“It is difficult to say just how happy I am to have received this decision at last. It’s like I’m dreaming: I have finally gotten back the freedom that was stolen from me,” said Mr. Abdelrazik, visibly moved by the recent events, to journalists and supporters at a press conference on Thursday morning. “I want to thank everyone, across Canada and around the world, who have supported me. It was a very long struggle, years, and together we have won, from Halifax to Vancouver. Thank you to everyone,” he added.

“We are so relieved that Abousfian has finally won this victory. Mr. Abdelrazik was added to the 1267 List in 2006 while he was in forced exile in Sudan and he has been fighting to be delisted ever since,” said Émilie Breton, member of Project Fly Home, a group that has supported Mr. Abdelrazik for more than three years and has opposed the 1267 sanctions regime. It is a new beginning for this man who has been through many trials.”

“It’s not surprising that many legal experts have referred to the 1267 regime as Kafka-esque. This kind of list should not exist. This sanctions regime is based on guilt by association and profiling and indefinitely imposes severe sanctions on individuals,” said Brian Aboud, another member of Project Fly Home.

Mr. Abdelrazik first applied to be delisted in 2007, after which he was cleared by the Canadian spy agency, CSIS, as well as the RCMP. However, his request was refused and no reasons were given for the refusal; just as he has never had access to the information used against him. Under pressure of mounting criticism of the 1267 regime, the UN named an ombudsperson mandated to examine delisting request. Mr. Abdelrazik submitted a new request to be delisted to this Ombudsperson in January 2011.

“Yesterday’s decision is the product of years of struggle by Mr. Abdelrazik and his supporters. However, this struggle is not over. Abousfian is trying to hold Canadian government officials accountable for their role in his imprisonment and torture in Sudan and for whatever role they played in placing him on the 1267 List in 2006. He is still in the process of rebuilding his life and his reputation.” added Mr. Aboud.

A constitutional challenge against the Canadian legislation which implements the 1267 regime in Canada is still underway, with the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group and the BC Civil Liberties Association as co-applicants.

As Mr. Abdelrazik stated today, he is still in process of re-establishing a “normal life”, which he hopes to enjoy with his children here in Montreal. Having himself lived the direct consequences of this regime, he called for solidarity with those who are continuing to experience the unjust effects of such regimes, which violates their fundamental rights, their right to earn a living, the right to freedom and to justice.

Canadians to devote 20 minutes to end Canada’s role in the “War on Terror”

Global Research, November 23, 2011

As the federal government prepares to honour tomorrow the role of Canada’s military during NATO’s recent War in Libya, citizens from different Canadian cities will assemble to devote 20 minutes of their time for Peace in Libya and the goal of ending Canada’s participation in NATO’s “War on Terror.”

Canada’s military played a leading role in NATO’s first war in Africa, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians, the decimation of the country’s infrastructure and the overthrow of the Libyan government. Tens of thousands of Libyans have fled their country of origin or have been displaced as a result of this “humanitarian war”, while hundreds have been rounded up, detained, tortured or summarily executed by NATO’s newly installed regime.

Africa’s largest reserves of crude oil, formerly a source of wealth redistribution in Libya and in neighboring African countries, have been divvied up amongst a selection of multinational oil corporations loyal to the NATO agenda. Libya’s Central Bank and its hundreds of billions of dollars in assets has been plundered and dismantled, and a private banking cartel has been installed in its place to run the country’s finances.

“And the Canadian Government wants to celebrate this achievement?” questions Canadian author and longtime Toronto peace activist Barrie Zwicker. Since 2006, Zwicker argues, Canada’s military arm has been transformed from peacekeeping to waging war, training others for war and preparing for war. “The Harper Government has not only involved Canada in multiple theatres of war, from Afghanistan to Libya, but is actively engaging in advanced military planning to bring war to two more countries and its peoples: namely Syria and Iran.”

Tens of billions of dollars from Canada’s public coffers are now being directed annually to finance NATO’s war machine. Moncton-based environmentalist and former United Nations staff member Daniel LeBlanc, who experienced the devastations of war first-hand and worked alongside Canadian peacekeepers during his assignments in Iraq, Cambodia and Uganda (Rwanda War) in the 1990’s, believes that Canada’s reputation as a peaceful nation in the world has been completely shattered. “There is no honour in bombing and destroying nations, communities, and families,” LeBlanc states. “This is not the Canada that I am proud of.”

