| Panel #2: International Solidarity Topic #2: Effects of War on Women Speaker: Martha Matsuoka - OKINAWAN Peace Network Thank you to the organizers of this conference for creating the time and space for us to come together to discuss come together to discuss how the lives of our communities are being affected by the war and how we can come together to stop the war and end militarism. On a personal note, this event here in East LA is particularly significant because 50 years ago, my father�s family lived here � on Pennsylvania Avenue. After the outbreak of WWII, his family and the Japanese Americans here in East LA and the rest of California were uprooted by the US military and forced into concentration camps. Though they moved away, my grandparents still considered East LA home and are laid to rest now, with many other Japanese Americans in Evergreen Cemetery just around the corner from here. Today, I want to share about the impact of the US military bases and troops in Okinawa. Okinawa is the set of islands in southern Japan. Okinawa has 39 U.S. military installations. It makes up 1% of the land of Japan but holds 75% of troops there. The impact of US troops on women and the environment in Okinawa are similar to the impacts of the US military in other places � Vieques, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the Philippines. Local communities are organizing against the US Military for similar reasons: Local governments and people have little power to determine what they want with their land and are in active struggle to take back their lands from the US military and stop the practice of violence institutionalized by the military. In their resistance against US militarism, Okinawans also simultaneously tackle globalization and the rapid increase of tourism in Okinawa that pays low-wages to local workers and generates profits for multinational corporations. As in many of these places, Okinawans are actively resisting the presence of the US military. Within this struggle, women are visible leaders as are women in Vieques, Puerto Rico, Korea, and the Philippines. In Okinawa in 1995 a 12-year old junior high school girl was abducted on her way home by three US servicemen and was raped by all three of them. The story hit the front page here because of the violent acts against the little girl and because this young girl had the courage to file public charges against her rapists and the U.S. military. The rape ignited a resurgence of anti-militarism in Okinawa, and at the center of this struggle were the issues of militarism and its negative impacts on women, children and the environment. The women�s leadership for peace in Okinawa is a movement against US troops and bases but is a broader struggle for peace and genuine security. Following the rape, women in Okinawa raised the critical question: �How can we talk about national security when our girls can�t even walk home from school safely?� �In whose interest is security, namely military security, anyway?� �Military security� is a contradiction in terms. The presence of the US military creates deep insecurity in Okinawa in two key areas: The first is environmental insecurity. The US military is the largest toxic polluter in the world with local communities bearing the burden of these toxics. A 1998 study by the Okinawa Prefectural Government found that babies born in Okinawa had the lowest-birth rates in all of Japan and attributed this to the noise pollution created by military jets near Kadena Air Base. Though no formal comprehensive study of the links between the military and public health has been done in Okinawa, a grassroots women�s organization, Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence has documented military toxics and their impact on the health of women and children, including the increased incidence of leukemia in areas around the military bases. In addition, they have documented how in addition to the military, the increase of tourism has catalyzed the conversion of agricultural land that creates uncontrolled runoff of iron-rich soil that at destroys the precious coral reefs surrounding Okinawa. The second area of insecurity perpetuated by the US military is the increasing violence in Okinawa. Though formal governmental statistics show that the levels of crime by US military are equivalent to the crime rates of Okinawans in Okinawa, many of the crimes, particularly violent crimes against women are not reported and reported. When reported, many crimes are not prosecuted. Because of the Status of Forces Agreement, US troops are first questioned by the US military and rarely turned over to the Japanese and Okinawan legal systems. As such women have little power to charge military servicemen in court but yet visible organize themselves and lead the peace movement in Okinawa to demand that US Troops be tried for their crimes and given appropriate sentences. Similar struggles are being led by women in other countries where the Status of Forces Agreements privilege members of the US military over the needs and rights of local community people. The presence of US military in Okinawa represents the US force in East Asia. The resistance by the Okinawans, particularly Okinawan women, against the US military must be an example to those of us struggling to fight against the increased militarism perpetuated by the U.S. military in Asia, the Middle East, and the world. In order to impact and influence the US military, solidarity amongst all peoples movements is necessary. This morning we heard from the Duenas family and their campaign for educational and environmental justice. It reminded me of an incident in Okinawa where a military jet lost part of its fuselage which crashed below into an elementary school. Many schools in Okinawa have soundproof glass so that classes aren�t disrupted when military planes fly directly overhead. People in Okinawa live daily with the direct negative impact of the US military in their backyards. Like the Duenes family and others in East LA, they are rising up to demand that the LAUSD and the US military respect the rights of local communities. Through these struggles we can see that the only way to make changes in those institutions is grassroots peoples mobilizing together and making connections to link our struggles. It�s a teaching moment to pull our struggles together. This is an anti-war movement. We need to redefine what security means, broaden our struggles and activism in the movement. Thank you. |
| Go to: - Index Page - Panel #1: US �War on Terrorism� & Its Effects on our Community Topic #1: Education & Militarization Topic #2: Racism & National Oppression - Panel #2: International Solidarity Topic #1: Military Intervention in the Phlippines Topic #3: US Intervention in Colombia |