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[OPIRG-EVENTS] NOWAR Action/Info Distribution this Saturday


PLEASE DISTRIBUTE FREELY
 
Another NOWAR Action/Info Distribution 

Where: York and Sussex, Ottawa
When: 12:00 to 13:30, Saturday, November 10
 
The demonstration will march first to the front
(MacKenzie) side of the U.S. Embassy, then will
proceed to Parliament Hill at approximately
12:45pm.

    Seven million Afghans, who played no part in
the dreadful attacks of September 11, are facing
starvation. Why? Because the food aid they so
desperately need cannot be delivered while the
bombing of their country by the U.S.A. and its
allies, including Canada, continues. Jean
Ziegler, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights,
said October 15, "The bombing has to stop right
now.
There is a humanitarian emergency. In winter the
lorries cannot go in any more. 

Millions of Afghans will be unreachable in winter
and winter is coming very, very soon." This
bombing campaign has no legal, pragmatic, or
moral justification. It is not reducing the risk
of further terrorism, but is in fact sowing the
seeds for more violence. It does not have the
backing of the U.N., and is an illegal act of
aggression. And far from being the "Just War"
described by Richard Falk, it will result only in
the death and incomprehensible suffering of
masses of innocent victims whose numbers will be
a thousand times
more than those who perished on September 11.
 
    Meanwhile, what is our government doing? It
is rushing through parliament Bill C-36, a bill
that
undermines the very rights and freedoms they
claim to be "defending." This bill will only
serve to water the seeds of paranoia, hatred and
intolerance that are the real causes of
terrorism. Ironically, the definition of
"terrorism" contained in this bill describes
perfectly the current campaign our government is
waging against the people of Afghanistan.
 
Some of the more insidious aspects of Bill C-36
include:
 
Preventative Arrest: This gives the police the
power to throw anyone in jail who they suspect of
planning terrorism, with all the evidence of
"suspicion" being presented in secret.
 
No Right to Silence: The police can charge you
with the "crime" of refusing to answer their
questions.
 
Access to Information: The right of Canadians to
examine the activities of their elected officials
will be drastically curtailed.
 
Increased Powers of Surveillance: If this bill
passes, it is not inconceivable that in the very
near future, the government might not only be
aware that you have read and sent this e-mail,
but they may have you on a list of potential
people to arrest.
 
Tell the government to stop the madness! NOWAR is
organizing a series of weekly
protests/information distribution events which
continues this Saturday, November 10.
 
Where: York and Sussex, Ottawa
When: 12:00 to 13:30, Saturday, November 10
 
The demonstration will march first to the front
(MacKenzie) side of the U.S. Embassy, then will
proceed to Parliament Hill at approximately
12:45pm.
 
The world needs help! See you there!
 
Organized by NOWAR 
 
WHO IS NOWAR? 
In response to the horrific events of September
11, the resulting declarations of war by the U.S.
government
and its military allies, the attack on civil
liberties and the right to dissent, and the ugly
racist and
xenophobic attacks on innocent people of colour
across North America, a group of concerned
Ottawa-area
citizens has recently formed the Network to
Oppose War and Racism (NOWAR). 
 
This coalition has three goals: 
 
1) to oppose terrorism in all its forms, the U.S.
call to war, and Canada's participation therein; 
 
2) to oppose the racist backlash against people
of colour, including attacks on immigrant and
refugee
rights; 
 
3) to oppose the erosion of civil liberties in
the name of national security. 
Our network, which is made up of a diversity of
members from within the community, seeks to build
a
broad-based coalition of organizations and
individuals within the Ottawa region to advance
the above goals
by organizing events and increasing public
awareness in the coming weeks and months.



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