On November 24th at 11:10 Eastern Time and 12:10 Atlantic Time, Zwicker and LeBlanc, among other Canadians, will observe 20 minutes of silence, meditation and prayer for Libya. A second nation-wide peace rally with the intention of ending Canada’s participation in NATO’s “War on Terror” is planned for December 12th.

More Info: www.20minutesforpeace.org

Winnipeg, Nov. 12, 2011: Bilan Arte, of Students Against Israeli Apartheid, addresses a group that rallied to distribute leaflets in support of Palestinian rights. Photo: Paul S. Graham

By Canadian Boat to Gaza

November 5, 2011 – Freedom Waves to Gaza organizers have not yet had any direct communication with the delegates from the ships Tahrir and Saoirse. Organizers are demanding that Israel immediately free the remaining people they have kidnapped and are illegally detaining; that they be able to speak with their families; that they receive immediate medical attention for all injuries inflicted by the Israeli military and that they are not harmed further.

“We have heard indirectly from our governments’ ministries of foreign affairs (in Canada and Ireland), but that is simply not good enough. We want to speak with our people directly,” says Wendy Goldsmith, organizer with the Canadian Boat to Gaza. “Why will our governments not demand the delegates be able to speak to their families? We do not trust the Canadian government on this – as they have shown time and time again that they are complicit in Israel’s violations of international law and gross human rights abuses.”

The last direct contact that organizers had with any delegate on either boat is this text message, from Trevor Hogan (from aboard the Irish boat Saoirse) at 10:08 PM Nov 3, 2011 Palestinian time: “Kidnapped, being held against our will by Israeli Army in international waters. Boat nearly destroyed. Need government to press for immediate release.” Trevor then called girlfriend moments later and said, “Did you get the text? Send it out.” Then the phone line went dead.

Palestinian Israeli Majd Kayal, delegate aboard the captured Canada Boat to Gaza and recently released from Givon Prison, confirms the IDF’s “peaceful” take-over of the Tahrir was anything but peaceful. An IDF video clearly shows the Israeli military firing a water cannon at the Tahrir on rough seas, endangering the lives of those aboard. Delegates offering non-violent resistance to the takeover of the civilian ship in international waters were threatened and then beaten by soldiers. One delegate, 45-year-old David Heap, professor at the University of Western Ontario, was particularly badly beaten. Israeli prison authorities are continuing to prevent Heap’s family from contacting him by phone.

“As a Palestinian, I was not surprised at how the IDF treated us,” said Kayal, after his release, noting this kind of abuse is a daily reality for the 1.5 million people of Gaza, who are indefinitely detained in an open-air prison. “However, for the Canadians and other Westerners onboard, it was a complete shock.”

As of now, family members are still being prevented from having telephone contact with their loved ones. Lawyers were able to visit briefly with some of the delegates being held at Givon Prison in Israel. But for family members, it is the not knowing that is the hardest. Said the wife of one of the delegates, “We just don’t understand why Israeli officials are acting as they are. My husband’s youngest is putting a brave face on it, but I know that he is very upset and worried about how his father is doing.”

“I am sorry to hear about those that were roughed up which of course is always the way when it comes to the Israeli sentiment towards any human being,” said Kathleen Newton, mother of Jihan Hafiz, a Democracy Now journalist still being illegally held by Israel after her abduction from the Tahrir. “I stand proud to be the mother of a daughter that wanted to stand up and make a difference in this otherwise very unfair world.”

Family members who have been able to speak with Canadian Consular staff have been told that several delegates showed varying degrees of visible bruising when Canadian Officials visited them. Nevertheless, Consular staff said they felt that everyone was “O.K.”

Canadians are urged to contact Foreign Affairs Emergency Hot line in Ottawa at 1-800-387-3124 .

The UN Human Rights Council Inquiry Report of September 2010 concluded that the blockade is illegal and Israeli policies in Gaza are a form of collective punishment. There is no legal justification for stopping or in any way impeding the passage of the totally peaceful Freedom Waves boats from the international solidarity movement with Palestinian people.

