Our Mid-January newsletter is being brought to you by our National Coordinator Alley McDonald.

This January we want to highlight to Watch the Trust Fall-Julian Assange; Canada's Role in Peacemaking in the Israel/Palestine Conflict Event; Webinar on the Dangers of Radiation; and so much more happening this month!

Be sure to scroll all the way down for upcoming events, calls to action, and recommended resources!

VOW's work of peace, anti-war and demilitarization merits your support! Make a donation. Even better, join our growing number of Monthly Peace Partners. Consider $5 or $50 or any amount in between. Become a Peace Partner today!

January 12 – MANDATES AND REPRESSION IN PALESTINE AND BEYOND: The failure of the British colonial attempt to shape Palestine in conformance with the Balfour Declaration; Palestinian resistance and the first proposals for partition; Zionist terror; British, French colonialism in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

January 26 – ISRAELI INDEPENDENCE AND “NAKBA”: The UN proposed partition of Palestine, Israeli declaration of independence and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from 1947 to the present; Arab and Palestinian resistance.

February 2 – LOOKING IN THE MIRROR: How the U.S. has shaped the contemporary Middle East from before the Cold War to the present. Indigenous nationalism and its opponents. Addressing the domestic colonial and imperial background to US support for Israel and its destabilizing interference in the region.

Speaker: Jeff Klein is a veteran anti-war activist, retired machinist and local trade-union president, who for 8 years until 2023 taught a course on “The US in the Middle East” at the UMass Boston Lifelong Learning Institute.  He is a board member of Massachusetts Peace Action and a member of its Gaza Israel Mideast peace campaign’s steering committee.

Since 2004 Jeff has traveled almost every year to Palestine/Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East, and has many close friends among veteran activists in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.  He has also worked in Nicaragua and for the exiled African National Congress in Zambia.  Check out his weekly presentations on “Genocide in Gaza” and read his articles on the Middle East.

Register to attend any or all of the four sessions.

Over the past two decades, Canada has spent hundreds of millions of dollars supporting a US effort to build a Palestinian Authority Security Force to assist Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank. Please take a minute to write defence minister Bill Blair and NDP defence critic Lindsay Mathyssen to ask for the end of Operation Proteus.

Take a moment to write to your own federal member of parliament, and Prime Minister Trudeau and Foreign Minister Joly.

Call on Canadian elected officials to unequivocally condemn Israel’s killing and its detention of Palestinian children under military law. This includes enacting an arms embargo by Canada to protect Palestinian Children.

On December 27, the Israeli military recently attacked and emptied the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. They also detained and abused the staff as well as kidnapping Hospital director Hossam Abu Safiyeh.

On December 31, 2024 we called the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) must immediately condemn Israel's violence against Palestinian medical facilities and workers. To date, over 6K actions have been taken.

Today, we join with the Health Care Alliance for Palestine, Jews Against Genocide, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, the Ontario Palestinian Rights Association and the Palestinian Youth Movement-Toronto in calling the government of Canada to urgently:

1. Condemn the abduction of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, all health workers, and civilians, and Israel's destruction of the health system in Palestine

2. Use all diplomatic and other means at their disposal to pressure Israel to release abducted health workers including Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya

3. Use all diplomatic and other means at their disposal to pressure Israel to permit the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid and the safe movement of medical personnel, and patients – as required under international law

4. Implement a two-way arms embargo between Canada and Israel.

5. Condemn Israel's  killing, injuring, and detaining of Palestinian children.

It is the Government of Canada's legal obligation to do everything within its power to urgently stop these violations of international law and inhumane and devastating attacks on health and life in Palestine.

Send a letter to the Canadian Medical Association

We'll be at Gaza square once again this Sunday morning with hot chocolate and coffee, buttons and posters, lawn signs and colourful chalk! Come say hi and meet your fellow neighbours/organizers as we make our presence known and continue to build safety in our community!

