Dear fellow activists,
Our heart and thoughts are with you in this very difficult moment.
While political leaders are driving us straight towards a future of catastrophe and suffering, you have relentlessly been ringing the alarm bell calling for climate justice. Your action last week was brave and provocative, stirring conversation about the need to stop fossil fuel industries across the globe. Even within the climate movement, your actions invoked discussions on what is needed to finally get the message across.
Yet, while climate change deniers and criminals such as the CEOs of Shell, BP and Total Energies walk freely, you have been penalized excessively for your courageous actions. 6 days of prison time for gluing yourself to a painting that is protected by glass is disproportionate and excessive. And we wait in fear for the outcomes of the proceedings today.
As you rightfully stated, “This painting is protected by glass. It will be just fine. Vulnerable people in the Global South aren't protected. Our youth aren't protected. People in fuel poverty, who must choose between eating and heating, aren't protected." Yet you were penalised for speaking truth to power in disproportionate ways, intended to have a chilling effect on all of us, climate justice activists.
Guess what? We will not stop until we reach the system-wide transformation that even the United Nations admits is necessary for avoiding climate disaster. We will not be scared off by this display of power, because we know that people power is so much stronger than the repression shown today.
So today, we stand in solidarity with you, and we think of the many thousands of activists who were imprisoned, harassed, tortured and murdered because they defended the planet and living beings they love. Tomorrow, we will spread your message and defend our democratic rights and freedoms to speak truth to power.
We are with you.
In solidarity,
Hi there,
Thanks so much for your support! With over 250 signatures in less than a week’s time, we have really shown our solidarity with the activists at this difficult time. The activists have in the meanwhile spoken to their families and some friends. They miss their loved ones and their freedom, but they’re doing ok.
In the meanwhile, so much has been happening: the activists were convicted to 2 months in jail, of which one on probation. That’s totally disproportionate in view of their non-violent action which caused no harm to the painting. The unacceptable punishment as well as the action itself are front and centre in the public debate. Prime Minister De Croo even mentioned the activists in his COP27 speech, calling them vandals. Civil society stands united in its response: we have an obligation to engage in civil disobedience to push politicians to action. Even the UN and the IPPC echo this point.
There’s a lot you can do to support the 3 activists and defend our right to civil disobedience:
Join our demonstration on Thursday 10/11 at 17:00 at the Dutch Embassy in Brussels (Avenue de Cortenbergh 4/10). More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/3350692675208366
Share your support on social media. Change your profile picture to the girl with a pearl earring, or post a video of you expressing your support.
Send a letter to the activists in prison. You can do this by sending an email to [email protected], with “letter” in the title, as well as the addressees. We will send it for you.
Support financially, to cover the legal fees, through this crowdfunding: opencollective.com/xr-belgium/projects/den-haag-ac...
Conduct a non-violent solidarity action. For ideas and guidelines, email [email protected] with “action” in the title, as well as your phone number.
The more noise we can make in the next 3 weeks, the better. This way, the activists aren’t in jail in vain, and feel supported in these lonely days. Together, we are so powerful!
Take care!