A delegation of Hawai‘i women is heading to Okinawa to link their efforts with other islanders impacted by U.S. military presence. The International Women’s Network Against Militarism points to human and environmental costs of war and explores ways women can build more peaceful futures. HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.
Dr. Kim Compoc teaches English and Ethnic Studies at UH M?noa. She says U.S. military commitments affect are part of a world view that affects all of U.S. society.
Compoc: Militarism is such a hard topic to confront head on. Especially because most of us are connected to the military through our families. My own family is hugely connected for multiple generations.
Compoc says, however, arming ourselves does not necessarily make us feel secure.
Compoc: It's about getting people to imagine what do we really mean by security. What makes you feel secure? When you ask people that, lot of times insecurity is linked to unemployment, not having health insurance, not having a future that’s safe from global warming and rising tides. What doesn’t get said a lot is the U.S. military is the world’s number one polluter.
Compoc: I’m so excited to be going to Okinawa and be there in Henoko. For anyone who has the opportunity to even see on Youtube the footage of these activists, many of them older women, standing so strong and proud to defend this beautiful, pristine bay, that is under threat by this, the 33rd military base to be built in Okinawa. If we believe in it, we can have a different kind of economy that is not based on death and destruction. But we have to begin with that, we have to commit to that.
The International Women’s Network Against Militarism meeting runs June 22-26, 2017 in Naha, Okinawa.
This year the International Women’s Network Against Militarism is meeting in Henoko, Okinawa for a reason.
that Korea, Japan, the Philppines, Guam, and Puerto Rico
