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

We want to highlight our online screening of ITHAKA; the Gaza Hunger Strike; VOW's petition to Stop Arming Israel; Women, War, Peace and Climate Justice Event; 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!

This initiative was launched on Jan 18th with more than 250 people hunger striking that day, including 2 MPs, Niki Ashton and Elizabeth May. The goal of the hunger strike is to stop arms shipments to Israel. Could you participate in the rotating hunger strike? The instructions provide an action letter to send to government decision makers, phone numbers and hashtags for posting on social media. 

VOW Co-Chair Lyn Adamson is participating weekly. Here's her tweet. Please retweet! and join the strike if you can.

Join Lyn to fast together on Valentine's Day, Feb 14th. Sign up at https://gazastarving.com and send Lyn an email: lyn@vowpeace.org. 

While the Trudeau government doubles down on its role in enabling Israel’s genocide, the pushback against direct Canadian military complicity is growing. In response to the World Court ruling, the NDP and Greens have become increasingly vocal in their call for Canada to adopt an arms embargo on Israel while the Bloc Québécois and some Liberal MPs appear to be expressing support for this demand. Ratcheting up the pressure, Canadian Lawyers for Human Rights and Al-Haq recently announced that they will pursue the Trudeau government legally if it doesn’t halt arms exports to Israel, which they say violate Canada’s Export and Import Permits Act and obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty. In a detailed legal complaint the groups have given Foreign minister Melanie Joly 14 days to respond to their demands.

Please take a minute to support their effort by emailing Minister Joly and Liberal MPs.

VOW members in Waterloo and Kitchener have been active calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, an arms embargo against Israel and peace in the Middle East. They have attended rallies in Waterloo and Hamilton and the grief walk in Kitchener. They have also met with Green MP Mike Morrice and Liberal MP Bardish Chagger to pressure the federal government to continue to provide funding to UNWRA and hold Israel accountable to the International Court of Justice decision and stop the genocide in Gaza. They have also collected signatures on a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister.

Take action, sign World Beyond War Canada’s important petition to Stop Arming Genocide, Stop Arming Israel: http://tinyurl.com/4z2bvcme

Our Network was deeply involved in the opposition to the Harper and Trudeau governments’ authorizations of billions of dollars in Canadian arms sales to Saudi Arabia during the US/UK/Saudi war on Yemen from 2015-23. During that conflict, about 150,000 Yemenis were killed, six million were internally and externally displaced, and another 225,000 (mostly children) died from starvation and disease. The UNHCR declared Yemen the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, until the recent Israeli onslaught on Gaza. Opinion polls taken in 2016, 2017, and 2018 showed that Canadians increasingly opposed the Trudeau government’s arms sales initiatives with each passing year.

VOW has signed on--demanding action from the Trudeau government.

Click on the button below to read about the demands for action.

Sarah will be leading VOW’s work for nuclear disarmament and getting Canada to sign onto the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Please consider a donation support this important campaign. 

We are so grateful to have Sarah back, as she continues to work with such great passion, care and dedication to peace.

The Peace Protector Uniform was an interactive display located on a pier in Halifax during Nocturne 2023 and it included a reconstructed military uniform, a recruitment office run by Raging Grannies and an activity table. The military uniform will continue as a display piece.

Left: Artist, Kathrin Winkler, pointing to a “Doomsday Watch”. An actual military uniform forms the base of this creation with every detail telling a story. For instance, the birds perched on the shoulders, represent the species in danger of displacement if DND proceeds with its project to build a testing facility on the ocean shore at Hartlen Point NS. As an interactive display, viewers are invited to “Make your own Military” by choosing a pocket on the Raging Granny skirt as an alternative to today’s ways of spending military funds.

Lower left: Group of members NS Voice of Women Lower Middle: Raging Granny skirt Insert: current costs of various military activities

Please contact us at nsvoiceofwomen@gmail.com if you would like to display the art piece.  Postcards are available that can be sent to politicians urging them to demilitarize and to spend on a culture of care and peace. We will send you some! 

Join the 19th annual Strawberry Ceremony for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Trans and Two-Spirit people (MMIWGT2S.) The ceremony will take place in front of Police HQ at 40 College St in Toronto.

For more information visit the Facebook event page here.

Email nomoresilenceorg@gmail.com to learn more or to endorse/donate/support. 

Speaker: Richard Sandbrook

Professor Emeritus of Political Science at U of T and Vice-President of Science for Peace

Sandbrook identifies the impasse in reformist and radical approaches to resolving the climate crisis. He proposes a radical-reformist paradigm that might dissolve the impasse by offering a just, viable and feasible pathway to climate stability.

