Malheur Protesters: GOHOME
Last edited Mon Jan 18, 2016, 01:29 PM - Edit history (1)
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Malheur Protesters: GOHOME
blog | January 18, 2016 - 12:46am | By Camilla Mortensen
As Martin Luther King Jr., Day dawns, a couple of brothers from Eugene, Jake and Zach Klonoski remind Oregonians that it's not just a day off, but a day of action. The action they seek is agains the occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
As humorsous stories both true (people are sending them dildos) and satirical (old birdwatcher takes them out with a wrestling move) circle the internet, the brothers write that most Oregonians have " felt the shame of our state being mocked in national media as the occupation has stretched on with no end in sight."
The full press release is below.
We are often reminded that the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. honored today demands that we make this holiday a day of action and not simply enjoy a day off.
For Oregonians, this MLK Day carries with it a deep frustration. For sixteen days, the highest profile protest in the nation is on our soil, though it is not being conducted by Oregonians. Deep in southeastern Oregon, a small group of heavily armed, out-of-state militants have seized public land and buildings on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. An inheritance of every American, President Teddy Roosevelt set aside the Malheur NWR in 1908 “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds.” Three hundred twenty species of birds visit or live in the Malheur NWR, a treasure of the great Pacific Flyway that stretches from Alaska to Patagonia.
Most Oregonian have heard the militants demands that public lands be auctioned off and felt the shame of our state being mocked in national media as the occupation has stretched on with no end in sight. Admirably, law enforcement authorities have restrained themselves to avoid violence or injury – though clearly the law is being flouted and the local community does not support the occupation.
Still the specter of violence hangs over Oregon this MLK Day, and there is insufficient outlet for Oregonians to respond to the offensiveness of this illegal intrusion. This day more than any other demands action.
But as MLK reminded the nation in 1963 from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
We find creative lessons for the situation in Harney County in a small southeastern German town, Wunseidel. There an annual neo-Nazi march glorifying the Third Reich regularly embarrassed the local community.
Until 2014.
That year when the Neo-Nazis gathered, to their surprise their marching route was demarked meter-by-meter and the community came out to cheer them on. Local residents had organized and pledged donations for every meter the marchers preceded that would go to EXIT Germany, a group dedicated to supporting the safe exit of neo-Nazi from extremist groups. The YouTube videoof the 2014 march-turned-Walk-a-thon is a thing of beauty.
We know the occupiers of the Malheur still have internet access, the tweets of the anti-government activists requesting snacks be mailed by US Post Office are infamous.
That connectivity opens a path for us all to teach these out-of-staters a lesson about Oregon. We invite you to visit http://www.gohomemalheur.org/ where you will find information on the “Getting the Occupiers of the Historic Oregon Malheur NWR Evicted” campaign (G.O.H.O.M.E.). You can also add a per day campaign pledge of any amount that you choose, your donation will increase with each day that the occupation of the Malheur NWR continues.
At the end of the occupation the collected donations will be distributed between the four groups below, groups antithetical to the occupiers’ message of brute force and rage, as well as the privilege and narcissism inherent in their goals.
http://www.eugeneweekly.com/blog/malheur-protesters-gohome
http://www.gohomemalheur.org/
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