“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
—Martin Niemöller
Niemöller was a Lutheran Pastor who at first supported the Nazi regime, but then came to oppose the party after Hitler’s rise to power. He was held in Nazi concentration camps and prisons from 1937 - 1945, and came to believe that Germans had been complicit through their silence in the rise of Nazi ideology, the establishment of authoritarian rule, crackdowns on political and ethnic targets, and eventually, genocide.
Welcome to Truth and Reckoning, a podcast from CELDF — the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.
On this episode we speak with CELDF legal director Terry Lodge
Lodge has been a movement attorney for more than 40 years, litigating cases ranging from environmental (rights of nature, NEPA, Tribal sacred sites, mining, pipelines, criminal and civil defense, etc.) to anti-war (nuclear power, nuclear weapons, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.). Lately, he’s been active in the movement to stop the genocide in Palestine.
Our conversation in this episode focuses on repression, authoritarianism, and the rapid erosion of civil liberties and basic freedoms in the United States under the Trump Administration, especially in relation to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, and on the relationship between this and the destruction of the planet.
This topic is close to our hearts here at CELDF, not least because we and our community have been targeted with lawsuits, gag orders, SLAPPs, harassment, and other forms of intimidation for our political speech for many years. Recently, CELDF offered support and solidarity to students at Columbia University who we have been connected to via rights of nature work, and who are now facing repression due to their stances on Palestine (see below for more on this).
“What’s happening is phenomenal,” Lodge says. “It hasn’t always been this way. But the tendency [towards severe repression] is very deep rooted, and the arc of our history has been in the direction of what we’re seeing today.”
In our discussion, we touch on:
The suppression of dissent, especially regarding criticism of the Israeli occupying entity and the U.S. foreign policy supporting it with weapons, intelligence, and even by waging undeclared war in Yemen to defend the genocide.
What Lodge calls “the jingoistic invocation of antisemitism” being “hypocritically mobilized as a means of shutting down dissent” in a method “akin to red-baiting during the McCarthy-era and the anti-Vietnam war era, where terrorism is the new communism.”
The bi-partisan nature of repression and expansion of authoritarian and executive power in the United States in what Terry calls “the early stage of a dramatic shifting in the nature of the corporate state” — away from inverted totalitarianism and towards open authoritarianism.
How all of this is not actually an anomaly in U.S. history. While this is an extreme moment, there have been other times similar to this in the past in this country, where we've seen this combination of foreign adventurism, imperialism, genocide, and internal repression all happening concurrently. See, for example,
’s recent piece on parallels between U.S. responses to the Trails of Tears in the late 1830’s, and public responses to the ongoing genocide in Palestine.And finally, we conclude by discussing the necessity and urgency of action — radical, effective, and committed action — against all of this.
Read the letter sent by the Veterans for Peace to the Department of State, drafted by Lodge, outlining how the U.S. supplying weapons to Israel violates multiple existing laws including the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, Foreign Assistance Act, Arms Export Control Act, War Crimes Act, and Genocide Convention Implementation Act.
On May 9th of this year, CELDF’s director of education wrote to NYU’s More than Human Rights (MOTH) principles to share concern for the Law School’s disciplinary actions against student protestors. From the letter:
“The recent disciplinary actions against student protestors. . . raise the specter of authoritarian intolerance flooding into higher education. . .
When we try to answer the Lorax’s question, ‘who speaks for the trees?’ an institution that tolerates or enforces political suppression of free speech rights cannot credibly advocate for the expression of other-than-human rights. Nature depends on the ability of human members of local natural communities to speak freely on its behalf. CELDF urges you to use the platform of the MOTH program to stand for the defense of students and their right to protest without draconian and irrational harassment from the school of law and the NYU administration. . .
CELDF stands ready to meet and consult with you anytime over legal and administrative strategy and to help organize the [rights of nature] movement to come to your aid. Please feel free to contact me if you’d like our help. We also intend to contact MOTH law students to explore the prospect of building resistance to the disciplinary campaign.
About the Truth and Reckoning Podcast
In this show, we learn from frontline organizers and communities fighting against environmental destruction. We explore different perspectives and innovative strategies for movement building, the potency and potential of rights of nature, and effective action in defense of our communities. And, we share inspiring stories of people working towards right relationship with the land and each other. The show is hosted by CELDF Community Resistance and Resilience Program Co-Director Max Wilbert.
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About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
CELDF is a nationwide community of organizers, lawyers, and partners who educate, agitate, and organize to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s reciprocal relationship with the Earth. For over 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate exploitation, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-govern through systems grounded in ecological balance and collective power.
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