Vigil’s eye on conflict

Lawyer highlights connection between conflict and climate change

LAST Thursday the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) held its weekly vigil dedicated to addressing the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

Guest speaker Kavita Naidu, a Sydney-based international human rights lawyer, highlighted the inter-connectedness of the conflict with global challenges, specifically climate change.

“The Pacific is one of the most vulnerable places on the planet, and we need to make sure we hold our government accountable to what they’ve signed on (Paris Agreement),” she explained.

Ms Naidu also mentioned the impact of religious ideologies, Zionism, decision-making and media coverage.

She argued that these ideologies hindered effective responses to the negative consequences of supporting the war in Gaza.

“Zionism holds significant prominence in Fiji, so it comes as no surprise when our government is just standing by,” Ms Naidu said.

“Another form of oppression is introduced and that’s the unregulated power of technology.”

Focusing on the Pacific Islands’ digital landscape, she expressed concerns about the challenges in discerning truth from misinformation, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence.

“It is very difficult now, for us (Pacific Islanders especially) to differentiate what is truth and what is not,” she said.

Corporate media outlets and governmental organisations also came under scrutiny for their role in perpetuating misinformation.

Ms Naidu claimed “corporate media outlets and governmental organisations were producing information that was countering what we knew and the evidence we saw”.

She connected this misinformation to the over-arching influence of Zionism within these institutions.