Thread by @BespokePanic

Roger Hallam Statement to XR Global Support.

I welcome the statement from Global Support. Always good to have things in the open as is the XR tradition.

Here are a few points.

1. Global support does not have the right to permanently ban me from a role in Global Support (at least not permanently).

 Firstly “GS” may not do this as a new proposal can change that position.

 Secondly this is not a legitimized action as XR as an international organism does not have a formal constitution. I have tried on several occasions to get a proper constitution sorted out for international XR,

but the culture of some people prefer power to remain unstructured and unaccountable rather than formal and open. The default is we remain just a social movement and people can initiate their own things but can’t claim to speak for others.

 If Global Support feels it is speaking on behalf of the Movement as a whole, this is blatant misrepresentation. Like any XR Group, GS are only legitimized through their own self creation and are not a ‘force of power’ representing the international movement by any means.

The people making this statement are at the end of the day are just speaking for themselves. How did they get on this group – who knows?

 If the GS Global Media and Messaging team feel I am influencing their social media stats I’m very open to reviewing this data and looking at how you extrapolated your conclusions.

2. The comments on the holocaust were published by a corporate owned German newspaper. I was speaking on my own behalf (about my book) not on behalf of XR. The comments were taken out of context. The full interview makes clear my absolute horror of all genocides.

I apologised for the effect the comments had. I have a deep love for the Jewish tradition – and its prophetic emphasis of speaking truth to power and acting against harm. This tradition is at the heart of my truth telling.

And for the record I have had intention of creating headlines about my comments. The fact is that my memo to XR suggesting truth telling should be used to create social change was written after the interview not before.

3. On “regardless of his intentions”, I would say, morally speaking, intentions are everything. XR was set up to tell the truth, not to tell the truth dependent upon how the corporate media will manipulate what you have to say to make money.

The latter approach is the pathway to hell in the present context.

4. I never said that people should be shot “jokingly”- where did that come from?

I did an interview about the morality of denying the climate catastrophe and, speaking as a political scientist, made the perfectly reasonable observation that those who promote the putting of carbon into the air at this stage in history are likely to find themselves in court –

or worse. As I made abundantly clear I would not, myself, want to see violence happen to them.

As everyone who knows me is fully aware, I am 100% committed to nonviolence and have been since I was a teenager in the peace movement in the 1980s.

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book for the press to take a statement from someone saying something will happen and twist it into them saying they want it to happen. For full transparency you are welcome to contact me to get a copy of the full interview.

Whoever is spreading this plain lie about me from Global Support could have just picked up the phone and done a bit of fact checking before making public statements (you have my number).

5. I am in service to XR groups around the world.

I never ask for a formal position and so have no formal power. I make suggestions and input based on my research and experience. I was asked to do this in America and Australia, and am helping with mobilisation design in other countries. This is a movement.

People can set up groups and ask people to help them. That’s the way it is.

6. I always thought Radiohead were a rubbish band.

7. Given “Global XR Support” wishes to communicate “clearly and transparently” I publicly ask all the people who were party to this letter publish their names and explain the selection process through which they got to sit on XR Global support in their respective roles.

After all, if you want to criticise someone in public, it’s only right to say who you are.

8. And again in a spirit of openness and reconciliation I formally and publicly ask two nominated GS representatives to join me in a recorded YouTube discussion so we can discuss the contents of their statement and how to build a “strong, efficient and regenerative” movement.

Should be good.

9. I have tried to write the above statement in as truthful way as possible. It does however, I confess contain one lie. I actually think Radiohead are bloody fantastic.

Good luck everyone.

@RogerHallamCS21

FYI - @ExtinctionR

FYI - #ExtinctionRebellion

FYI - Extinction Rebellion