· By Maria Nilsson
We stand with the people of Gaza
We stand firmly for a ceasefire and the end of apartheid in Palestine. We stand with the people of Gaza and their right to occupy their lands.
We have all been struggling and questioning the state of the world lately and we want to use our platform to promote good.
We are a family run business and know that our community want to give back and support those in need always.
This is a small step in giving, and we urge our entire Atmosea community to show up all of the ways that matter right now.
Contact your local members of parliament, petition and protest whenever you can. Stand in solidarity with oppressed people everywhere and promote peace always.
The Winner of this raffle went to order #6559! The prize pack is an Atmosea Wetsuit, Swimsuit, Terry Towelling Shorts, and Artist Tee, and Fin a gift pack worth over $1000. Congratulations to the winner and thank you to everyone that entered the raffle.
We raised over $2000 and this has been donated to the UN World Food Programme @worldfoodprogramme to help those suffering in Gaza.
"Kia ora koutou
Ngā mihi nui to Maria for asking me to announce the raffle ticket winners and to proudly say Atmosea has raised over $2000 for the World Food Organisation to provide much needed aid to the people of Gaza.
We are here yet again raising money for humans that are the collateral damage of another global atrocity
If we are to evolve in a way that ensures these horrors are relegated to the history books once and for all.
We need to feel this.
We need it to seep into our skin, to form another layer that informs the very direction we move. It needs to be burnt into our renters so when they try to blind us with untruths, we are able to see clearly
We need to acknowledge that we are not seperate
We need to understand the intersectionality of this crisis.
We need to see the same system that has created the global climate crisis IS the very same system that is indiscriminately murdering humans in Gaza and the West Bank
The system that has created a rampant mental health epidemic in this country IS the same system that created the colonial state of Israel by manipulating patriated traumatised Jews off the back of the holocaust
The system that robs this countries indigenous children, women, men and elders of their lives, futures and voices IS the exact same system that is ripping babies and children limb from limb in its bloody tirade
The system that pollutes our oceans, drills the sea beds, guts the earth of her heart IS the very system that is ethnically cleansing a people and torturing them before our very eyes
The exact system that is festering with sexual and domestic violence against women IS the very same as the one that has ripped away millions of women and thousands of pregnant womens’ ability to provide safety for their children. Born and unborn.
This is systemic. We are not seperate.
The people of Gaza are broadcasting their demise, screaming to us to see them. To help them.
Begging us to not look away in hopes we can save them.
In doing so they loose their sacred right to mourn.
To use their rituals that see their loved ones from this life with the respect and love they deserve.
They loose their privacy, their dignity to be sick and to heal.
They have to be splattered across screens worldwide in a time where they are the most vulnerable and broken JUST to prove they are worth fighting for!
BEGGING us to share their stories in the hopes someone will see they are humans that are worth saving.
So, what will we do.
The Palestinian professor, poet, writer and activist.
And apparent funny guy
Refaat Alareer was murdered on December 7th. He wrote this poem not long before
If I must die
You must live
To tell my story
To sell my things
To buy a piece of cloth
And some strings,
(Make it long with a tail)
So that a child, somewhere in Gaza
While looking heaven in the eye
Awaiting his dad who left in a blaze -
And bid no one farewell
Not even to his flesh
Not even to himself -
Sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up
Above
And thinks for a moment an angel is there
Bringing back his love
If I must die
Let it bring hope
Let it be a tale
————————————-
It is completely normal to feel hopeless but I implore you to put your hopelessness into context. Our hopelessness needs to be channeled into action, rooted in love and driven by humanity.
Our hopelessness comes with an extreme amount of privilege, we can choose to turn away or acknowledge our interconnectedness and act for peace
So, what will you do?"
Ngā mihi nui to Maria for asking me to announce the raffle ticket winners and to proudly say Atmosea has raised over $2000 for the World Food Organisation to provide much needed aid to the people of Gaza.
We are here yet again raising money for humans that are the collateral damage of another global atrocity
If we are to evolve in a way that ensures these horrors are relegated to the history books once and for all.
We need to feel this.
We need it to seep into our skin, to form another layer that informs the very direction we move. It needs to be burnt into our renters so when they try to blind us with untruths, we are able to see clearly
We need to acknowledge that we are not seperate
We need to understand the intersectionality of this crisis.
We need to see the same system that has created the global climate crisis IS the very same system that is indiscriminately murdering humans in Gaza and the West Bank
The system that has created a rampant mental health epidemic in this country IS the same system that created the colonial state of Israel by manipulating patriated traumatised Jews off the back of the holocaust
The system that robs this countries indigenous children, women, men and elders of their lives, futures and voices IS the exact same system that is ripping babies and children limb from limb in its bloody tirade
The system that pollutes our oceans, drills the sea beds, guts the earth of her heart IS the very system that is ethnically cleansing a people and torturing them before our very eyes
The exact system that is festering with sexual and domestic violence against women IS the very same as the one that has ripped away millions of women and thousands of pregnant womens’ ability to provide safety for their children. Born and unborn.
This is systemic. We are not seperate.
The people of Gaza are broadcasting their demise, screaming to us to see them. To help them.
Begging us to not look away in hopes we can save them.
In doing so they loose their sacred right to mourn.
To use their rituals that see their loved ones from this life with the respect and love they deserve.
They loose their privacy, their dignity to be sick and to heal.
They have to be splattered across screens worldwide in a time where they are the most vulnerable and broken JUST to prove they are worth fighting for!
BEGGING us to share their stories in the hopes someone will see they are humans that are worth saving.
So, what will we do.
The Palestinian professor, poet, writer and activist.
And apparent funny guy
Refaat Alareer was murdered on December 7th. He wrote this poem not long before
If I must die
You must live
To tell my story
To sell my things
To buy a piece of cloth
And some strings,
(Make it long with a tail)
So that a child, somewhere in Gaza
While looking heaven in the eye
Awaiting his dad who left in a blaze -
And bid no one farewell
Not even to his flesh
Not even to himself -
Sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up
Above
And thinks for a moment an angel is there
Bringing back his love
If I must die
Let it bring hope
Let it be a tale
————————————-
It is completely normal to feel hopeless but I implore you to put your hopelessness into context. Our hopelessness needs to be channeled into action, rooted in love and driven by humanity.
Our hopelessness comes with an extreme amount of privilege, we can choose to turn away or acknowledge our interconnectedness and act for peace
So, what will you do?"