Climate Crisis in a Time of War

Misinformation, Education, and the Future of Activism

Dear Reader,

Today’s post is a little different than other posts about predictions as I’m combining it with my weekly climate strike announcement. Maybe some of you, like me, are wondering what has been changing lately in climate-strike organisations. While I don’t know the entire story, this post points to what I have observed so far and how I’ll be responding to that shift for now.

If you’d like to connect outside of this newsletter, I’m available for hypnotherapy sessions at discounted rates. I will be offering a further discount if you purchase two sessions. These sessions can be redeemed soon or anytime up to a year from the date of purchase. You can book your appointment here: https://www.kyraoser.com/book-an-appointment/

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Until next time, I’m wishing you all the best of serenity, health, and happiness,

Kyra

Climate Crisis in a Time of War

Week 216 of fasting and striking from working and shopping once a week for the climate crisis.

Some of you might not like what I am about to share, and that’s okay. I write these posts to say what I see with honesty, not to be liked. If this article isn’t for you, feel free to take what you like and leave the rest.

It seems to me that a handful of social media channels coming from the climate movement have been hijacked by propaganda. There are posters, perhaps caught up in emotionally driven narratives and not checking with credible sources, who have been misinformed about issues that have nothing to do with climate or environmental science. This weakens our cause, and maybe that's part of the point for whoever is in this business of distributing propaganda.

Week 216 of climate striking. I am covering up the “Fridays” as of this week to affirm that I am not in alignment with recent statements posted by ‘Fridays for Future’.

I will not align myself with organisations that condone violence or post antisemitic content. I have no interest in associating with climate organisations that glorify or minimise dehumanisation, whether or not they began with the best of intentions. Maybe some will change and retract their statements, but many likely won't. It's human nature to struggle with admitting mistakes.

It matters that those of us who aren't comfortable with the direction those organisations are taking don't give up. This movement is so much bigger and more consequential than any one group or name and it will continue and change form beyond our lifetimes, no matter what forces may attempt to divide us. Unity will be necessary for furthering this cause that affects every species and all living beings. 

Misinformation and Education

Most of my father's family died in Auschwitz. I condemn the heinous terror attacks of October 7th, along with many world leaders including Prime Minister Trudeau and President Biden. This mass pogrom was the most significant targeted massacre of Jewish civilians since the Holocaust.

It's disappointing to know there are people in a movement I've devoted part of my life to for the past four years who don't value my life or the lives of other Jews, and who are actively making the world less safe for us by scapegoating and spreading antisemitic tropes to large followings.  The IHRA definition lists examples of antisemitism, including: "Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor"; "Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation"; “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis”, and "Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel". Since October 7th, I've noticed some climate organisations and subsidiaries posting exactly what is described in these examples from the IHRA.

I suspect that many posting antisemitic content did not have the benefit of an education about the Holocaust and the history of the Jewish people. They likely don't know that these posts are discriminatory, or that they are alienating climate activists at a time when more of us are needed than ever, not fewer. For more information, I’ve been connecting with standwithus.com. Their website has informational resources and they are available to educate about these topics. I’ve also been partnering with StandWithUs Canada since October 7th and can direct you to further resources if you are interested in learning along with me about history or current events.

15 September 2023 Global Climate Strike

Attending the global climate strike this September was one of the most moving days of my life. But how safe are Jews, Israelis, and our friends at climate strikes when some of the organisations coordinating them have been justifying and celebrating the October 7th massacre of our people, and are demanding that we be forcibly removed from the ancestral homeland we came from thousands of years ago? Where do they think we come from, and where do they want us to go? 

There is a common misunderstanding about what it means to be Jewish. Yes, some convert to Judaism, and they are also Jews, but it isn’t only a religion. Judaism is an ethnoreligion, meaning it is inherited like any other ethnicity and is also tied to our cultural and religious traditions that go back thousands of years. Jews who are atheist, agnostic, spiritual without a religion, or those who choose to practise another religion can still be culturally and ethnically Jewish. A child who is adopted into a Jewish family is culturally Jewish even if that is not their ethnicity, and whether or not they choose to practise Judaism as their religion.

Aggregate Tragedies of Pro-Terror Propaganda

In addition to a lack of education, activist movements have been infiltrated by pro-terror propaganda.

As you undoubtedly know, Hamas hides among civilians whom they use as human shields and is holding more than 229 hostages from multiple countries, including kidnapped children and babies. War is a horror, each loss of life is a tragedy, and every step needs to be taken to ensure that civilian casualties are avoided, no matter where someone was born or where they now live.

If most of your family in your own country were murdered and the rest of them were taken hostage and tortured, or, God forbid, if you were kidnapped, what would you want your government to do about it? Nothing? If doing nothing meant the perpetrators who attacked you and your family would attempt to murder all other people of your ethnicity (a stated goal in Hamas’ charter, as with Nazis, is to “fight Jews and kill them”), would you still call for nothing to be done? I asked myself these same questions, and I don’t have the answers. I am not a military strategist and I wouldn’t know how to safely rescue hostages or prevent further terror attacks. That kind of expertise is outside the scope of my experience. There are many experts on de-escalating hostage situations and I am not one of them.

