Foreign Affairs

Green Groups That Have Backed Palestinians Offer Justifications, Silence After Hamas Attacks

No featured image available

Several environmentalist groups that have advocated for the Palestinian cause have had little to say about the massive terror attacks launched by Hamas over the weekend.

The Sunrise Movement, Fridays for Future and 350.org have variously supported the Palestinian cause and “decolonization” movements in the recent past, but have not yet released their own statements regarding the massive Hamas terrorist attack against Israel over the weekend. Some environmentalist groups view climate change and “decolonization” as inextricably linked because, in their view, the colonial era established unjust and exploitative economic systems that have subsequently evolved to drive climate change, according to The Club of Rome, an international policy think tank.

The Sunrise Movement, an environmental and social advocacy organization, has reposted a statement from an organization called IfNotNow, which says that “we cannot and will not say today’s actions by Palestinian militants are unprovoked” and that “every day under Israel’s system of apartheid is a provocation.” Hamas’ Saturday surprise attack has resulted in at least 700 deaths and numerous abductions, according to Axios, with Americans among the dead, prompting Israel to declare war against Hamas in response as reports of atrocities surface.

In May 2021, when Israel last fought Hamas for an extended period of time, the Sunrise Movement posted a video comparing Palestinians to Black Lives Matter protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and to environmentalist protesters in Standing Rock, North Dakota. “We must fight for collective liberation for us all, or we will never be truly free,” the video’s caption reads.

Fridays for Future, another prominent youth eco-activism organization inspired by Greta Thunberg, has made several statements in favor of the Palestinian cause in the past 12 months. “As an international anti-colonial, climate-justice movement, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian liberation,” the group stated in November 2022.

The group has also called to “free Palestine from the River to the Sea,” a common refrain of Palestinian activists that calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state spanning from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. This slogan is also popular among violent Palestinian groups, as it implies the erasure of the Jewish state and, in some cases, the Jewish people inhabiting the area, according to the American Jewish Committee.

350.org, an international climate advocacy group, stated during the May 2021 conflagration between Israel and violent Palestinian groups that “now needs to be a time of solidarity & community across borders. From Palestine to Colombia to Myanmar and beyond, people are working for their liberation.” 350.org has not yet issued a statement disavowing the Hamas attacks, but it has tweeted about “migrant justice” and the work of a Brazilian graffiti artist in the days since Hamas murdered hundreds of Israelis.

The Sunrise Movement, Fridays for Future and 350.org all did not respond immediately to requests for comment.