[OPIRG-EVENTS] 17 November Rally Against the War on the Iraqi people

["Mary Foster" <mfoster@web.ca>]

***please circulate far and wide. please come and bring your friends. ***

No War on the Iraqi People! NO War on Iraq!
SUNDAY, 17 November, 2:00 pm
Rally on Parliament Hill

Join the November 17th Cross-Canada Days of Action Against War on Iraq!
Rallies in Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Hamilton,
Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Halifax and elsewhere (www.canesi.org)!

In Ottawa, the Raging Grannies will begin the day at 1:30 pm with a March of
Mourning from the War Memorial to Parliament Hill for a silent vigil.
(almelah@storm.ca)

Student organisations will gather at Ottawa University at 1:00, and begin
their march to Parliament Hill at 1:30. (fcarv036@uottawa.ca)

The main rally will begin at 2:00 pm on Parliament Hill (see orginal call
out and
contacts at end of message), where everyone is invited to join us in a
peaceful rally to
Reclaim our Government to ensure that Canada takes a stand against the war
on Iraq. Speakers, music, and theatre (more details below). Food will be
served, and activities for children (TBC).

Global Peace Coalition will then lead a march to the US embassy to deliver
an ultimatum that weapons inspectors be allowed into the US to search for
weapons of mass destruction.(fcarv036@uottawa.ca)

Join us to say "No!" to this illegal, immoral, highly dangerous war. Only if
we join together can we hope to stop it, and build a better world.

*** We need help getting the word out! Please email
ottawairaqaction@hotmail.com if you are able to distribute posters or
handbills, or need more information to fax or phone to people. Posters can
also be downloaded from www.nowar-paix.ca. ***

----------------------------------

Details of Ottawa Days of Action Against the War on Iraq

16 November (details Global Peace Coalition, mariana@el-sol.ca)

-Nonviolent Training Workshop and lecture with Kai Frithjof Brand-Jacobsen
-evening info-fair, music, and banner-making party (tentative)

17 November

-Student March to Parliament Hill, begins 1:30 at Ottawa University
(fcarv036@uottawa.ca)

-Raging Grannies March and Vigil, begins 1:30 at War Memorial
(almaleh@storm.ca)

-Rally, begins 2:00 at Parliament Hill (ottawairaqaction@hotmail.com)
(Raging Grannies, leaders of faith communities, Parliament is dissolved and
anti-war legislation enacted,
Murray Thomson, Rania Masri, Neta Golan and George Rishmawi (Israeli and
Palestinian co-founders of the International Solidarity Movement), Deb
Borque (National President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers - TBC), Grand
Chief McBride (TBC), Gabriel Girard, theatre by Anxiety Performance, music,
food by Food Not Bombs, games for kids (TBC), more ...)

-March to U.S. embassy begins ...

---------------------------------------

Organisations endorsing the 17 November rally in Ottawa (as of 9 November):

National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)
Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)
NOWAR/PAIX
Comite de l'Ouataouais contre la ZLEA - Outaouais Committee Against FTAA
(CAZO)
Global Democracy Ottawa
Raging Grannies (Ottawa)
Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Ottawa Monthly Meeting (Quakers)
Carleton University Middle East Discussion Group (MEDG)
Solidarité Outaouais Palestine
Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)
Peace and Disarmament working group of the First Unitarian Congregation
OPIRG-Carleton
Carleton University Green Party
Rosa Luxemburg Club - Communist Party of Canada (Ottawa)
Sierra Youth Coalition
Canadian Arab Students' Association (CASA) of Carleton University
Solidarity for Iraqi & Palestinian Children (Carleton University)
Ottawa Monthly Meeting (Quakers)
Green Party of Ontario
Green Party of Canada
Ottawa Muslim Women's Organisation

----------------------
 "The US says it's all the fault of Baghdad? How simplistic! Surely after 11
years, no thinking person believes that! None of us can continue to hide
behind our fears and frustration with Baghdad. Have we all become victims of
US/UK propaganda of demonization that we can
justify . punishing the innocent people of Iraq?" - Dennis Halliday (former
UN Humanitarian Aid Coordinator for Iraq and Assistant Secretary-General)

"President Bush's concern over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction is a
pretext for a global strategy of pre-emptive attack. He and his advisers
intend to establish precedents with Iraq that can be used against other
states that stand out against US global control." - Dan Plesch
(former Director, BASIC)

"If you look at those matters, you will come to the conclusion that the
attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace." -
Nelson Mandela, 11 Sept 2002

"It would be difficult to imagine a single, more effective way of
wreaking further devastation on an already devastated country - and
creating a major humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands of
innocent victims." - CAFOD (Development agency of the Catholic
church in England and Wales) report, Aug 2002

Two months of war on Iraq could easily cost the US 95 billion Canadian
dollars (Reuters, Sept 2002) - Canada will also spend millions if it joins.
Money that could otherwise be used to ensure that all members of our
societies have access to basic rights such as shelter, healthcare, education
and food.
--------------------------
Original Call out ...

Join the November 17th Cross-Canada Day of Action Against War on Iraq!

Anti-War Rally: No War on the Iraqi People! NO War on Iraq!
Sunday, 17 November, 2:00 pm
Parliament Hill, Ottawa

On 17 November last year, almost 20,000 people rallied across Canada in
response to a call by the September 11th Peace Coalition. In Ottawa, the
anti-war rally was linked to protests against the G-20 meetings; protests
which, for many, turned into a demonstration of the roll-back of civil
liberties in Canada. Since that day, the "war on terror" has continued to
take lives in Afghanistan, spread to other countries like the Philippines
and Yemen, and manifested itself in anti-civil liberties legislation and
aggression against Muslims in Canada and elsewhere.

The war is now looming over the Iraqi people, who are already crushed by
over a decade of bombing and draconian economic sanctions. A new attack on
Iraq would be devastating for the Iraqi people, destabilising for the region
and the world, completely contrary to international law, and mean millions
of dollars spent on bombs and destruction instead of social goods.

Despite all of this, and despite the lack of support from Canadians, our
government has not ruled out supporting this next step in the "war on
terror".

In Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere, Canadians will rally on 17
November to show their opposition to a war on Iraq.

In Ottawa we are calling on all people who are concerned about this war to
come together to demand "NO WAR ON THE IRAQI PEOPLE! NO WAR ON IRAQ!"

All people concerned about Canadian support for this war are invited to
gather on Parliament Hill to use creative, peaceful means to reclaim our
government and demand that they:

-provide no support of any kind for military action against the Iraqi
people;
-make a clear statement of oppostion to any escalated war on the Iraqi
people, whether or not sanctioned by the UN; and
-end Canada's complicitiy in the ongoing, undeclared war against the Iraqi
people.

Groups and individuals are invited to use theatre, puppets, music,
cheerleading, signs, banners, chants and rants - and other creative means to
help symbolically reclaim our government from the various interests which
have captured it. Having reclaimed our government, some groups will proceed
to the US Embassy to deliver an ultimatum to allow "weapons inspectors",
duly mandated by the reclaimed, anti-imperial government, into the US to
inspect its weapons of mass destruction.

Please join us in the November 17th day of action against the war! A lot is
at stake!

Ottawa Iraq Anti-War Action Committee
ottawairaqaction@hotmail.com
tel 613 523 1077
updates and posters posted at www.nowar-paix.ca

The Ottawa Iraq Anti-War Action Committee is a group of concerned citizens
in the Ottawa area who came together to oppose the impending war on Iraq in
late September 2002. Active members come from many different backgrounds and
affiliations.



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