[van-announce] YOUTH AGAINST OCCUPATION: Conference SATURDAY Nov. 29th (fwd)

[Tony Tracy]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 01:36:43 -0500 (EST)
From: Student-Youth Committee Against War <stopwar_students at yahoo.ca>
Subject: YOUTH AGAINST OCCUPATION: Conference SATURDAY Nov. 29th

YOUTH AGAINST OCCUPATION
STUDENT AND YOUTH CONFERENCE

Saturday, November 29th | 11 am - 6 pm
UBC Robson Square, Room C 300
Vancouver, BC

On November 29th there will be a conference to help build a strong
movement of youth and students against war and occupation to build an
effective anti-war movement to directly and effectively challenge
imperialist agenda.

Organized by the
Student-Youth Committee Against War

Space is limited! We encourage Pre-registration!
By phone: 604-294-1053, 604-254-1630, 604-322-1764
By email: stopwar_students at yahoo.ca

-----------------------------
Conference Program
-----------------------------

11 am- 11:30 am: Registration

11:30 am - 12 pm: (Opening)
Confronting this era of war and occupation: What we have learned since
9/11

12 - 1:30 pm:
War  Occupation  Anti-war: What went wrong / What went right

1:30 - 2 pm: LUNCH

2 - 2:45 pm :
Youth and Students: The forefront of the anti-war movement

2:45 - 3:30 pm:
Case Study on Palestine: Conscience of the world

3:30 - 4:15 pm:
Occupation and self-determination: An Indigenous perspective

4:15 - 4:35 pm: BREAK

4:35 - 5:20 pm:
High schools in the era of war and occupation

5:20 - 6:05 pm: (Conference Summary)
Building an effective anti-war movement

_____________________________
CONFERENCE MATERIALS AVAILABLE ONLINE:

Conference leaflet:
http://www.fire-this-time.org/syc%20conference%20leaflet.pdf

Conference brochure:
http://www.fire-this-time.org/SYC%20Conference%20Brochure.pdf

Conference poster: http://www.fire-this-time.org/sycconferenceposter.pdf
_____________________________

What is 'Youth Against Occupation?'

On November 29th there will be a conference to help build a strong
movement of youth and students against war and occupation. Called Youth
Against Occupation, the conference is being organized by the newly formed
Student & Youth Committee Against War.

In this period of intensified war and occupation, the most important task
of poor and working people, students and young people in Vancouver and all
throughout the world is to build an effective antiwar movement to directly
and effectively challenge this imperialist agenda. This movement must
involve the leadership of students and youth from all throughout the lower
mainland, from different backgrounds, different college and university
campuses, and different high schools. This conference is organized to help
build on the current momentum towards establishing this movement, and we
invite all youth and students in the lower mainland to get involved.

A New Phase of War, Occupation, and Imperialist Rivalry

The US-led bombings and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq marked the
beginning of a new period of imperialist war, occupation, and destruction.
These occupations highlighted the increased rivalries that are heating up
between the different imperialist countries  especially the US, UK,
France, and Germany  as these different capitalist powers struggle to find
a way out of the global economic crisis that they face. The occupation of
Iraq was closely followed by an increase in French interventions in
African countries, such as the Congo, as well as an escalation of assaults
on the Palestinian people by the colonial state of Israel.

This new period is also marked by an increase in death, poverty, misery,
and destruction for the people who are on the receiving end of this
heightened imperialist war drive. The coming decades will involve more
invasions and occupations that will have disastrous effects for poor and
oppressed people all over the world, including brutal occupations abroad,
the slashing of immigrant and refugee rights at home, and a clamping down
on civil liberties as the international movement against imperialism and
capitalism deepens.

The Need for a Strong International Movement Against War and Occupation

For people living in occupied countries, especially the people of Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Palestine, the struggle for self-determination and an end
to occupation will directly challenge this imperialist agenda. These
struggles need to be supported and strengthened by a strong international
movement against war and occupation, an effective movement that can
directly challenge imperialism. In the lower mainland, this means a
movement with the support, involvement, and leadership of oppressed
people. Currently, the most effective way to lay the foundations for the
coming work of building this movement is the strong involvement of those
who have always played a significant role in progressive antiwar movements
worldwide: youth and students.

The Student - Youth Committee Against War

The Student & Youth Committee Against War was formed out of the momentum
which was created in September following over a month of intense
organizing on campuses throughout the lower mainland. This included
tabling, leafleting, workshops, and forums at various colleges,
universities, and high schools, all of which led to a highly successful
turnout of youth and students at the demonstration against war and
occupation on September 28th.

This involvement of youth and students is essential to help build the
effective movement against war and occupation that is so needed in the
lower mainland, and the formation of the Student & Youth Committee Against
War is a positive step in this direction. The Student and Youth Committee
Against War provides the space for youth and students to raise their voice
in the antiwar movement, to provide the energy and vision that is needed
to establish antiwar politics as a solid force for change in the lower
mainland.

The Student & Youth Committee Against War is organizing a conference on
November 29th, and we want all students and youth who are interested in
building an effective movement against war and occupation to get involved.
This conference is an important opportunity for students and youth of
different backgrounds to get together, network, discuss, debate, and plan
future work and actions against war and occupation. We see this conference
as an essential step in solidifying the vital role of students and youth
in the antiwar movement, and the more students and youth there are, the
more effective this conference will be at establishing this role.

Students and Youth against imperialist war and occupation: Get involved in
the Youth Against Occupation Conference!

Organized by the
Student-Youth Committee Against War

Space is limited! We encourage Pre-registration!
By phone: 604-294-1053, 604-254-1630, 604-322-1764
By email: stopwar_students at yahoo.ca

Endorsed by:

BC Hospital Employees Union, Simon Fraser Student Society, Langara
Students Union, Kwantlen University College Student Association, UBC
Graduate Students Society, Lawyers Against the War, Native Youth Movement
- Vancouver, Indigenous Environmental Network, Capilano Social Justice
Committee, Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice, Youth-Third World
Alliance, Redwire Native Youth Media, Iranian Committee Against War,
Friends and Family of Mexican Political Prisoners, UBC Africa Network, UBC
Student Environment Center, Free the Cuban Five Committee, Student-Youth
Committee Against War, Coalition Against the War on the People of Iraq,
UBC Womens Center, UBC Social Justice Center, Purple Thistle Youth Center,
Lisa Barrett - Mayor Bowen Island, Bikes Not Bombs Vancouver, Emily Carr
Student Coalition for Social Justice, Langara Womens Centre, UBC Graduate
Students Society External Affairs Committee, AMS Bike Co-op, Mesopotamian
Orphans & Women Education & Welfare Society, Toronto Native Youth, Langara
GLOBAL, Korean Student Network Against War, Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth
Advocates, Richmond Mosque, Tri-Cities Mosque, Muslim Youth Centre-Surrey,
Colour Connected-UBC, Langara First Nations Centre, Pride UBC