This situation is developing. For updates, stay tuned to: Twitter (@CanadaBoatGaza and #freedomwaves), Facebook.com/CanadaBoatGaza, tahrir.ca, ustogaza.org, freegazaoz.org, and irishshiptogaza.org.

Master Corporal Byron Greff from the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, Alberta, is shown this undated handout photo. Photo: Canadian Press

by the Canadian Peace Alliance, Oct. 31, 2011

The attack on a NATO convoy which resulted in the death of Canadian Master Corporal Byron Greff highlights, once again, that the Harper government is lying to Canadians about the nature of the new “training mission”. It is in reality still a part of the overall foreign military occupation and combat mission, and thousands of Afghan civilians have paid with their lives because of combat operations this year.

In fact, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, there has been a further 28 per cent increase in civilian casualties in 2011. The 920 Canadian troops still stationed in Kabul are part of these combat operations on a daily basis, joining in firefights with Afghan troops such as the September 13 battle at the US Embassy and NATO headquarters.

Harper, in an attempt to placate a war weary population in Canada was understating the possibility of attacks on the Canadian forces staying in Kabul and elsewhere in the country. There are regular attacks against NATO forces in these alleged safe zones and this will continue to be the reality until all foreign troops are removed from the country. And the resistance to NATO has the support of increasing numbers of the Afghan people. A recently released poll conducted by the International Council on Security and Development found that 87 per cent of southern Afghans and 76 per cent of those in the north oppose NATO’s actions in the country.

As long as our troops are there – regardless of what title you give the mission – Afghan civilians and Canadian soldiers will remain in danger and the killing will increase.

» Report George W. Bush as a person likely to try to enter Canada contrary to section 35 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The Canadian Border Service Agency runs a Border Watch Toll-free line. Their website advertises:
“If you have information about suspicious cross-border activity, please contact the Canada Border Services Agency Border Watch Toll-free Line at 1-888-502-9060.”

George Walker Bush, born July 6, 1945 is likely to try to cross the border into Canada on or about October 18 to 20th 2011 to attend an event in Surrey British Columbia.  Mr. Bush has admitted to authorizing and approving the widespread use of torture by the U.S. Armed Forces and the CIA.  There are reasonable grounds to believe that George W. Bush, as the President of the United States of America and Commander in Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces between 2001 and 2009, counselled, aided and abetted the commission of torture and other war crimes and crimes against humanity in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations. Experts estimate that in Iraq alone, over a million innocent men, women and children have died as a consequence of the illegal U.S.-led war on Iraq authorized and directed by George W. Bush.

N.B. the website indicates that CBSA has discretion to provide a reward for information.
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/bwl-lsf-eng.html

For more information about the case to charge Bush as a war criminal please see: Lawyers Against the War

» October 20: Peaceful Rally to Protest George W Bush’s Surrey Visit

Thursday, October 20, 11:00 am
Join at the parking lot outside the Bay, Guildford Mall, SW corner of 152 St. & 104 Ave.
For info on this rally, please email stopwar@resist.ca
http://stopwarca.wordpress.com/

» Sign the Online petition to arrest George Bush:
www.amnesty.ca

»Torture victims plan to file charges when Bush enters Canada
www.stopwar.wordpress.com

» Lawyers press for Bush arrest, as #Occupy activists set to converge in Surrey
Vancouver Observer

You can follow the events on twitter: @StopWarCa and #OccupySurrey #ArrestBush

Please sign the statement against Secret Trials in Canada (Security Certificates) at www.harkatstatement.com. Security certificates allow for the detention of refugees and immigrants without charge or access to the evidence. My husband Mohamed Harkat – Moe to his friends – is one of those men.

Mohamed Harkat

Now, Moe faces deportation to Algeria where he faces imprisonment, torture or death because of the allegations. It’s very clear that refugees like Moe are not welcome in Canada under Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. Moe received a letter from the Canadian Border Services Agency in January 2011, warning him of his pending deportation. We are currently waiting to hear from the Minister’s delegate who will make his final recommendations on whether the risk to Moe outweighs the risk he supposedly poses to Canada.

