[van-discuss] Re: [van-announce] Fw: Peace Voices Needed for CBC
Murray Dobbin
mdobbin at telus.net
Wed Mar 26 09:41:40 PST 2003
To whoever started this email...If you are going to send out emails like
this and actually want them to work, pls take the trouble to provide
people - who are all incredibly busy and over-worked already - with the
numbers to call, otherwise it is a waste of time.
Murray
Paul Browning wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jef Keighley <mailto:keighley at caw.ca>
> To: keighley at caw.ca <mailto:keighley at caw.ca>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 10:12 PM
> Subject: FW: Peace Voices Needed for CBC
>
> Strong Peace Voices Needed to Contact CBC to balance pro-war views
>
> ******************************************* From: "Bruna Nota"
> <bruna.nota at utoronto.ca <mailto:bruna.nota at utoronto.ca>> Subject:
> Calling on people to make their voice heard on CBC Date: Tue, 25
> Mar 2003 08:51:27 -0500
>
>
>
>
>
> SENT BY JANIS ALTON ACTION NEEDED IMMEDIATELY PLEASE CALL OR
> WRITE NOW AND SEND TO ALL YOUR LISTS
>
> IT SOUNDS LIKE THE PRO WAR, ALLIANCE PARTY AND RALPH KLEIN'S
> ALBERTANS ARE ON AN ORGANIZED THE CAMPAIGN TO CHANGE CANADIAN
> POLICY AND IT MUST BE STOPPED.
>
> To: peace at pej.ca Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 12:04 PM Subject:
> Peace.ca-- CBC Radio Coverage
>
> We have just had a note from Peggy Mason (former Cnd Ambassador
> for Disarmament at the UN) who requests people call CBC radio and
> speak out about the situation in Iraq. Her note says:
>
> "...the CBC national radio talkback messages are overwhelmingly
> pro-war. I am particularly horrified by the number of women
> phoning in making the same argument - how ashamed they are of
> Canada and Chretien for letting down our USA allies, secure in the
> knowledge that we can always hide behind American coattails. The
> arguments are strikingly hostile in tone and equally ill-argued.
> But they need to be countered if the CBC is to stay on an even
> keel with respect to its coverage which I believe has become much
> more independent of the Bushite propaganda since the war began."
>
> Apparently the toll-free number is not working well, but the As it
> Happens number in Toronto works: 1-416-205-3331. Alternatively,
> they have an email address, iraqonradio at cbc.ca.
>
> Thanks, Sarah Estabrooks Program Associate Project Ploughshares
>
> Thanks to Peggy and to those who take the time to call in,
>
> Sarah Estabrooks Program Associate Project Ploughshares o o o o o
> o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o Rycroft &
> Pringle, Sunshine Communications.ca Canada 250.592-8307 phone/fax
> Box 8307, Victoria, BC, V8W 3R9 rycroft at SunshineCommunications.ca
> kealey at SunshineCommunications.ca http://SunshineCommunications.ca
>
> <http://sunshinecommunications.ca/>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Activist News, Links and
> Toolkit at http://pej.ca <http://pej.ca/> Peace, Earth & Justice
> Week (April 22 to May 1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To
> Whom it May Concern,
>
> I recently got a message urging people to encourage the CBC to
> give a peace perspective on its coverage of war. Apparently there
> are many, many calls coming in to the CBC urging it to promote
> Canada's involvement in the war.
>
> I am surprised. To tell the truth, one reason why I have not tried
> more to participate in Cross-Country Check-up, for instance, is
> because I find Rex Murphy's domination of the call-in, the way he
> manages to shift the focus from "how do we promote peace?" to
> "what should we do in the face of the horrible terrorism "they"
> threaten "us" with?", is too disheartening for me.
>
> But I am not so surprised. I have written LOTS of
> letters-to-the-editor in my time, but I find that now I am not so
> inspired. I realize that many pro-war people would not be moved by
> what I have to say; they would not even read it.
>
> So, I count on others to do the work. I do hope the CBC can help.
> One suggestion I have is that you get beyond just "pro" vs. "con"
> arguments. As Doris Lessing pointed out in the Massey lectures
> years ago, people tend to want to divide themselves and ideas into
> opposite "camps". This is one of the root causes of war, actually.
>
> We need to get people involved in more thoughtful discussion and
> interview a wider variety of people. Instead of asking questions
> that amount to: "Are you in favour of this war?" we should be
> asking people to talk about how they work for peace in their
> lives, to talk of their experiences, to share stories of success
> and failure and what they have learned.... (I am lucky enough to
> be participating in a discussion group of this sort. A local
> university student is doing research and has gathered together a
> group of 6 people to talk about "How do we live the change [the
> peace] we wish for the world?")
>
> As for suggestions of widening the range of voices we hear from,
> here is a list:
>
> The student I mentioned above, Christina Phipps, can be reached at
> (250) 653-2413 or <phippsc at uvic.ca>.
>
> Sue Riordon, whose husband Terry, died of Gulf War syndrome, and
> who has had much experience dealing with the military, the
> government and veterans in general, can be reached at
> <busters at ns.sympatico.ca>.
>
> Will Thomas, who trained as a pilot with the US military until his
> opposition to the Viet Nam war caused him to resign (and then he
> found out he was wanted by the FBI for doing so and encouraging
> others to do likewise so he moved up to Canada) can be reached at
> <willthomas at telus.net>. Will and a friend went to Kuwait at the
> time of the 1991 Gulf War and helped document the effects of the
> war and worked to save fauna there. [Since both Sue Riordon and
> Will Thomas are not, a priori, antipathetic to the military
> perspective, I think they can speak to "pro-war" people in a way
> that many anti-war people cannot.]
>
> ... It occurs to me that most people who support this war would
> have distanced themselves so much from the consequences of this
> war that this is what allows them to maintain a pro-war
> perspective. I think it is of vital importance that the media not
> contribute to this distancing!
>
> If you wanted to engage people in a thoughtful discussion about
> the war, I would like to make two suggestions for participants.
> Both people support the use of non-violence to overcome situations
> of injustice and both have much experience.Bruna Nota is past
> president of the Women's International League for Peace and
> Freedom and is currently president of Conscience Canada. she has
> much experience in organizing workplaces and NGOs to facilitate
> democratic participation and is a very inspiring speaker. She can
> be reached at <bruna.nota at utoronto.ca> or (416) 203-1402. Len
> Desroches is an author of 2 highly valued books on non-violence
> and has been involved in non-violent direct actions for peace and
> justice for many years. His vision is informed by his faith. He
> does not have e-mail but he can be reached at (416) 975-4897. I
> would suggest inviting these people to engage in a discussion with
> thoughtful commentators who believe that war is sometimes a
> necessary option, possibly also this war.
>
> I know many other people who can offer varied perspectives (e.g.
> native, feminist, local community organizers, people able to link
> peace issues with other issues such as corporate globalization and
> environmental concerns, etc. One person I know was being trained
> as part of Hitler's SS at the end of WW II and is now working on
> peace-building with the Non-Violent Peace Force, (with a
> particular focus on Israel/Palestine; he has researched unarmed
> defence & peace-making for many years: Hans Sinn
> <hansinn at superaje.com>, (613) 264-8833) I would be happy to
> provide other leads if they would be useful.
>
> Sincerely, Jan Slakov, 135 Deer Park Rd. Salt Spring Island, BC
> V8K 1P5 (250) 537-5251
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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