Mattan Helman, executive director of Refuser Solidarity Network, has a petition we hope you’ll sign, and share. Find it here: https://support.refuser.org/ .

Addressed to Israeli COs, it reads:

We, citizens of countries around the world, support your brave decision to refuse to take part in the Gaza genocide despite the persecution you face. 

Not only is refusal to participate in war crimes a moral imperative, it is crucial to ending the horrors of the war. By withdrawing your cooperation and disobeying, you are undermining Israel’s ability to continue destroying Gaza.

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SIPRI has just released their annual analysis of world military expenditure. They report that military spending worldwide increased for the ninth consecutive year in 2023, reaching a total of $2.43 trillion USD. That increase is the biggest since 2009 and highest level SIPRI has ever recorded. . . Spending per person was . . .

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If you are feeling overwhelmed or helpless by wars killing hundreds of thousands of innocents and tearing our world apart, the military’s disastrous impact on the climate and if you care about Truth and Reconciliation consider supporting the cross-country On to Ottawa Peace Caravan (May 2024).

This is a call to action to bring Canadians together to talk about how we can create positive change in the face of these interconnected concerns and threats.

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Conscientious objectors Ernie Wiens and Eric Unger participated in Winnipeg’s Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, one of over 140 around the world. The Pilgrimages are intended to draw attention to the relationship between the atrocities now happening in Gaza and the weapons industry and are inspired by Jesus’ way of healing justice.

The 42km route through Winnipeg symbolically mirrors the walk from Gaza City to Rafah, a journey which Palestinians have been forced to take because of Israel’s military assaults and forced evacuations.

Ernie’s speech in front of Boeing Industries’ Winnipeg factory provides details of Canadian profiteering from war. We have copied it below.

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-Global Days of Action on Military Spending

DISARMAMENT NOW TO SAVE PEOPLE & THE PLANET
Humanity is at a crossroads where political decisions on defence budgets will determine the trajectory of the multiple crises in which we are immersed.

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If you’d like to learn more about conscientious objection to military taxation (why, how it’s not a tax evasion scheme!, consequences, etc) please join us for our upcoming information session Sunday, April 7, 2024. (Email janslakov @ proton.me (without the spaces) to get the link.
And members and friends are encouraged to join our AGM, via Zoom, on Sat. April 20 starting at 3:30pm Eastern. Please contact info@ consciencecanada.ca for the link (or a proxy form).

This year three conscientious objector organizations are sharing the prestigious Seán MacBride Peace Prize awarded by the International Peace Bureau (IPB).

Our House is a Belarusian civil society organization that helps Belarusian conscientious objectors, prevents children from being taken from their families for economic and political reasons, and responds to Belarusian army service issues.

In Russia, the Movement of Conscientious Objectors (MCO) or Движение Сознательных Отказчиков is a non-profit organization established in 2014 that aids young individuals in legally avoiding conscription into the military.

The Ukrainian Pacifist Movement was established in 2019 by activists involved in peaceful protests against conscription in Kyiv. The organization supports the right to refuse participation in war, ending the conflict in Ukraine, and striving for global peace.

In announcing the award the IPB said “In honoring these remarkable recipients, the 2023 Seán MacBride Peace Prize acknowledges the enduring importance of the right to conscientious objection and individual efforts to promote peace in the times that peace is being challenged. Their collective work reminds us that peace is not merely the absence of war, but a deliberate and courageous choice that can shape a better future for us all.”

We know there are children in Gaza who wish they had died along with the rest of their family. Being aware of the horrors of war, the genocide, can make it hard for us to feel joy and gratitude, yet we know these are needed for a better world.

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Until Feb. 19 individuals can sign this e-petition: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Sign/e-4745

Conscience Canada signed this open letter : https://www.oxfam.ca/news/open-letter-civil-society-coalition-urges-canada-to-stop-arms-transfers-to-israel/

ThankYou to members: one shared a vision of Palestinians in colourful dress, encircling Rafah, so we all would clearly see, as the Israeli army advances, who they(we) are killing & maiming.

Another wrote: “In the years to come, we will wonder why we did not make our objections to ALL wars more public.”

This article, co-authored by CC board member Linda Thyer, challenges us to adopt a peaceful approach to conflict, if we want to respond adequately to the planetary health crisis we face. https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/its-time-for-canadian-environmental-groups-to-talk-about-war-as-an-act-of-climate-denial

It quotes Nigerian winner of the Right Livelihood Award, Nnimmo Bassey: “The true environmental impact of war is impossible to quantify because it affects a staggering array of sectors and every aspect of human wellbeing. Wars kill people, extinguish biodiversity, and destroy the infrastructure that could otherwise provide safeguards in the face of extreme weather events. Warfare is an act of climate denial.”