That’s where you come in! We REALLY need your support once more. We hope to double or triple our numbers of signatures on our statement before the decision comes down in the coming weeks. Time is of the essence.

3700 individuals (many high profile, unions and groups) have already endorsed. View at www.harkatstatement.com

Let’s take a strong stand against Secret Trials in Canada (Security Certificates)!

How you can help:

PLEASE ENDORSE AND ASK YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND CO-WORKERS TO ENDORSE. www.harkatstatement.com

1. First, pass on this email to all of your online contacts – email, facebook, twitter, etc. But, please don’t stop there!

2. If you are unionized, and have not done so already, please print out www.harkatstatement.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Statement-Against-Sec-Certificates-2011.doc AND take our statement to your union’s executive meeting, general meeting, committee meetings, etc. and ask individual members to endorse. Please also ask your union to pass a motion endorsing! If you are part of a local, please ask your local to endorse. Ask other brothers and sisters to endorse.

3. If you are active in a community group or organization or a religious group or a mosque or church, please print out www.harkatstatement.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Statement-Against-Sec-Certificates-2011.doc AND take our statement to a meeting or gathering and ask people to sign on. Please also ask your group or organization to endorse the statement online at www.harkatstatement.com

4. After you have done all of that, please send us the pages at:
The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee
14 Perkins Street
Ottawa, ON,  K1R 7G5

5. Lastly, please support our work. Help with our campaign, support our legal and political research, consider making a small donation to support travel and other related expenses.  Donations are always needed.

Please send your cheque or donation to:
The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee
14 Perkins Street
Ottawa, ON,  K1R 7G5

Your support is crucial ! Please help any way you can.

Thanks for your continued support and time.

Sophie Harkat is the wife of Mohamed Harkat, Security Certificate Detainee since December 10th, 2002.

By the Canadian Peace Alliance

Stephen Harper wants to militarize Canada. Under the Conservatives, military spending has reached its highest levels since World War II. There are now plans to expand Canadian military bases around the world. And the military is fast becoming a central thread in the fabric of society.

We need to stop this new Canadian militarism.

The Canada First Defence Strategy is the Conservatives’ blueprint for military spending, which totals $480 billion. But some costs are already way over budget, including the proposed purchase of F35 fighter jets and the construction of new Canadian warships. That could push military spending over half a trillion dollars!

Wasting money on weapons will not create security. Real security is only possible when the people of the world can meet their basic needs. While Harper spends billions on weapons, which provide few jobs in Canada, he continues his assault on pensions, wages and collective bargaining. Sadly, the Conservatives are increasing funding for the things we need the least, while decreasing funding for the things we need the most.

In addition, Harper plans to expand the reach of Canadian forces overseas. Canada already has agreements to establish bases in Jamaica, Kuwait and Germany and is planning bases for Singapore, South Korea, Senegal, Kenya and Tanzania. This expansion would give Harper the power to embroil Canada in the affairs of sovereign states, and would redefine Canada as an aggressive military power.

The new Canadian militarism also includes dramatically raising the military’s profile in more aspects of Canadian life. In the last few years, Canada Day celebrations have been dominated by military displays and recruitment drives. Citizenship and Immigration Canada has decreed that all citizenship ceremonies must include a military speaker, in order to promote military service as the highest form of citizenship. The new citizenship handbook, Discover Canada, emphasizes Canada’s involvement in wars abroad and heaps praise on the country’s military history.

We, the undersigned, believe that money earmarked for military spending must be reallocated to social and environmental programs: to protect jobs and pensions, preserve public healthcare and education, and create a green economy.

Furthermore, we oppose any attempts by the government to expand Canadian militarism abroad or to entrench it in Canadian society.

» Click here to Sign the Declaration

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

1. Sign the declaration online and/or download copies for your friends families and co-workers.
2. Order Postcards to distribute in your area. Just send an e-mail to the CPA with your name and address.
3. Show your support for Peace and Prosperity. Download the Window sign and display it prominently.
4. Share the Declaration with your networks.
5. Set up an information kiosk or display table in your community to distribute postcards and to get people to sign the declaration. Download a display sign to advertise the campaign at your table.
6. Make a Donation to the CPA. You donation allows us to get more materials to people all over Canada.

