Wild Nature Heart’s Statement on Palestine & Israel

Wild Nature Heart is committed to creating liberatory cultures of care, deepening our belonging to the other-than-human world, and weaving these into systems that honor Life and serve justice.

WNH stands against settler colonial violence in all its forms, from the enslavement of Africans to the genocide of indigenous peoples, to Jewish people in Europe to ongoing atrocities everywhere.

Thus we must speak out about the on-going situation in Palestine and Israel. 

We honor the hurt, confusion, anger and fear that so many on all sides are feeling right now. We join those in deep mourning at the tragic and unnecessary loss of lives on all sides. We are all deeply impacted in our hearts and bodies, regardless of our relationship to events on the ground in Gaza and Israel, or our different positionalities to this issue.

At the same time, we heed the calls of those bearing the brunt of immediate and ongoing violence.

We join Palestinians on the ground in Gaza and West Bank; Jewish, Muslim, and Christian voices for peace, and all voices of conscience in calling for an immediate Ceasefire and de-escalation now, including release of all hostages on both sides. 

Wild Nature Heart knows that liberation means liberation for everyone and that everyone deserves dignity, safety, and peace. We also know that long-term peace and healing requires a just solution, and so we stand by all those calling for an end to the 75-year ongoing colonization, occupation and dispossession of Palestinian people and land.

WNH rejects all forms of anti-semitism and Islamophobia. We are also deeply concerned with the disturbing rise in censorship and crack downs on those speaking out for human rights and peace, in the United States and abroad.

We acknowledge the intensity of witnessing the disturbing images of violence, death and injury of thousands, including small children, and its profound impact on us.

We know this is too much to hold alone, so we practice holding this together, deep listening, and bearing witness. We practice liberation by retaining our humanity, continuing to feel, and not going numb. 

We encourage you to keep returning to your practices of earth connection, gathering in community, dreaming a new world and taking action. 

We encourage you to continue to talk about and practice peace and justice and to continue to say yes to Life and Liberation. 

We carry forward the vision in our hearts of the potential of this moment for collective liberation. The only thing more profound than our grief in the moment, is the potential for us to come together and put our values into action to save human and more-than-human lives and land. 

We encourage you to take any and all actions of conscience.