Findings in Henoko
I´m terrible about summing things up. I tried to write a little synopsis of our activities in Okinaka over that past few days but I keep returning to one day in Henoko that reminded me why I need to be here and what I will be taking back with me to the States. So here goes operation ¨Sam blogs 2.0¨. but anyone who want´s to skip the rambling can scroll to the bottom where I´ve included a ¨just the facts ma´am¨ account of our visit.
I have a confession to make. I can be a terrible cynic sometimes. Not to the extent that I don´t find value in the things we do with Greenpeace, but sometimes the obstacles are so great and the opposition so strong and the public so apathetic that it can I feel like we´re throwing stones at the sea. It´s hard for me to think of a greater challenge than the one facing the Okinawan people in Henoko. They are trying to protect their sea and the creatures in it not from a private corporation or even just their own government. Their adversary is the full weight of the United States military and everything that goes with it. The guns the money, the Pentagon, the White House, and 60 years of Japanese complicity. Very David vs Goliath... or maybe more like David vs Goliath, Goliath´s extended family, their kennel of mutant attack dogs, and their fleet of big ass tanks made of skulls that shoot poisonous snakes or fire or something else really threatening. (just work with me here: them scary)
Sailing into Henoko the other day to meet with the local people. Seeing that big military base before us, I suddenly felt terribly small. We´d taken two of our rigid hulled inflatable boats (rhibs) since the water was not deep enough for the Espy, and all I knew was that we´d be going to a camp where a group of Okinawans have been staging a sit in in opposition to the base expansion for ten years. I´ll admit I was worried it would just be depressing. Another small group of people chucking stones at the sea. I´m happy to report that I got schooled but good.
As we rose over each wave driving toward the shore, I could see one, then two, then three motor boats before us. ¨ok, cool.¨ I thought ¨they´re coming to say hi¨ But as we got closer I saw one bright flag go up in the water behind each boat, then another, then another till we could see that each boat was towing a string of eight people in bright yellow kayaks holding a series of colorful flags that spelled out ¨peace¨ in English and ¨life¨ in Japanese. They glided towards us, curving to the left then the right and finally surrounding us. Some people were young, some people were very old. They waved at us as they tossed about in the surf, each kayak pulling on and supporting the others. I was struck by a tangible hope. Here was this small group of people without a big international organization, without a big fancy ship, who spent every spare moment of their free time or their * retirement* nobly standing their ground before the most powerful forces in the world saying that they they would not give up, that they believed in a green and peaceful future and that together they would not be intimidated.
The eldest member of the sit in drove the point home today. He said that by himself he is too old and fragile to move about by himself and cannot walk more than 10 steps, but that when he had to walk to his local polling station to vote, his wife stood infront of him, he placed his hands on her shoulders, and together they walked all the way keeping time by singing a song about a snail, his wife being the head, and he representing the shell home. I thought of them supporting each other, moving so slowly, but with such purpose that is was only a matter of time until they arrived where they were going.
I looked at the base again with it´s barbed wire fences and its buildings so imposing and solid on the shore and then looked at our brightly coloured band rising and falling with each wave and together we suddenly seemed so powerful. We were light and flexible before that hulking base. I though of the 30,313 activists who petitioned in support of these people and the hundreds of thousands of volunteers and millions of Greenpeace supporters around the world and realized that we´re not throwing stones at the sea, we are the sea. That base can´t run from us and it's only a matter of time before we reach the shore and wash it away.
just the facts ma´am:
The crew delivered 30,313 signatures from around the world to the department of defense in Naha.
The executive director of Greenpeace Japan and The captain of the Esperanza met with the mayor of Okinawa city to discuss the destruction of unique coral reefs.
The crew of the Esperanza and campaigners from Greenpeace Japan joined the protesters in Henoko in front of the proposed site of the base expansion for two days in solidarity.
Greenpeace divers discover a dugong trail in the sea grass at the site of the proposed base expansion proving the dugong still relies on this area for survival.