To Register:

In-Person: Register Here

On Zoom: http://tinyurl.com/2a93y2v3

@Scienceforpeace.org

On Wednesday February 14th, 2024 at 1pm, join us in Peace and Friendship Park to participate in raising awareness, to mourn, and to stand in ceremony with those whose land many of us occupy.

In this region we have seen L’nu women+ leading the frontlines and showing their leadership, strength, and solidarity across numerous calls to action.

We have also seen, when it comes time to stand with the L’nu community, the numbers of in-person supporters dwindles significantly when compared to other regional actions such as environmental actions, and Queer solidarity. There is a direct correlation between these movements and MMIWG2S&R.

Indigenous community members are encouraged to bring their drums.
All gatherers are encouraged to wear red, bring friends, signs, and good intentions.
Please take steps to protect your community members from covid19 and other illnesses by wearing a mask and otherwise using covid precautions.
Please make sure not to film during the Honour Song.

@theloadedladle will once again be caring for us by providing some hot drinks etc. once the ceremony has finished.

This talk traces the entwined histories of military violence and postcolonial modernization in East Asia and their effects on local and global ecologies. In analyzing avian migratory flyways and other multispecies relations, Kim unpacks the material, political, and ecological entanglements of the Korean DMZ within processes of militarized liberal capitalism. Her framework of "biological peace” offers a critical vantage point for conceptualizing peace beyond human politics, in the context of climate crisis, perpetual war, and ongoing militarization of the planet.

Speakers:

• Eleana J. Kim is a sociocultural anthropologist and Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at University of California, Irvine. She is the author of Making Peace with Nature: Ecological Encounters Along the Korean DMZ (Duke UP, 2022) and Adopted Territory: Transnational Korean Adoptees and the Politics of Belonging (Duke UP, 2010)
• (Chair) Jesook Song is a Professor at the Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto. Mediating Gender, her co-edited volume with Michelle Cho, is scheduled to come out in the University of Michigan Press in early 2024.

Sponsor: Centre for the Study of Korea, Asian Institute

We, the people of the planet, are currently facing an unprecedented environmental crisis coupled with rising inequality, widespread food insecurities, majoritarian violence, after effects of the last pandemic and the threat of a future one, and escalating tensions between major powers. In fact, humanity is on the brink of multi-faceted calamities leading to the destruction of its own survival. Given the threat is real and urgent, the ideals of the new world order that rests upon sustainability, dignity, co- existence, equality, and equity must be enacted and actualized. With the pledge of ‘Another world is possible’ the World Social Forum (WSF) emerges as a beacon of hope, more essential than ever before.

Despite the adversities, we believe that change for a just world is possible. The World Social Forum (WSF) will discuss the means of changes in Kathmandu, Nepal in February 2024. We invite people around the globe to take part in the World Social Forum. You can join us either in-person or via online mediums. Your participation will certainly enhance the discourses that will result in a more equal, equitable and sustainable society. Join us in Kathmandu, Nepal, and let's work to achieve a fairer world. Another world is within our reach.

Canada passed legislation in 2021 and more recently released an “action plan” on implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but what does “Free, Prior and Informed Consent” look like in the field of energy projects and nuclear waste schemes?

Speakers:

• Laura A. Tanguay, Ph.D. Candidate, the Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change, York University

• Kathleen Brosemer, Ph.D. Candidate , Environmental and Energy Policy, Michigan Technological University, dissertation on Energy Justice for the Anishnabek

Guest Speakers

Garrett Halas: "The importance of Alexandra Kollantai one of the key founders of IWD"

Tamara Lorincz: "The critical role of women in the struggle against war and for peace and climate justice"

In recognition of International Women's Day (IWD). All welcome.

Organized by the Ottawa Peace Council.
Endorsed by the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, WILPF-Canada, Anti-Imperial Alliance, Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Ottawa Quakers, Rosa Luxembourg Club, Canadian Peace Congress and the Donalda Charron Club (YCL).

A new series of Socialist Action webcasts!

Speakers Angela Bischoff of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance, and Tom Baker, Socialist Action

Zoom Details:

Meeting ID: 895 2262 8187
Passcode: 696238

Feminist Approaches to Peacebuilding Training with Urooj Mian, CEO of SHE Associates. 

This virtual, live, and interactive course is for anyone working in peace and security at home or abroad, including but not limited to policy makers and humanitarian aid practitioners who want to apply feminist approaches to peace, conflict and security. It will explore the concept of gendered human insecurity as related to war, disasters, political violence and peace building. Participants will learn to identify varying vulnerabilities by undertaking necessary analyses of existing and shifting social norms and the systems of power and abuse and operationalizing the human security approach. Bridging theory with practice, participants will also explore ways of operationalizing effective and ‘gender-conscious’ peace building in policies, institutional practices, and in the pursuit of durable peace.

