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| Mauna Kea is located on Hawaii, the Big Island. |
As officials brace for more protests against the construction of a telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii's governor expressed the desire to avoid the possibility of violence.
Since mid-July, protestors have blocked the road leading up to the telescope's site atop the dormant volcano, Mauna Kea, preventing the delivery of construction material.
Gov. David Ige said that his priority is to keep everyone in the community safe, including the activists at the base of Mauna Kea. The 80 National Guard members on the Big Island since the start of the protests will remain, state officials said.
“We will not be utilizing tear gas, as some of the rumors have been (saying),” Ige said. “We are looking for the best way forward without hurting anyone.”
The only Asian American governor in the US stopped short of removing the State of Emergency, which allows the troops to remove protestors, who claim the site is sacred and is of cultural significance for Native Hawaiians.
Police moved in to make 33 arrests, reported KHON. Among the first arrested, were kapuna, or elderly, protestors. All 33 where given citations and released the same day.
“This mountain represents more than just their building that they want to build,” longtime activist Walter Ritte said in a video interview livestreamed by Hawaii News Now, via Twitter on Monday, reported Colorlines. “This mountain represents the last thing they want to take that we will not give them.” Ritte was one of eight people who chained themselves to a grate in the access road at the mountain’s base to block construction.
According to the BBC, the 30 meter telescope (TMT) would be the largest in the world. Mauna Kea is held by the state in trust, supposedly for the benefit of Native Hawaiians.
Protests, led by Native Hawaiians, have dogged the project since it was announced in 2009. Last Oct. the Supreme Court of Hawaii upheld the building permit granted by the State Board of Land and Natural Resources. Construction was scheduled to begin on July 15 this year.
Gizmodo reports that the protestors have won the support of some 200 astronomers who published an open letter .
“We call upon the astronomy community to recognize the broader historical context of this conflict and to denounce the criminalization of the protectors on Maunakea,” read the letter.
“We came to protect our sacred land,” Hawaii News Now reported that a protester at Mauna Kea said last week during the arrests. “There’s not much more we have left.” There are already thirteen working telescopes at and around the top of Mauna Kea. If TMT is not built on Mauna Kea, there is a backup site in the Canary Islands."
The latest to weigh in is Presidential candidate, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, whose district includes Mauna Kea. In a statement, she said:
"To many Native Hawaiians, kamaʻāina, and malihini alike, Mauna Kea is so much more than a mountain. It's a revered and sacred sanctuary connecting keiki and kupuna to the past, present and future, and where Native Hawaiians practice their customs and traditions.
"The materialistic way that developers and corporations are viewing Mauna Kea — ignoring the spiritual significance and relationship many Native Hawaiians have with the Mauna — is at the heart of the problem.
"It is hypocritical that many TMT proponents speak of their own spiritual quest for knowledge and wisdom, while simultaneously closing their eyes to the spiritual inspiration and significance that Mauna Kea offers — not only to Native Hawaiians but to humanity at large. Spiritual nourishment and inspiration is of much greater and lasting value than anything money can buy.
"It is this spiritual blindness often born out of arrogance or greed that is at the root of the desecration of our precious environment throughout the country and around the world."More than 1,000 people descended on what they consider sacred Hawaiian land last week to form a blockade to stop the construction of a controversial giant telescope on Mauna Kea.
Police moved in to make 33 arrests, reported KHON. Among the first arrested, were kapuna, or elderly, protestors. All 33 where given citations and released the same day.
“This mountain represents more than just their building that they want to build,” longtime activist Walter Ritte said in a video interview livestreamed by Hawaii News Now, via Twitter on Monday, reported Colorlines. “This mountain represents the last thing they want to take that we will not give them.” Ritte was one of eight people who chained themselves to a grate in the access road at the mountain’s base to block construction.
According to the BBC, the 30 meter telescope (TMT) would be the largest in the world. Mauna Kea is held by the state in trust, supposedly for the benefit of Native Hawaiians.
Protests, led by Native Hawaiians, have dogged the project since it was announced in 2009. Last Oct. the Supreme Court of Hawaii upheld the building permit granted by the State Board of Land and Natural Resources. Construction was scheduled to begin on July 15 this year.
Gizmodo reports that the protestors have won the support of some 200 astronomers who published an open letter .
“We call upon the astronomy community to recognize the broader historical context of this conflict and to denounce the criminalization of the protectors on Maunakea,” read the letter.
“We came to protect our sacred land,” Hawaii News Now reported that a protester at Mauna Kea said last week during the arrests. “There’s not much more we have left.” There are already thirteen working telescopes at and around the top of Mauna Kea. If TMT is not built on Mauna Kea, there is a backup site in the Canary Islands."
ASAM NEWS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT
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