SPECIAL REPORT -
FreeHawaii.Info IS PROUD TO PRESENT, IN SERIALIZED FORM, "AMERICA'S TIBET," BY DAVID INGHAM, AMY MARSH AND KUKAUAKAHI CHING.
The Full Story Of Why The Illegal Overthrow And Continued Illegal US Occupation of Hawai'i is America's Tibet!
Now published in April 1-15, 2004 issue of Hawai'i Island Journal, and eventually will be viewable online at http://www.hawaiiislandjournal.com.
Here's the second installment...
Our motives for acquiring Hawaii were similar to China's motives for acquiring Tibet. We could, therefore we did. Like China, we justified our aggression by the pretense of modernizing a backwards people. To this end, the U.S. relied on policies of deceit and decades of legal and social repression. Hawaiian children were taught that they were lazy and no good. The beautiful Hawaiian language, hula, and other sacred cultural practices were made illegal. Like Tibetans, Hawaiians are second class citizens in their own home. Native Hawaiians suffer from denial of human and national rights that have resulted in the poorest health, employment, education, incarceration, youth suicide, and economic statistics of any group in Hawaii.
Due to the recent renaissance of Native Hawaiian culture and a new emphasis on historical accuracy, Native Hawaiians (na kanaka maoli)now know that the substantial theft of their nation and most of its land and assets was unjus tified, illegal, and in violation of treaties promising perpetual friendship between the United States and the Kingdom of Hawaii. On the mainland we might say all in the past but this matter is hardly a done deal for Native Hawaiians and descendants of Hawaiian nationals. They want their country back. Native Hawaiians are, and have always been, emotionally and spiritually connected with their aina (the land). Now they reclaim their rightful political connection. As far as theyre concerned, the Kingdom still exists, though illegally occupied. They are its subjects.
Experts who are familiar with legal aspects of the case for Hawaiian independence agree with their assessment. For example, three years ago a citizen of the occupied kingdom presented a Hawaii case to the international Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. After consideration of the case, the court recognized the continuity of the Kingdom of Hawaii and flew the Kingdom's flag among those of other nations.
Experts say the overthrow and annexation are both in clear violation of international law. Even the 1959 Statehood vote violated United Nations rules under which the vote was supposedly conducted. First, American citizens and the military occupation forces should not have been allowed to cast ballots. Second, eligible voters should have been given at least three choices, such as: independence (including free association as an independent member of a commonwealth); remaining an occupied territory; or incorporation into the United States. But on the ballot, statehood was the only option.
Part Three Tomorrow -