📅 DATES: April 22-26, 2024

⌛ TIME: 9:30am-12:30pm Eastern Time - Click here for the time in your zone

💲 COST: Sliding scale with early bird discounts, payment plans, and partial scholarships available**

🔗 LINK: https://cynara.co/peace

**Early bird SALE! Save $125

for a limited time only

Canada must IMMEDIATELY END ALL ARMS EXPORTS to Israel given Israel's devastating war on Gaza.

We are asking Canadians to support Parliamentary petition e-4745, sponsored by NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson. The petition calls upon the Government of Canada to:

1. Impose a two-way embargo on arms between Canada and Israel;
2. Investigate whether Canadian weapons or weapons components have been used against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, including during the current war on Gaza;
3. Review all military and security cooperation between Canada and Israel; and
4. Close loopholes that allow the unregulated and unreported transfer of military goods to Israel through the United States.

The situation in Israel and Palestine is evolving with each passing day – but what we know right now is this: even as Israelis mourn their loved ones and pray for the return of hostages in the wake of Hamas’s brutal attack, the state of Israel is launching an unprecedented and catastrophic assault on civilians in Gaza.1

Since October 7, the Israeli military government has cut off electricity, food, water and fuel to the 2.3 million people living in Gaza.2 As of today, the death toll has risen to 3,785. A third of those killed are children.3 These are war crimes.

With the situation in Gaza growing more desperate by the hour, the international community must act quickly to hold Israel to account and protect civilian lives. Will you send a letter to your MP calling on them to demand a ceasefire?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a destabilizing, law-breaking force for militarization and war provocation. Its existence makes wars, including nuclear wars, more likely. Its hostility toward the few significant militaries in the world that are not among its members fuels arms races and conflicts. The commitment of NATO members to join each others' wars and NATO's pursuit of enemies far from the North Atlantic risk global destruction.

We hold up a vision of a world beyond NATO, where we invest to eliminate poverty, hunger, illness and homelessness; where we live in harmony with our environment; and where we resolve conflict diplomatically through the only global organization that represents the whole world – the United Nations.

If you agree with the above statement, please sign it here as an individual or on behalf of an organization that you are authorized to sign for.

World Beyond War are planning a summit on Saturday July 6 and a rally on Sunday July 7, as well as various other actions in the days before and after that weekend — including working with allies planning a peace walk from Maine to join us in Washington, D.C. with events all along the way.

Despite the catastrophic health and environmental consequences, the threat of nuclear weapons has persisted with the tragic war in Ukraine, with nuclear weapon tests, NATO’s nuclear weapons exercises, and nuclear weapons modernization.

Please take a minute to write to party leaders calling on the Canadian government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Every February, people across Canada participate in Black History Month events and festivities that honour the legacy of Black people in Canada and their communities.

The 2024 theme for Black History Month is: “Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate; a Future to Build”. This theme celebrates the rich past and present contributions and accomplishments of Black people in Canada, while aspiring to embrace new opportunities for the future.

VOW is committed to our mission to raise up and amplify peace voices, and to the learning required to continue to strive towards a just, inclusive, anti-oppressive and anti-racist culture of peace. 

No matter where you live, we invite all Canadians to learn more about Black Canadian communities, and how they continue to help shape Canada.

Cynthia was a long time active member of VOW as well as active in many other local and national peace and social active groups.  She was a quiet but knowledgeable activist in many Guelph and area organizations.

This Guide is an offering and a resource for Indigenous Peoples and all who are looking for pathways towards implementing an equitable transition. It contains valuable success stories, real life examples, and important technical information, which together outline the ways communities can move forward through a Just Transition. The climate solutions shared here support the revitalization of Indigenous cultures and languages. Indigenous knowledge creates community resilience in the face of climate change. Indigenous voices from across Turtle Island are featured here, as are the stories of communities at the forefront of transition technologies who are leading the way to a just energy future.

Jill Carr-Harris has honed her knowledge of the strategy and tactics of nonviolent action by participating in successful campaigns in India on behalf of marginalized communities. She has now turned her attention to Canada and the issue of how to build effective peace and climate movements through well-orchestrated nonviolent campaigns, including an upcoming Caravan of Peace in Nova Scotia. 

On 20 July, Secretary-General António Guterres presented to Member States his Policy Brief on A New Agenda for Peace, which outlines his vision for multilateral efforts for peace and security, based on international law, for a world in transition. It outlines an extensive and ambitious set of recommendations that recognize the inter-linked nature of many of the challenges we face.

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!