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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">O'odham Voice Against the Wall releases new report exposing violations of Elbit spy towers</h1>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">August 25, 2021<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><span><span><b>New report details violations of human rights by Elbit Systems and urges divestment</b></span></span><p dir="ltr"><span><span><span>Article by Brenda Norrell</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span><span>Censored News</span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>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.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>"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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>"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."</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span><span>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.</span></span><span> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>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."</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>"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.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span><a href="https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2021/08/indigenous-peoples-program-in-paris.html">https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2021/08/indigenous-peoples-program-in-paris.html</a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>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.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>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."</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Surveillance has become big business for corporations.</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>As
with wars, military spending and weapons sales, both the United States
and Israel, and their corporations, are thriving economically on
surveillance.</span></p><p><span><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQdpHNZK-j8/YSXYbQ6sRdI/AAAAAAACFcY/hoLYkrAS3uE51dwXmlXd1jHzN8tKQvVcACNcBGAsYHQ/s546/Screenshot%2B2021-08-25%2Bat%2B12.41.16%2BAM.png"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQdpHNZK-j8/YSXYbQ6sRdI/AAAAAAACFcY/hoLYkrAS3uE51dwXmlXd1jHzN8tKQvVcACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h380/Screenshot%2B2021-08-25%2Bat%2B12.41.16%2BAM.png" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="439" height="261"></a></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span>Read the full report at <a href="https://www.oodhamrights.org/news/divestment-report/">https://www.oodhamrights.org/news/divestment-report/</a> and view the press statement below.</span></p><p><span><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Buqc7_MIxc/YSXOnsJAprI/AAAAAAACFcA/y9MB8tRINiEx2Hb6uUTeI1_NfOC2X0YqwCNcBGAsYHQ/s498/Screenshot%2B2021-08-24%2Bat%2B11.59.50%2BPM.png"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Buqc7_MIxc/YSXOnsJAprI/AAAAAAACFcA/y9MB8tRINiEx2Hb6uUTeI1_NfOC2X0YqwCNcBGAsYHQ/w484-h640/Screenshot%2B2021-08-24%2Bat%2B11.59.50%2BPM.png" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="331" height="439"></a></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>O’odham VOICE Against the WALL, Release Elbit Systems Human Rights Report, Calling for Divestment</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>To The World</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>From: Indigenous Women </span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>Date: Aug 2021</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>RE: Press Release for Border Report</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-2f3ebb27-7fff-2831-3bfe-ea6f2c5fe5a9"><span><span>Media Contact: </span><a href="https://www.oodhamrights.org/"><span>https://www.oodhamrights.org/</span></a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>TUCSON, Arizona (Aug. 2021) -- </span><span>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. </span></span></p><p><span>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. </span></p><p><span>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.</span></p><p><span><span>Moreover, the U.S. has failed to uphold its responsibility to </span><span>meaningfully</span><span>
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. </span></span></p><p><span>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. </span></p><p><span>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. </span></p><p><span>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. </span></p><p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QvTFS2f20QI/YSXNtginaZI/AAAAAAACFb4/_1sgOJgePj0LWwigC6fmnh3QEJWHT9CFACNcBGAsYHQ/s297/Screenshot%2B2021-08-24%2Bat%2B11.56.38%2BPM.png"><span><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QvTFS2f20QI/YSXNtginaZI/AAAAAAACFb4/_1sgOJgePj0LWwigC6fmnh3QEJWHT9CFACNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h405/Screenshot%2B2021-08-24%2Bat%2B11.56.38%2BPM.png" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="297" height="188"></span></a></p><p><span><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jedh8am6hqs/YSXV3FcTW_I/AAAAAAACFcQ/0-xjbhpxNT0CbS1Wy48PExZac-PKFkwRwCNcBGAsYHQ/s262/Screenshot%2B2021-08-25%2Bat%2B12.31.23%2BAM.png"><img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jedh8am6hqs/YSXV3FcTW_I/AAAAAAACFcQ/0-xjbhpxNT0CbS1Wy48PExZac-PKFkwRwCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h484/Screenshot%2B2021-08-25%2Bat%2B12.31.23%2BAM.png" width="280" height="211"></a></b></span></p><span><b><br></b></span><p><span>Twitter:</span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>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! </span><a href="https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true"><span>https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true</span></a></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>#DivestTheWalls #DefundTheWalls #OVAW</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>Facebook: </span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>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! </span><a href="https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true"><span>https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true</span></a></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>#DivestTheWalls #DefundTheWalls #OVAW</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>Instagram:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>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</span><span>! </span><a href="https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true"><span>https://www.oodhamrights.org/?p=170&preview=true</span></a></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>#DivestTheWalls #DefundTheWalls #OVAW</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>For More Resources on Border Wall Finance See: </span><span> </span></span></p><ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span><span>Elbit Systems, American Friends and Service, </span><a href="https://investigate.afsc.org/company/elbit-systems"><span>https://investigate.afsc.org/company/elbit-systems</span></a></span></p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span><span>Mark Akkerman, </span><span>Financing Border Wars: The border industry, its financiers and human rights, </span><span>Transnational Institute (TIN) (April 9, 2021), <a href="https://www.tni.org/en/financingborderwars">https://www.tni.org/en/financingborderwars</a></span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span><span>Please support O'odham VOICE Against the WALL, </span><a href="https://www.oodhamrights.org/"><span>https://www.oodhamrights.org/</span></a></span></p></li></ul></div></div></div>
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