Jan S: Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” speaks to me as I find myself reacting to information and opinions to justify whatever side people want to sympathize with.

Information, especially that which helps people see outside the bubbles they find themselves in, has its place. But Charles Eisenstein’s invitation to use COURAGE (the capacity of the heart) feels like “higher ground” to me. https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/whose-reality-is-it

Hence my invitation to learn about the ongoing work to build bridges, to find better ways. One great source is this: https://wagingnonviolence.org/ . Let’s “keep on tryin’ till [we] reach [our] highest ground.”

The board of Conscience Canada supports this call for an immediate ceasefire and allowing the necessities of life into Gaza: https://www.change.org/p/sign-and-share-this-urgent-petition-calling-for-a-ceasefirenow-in-gaza-and-israel

In this time of heightened tensions, open dialogue that allows people to speak honestly, to start to understand what leads to the strong emotions, and helps people heal from trauma is so necessary. See, for instance, these articles about dialogue on US campuses:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/free-speech/2023/10/20/campus-leaders-promote-open-dialogue-israel-hamas-war

https://thirdnarrative.org/on-promoting-productive-campus-dialogue-about-israel-palestine/

by Linda Thyer

With just a hint of annoyance, I gently place the spider on a nearby white poppy after brushing the strands of her web from my face in the early morning. The sticky silk reminds me of my small place in the complex web of nature, and the white poppy reminds me of peace – two interwoven issues brought to mind on September 21st, the International Day of Peace.

Canadians of my generation may take peace for granted, most of us having never directly known militarized conflict. As a physician, I am deeply aware that war and militarization cause short and long-term harms and disabilities, both mental and physical, with each carrying significant costs to individuals, communities and society, with the harmful effects cascading through generations.

My parents grew up in Europe during World War II and I am left with a conscientious objection to war and militarism. Yet I am obliged, against my conscience, to support the federal government’s ongoing commitment to militarism, this year demonstrated through the purchase of 88 F-35 fighter jets in a multi-billion dollar deal. In Canada, we must all pay for such machines of war through our taxes.

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First, a petition worth signing: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/israel_palestine_save_the_kids_loc/.

For insight into how to end the bloodshed in Israel and Palestine, one article worth reading and sharing is this one, by Charles Eisenstein: https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/hamas-israel-and-the-devil-on-my

Thank you to Shakil Choudhury for permission to share this BEAUTIFUL story, in honour of the National Day of Truth & Reconciliation, from his useful book! This story is more fully recounted online at: http://francinelemayenglish.weebly.com/my-story.html

The First Step to Reconciliation

In the summer of 1990, a blockade was set up on a local road to Kanesatake, home to the mostly English-speaking Mohawk people in the French-speaking province of Quebec, about an hour’s drive from Montreal. Once again, Indigenous rights were being trampled. This time the scenario involved the local town, Oka, pushing for townhouse development and expansion plans for a golf course over the ancestral burial grounds without consent or permission from the Mohawks of the Kanesatake community.

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Nonviolence News https://nonviolencenews.org/ editor Rivera Sun shares “success stories” including one from Truthout about this successful petition campaign https://truthout.org/articles/activists-now-have-104000-signatures-to-put-stop-cop-city-on-the-ballot/.

Thanks to author Leonard Desroches for the lead to Nonviolence News.

We are told that the military protects our lives, our freedoms. If we needed proof that militarism undermines health and wellbeing, and rights and freedoms, not only overseas but at home as well, this article, by PBI-Canada’s Brent Patterson, provides it. https://pbicanada.org/2023/08/22/nagata-links-rcmp-c-irg-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-former-cia-director-david-petraeus-and-us-military-counter-insurgency-manual/

Wear white poppies from Sept. 21 (International Day of Peace) to Dec. 10 (International Human Rights Day).  By wearing white poppies, we affirm our support for a world free of war & the harms linked to war & militarism (eg. human rights violations, sexism & other forms of denigration and marginalization, colonialism and the destruction of natural life systems). Other important dates to highlight include the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (Sept. 30), the International Day of Nonviolence (Oct. 2), Remembrance Day (Nov. 11) and the Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women (Dec. 6)

Open the door to questioning war and the fear that feeds it.

Renew our commitment to work for peace with justice. Withhold taxes and other energies that feed war. Defund the military; defend the earth.

Contact b.nota@icloud.com to order wallet cards.

See the “Creativity” tab https://www.consciencecanada.ca/?page_id=1592 for ideas for making poppies.

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Bruna Nota and Murray Lumley represented Conscience Canada at the annual Hiroshima Day event in Toronto this year. In a recent letter, Doug Hewitt-White points out, “As August 6th approaches we remember the criminal horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet our country has chosen not to vote for the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons approved by 122 other nations around the world. ”

As the famous “Doomsday Clock” is set closer to “midnight” than ever, Doug invites us to remember our humanity. Read his letter here: https://millstonenews.com/remembering-our-humanity/

By World BEYOND War, July 31, 2023

Activists with Montreal for a World BEYOND War and the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute gave out free ice cream at Parc Lafontaine on Sunday, July 23 at 1PM in a “Cones Not Drones” action calling for an end to Canada’s planned armed drone purchase.

Find out more about what a proposed drone purchase means for the rule of law and how to set up your own Cones Not Drones stand: https://worldbeyondwar.org/cones-not-drones-using-ice-cream-to-take-on-canadas-planned-purchase-of-its-first-armed-drones/