Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment
Statement
June 09 2025
We condemn in the strongest terms the illegal arrest of international volunteers aboard the Freedom Flotilla—peacefully delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza—by Israeli forces in international waters. This act of aggression is not an isolated incident but part of a long-standing pattern of human rights violations committed under the apartheid state Israeli occupation of Palestine.
We stand in solidarity with the detained volunteers, including human rights defenders and climate activists, who took a stand where world leaders have failed: delivering aid to a population deliberately starved of food, medicine, and water. The Freedom Flotilla was a direct response to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where over 2 million people remain trapped under a military blockade, facing constant bombardment, displacement, and deprivation. We demand the immediate release of all kidnapped freedom flotilla volunteers and palestinian prisoners.
The crimes of this war go beyond the immediate violence. A recent report revealed that the carbon footprint of Israel’s 15-month assault on Gaza has exceeded that of over 100 entire countries. Yet it is the Palestinian people—already suffering occupation, apartheid, and forced displacement—who are also made to endure the long-term impacts of ecological collapse. Gaza’s solar power systems have been decimated, agricultural lands scorched, and water rendered undrinkable.
The struggle for climate justice cannot be separated from the struggle for liberation. Environmental defenders must stand with the Palestinian people in resisting occupation, apartheid, and genocide. The Philippine government’s continued complicity in this genocide—through silence, arms deals, and repression of pro-Palestinian voices—must also be condemned.
From the shores of the Philippines to the besieged Palestine, end the occupation now!
