[van-announce] ISI update and newsletter

[Interfaith Institute]

THE INTERFAITH SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE, PEACE AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

UPDATE AND NEWSLETTER

The ISI has undergone some changes in the last six months. We have 
restructured as a collective and, at the moment, do not have staff. 
While our output will be more modest in the 2010-2011 year ahead, we are 
planning some events for the fall and hope to co-sponsor some with other 
organizations in the future.

As a follow-up on our March 5-7, 2010, conference /Redistribution of 
Wealth: Indigenous and Faith Perspectives on Economic and Environmental 
Justice /(see www.interfaithjustpeace.org 
<http://www.interfaithjustpeace.org> for video coverage of our 
speakers), we are hosting

*Giving...... Giving Back: An Interfaith Public Forum on Gift--Giving 
and Economic Justice*

*Wednesday December 1 7:00 pm -- 9:30 pm_^ _*

*Sunset Community Centre, 6010 Main St. , Vancouver*

For more information phone 604 488-1523 or email interf at sfu.ca 
<mailto:interf at sfu.ca>. Details will follow in a later email.

We are including in this update a brief newsletter with an invitation to 
solidarity and participation in the following struggles for justice and 
dignity. The Interfaith Institute and/or some of the resource people who 
have participated in the institute have been involved in these struggles.

*1) **Fish Lake and the Tsilhgot'in First Nation*

*2) **Truth and Reconciliation Commission Event in Vancouver October 26.*

*3) **Islamophobia*

*4) **Tamil Refugees in Detention in BC*

*5) **De-mystifying the "Project Samossa" Arrests**
Community Advisory from the People's Commission Network*

If you want to be removed from this list, reply to the interf at sfu.ca 
<mailto:interf at sfu.ca> address and you will eventually be removed ( this 
is a volunteer organization at the moment). This will be a low traffic 
list with announcements of ISI events and very occasional newsletters.

*1)Fish Lake and the Tsilhgot'in First Nation.*

The fish, water and all the sacred lands of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation 
are threatened by the proposed Prospect mine.

See Chief Marilyn Baptiste's excellent essay at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/ottawa-must-not-sell-out-tsilhqotin/article1715503/

And if you have a few minutes, please consider sending a quick letter to 
save Fish Lake from being destroyed by mining:
http://wildernesscommittee.org/write_your_letter_save_fish_lake

Here is a sample letter by Rita Wong, which you are welcome to use:

I am writing to ask you to protect Teztan Biny, also known as Fish Lake, in
BC, for the following reasons:

First, Taseko?s plan to replace a natural lake and stream system with a
man-made one had no evidence supporting their claim it could be done
successfully, and they couldn?t provide assurance that the fish in the new
lake would be safe to eat.

Second, the proposed replacement lake would actually result in a massive 
loss
of fish habitat, and would require constant maintenance of spawning channels
and ongoing stocking of the lake by governments.

Third, the proposed mine would have high magnitude, long-term impacts on
grizzlies in the area. It would result in with more habitat loss and
fragmentation, and more road traffic leading to more potential vehicle
collisions.

Finally, if these terrible effects on fish and bears were not enough, this
project will also be devastingly horrible for people. The Tsilhqot?in First
Nation would see their traditional and cultural uses of the Fish Lake area
wiped out, and their rights in the area dramatically and negatively 
impacted.

I urge you to respect and protect the long term health of the wilderness and
the lake. Any jobs the mine would offer are temporary, but the damage it
will do to the land is permanent. Please act to respect the Tsilqot'in First
Nation and the many inhabitants that rely on Fish Lake for their lives.

*2) Truth and Reconciliation Commission Event October 26.*

On October 26 there will be a public education event of the Truth and 
Reconciliation Commission, co-Hosted by the Indian Residential School 
Survivors Society and the Squamish Nation in West Vancouver. Attending 
and speaking will be the three Commissioners, Justice Murray Sinclair, 
Marie Wilson and Winston Littlechild, representatives from National and 
Regional Indigenous political organizations as well as representatives 
from the churches. Quest welcome and opening ceremony begins at 8:30 am 
and the day closes at 4:30. R.S.V. P is required as the hall can only 
take 300. Please confirm with Brent Tom at the IRSSS at Office:   (604) 
925-4464   Fax:   (604) 925-0020   Email: brenttom at irsss.ca 
<mailto:brenttom at irsss.ca> by October 18.

*3) Islamophobia *

In view of the recent currents of Islamophobia which are dominating the 
mainstream media we invite you to take some action. Between the New York 
City mosque/community centre controversy, the recent high-profile 
arrests of Canadian Muslims who have been immediately branded as "home 
grown terrorists," and the Koran- burning threat in the United States, 
the religion of Islam is again the target of xenophobic and racist 
diatribes. Michel Chossudovsky, in Global Research 
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20818 
<http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20818> , warns 
that a "war of religion" is unfolding. Thus it is important that we be 
vigilant in challenging the intensifying racism, racial profiling and 
demonization of Muslims that is being used for political ends, including 
exclusionary immigration policies and further legitimation of the war in 
Afghanistan and the potential of war against Iran.

