Food NOT Bombs & Missiles! De-militarize Hawai’i!

ASIA--PACIFIC, 8 Jun 2026

Jim Albertini | Malu 'Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action – TRANSCEND Media Service

1 Jun 2026 – Each Javelin missile costs $350,000 on an island where 43% of the households are food insecure, and it’s getting worse.   Our Peace organization, and farm, Malu ‘Aina, has been helping people in need of food for 45 years, since before there was a Food Bank.

An anti-tank Javelin missile being fired at Pohakuloa

Hawai’i is one of the most militarized places in the world. It has a greater percentage of land controlled by the U.S. military than any state in the U.S. The largest military base in Hawai’i is the Pohakuloa Training Area (PTA), located in the center of Hawai’i Island. It is 133,000 acres in size. That is nearly 5 times larger than Kaho’olawe. Pohakuloa has been bombed and shelled for 80 years with millions of live rounds fired annually, everything from small arms, bunker-busting bombs, and nuclear weapon radioactive spotting rounds. Most of the land (Hawaii Crown and Government Hawaiian land) at Pohakuloa was simply seized in 1964 by a US presidential executive order at zero cost. In 1964, the military also leased 23,000 acres of land at Pohakuloa from the State at a total cost of $1 for 65 years. That’s less than 2 cents per year for 23,000 acres. What a deal! That lease expires in 2029.

     It’s time for an about face. Major changes are needed now! No new State leases at Pohakuloa and other sites! No cash deals to sell out the health and safety of future generations. Together, let’s make the military shut down bases like Pohakuloa, clean up their toxic mess, and return the land to the Kanaka Maoli. We need to take care of the land, so the land will take care of us.

The True Cost of the Military in Hawaiʻi – Institute for Policy Studies:

https://ips-dc.org/report-true-cost-of-u-s-military…/

This report is an important read. It finds the federal government owes back rent of up to $133.7 billion in 2025 dollars, not including environmental cleanup costs. Decades of military use of PFAS (“forever chemicals”) have contaminated soil, groundwater, nearshore waters, fish and human blood far beyond installation boundaries. Remediation at just three installations is conservatively estimated at $493 million There are many other military toxins in need of clean up, including Depleted uranium radiation at Pohakuloa and other sites.

Hilo RIMPAC Protest: 11-1 on Sat. June 27, 2026

Pauahi St. Bayfront intersection

DE-MILITARIZE HAWAI’I!

First de-militarization resolution ever passed at the state level (2026 State Democratic Convention).

 Don’t tell me it means nothing because every choice has a ripple effect.

This is quite remarkable thank you very much Democratic Party of Hawaii.

Tanya Yamanaka Aynessazian is with Tina Holt and Rebecca Shute-Villegas.

We wrote and passed the same reso at the Hawaii County Democratic convention in April 2026, because Hawaii County Council reso 234-25 introduced by Rebecca Villegas, initially drafted by me and other kupuna, monumentally passed in 2025. Inspired by my family and community, including my opio and hundreds of community activists, I will not relent in my own persistence to urge jurassic institutions to pivot toward peace.

DPH 2026-19

The Hawaii Democrats passed this resolution yesterday at the state convention: Opposing Renewal of Military Leases on State and Crown Lands and Calling for the Return of Pōhakuloa to the Hawaiian People

Whereas, In 1964, the state of Hawaiʻi leased approximately 22,700 acres to the U.S. Army for 65 years for just $1. These lands are a part of the Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA), which spans more than 132,000 acres, making it the largest US Department of Defense installation in Hawaii; and

Whereas, On May 9, 2025, the state’s Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) voted to reject the U.S. Army’s final environmental impact statement for its proposed retention of its state-owned land lease set to expire in 2029; and

Whereas, The military has used the state lands within the training area for military exercise, despite the lands’ designation as a conservation district, status as “ceded” (lands acquired through the unlawful overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom) and cultural significance to Native Hawaiians; and

Whereas, Pursuant to the Admission Act of 1959, Section 5(f), the military uses of these public lands are not one of the five trust purposes; and

Whereas, The military’s use of these public lands is in violation of the public trust and the Hawaii State Constitution, Article XII, Section 4; and

Whereas, The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has included in its 2026 legislative package a constitutional amendment to prohibit live-fire military training on state lands, reflecting the broad demand of Kanaka Maoli for the return of these lands; now therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi urge the Governor and the Board of Land and Natural Resources to refuse any renewal or extension of the Army’s lease at Pōhakuloa when it expires in 2029 and to begin the process of returning these conservation lands to the public land trust for the benefit of Native Hawaiians and the people of Hawaiʻi; and be it further

Resolved, That the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi urge the Hawaiʻi State Legislature to support OHA’s proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting live-fire military training on state lands, require full environmental remediation by the Army prior to any land return, and urge Hawaiʻi’s Congressional Delegation to oppose any federal legislation that would circumvent the state’s authority over its public trust lands or fast-track lease renewals without full community consent; and be it finally

Ordered, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaiʻi, the Board of Land and Natural Resources, all members of the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, all members of Hawaiʻi’s Congressional Delegation, and the leadership of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

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June 12, 2026, Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet – week 1289– Fridays 3:30-5 PM downtown Post Office

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Jim Albertini is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, a former Catholic School teacher, and long-time social justice activist since the US war on Vietnam. He has done research on the use of depleted uranium at Pohakuloa Military Training Area and is the author of “The Dark Side of Paradise: Hawai’i in a Nuclear World.” Jim is the founder and director of Malu ‘Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action, a spiritual community based on peace, justice and sustainable organic farming on Big Island, Hawai’i – P.O. Box 489 Ola’a (Kurtistown), Hawai’i 96760. Phone (+ 808) 966-7622 Email: ja@malu-aina.org – website: malu-aina.org

Go to Original – malu-aina.org

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