Hawaiian sovereignty seekers take over palace in Honolulu

HONOLULU (AP) — A Native Hawaiian group that advocates sovereignty locked the gates of a historic palace in downtown Honolulu on Wednesday, saying it would carry out the business of what it considers the legitimate government of the islands.

The group said it learned from Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa that arrest warrants were being prepared for the 60 or so protesters and would probably be served later in the day. Police have not confirmed that to The Associated Press.

"The Hawaiian Kingdom Government is here and it doesn't plan to leave. This is a continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom of 1892 to today," said Kahau, who was elected head of state of the group seven years ago.

"The sovereignty of these islands is inherent to the Hawaiian people, and we've never relinquished that," he said.

HONOLULU, HAWAII - Hawaiian sovereignty activists calling themselves the "Hawaiian Kingdom Government" surrounded Iolani Palace this morning, refusing to let state employees either enter or exit the historical site, saying the palace and surrounding grounds are property of the "Hawaiian Kingdom."

An unknown amount of state employees who work in the state archives division were trapped inside this morning, according to Russ Saito, head of the Department of Accounting and General Services, but since were allowed to leave, his office reports. The dozen employees who work there were sent home for the day. But several had their cars on site and cannot get them out of the palace parking lot. Saito says there are enough protesters to block with a human chain all five entrances and exits to the palace. They also locked the palace gates with their own locks.

A real-life secessionist movement seizes a historic American landmark and major media outlets treat the uprising as a curiosity of mere passing interest. Meanwhile, that same media gives a thumbs-up to a seditious, balkanizing plan for Aloha State apartheid.

The Honolulu Advertiser reported that the "sovereignty group" claimed its actions were "not a protest or demonstration but a reoccupying of its legitimate seat of government." CNN called the occupiers simply a "group of native Hawaiians."

Of course, to find out what's really in the bill it's necessary to read George Will. Will scathingly criticized the legislation and pointed out that Akaka doesn't even deny the bill could set the stage for Hawaii to exit the Union. Will wrote:

In the letter addressed to Hawaii Kingdom Government and stamped “Italian Consulate” Di Amore-Siah writes:

“This office on behalf of the Italian Government in Hawaii acknowledges that there was a prior treaty that was not between the United States nor the State of Hawaii but between the Hawaiian Kingdom and the Italian government.

“We acknowledge and recognize that the Hawaiian Kingdom exists and is operating at 210 Iolani Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii 96783. We appreciate your visits to our office and appreciate the relationship that Italy has with the Hawaiian Kingdom and its currently operating government.”

Apparently the Di Amore-Siah letter was triggered by the Hawaiian Kingdom Government group pretending to ‘cancel’ the 1863 treaty that the Hawaiian Kingdom had with the Republic of Italy after the Honorary Consul failed to respond to an earlier Hawaiian Kingdom Government letter. Di-Amore-Siah writes:

“I acknowledge that the former Treaty between the Italian Government and the Hawaiian Kingdom was enacted and valid for over a century. I also understand that this treaty was cancelled in August of 2007, for the Italian Government’s failure to acknowledge your prior correspondence in an affirmative letter of acknowledgement.

“We are grateful that the Hawaiian Kingdom has reconsidered the cancellation of the treaty.”

A real-life secessionist movement seizes a historic American landmark and major media outlets treat the uprising as a curiosity of mere passing interest. Meanwhile, that same media gives a thumbs-up to a seditious, balkanizing plan for Aloha State apartheid.

Are members of groups like the Hawaiian Kingdom Government serious insurgents or fringe-element kooks who are best ignored? Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain: a Hawaiian segregation bill will only make things worse, guaranteeing more such occupations and perhaps future violence.

Many mainstream media outlets have treated the pro-segregation, pro-secession bill, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), that would create a new government for "Native Hawaiians" in Hawaii, as just another bill. A sunny piece called "Freshman senators hold key to Native Hawaiian bill's hopes," appearing in The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper focused on Congress, noted cheerfully that "the bill has a fighting chance."

My guess is Will got Akaka's goat when at the top of the op-ed he inserted this entirely appropriate quotation that associates the bill with Nazism:

"I decide who is a Jew around here." -- Hermann Goering in 1934, when told that a favorite Munich art dealer was Jewish.

Just about anybody who's anybody in the Hawaiian establishment supports this bill, including Hawaii's Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, who has visited Washington, D.C., repeatedly to lobby federal lawmakers. The Republican In Name Only (RINO) governor has been pushing for the legislation for years.

The Hawaiian Kingdom Government’s Web site (www.hawaiiankingdom.org) states: “Since the Spanish-American War, 1898, our Nation has been under prolonged occupation by the United States of America. ... The primary objective of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government is to expose the occupation of our nation ... and to provide a foundation for transition and the ultimate end of the occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom.” The government is part of a broad sovereignty movement in Hawaii and has registered thousands of Native Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians as citizens.

In 1993, a formal “apology” to the Hawaiian people was approved by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton... The “apology” further acknowledges that, “The indigenous Hawaiian people never directly relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands to the United States, either through their monarchy or through a plebiscite or referendum.”

The Hawaiian Kingdom Government plans on returning to the Iolani Palace every day except the weekends, and conducting its business from the palace grounds. Mahealani Kahau, the government’s elected head of state, said: “The Hawaiian Kingdom Government is here and it doesn’t plan to leave. This is a continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom of 1892 to today.”

The group, which claims to not recognize the rule of the U.S. government or the state of Hawai'i, yesterday applied for and received a second permit allowing it to hold a public assembly or gathering on state park grounds from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Friday.

Mahealani Kahau, who heads the group Hawaiian Kingdom Government, said she was told to leave the palace grounds or face arrest about 2 p.m. after earlier in the day going into the Friends of 'Iolani Palace building to ask for a letter addressed to her.

Enforcement officers told her that going into the building was a violation of the group's permit to be on the grounds. No other members of the group were asked to leave, and she said the group will be back tomorrow. She said she has been told not to return to the grounds until next week, when a new permit is issued.

week 3
The group is in its third week of occupying the palace grounds. The land where the Kana'ina Building and palace are located is overseen by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which has posted several officers near the palace since the Hawaiian group blocked the entrances to the grounds earlier this month.

While the Acting Government is provisional and exists until a true Hawaiian government can be reconstituted, the Hawaiian Kingdom Government "organized themselves without any basis in Hawaiian constitutional law," Sai wrote.

Sai's group has been attempting to regain control of Hawai'i through international law.

Leaders of Hui Pu, an umbrella group of different Hawaiian independence organizations, visited the palace grounds on the first day of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government's action and said they support its intent.