By the Canadian Peace Alliance

This September, the 3-month extension of Canada’s military role in Libya passed through Parliament will expire. When the NATO bombing of Libya began, Stephen Harper assured the public that the operation would drive Gaddafi from power in short order. The Libya operation has now dragged on for six months. NATO air strikes have killed civilians in Tripoli and other Libya cities, and even killed group of rebel troops on several occasions. The Globe and Mail reports that the Canadian military has carried out “6 per cent of the military sorties in the mission, including about 8 per cent of the attack strikes, and the lion’s share of the maritime surveillance patrols.”

A number of other NATO countries are pulling out of or drawing back from this failed intervention. The NDP, the Official Opposition in Ottawa, has announced they will not support another extension of the military mission. It’s time to send a message to all MPs that Canada should have no more to do with NATO’s war on Libya.

Send a message to your MP. A full list of members of Parliament is available here.

Be sure to include the party leaders:

Nycole.Turmel@parl.gc.ca

stephen.harper@parl.gc.ca

bob.rae@parl.gc.ca

For more information please see: http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/Libyaextension.html

On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., the nuclear bomb “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay. An estimated 130,000 people were killed.

On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was the target of America’s second atomic bomb attack. At 11:02 a.m., the north of the city was destroyed and an estimated 70,000 people were killed by the bomb nicknamed “Fat Man.”

Over the years and decades that followed, thousands more died from a variety of radiation induced diseases. Even now, after more than six decades, many aftereffects persist, including leukemia, A-bomb cataracts, and cancers of thyroid, breast, lungs, salivary glands, birth defects, and disfiguring radiation burn scars.

The psychological damage arising from widespread chronic illness and the destruction of families and communities cannot be measured.

For many years, Winnipeggers have commemorated these tragedies and reaffirmed our commitment to peace and freedom from nuclear terror. We symbolize our commitment with a Lantern Ceremony.

The Lantern Ceremony is part of an ancient Buddhist Ceremony (O-Bon), that commemorates the lives of deceased loved ones. For many years around the world, this ceremony has been used on Hiroshima Peace Day to honour and embrace the memory of those who died because of the attacks.

During these ceremonies, participants are invited to design a lantern that represents their thoughts and feelings regarding personal losses, global concerns of peace, nuclear disarmament and any other issue relevant to keeping our planet safe.

In addition to lanterns, we make origami peace cranes to commemorate the story of “Sadako and a Thousand Paper Cranes.”

Sadako Sasaki, a 10-year old girl, became sick with leukemia from the effects of the atomic bomb in post war Japan. She believed in an ancient tale that if you made 1000 paper cranes, you would be granted a wish. She wished for good health.

She died before she completed making the cranes and her classmates completed the task for her. Each year, thousands of paper cranes from all over the world adorn the statue of Sadako in the Hiroshima Peace Park in Hiroshima, Japan.

As important as it is to commemorate the horrible tragedies of August 6 and 9, 1945, more is required of us to prevent a recurrence of this disaster. Nine countries are known to possess nuclear weapons (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel). Together, they possess an estimated 8,000 active nuclear warheads and more than 22,000 in storage. The explosion (accidental or deliberate) of only one of these weapons would cause unthinkable suffering and destruction.

The nuclear threat is too serious to be ignored. We cannot rest until each of these nuclear weapons has been dismantled.

How you choose to work for a nuclear free world is up to you. There are numerous options. Here a few of the many Internet resources available to help you get involved.

• Abolition 2000
• Atomic Bomb Museum
• Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
• Hiroshima Peace Institute
• Hiroshima Peace Site
• International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
• Mayors for Peace

If you live in or close to Winnipeg, you should consider contacting any of the sponsors of Winnipeg Lanterns for Peace:

• Manitoba Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association
• Peace Alliance Winnipeg
• Project Peacemakers

And, of course, you shouldn’t miss out on Winnipeg Lanterns for Peace 2011.

Finally, the Canadian Peace Alliance is a good source of information on peace groups across Canada. The important thing is to become informed and involved.