I also asked myself the following question: what if the group being tortured, murdered, and kidnapped by terrorists was anyone besides the Jewish people? David Baddiel addresses the double standard of holding Jews accountable in ways that others are not in his book Jews Don’t Count.

Conflating Jews worldwide with decisions made by the government of Israel and blaming Israelis for decisions made by the Israeli government is antisemitic, and is described in another example from the IHRA definition of antisemitism: “Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions” and “Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews”.

Pro-Terror Organisations Compromise Campus Safety

The terrorist organisations provoking proxy wars on behalf of dictatorships like Iran won’t stop with attacking Jews. What starts with us never ends with us. This is a large-scale war in its early stages that isn’t disconnected from what Russia has been waging in its unprovoked attacks against Ukraine. We are currently witnessing a multipronged attempt by authoritarian regimes to attack and destabilise democracies. Democracies are a threat to the legitimacy of dictatorships. Think of World War II—while it’s certainly not a perfect comparison, there were Axis powers. This time, the “Axis” alliance is comprised of different countries such as Iran and Russia. To understand what is happening, I’ve needed to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I’m still learning about this conflict, but I’ll share the small part that I understand as of now:

These terrorist organisations and the nations that fund them are anti-democratic and misogynistic, and aim to destroy every religion and culture that is not a fundamentalist death cult—so, nearly everyone. Yet chilling and disturbing pro-terror rallies in America and Europe and at university campuses are drawing impressionable people chanting gaslighting narratives. The subtext of their songs is a call to genocide—including their own. Those who march and chant and sing to the tune of their own demise have been duped.  They’re also making the world less safe for everyone, including themselves and the innocent students who have recently been targeted for being Jewish.

Students hide in a library as a pro-Hamas mob parrots antisemitic chants directed at them. Cooper Union, NYC, 25 September 2023 (Screenshot courtesy of StandWithUs.org)

You may be aware that on October 25th, students at Cooper Union in NYC had to be locked in a library for their safety as other students banged on the doors and glass, threatening to harm them simply because they are Jewish. This is just one example in which Jewish students are being "hidden" from pro-terror mobs. This appalling incident has echoes of Nazis who targeted, intimidated, and threatened Jews in the 1930s and 1940s. I attend a university that recently hosted one of these rallies celebrating the atrocities of Hamas. On October 25th, Hamas supporters were marching at my school and promoting a global “Intifada”, a term that is the equivalent of the Nazi “final solution”—meaning they insidiously call for the death of all Jews. I easily could have been one of the Jewish students at Cooper Union who happened to be in the library and were mobbed and trapped by a brainwashed crowd. Universities need to do more to protect their students before this dangerous targeting escalates.

The Future of Climate Activism

In conclusion (yet none of this has been concluded or resolved), I feel conflicted between speaking up against antisemitism and continuing to collaborate with climate organisations. There are climate leaders who used their platforms to raise awareness about the climate crisis in novel and effective ways, but now they use those same platforms to justify and even encourage violence and murder against Jews and Israelis. The cruelest, most inhumane, humiliating, and destructive things that can be done to another human being were inflicted many times over on October 7th. I’m still processing how some climate organisations jumped into amplifying unsubstantiated propaganda without checking their facts and blindly justified these crimes against humanity. Have they blamed any group besides the Jewish people for other unprovoked attacks against civilians? Do the people in charge of their social media platforms care about women, children, infants, the elderly, unarmed men, and Holocaust survivors? Are they at all concerned about the well-being of the hostages? I’m left wondering how we got to this point, with no clear answers.

This conflict is a real problem emerging within the climate movement, and a threat to our credibility. If we want to be trusted by the public, we need to conduct thorough research about climate science. Shouldn’t we be just as vigilant about consulting with reliable primary sources when publishing about world events?

At the same time, I’m struggling to remain mindful of how critical it is to stay focussed and keep the bigger picture in mind.

We have a small window with which to take meaningful action and support the continuation of a liveable planet. What we collectively do or don't do in these times will matter thousands of years into the future and beyond. That means more than my one life. We need to move forward despite setbacks, no matter how great, and indeed many have successfully done this throughout history. People are capable of doing incredibly good things and even making miracles happen, as long as we work together in helpful and not harmful ways. I'm grateful to all of you who are helping. I will not give up on this climate cause, and I will not give up on us. Everyone involved in the climate movement, and all of humanity in general, deserves to feel welcomed, protected, appreciated, and respected.

*Psychic readings are for entertainment purposes only and are not performed by a licenced medical practitioner. Please consult with your medical doctors regarding all health concerns. Please consult with your financial advisor regarding all financial decisions. Any consultation you receive is subject to your own interpretation and you agree to take full responsibility for your interpretation, decisions, and actions.