List of SJB Statements
Click the titles to download PDF statements and press releases.
Saturday, October 28, 2023 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement of Solidarity with the People of Palestine
Monday, June 25, 2022 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on Reproductive Justice
Monday, March 14, 2022 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on Privy Council Ruling on Marriage Equality
Wednesday, March 2, 2022 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on Marcus Jones & Cole Simons
Thursday, February 3, 2022 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on Saltus Lesson
Monday, November 8, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on Police Misconduct
Monday, November 1, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on Gun Violence
Monday, August 30, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on Barbi Bishop Ruling: FIRE BARBI TODAY.
Monday, May 31, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda One Year Anniversary
Tuesday, May 18, 2021 | Funding Private Schools is not Black Education Empowerment
Saturday, May 1, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on May Day 2021
Thursday, March 18, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Calls for Removal of Customs Duty on Essential Motherhood And Menstruation Products
Monday, March 8, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Chooses to Challenge Acts of Violence Against Women
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Cannabis Reform Task Force Response to Cannabis Licensing Act 2020 - An Open Letter to the Senate
Monday, February 15, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement: Reminder: Marcus Jones believes Donald Trump was appointed by God
Tuesday, February 2, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement on Collective Worship in Schools
Tuesday, January 19, 2021 | Social Justice Bermuda Statement: Marcus Jones is not fit to sit in the Senate
Friday, November 6, 2020 | Social Justice Bermuda releases Throne Speech Update: Next Hundred Days
SUNDAY, October 29, 2023
Social Justice Bermuda Statement of Solidarity with the People of Palestine
Social Justice Bermuda (SJB) stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We must be clear in calling this situation what it is: this is not a conflict, this is not a war, this is a genocide. Social Justice Bermuda joins other global social justice movements and human rights groups calling for an immediate ceasefire to allow for humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza. The atrocities committed by Hamas militants on Saturday, October 7th do not, in any way, justify atrocities in kind by the Israeli State against Palestinian civilians.
The conflict between Palestine and Israel occurs within the context of a brutal 56 year occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel, the implementation of an Apartheid regime in Israel towards Palestinians, and the provocations over the last 12 months of the most far-right Israeli Government of recent times, one that includes (as Cabinet Ministers) outright fascists who have advocated for genocide of the Palestinian people. This is not in any way to condone the actions of October 7th, only to provide context – the events did not happen in a vacuum. One does not have to condone them to understand how they occurred. The ongoing, brutal war crimes against the Palestinian civilians are not justified.
SJB does not condone antisemitism but we are critical of the actions of Israel and Zionism, which are very different from Judaism itself. Likewise, it is important to note that not all Palestinians are Hamas or Islamic Jihad. We have strong concerns about the media sharing unverified and inflammatory stories (i.e., rape, beheadings). This strikes us as an attempt to inflame Islamophobic and anti-Arab prejudices so as to manufacture consent for war crimes against Palestinians.
Social Justice Bermuda also recognizes there is a direct line between the Israeli Apartheid regime and the ongoing police brutality epidemic in the USA, as noted by Amnesty International.
Social Justice Bermuda recognizes that the illegal occupation of Palestine represents an unlawful use of force/aggression by Israel, the occupying power, and as such the people of Palestine have the continuous right to resist the occupation and to self-defense by any and all means. Additionally, SJB recognizes that the UN General Assembly in Resolution 2105 of 1965 requires all States to provide material and moral assistance to the national liberation movements in colonial territories. SJB further recognizes that UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 of 1970 recognises the right to resist against any foreign forcible actions that deprive people of their right to self-determination, inclusive of the Palestinian people. This right is further enshrined by the 1982 UN General Assembly Resolution 37/43, which affirms the legitimacy of the struggle for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation by all available means, including armed struggle against illegal occupation, inclusive of the Palestinian people.
SJB also recognizes the importance of the Additional Protocol 1 of the 1977 Geneva Convention, in which Article 1(4) classifies conflicts in which peoples are fighting against alien occupation and racist regimes as armed conflicts. Individuals engaging in such fighting, if captured, should be afforded the status of prisoners of war, meaning their fighting is legitimate.
SJB further notes that acts of collective punishment and targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure (including schools, hospitals, power plants, water treatment plants, apartment buildings, etc.) constitute war crimes.
SJB also notes that while the use of white phosphorus is legal in certain war situations, its use in densely populated areas with high risk of civilian endangerment, is prohibited and constitutes war crimes in the form of the use of chemical warfare against civilians.
To this end, SJB calls for the following:
The immediate cessation of hostilities towards the people of Palestine.
The immediate provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine.
The immediate end of the occupation, including the removal of illegal settlers throughout the West Bank, and the return of Shebaa Farms to Lebanon and the Golan Heights to Syria.
The prosecution of war crimes against the Israeli state and any state – including the USA and the UK – that has materially aided and abetted the occupation and war crimes against the Palestinian people.
In addition, Social Justice Bermuda endorses the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law. To that end, SJB has identified the following companies that have a Bermuda-based presence that are complicit in the occupation, war crimes and maintenance of Apartheid in Palestine:
Google – Involved in a $1.2 billion deal ‘Project Nimbus’ to provide cloud services to the Israeli Defense Forces. https://theintercept.com/2022/07/24/google-israel-artificial-intelligence-project-nimbus/
Caterpillar (Bermuda) Ltd – Provision of specialized equipment used in the destruction of Palestinian homes, villages and farmland in the West Bank. https://www.amnestyusa.org/updates/caterpillar-incs-role-in-human-rights-violations-in-the-occupied-palestinian-territories/
AXA – Invests in Israeli banks which finance the theft of Palestinian land and natural resources. https://bdsmovement.net/axa-divest
Any other entity found to be complicit in the occupation or war crimes.
We call on the people of Bermuda to join us and stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine in their pursuit of self-determination and freedom from apartheid and human rights abuses. #FreePalestine #CeasefireNow
Tuesday, November 2, 2022
"To achieve social justice, build a team and get organised" - TeAnn Hassell, Activist and Chef
TeAnn Hassell is a chef and CEO at R.E.A.L., a private chef service which stands for Relationship. Eating. Authentic. Love. She is also an activist with Social Justice Bermuda, an organisation that campaigns to address racism, reform the criminal justice system, improve access to healthcare and food, achieve economic equity, and strengthen public education.
Watch TeAnn's interview with Alvin Carpio, Founding Director of the School of Social Justice.
Members of Social Justice Bermuda went live on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, at 8:00 pm for the Bernews News & Views series.
We recently marked our one year anniversary, and we will continue to be a voice and an ear.
Read our statement: Social Justice Bermuda One Year Anniversary
Social Justice Bermuda
Social Justice Bermuda (SJB) is a non-hierarchical collective of Bermudians who are inspired by the global Black Lives Matter Movement and the way that communities around the world are standing together to tackle and dismantle oppressive systems of injustice and racism. We are an advocacy group with no political affiliation. While some of our members have publicly identified themselves, others choose to contribute anonymously; there is no official leader of the group.
These are our values.
Map: Honouring Bermuda National Heroes - Key Sites
Instagram: www.instagram.com/SocialJusticeBM
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SocialJusticeBM