{"id":2,"date":"2008-11-13T11:44:53","date_gmt":"2008-11-13T16:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/dev\/wordpress\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2024-11-01T08:22:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T16:52:29","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dmzhawaii.org\/?page_id=2","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

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DMZ Hawai’i \/ Aloha ‘Aina is a network of organizations and individuals working to counter the military’s negative social, cultural and environmental impacts in Hawai’i.\u00a0 Intrinsic to our work is support for the human rights of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) and promotion of aloha ‘aina (love for the land).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The name of the network derives from the acronym “DMZ” for “demilitarized zone” to describe the spaces that have been reclaimed and liberated from militarization. The network works toward four goals:<\/p>\n

1. Stopping Military Expansion in Hawai’i.<\/p>\n

2. Cleaning up, restoring and reclaiming military controlled land in Hawai’i.<\/p>\n

3. Promoting the development of environmentally sustainable, socially just and culturally appropriate economic alternatives for Hawai’i.<\/p>\n

4. Seeking just compensation for the military use of Hawaiian land and for damages to the environment and communities caused by decades of military occupation.<\/p>\n

History<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the demilitarization movement in Hawai’i traces its roots back to the Hawaiian pro-independence movement of the 19th Century, its recent history begins in the 1970s with the convergence of Hawaiian rights, anti-war, and environmental movements into the movement to protect Kaho’olawe from Navy bombing exercises.\u00a0 The Kaho’olawe movement stopped the bombing and won the partial clean up and return of the island, but elsewhere in the islands, communities continued to struggle to reclaim their lands from military occupation.<\/p>\n

In the 1980s, the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement became a Pacific-wide force for peace, social justice and demilitarization.\u00a0 Hawai’i activists played a key role in the formation and leadership of this network.<\/p>\n

In 2000, the American Friends Service Committee Demilitarization Subcommittee sponsored a conference “Rethinking Militarism in Hawai’i”. This was the first meeting to bring together activists and community leaders from various military-impacted communities to strategize and build a movement to address the\u00a0 impacts of militarization\u00a0 in Hawai’i.\u00a0\u00a0 A loose network was formed to coordinate information and activities.\u00a0 In 2002, the DMZ Hawai’i \/ Aloha ‘Aina network was established, with its first issue to confront the military expansion in the wake of September 11, 2001.\u00a0\u00a0 Since then, DMZ Hawai’i \/ Aloha ‘Aina has been active in various efforts to resist military expansion and demand the restoration and return of military occupied lands in Hawai’i and in solidarity with international struggles for peace, justice and demilitarization.<\/p>\n

What We Do<\/strong><\/p>\n

The DMZ Hawai’i \/ Aloha ‘Aina network is guided by the ancient Kanaka Maoli prophesy, Ka Pule Wanana o Kapihe:<\/p>\n

E Iho Ana o Luna\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All that is above shall be brought down<\/p>\n

E Pi’i Ana o Lalo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All that is below shall be lifted up<\/p>\n

E Hui Ana na Moku\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The islands shall be united<\/p>\n

E Ku Ana ka Paia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The walls (of the structure) shall stand<\/p>\n