On Sunday, December 10, Adam Teva V’Din gathered to mark International Human Rights Day with Israel’s climate movement in Tel Aviv’s ‘Hostage Square’. As well as listening to speakers who have family members taken as hostages to Gaza as part of the horrific and brutal events of October 7, we came together to create an exhibit that calls for the safe return of all hostages.
International Human Rights Day was a time to remind all around the world that a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a basic human right. This was first officially acknowledged by the UN Human Rights resolution 48/13 in October 2021 and then recognized by the General Assembly in July 2022.
Members of the Israel Climate Movement chose the day to share the message that basic human rights are being denied to the 138 people abducted from Israel.
“How can we talk about environmental justice when basic human rights were violated on October 7th and continue to be violated to this day?”, questioned Dr. Nirit Lavi-Alon, whose son’s partner is being held hostage in Gaza.
Israel’s climate movement demands: “Bring our sunshine back”
The evening concluded with a display of yellow umbrellas symbolizing the sun and posters conveying the message of the event: “Every kidnapped person is a world in their own right and a ray of sunshine to their surroundings, and to us all. Just as the sun symbolizes, in the climate and environmental world, the good and the future – so too does the return of the hostages.”
