestment," released today urges
divestment in Elbit Systems and the integrated fixed towers, known as spy
towers, and demands that free, prior and informed consent be conducted with
grassroots Native people before further damage is done to the people, their
land, and ceremonial ways, in the region known as the southern border.

On the Tohono O'odham Nation, Rivas said, "O’odham are constantly
surveilled by both border patrol agents and Elbit Systems workers. O’odham
are unable to move freely or participate in ceremonies."

"Traditional crossings to connect O’odham have been closed by border patrol
and are surveilled. Construction of both the border wall and the integrated
fixed towers has scarred the land and further endangered animal and plant
life that are sacred and integral to O’odham’s way of life," Rivas said.

The report is being released today as Rivas joins global Indigenous, and
Zapatistas, in a forum in Paris in defense of the water and land. Rivas
joins the Indigenous Peoples Conference by teleconference at 8 a.m.
(Phoenix Mountain Time) this morning, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021.

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2021/08/indigenous-peoples-program-in-paris.html

The report comes as protests continue around the world, demanding that
Elbit manufacturing plants be shut down due to human rights violations
using drones, abuses in prisons, and the surveillance and wall construction
in Palestine.

Rivas, who testified on the militarization of her homeland before the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, told Censored News today, "I am
in solidarity with all people surviving in honor and dignity with original
teachings of harmony and peace on this Mother Earth."

Surveillance has become big business for corporations.

As with wars, military spending and weapons sales, both the United States
and Israel, and their corporations, are thriving economically on
surveillance.

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Read the full report at
https://www.oodhamrights.org/news/divestment-report/ and
view the press statement below.

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O’odham VOICE Against the WALL, Release Elbit Systems Human Rights Report,
Calling for Divestment

To The World

From: Indigenous Women

Date: Aug 2021

RE: Press Release for Border Report

Media Contact: https://www.oodhamrights.org/

TUCSON, Arizona (Aug. 2021) -- O’odham VOICE Against the WALL has created a
human rights report on adverse impacts and violations committed by act or
omission by Elbit Systems and the U.S. government in relation to integrated
fixed towers (IFTs) and the border wall.

The report is a grass-roots Indigenous human rights perspective on the
human rights violations occurring to Indigenous peoples, particularly the
impacts that traditional O’odham (O’odham translates to people) face while
living in their ancestral territories and where the international border
has crossed them.

The report shows that these human rights violations have been mounting for
hundreds of years and are currently exacerbated by anti-immigration
sentiment and increasing militarization.

Moreover, the U.S. has failed to uphold its responsibility to meaningfully
consult with grass-roots O’odham and communities specifically in relation
to impacts of Elbit Systems’ integrated fixed towers. Likewise, the U.S.
has also failed to uphold its obligations under international human rights
principles by not obtaining consent from the O’odham on both sides of the
border when building the U.S./Mexico wall.

As a result, O’odham are constantly surveilled by both border patrol agents
and Elbit Systems workers. O’odham are unable to move freely or participate
in ceremonies. Traditional crossings to connect O’odham have been closed by
border patrol and are surveilled. Construction of both the border wall and
the integrated fixed towers has scarred the land and further endangered
animal and plant life that are sacred and integral to O’odham’s way of
life.

The U.S. and Elbit Systems should cease their activities along the border
and uphold human rights standards for Indigenous peoples and provide remedy
for adverse impacts to land and communities that have been identified.

Despite all of these challenges, the O’odham still fight on this frontline
for justice, visibility, and dignity to remain on O’odham traditional
territories as they have done so for millennia. Their story and their
strength through adversity is a testament to the power of O’odham and the
power of Indigenous peoples throughout Turtle Island.

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Twitter:

O'odham VOICE Against the WALL launches an eye-opening Indigenous-led human
rights report on the adverse impacts of the U.S./Mexico border wall on
Indigenous peoples and asks for divestment from companies like Elbit
Systems who build Integrated Fixed Tower on our traditional lands. Support
O'odham VOICE Against the WALL and find our new report here!
https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true

#DivestTheWalls #DefundTheWalls #OVAW

Facebook:

O'odham VOICE Against the WALL launches an eye-opening Indigenous-led human
rights report on the adverse impacts of the U.S./Mexico border wall on
Indigenous peoples and asks for divestment from companies like Elbit
Systems who build Integrated Fixed Tower on our traditional lands. Support
O'odham VOICE Against the WALL and find our new report here!
https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true

#DivestTheWalls #DefundTheWalls #OVAW

Instagram:

O'odham VOICE Against the WALL launches an eye-opening Indigenous-led human
rights report on the adverse impacts of the U.S./Mexico border wall on
Indigenous peoples and asks for divestment from companies like Elbit
Systems who build Integrated Fixed Tower on our traditional lands. Support
O'odham VOICE Against the WALL and find our new report here!
https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true

#DivestTheWalls #DefundTheWalls #OVAW

For More Resources on Border Wall Finance See:

   -

   Elbit Systems, American Friends and Service,
   https://investigate.afsc.org/company/elbit-systems
   -

   Mark Akkerman, Financing Border Wars: The border industry, its
   financiers and human rights, Transnational Institute (TIN) (April 9,
   2021), https://www.tni.org/en/financingborderwars
   -

   Please support O'odham VOICE Against the WALL,
   https://www.oodhamrights.org/
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