Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 8, 1 ʻAukake 2021 — Seeking Redress for War Crimes Committed Against the Hawaiian Kingdom [ARTICLE]

Seeking Redress for War Crimes Committed Against the Hawaiian Kingdom

Submitted by the AHEC Resolution Committee In July, a Resolution of Witness was submitted to the General Synod 2021 by the Association of Hawaiian Evangelical Churches (AHEC) of the Hawai'i Conference United Church of Christ (UCC). AHEC is comprised of 30 Native Hawaiian churches founded before the belligerent illegal occupation began in the Hawaiian Kingdom on Jan. 17, 1893, and six partnership ministries. The General Synod is the main governing body of the UCC whieh meets biennially. The UCC is includes about 800,000 members in 4,852 congregations, whose demographic is 83.8% White/Euro-American and 3.9% Asian/Pacific Islander. On July 18, delegates representing the UCC passed the Native Hawaiian resolution with 328 votes approved, 122 votes against and 34 votes abstained. The 72.9% vote approval surpassed the 66.67% super majority threshold for the resolution to pass. The resolution calls upon all settings of the church, denomination officers, conferences, associations, and congregations to "live into the 1993 apology of the United Church of Christ delivered to the Native Hawaiian people" by President Paul Sherry. The UCC General Council, whieh is the legal representative of the UCC, and the AHEC, will work together to draft communication to loeal, national and international leaders and organizations calling for eomplianee with international humanitarian law and an end to the illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Islands. The UCC reaffirms its commitment to support efforts of Native Hawaiians to seek redress and restitution for the war crimes of the U.S. against the Hawaiian Kingdom including, but not limited to, the crime of denationalization.

The UCC Board will provide a writ- ■ ten and oral update on the progress on the implementation of this resolution for the next General Synod in two years. Church members and delegates, reflecting on the passing of this resolution as the will of God and in God's time, acted to correct a century of war crimes against the Hawaiian people by calling for an end to the belligerent illegal occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom. As it is written in Exodus 20:16, "Ihou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Lor over a century, the pandemic of white supremacy committed the war crime of denationalization against the entire population by obliterating the national consciousness of the Hawaiian people. "You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wieked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit." (Exodus 23:1-3) "Through our love for God and the blessings of his presence, this resolution reflects the will and sovereignty of Ke Akua," said UCC Association Minister Papa Makua Wendell Davis. ■ The Association of Hawaiian Evangelical Churches Resolution Committee includes Kalaniakea Wilson ( chair ), Papa Makua Wendell Davis ( association minister), Kahu Ronald Fujiyoshi, Kahu Kaleo Patterson, and Gloria Pualani Muraki.