[Indigsol] Draft ipsmo callout for anti-war/anti-colonial demo on oct. 18

Wed Sep 24 14:27:51 PDT 2008

>From Kandahar to Turtle Island: No Justice on Stolen and Occupied Land!

End the war in Afghanistan!
End the war at home!
CN: Drop your racist lawsuit against the Mohawks of Tyendinaga!

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Oct. 18th at 1:00pm
Tabaret Hall, University of Ottawa at Laurier and Cumberland
Ottawa Peace Alliance
http://www.ottawapeace.blogspot.com
ottawa.peace.alliance at gmail.com
Indigenous Peoples’ Solidarity Movement –Ottawa
ipsmo at riseup.net
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The War in Afghanistan:

October 18th marks the 7th year since the invasion of Afghanistan.  In
seven years of occupation, poverty in Afghanistan has increased
dramatically –people are starving to death, poppy/heroin production has
skyrocketed, here have been numerous massacres of civilians, the prisons
are full of political prisoners, there are close to a million internal
refugees who are threatened with famine, and the military occupation by
NATO forces rolls on.

As for the occupations supposed liberation of women, “Marina” from the
Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan said,  “We, the
women of Afghanistan, only became a cause in the west following 11
September 2001, when the Taliban suddenly became the official enemy of
America. Yes, they persecuted women, but they were not unique, and we have
resented the silence in the west over the atrocious nature of the
western-backed warlords, who are no different. They rape and kidnap and
terrorize, yet they hold seats in [Hamid] Karzai’s government. In some
ways, we were more secure under the Taliban. You could cross Afghanistan
by road and feel secure. Now, you take your life into your hands.”

(“The 'good war' is a bad war” by John Pilger
 http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=470)

The War at Home:

For indigenous nations in the Americas, 2008 marks the 516th year of
indigenous resistance to colonialism and occupation.  The results of the
invasion have been severe; in some cases, such as the Beothuk of
Newfoundland, the complete genocide of a nation.  In others, massive
population loss due to disease and germ warfare by colonial forces.  In
all cases, major social, political and economic disruption of indigenous
nations by colonizing states.

“Native communities in Canada
continue to live a colonial legacy that
traces a trajectory from the violent European settlement that began 400
years ago, through residential schools, to the colonial present of state
surveillance, invasion of traditional lands, poverty, substance abuse, and
some of the highest youth suicide rates in the world.”  Further,
indigenous communities have “the highest infant mortality rates; the
lowest life expectancies; disproportionately high rates of AIDs, cancers,
and imprisonment.

(1.What does the Mohawk cultural resurgence at Tyendinaga have to teach us
about Aboriginal youth suicide prevention?
http://bullsheet.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/what-does-the-mohawk-cultural-resurgence-at-tyendinaga-have-to-teach-us-about-aboriginal-youth-suicide-prevention/
)

(2. “Colonization: A War for Territory by Zig-Zag
http://www.warriorpublications.com/?q=node/28)

Tyendinaga:

Tyendinaga is a Mohawk community located on the shore of the Bay of Quinte
between Toronto and Montreal, in eastern Ontario. The Mohawk Nation is one
of the five original nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.

As part of long-standing struggles for land and self-determination –
including unresolved land claims, poverty, suicides and polluted water --
members of the Tyendinaga Mohawk community have organized to defend their
territory. In particular, several actions, including blockades, have taken
place to expedite the slow negotiation process over the Culbertson Tract,
a piece of land the government has long acknowledged was taken illegally
from the Mohawks. A quarry on the land was reclaimed in March 2007, and
Mohawks have maintained a fulltime presence on-site ever since.

CN: Drop your racist lawsuit against the Mohawks of Tyendinaga

While various Mohawk activists are facing criminal charges, some are also
facing civil lawsuits by CN Rail, a multi-billion dollar company with
installations and tracks from ocean-to-ocean.  CN's rails through the
territory of Tyendinaga were blocked in April 2006, and again in June
2007.

In a legal maneuver that can only be described as colonial, CN is
currently suing three activists from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory –
Shawn Brant, Jason Maracle and Tara Green -- for over $100 million. CN's
lawsuit is that much more offensive when you consider that CN tracks cross
native territories all over "Canada." Their lawsuit is about intimidating
and marginalizing effective indigenous organizers, who are active in the
legitimate defense of their land and livelihood.

When travelers consider the "inconvenience" of delayed trains, or blocked
highways and bridges, contrast that temporary inconvenience with the
permanent and deeply entrenched theft of land from native communities, and
the adverse social conditions that hundreds of years of genocide have
produced.

As part of the campaign of support for the Mohawks of Tyendinaga,
Montreal-area organizers are also organizing a campaign to target CN Rail
for their colonial and racist role in attacking the Mohawks of Tyendinaga.
We are demanding that CN drop their racist lawsuit.

INFO: indigenoussolidaritymontreal at gmail.com - 514-848-7583 -
http://www.amp-montreal.net
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