Possible actions include writing letters to editors, reaching out and 
supporting the Muslim communities in your area, inviting someone from a 
local mosque to speak, and spending time educating friends, family 
members and neighbours. The Islamic Circle of North America promotes 
understanding of Islam and in BC, its local chapter, the BC Muslim 
Association http://www.thebcma.com/ ,has an excellent website with the 
numbers of contacts in different regions of BC. If you invite a speaker 
to your organization or community please allow much time for questions 
from the audience.

The website _WhyIslam.com_ is a website of the Ahmadiyya Muslim 
community and addresses many questions non-Muslims may have of Islam. In 
terms of showing the realities of everyday life in Muslim communities 
/Little Mosque on the Prairie/ is available at local video stories and 
is a humorous and non-threatening way to begin discussion with friends 
and family who are caught up in the war against terrorism rhetoric.

For an ongoing update on events and news coverage affecting Muslim 
communities across Canada see the Canadian Council on American-Islamic 
Relations (CAIRCAN) at www.caircan.ca <http://www.caircan.ca>. You can 
subscribe to their list and get weekly updates.

We include here two calls for solidarity, the latter providing analyses 
and some action possibilities in the Canadian context.

Council of the Parliament of World Religions -- A Call for Solidarity on 
911 
http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=15d4f7de1064a5171ce87bc0e&id=5227fc5eb2&e=fdfe1370da

Halt the Tide of Islamophobia: A Call for Solidarity from the People's 
Commission Network and No One Is Illegal Montreal 
http://www.peacealliancewinnipeg.ca/2010/09/halt-the-tide-of-islamophobia/comment-page-1/

*4) Tamil Refugees in Detention in British Columbia*

As the word ``terrorism`` has been conflated with all Muslims, so too 
has it been conflated with Tamils.

The Tamil minority, mostly Hindu and some Christian, in Sri Lanka has 
been the object of systematic ethnic and religious persecution for the 
last few decades. ( For a scholarly analysis of how religion is annexed 
to ethnonationalism in Sri Lanka see /Buddhism and Ethnic Conflict in 
Sri Lanka/ by Patrick Grant ( New York, SUNY, 2010). This has not ceased 
despite the declared end of the civil war. Tamils are fleeing Sri Lanka 
because of ongoing violation of their civil liberties and fear of 
ongoing repression, kidnappings and detentions.

  It is in this context that 492 Tamil refugees, including 80 women and children, arrived in BC.   The majority of these refugee claimants are still in jails, facing endless hearings and attempts by the Canadian Border Service Agency to keep them in detention as long as possible with the hope of sending them back as suspected "terrorists."  The dominant media and government response to these Tamil claimants has been undergirded by a racism that uses the imagery of the boat to imply a lack of "civility" versus those who come on planes, who are somehow more acceptable.   The government has transformed the desperate fleeing of people from suffering and repression into a matter of national security.

  

In order to keep public pressure on the government to release those in detention, you can write letters not only to Minister of Immigration Jason Kenny and the Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews,  but also to editors in local or national papers.    A very useful resource in doing this is the Seven Myths About Tamil Refugees,  produced by No One is Illegal Vancouver, which provides important facts that are useful to share with neighbours, friends or your local community who have been taken in by the inaccurate representation of the Tamil situation. See   http://www.rabble.ca/news/2010/08/seven-myths-about-tamil-refugees

  

*5)De-mystifying the "Project Samossa" arrests: Community Advisory from 
the People's Commission Network*

The recent arrests associated with the RCMP's named "Project Samossa" 
have generated a lot of questions and uncertainties in communities 
targeted by Islamophobia and racism. A recent request to Muslim 
communities by Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews , asking members to 
spy on other members in their community, has generated much discomfort 
and unease, as has the increased surveillance by CSIS operatives in the 
different Muslim communities. This community advisory produced by the 
People's Commission Network (PCN) in Montreal is aimed at providing 
information and advice to address some of those questions and 
uncertainties. The PCN hopes that its advisory will contribute to 
confident resistance to profiling, marginalization and criminalization.

The following are questions the advisory addresses.

*Questions*

   1. What is the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act?
   2. What does it mean if individuals are arrested on terrorism-related
      charges?
   3. Why are they in prison if they haven't been found guilty of anything?
   4. In how much detail should I talk about an accused whom I may know?
   5. What do I do if someone I don't know asks me about an accused,
      related matters that have come up in the media, and what I think
      of the situation?
   6. How do we build secure communities and not fall prey to paranoia?
   7. Is it safe to go to the mosque?
   8. If I get involved with community and broader initiatives
      denouncing the racism and Islamaphobia around this issue -
      including the racism in media and readers' comments -- will I come
      under surveillance?
   9. What should I do if the police come to my door or ask to speak to me?
  10. What should I do if the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
      (CSIS) approaches me, my family, or my community ?
  11. What can I do about the profiling of my community and its members
      by CSIS and other agencies, and the anti-Muslim media coverage?
  12. Where can I go for more information or help?

Please go to http://www.peaceculture.org/drupal/node/665 for the full 
advisory.

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