Community constitution
In mid-June, the Heiltsuk nation, an Indigenous community whose land falls within the Canadian province of British Columbia, ratified its new constitution in a traditional ceremony. Developed without seeking input or approval from external governments, the constitution reaffirms the Heiltsuk’s stewardship of their ancestral lands whilst establishing an independent Indigenous political system. This powerful step towards sovereignty comes just a month after a bentwood box, a ceremonial artefact crafted from ancient cedarwood, was returned to the Heiltsuk from the US amid a broader effort to repatriate objects plundered during colonization.
Embargo endorsed
10 July saw one of the largest trade unions in Britain vote in favour of worker-led campaigns to boycott the handling of Israeli goods at its annual policy conference. Representing workers from across the aerospace and defence sector, including BAE Systems, Unite will now support workers from the industries most complicit in war crimes in Gaza should they take action by refusing to build, handle or transport weapons destined for Israel.
Freedom at last
After almost 40 years of imprisonment in France, Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah may finally see freedom. On 17 July, a French court ruled in favour of the release of the founder of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Forces, an urban guerrilla group that fought against Israel and its allies during the Lebanese civil war. Imprisoned in 1987 for his alleged connection to a slew of political assassinations, Abdallah has since been the focus of a tireless public campaign for his release, despite vehement opposition from US officials who have repeatedly blocked the move.