TKARONTO: LET’S KEEP THE PRESSURE ON EVERY MONDAY! 📱🍉

Week after week, we’re keeping the momentum going with our Monday lunchtime zaps.

Our collective action is making waves, but we need to ensure our elected officials continue to feel the pressure until real change happens.

Gather with neighbours in an online space to phone, email, and fax representatives together! Guidance, script, and contacts provided. Invite your friends!

☎️Whether you’ve zapped before, or are just getting started, all are welcome in this weekly action! And if you’re interested in organizing in your neighborhood - these zaps are a great way to meet your people. Bring a friend or two! Facilitators from GTA ridings are present to offer support, demo live phone calls, and answer questions.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law.

King’s notion of nonviolence had six key principles. First, one can resist evil without resorting to violence. Second, nonviolence seeks to win the “friendship and understanding” of the opponent, not to humiliate him (King, Stride, 84). Third, evil itself, not the people committing evil acts, should be opposed. Fourth, those committed to nonviolence must be willing to suffer without retaliation as suffering itself can be redemptive. Fifth, nonviolent resistance avoids “external physical violence” and “internal violence of spirit” as well: “The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him” (King, Stride, 85). The resister should be motivated by love in the sense of the Greek word agape, which means “understanding,” or “redeeming good will for all men” (King, Stride, 86). The sixth principle is that the nonviolent resister must have a “deep faith in the future,” stemming from the conviction that “The universe is on the side of justice” (King, Stride, 88).

Learning for peace must be a transformative process, enabling learners to gain essential knowledge, values, attitudes, skills, and behaviors, thereby empowering them to serve as catalysts for peace in their communities. The foundation of more peaceful, just, and sustainable societies is laid through education, a force that permeates every facet of our daily lives and overall prospects. In the face of escalating climate change, democratic erosion, persistent inequalities, growing discrimination, hate speech, violence, and conflict on a global scale, education emerges as a powerful tool to both address and prevent these challenges in the future. Moreover, when effectively shaped and implemented, education becomes a long-term investment with increasing returns.

An active commitment to peace is more urgent today than ever: Education is central to this endeavor.

"...The Euro-Atlantic alliance launched its first Climate Change and Security Action Plan at the NATO Summit in Brussels in 2021. The short, insubstantial plan stated that “climate change makes it harder for militaries to carry out their tasks.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada’s intention to host a centre of excellence on climate change and security to implement the action plan. Thirty years after the United Nations Framework on Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), NATO’s action on climate and security could only be described as very little, very late."

Students for Nuclear Disarmament (SND) is a non-partisan coalition of students from across the globe dedicated to saving the world from nuclear weapons. We are liberals, we are conservatives, and we are everyone in between. We are a motivated group of young, vastly different people united by a common goal: the preservation of the human race.

This award-winning documentary reveals that U.S. officials suppressed--for decades--the most important footage shot in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (including by the U.S. Army) after the atomic bombings. Why? What was the result and how does it haunt us today?

NGO CSW/NY's monthly meeting covered various topics related to gender-based violence, climate change, and extractive industries, with a focus on their disproportionate impact on women and marginalized communities. Speakers shared personal experiences, discussed ongoing initiatives, and highlighted the need for increased representation of women in climate negotiations and renewable energy sectors. The conversation ended with calls for action to address structural issues, implement protective measures, and ensure fair climate finance contributions from developed nations.

Join author Yves Engler on Mondays for a weekly news roundup and interactive discussion about Canada’s role abroad. This weekly session will delve into the latest developments on subjects ranging from military affairs and Canada’s role in Ukraine to its contribution to Palestinian dispossession and exploitation of African resources. Join Yves for a critical take on Canada’s foreign policy. Questions, comments and criticisms are all welcome.

Mondays 6PM EST

Be sure to renew your membership and donate to support our important work building a culture of peace in Canada and so that we can continue to hire youth throughout the year. Make a donation today!