[Stopwar-l] Boat to Gaza Fundraiser TONIGHT / Make Afghanistan an Issue this Election

[StopWar]

TONIGHT!

Grandview Calvary Baptist Church invites you to:

Help Send a Canadian Boat to Gaza

Sunday, April 10th

6:45 Soup served

1803 East 1st Ave  Vancouver

7:30 Evening presentations

Special Guests:

Kevin Neish: a survivor of the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara in May
of 2010. He will share his experiences through story and film.

Hanna Kawas: a Palestinian from Bethlehem who will provide with us the
historical context of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

Mahmoud Hmouz: a Palestinian refugee and local activist living in Canada
who will share his perspective on the situation in Gaza today.

Sponsored by Grandview Calvary Baptist Church.

Donations welcome.


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Thanks to all those who came out to be part of Saturday's Day of Action
against the war in Afghanistan. Stay tuned for a notice from StopWar - we
plan to organize an anti-war protest outside of one of Stephen Harper's
upcoming campaign stops in the Lower Mainland. (We will only be able to
give 12 to 24hrs notice, because of how these campaigns announce their
schedules).

We encourage all our supporters to make Afghanistan an issue during this
federal election. Please see the Canadian Peace Alliance resource page for
more information, and some important recent articles and statements:

http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/April9.html

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StopWar Statement April 9, 2011: People Power, Not War!

StopWar, Vancouver's broad-based anti-war coalition, is taking part in the
cross-Canada day of action against the war in Afghanistan on April 9 with
a rally and march starting from Library Square at 1 pm. We are demanding
an end to the brutal and callous war in Afghanistan, cancellation of the
proposed $29 billion purchase of F-35 fighter jets, and for solidarity
with the peoples of the Arab world struggling for peace, democracy and
social justice in their homelands.

The Canadian Peace Alliance and the Collectif Échec à la guerre (antiwar
coalition in Montreal) issued the call for the April 9 day of action, to
demand an end to the Afghanistan war and to bring Canadian troops home
now. The majority of Canadians support this demand. They want governments
to invest in health care, education and social housing, not more weapons
of war. During the current federal election, these critical issues must be
a key topic of debate and action.

The war in Afghanistan has reached new levels of brutality. Civilian
casualties spiked in 2010 and the rate of killing is increasing. After
almost ten years of occupation and a half a trillion dollars spent by
NATO, Afghanistan still suffers from a lack of basic services and a
corrupt NATO-backed government.

According to the Afghan Rights Monitor, "Almost everything related to the
war surged in 2010: the combined numbers of Afghan and foreign forces
surpassed 350,000; security incidents mounted to over 100 per week; more
fighters from all warring side were killed; and the number of civilian
people killed, wounded and displaced hit record levels."

The continued deployment of 1,000 Canadian soldiers in the guise of
'trainers' of the fledgling Afghan army and police will only compound the
problems faced by the Afghan people. Canada's support for the corrupt
regime of Hamid Karzai works against the aspirations of the Afghan people
to live in a free and democratic society. Self-determination for the
Afghan people is the only solution to the current crisis.

In the words of former Afghan MP, Malalai Joya - "No nation can donate
liberation to another nation. These values must be fought for and won by
the people themselves. They can only grow and flourish when they are
planted by the people in their own soil and watered by their own blood and
tears. "

Events in the Middle East and North Africa provide an inspiring example of
people struggling to create a new society without intervention and against
regimes supported by the big imperial powers. StopWar is absolutely
opposed to the NATO bombing of Libya, which is a shocking violation of the
UN Charter and an act of war against a sovereign country, under cover of a
so-called "no fly zone". We condemn Canadian military involvement in
Libya's internal civil conflict, which is the latest example of
intervention to bolster imperialist control of energy resources in the
region.