CONTENTS
CALLS TO ACTION
Canada Must Stop Arming Genocide
The International Court of Justice has just ordered Israel to stop committing genocidal acts.Take action now to demand Canada impose an immediate arms embargo on Israel.
worldbeyondwar.org
Reverse the UNRWA cuts, don’t punish Gaza!
In a shamefully cruel decision last Friday, Canada suspended funding to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, following unproven Israeli claims about a few of its employees. Earlier that day, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza are potentially genocidal, so Canada’s decision to defund UNRWA is tantamount to an act of collective punishment against a population facing genocide. Two million people in Gaza depend on UNRWA as a humanitarian lifeline, as Israel’s siege is manufacturing conditions of famine and disease. Canada must immediately reverse its decision on UNRWA cuts to ensure that the population of Gaza continues to receive humanitarian aid.cjpme.org
EVENTS
Where is Chrystia Freeland?
When: February 22nd, 4pmWhere: 344 Bloor St W
We are out today at 4 pm, looking for our MP Chrystia Freeland. Join us!
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Palestine Resists: Stories Against Oblivion
When: February 22nd, 6:30pmOver a century of destruction, erasure, expulsion, assassinations, and genocide have not succeded in quelling Palestinian existence and resistance. Join Mayworks, Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG), Librarians and Archivists with Palestine (LAP), and Publishers for Palestine for a roundtable discussion on the destruction of knowledge and information, censorship, repression, and solidarity. We will be discussing how we resist through the media, libraries, and archives with guest speakers Tam Rayan, Anais Salamon, and Pacinthe Mattar, with moderator Pamela Arancibia.
zoom.us
The Struggle for Liberty
When: February 22nd, 7pmMoms 4 Liberty and other radical right organizations, masquerading as grassroots groups of concerned parents, have been using their dark money and political connections to take over school boards and pressure school systems to abandon their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies aimed at protecting the rights and identities of all students. M4L is also the force behind many of the initiatives to ban books, curricula, and classroom conversations regarding truths about race, history, and identity. This action dialogue will provide more information on who M4L really is and who is behind them and identify successful strategies that can be used to counter them in our school districts and legislatures.
Panelists:
– Elizabeth Hammon, Anti-Racist Education Alliance
– Elizabeth Mikitarian, Stop Moms for Liberty
– Jumel Howard, PFLAG
unitingtosaveourschools.org
Building Bridges for Peace
When: Thursday February 22nd, 8pm229 unions and other labor organizations (including the AFL-CIO) have taken a stand for ceasefire. Among them 10 national unions (AFA, AFT, APWU, CWA, IAPUT, NEA, NNU, SEIU, UAW, UE) have called for a ceasefire. Together they represent almost 60% of all union members in the US.
Facebook poster | Zoom.us
Commemorating the Nakba’s 75th Year
When: February 23rd, 6pmWhere: Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave
To commemorate the Nakba’s 75th year, Professors J. Kēhaulani Kauanui and Amahl Bishara will be in conversation to discuss past and present Palestinian and other Indigenous struggles in a public event at the University of Toronto (St. George).
eventbrite.ca
We Won’t Be Silenced!
When: Friday February 23rd, 7pmJoin us for a roundtable discussion on the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices – from classrooms to boardrooms. All over the GTA, we are seeing a disturbing rise in people being explicitly targeted with punishment, termination and all-out silencing for expressing any form of Palestine solidarity.
docs.google.com
War of Attrition or Chance for Peace?
When: February 24th, 7amJoin the International Peace Bureau for a crucial webinar via Zoom: “Ukraine Two Years After the Invasion: War of Attrition or Chance for Peace?”
Twitter poster | zoom.us
Ukraine – How to Stop This War
When: February 24th, 9am (2pm GMT)Two years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of thousands are dead, countless more injured, homes and infrastructure destroyed and millions displaced – and the risk of nuclear war has increased.
This war must end. The provocation of NATO expansion must cease. And there must be a just and lasting negotiated settlement, meeting the needs of all peoples. Join the discussion with our international panel – what can we do to help end this war?
worldbeyondwar.org
Better Work For Better Care
When: February 24th, 12pmOntario’s healthcare system is in crisis. Poor working conditions and system-wide under-funding is threatening the safety of health workers and patients alike. If the Ford government moves ahead with its plan to further privatize healthcare services, access to care and the rate of health worker burnout will only get worse.
We are inviting health workers from across the province to join the Better Work for Better Care forum to discuss how to link the movement for decent work with the fight to defend and improve public healthcare.
decentworkandhealth.org
In Praise of Black Culture /w Lillian Allen
When: February 24th 7pmFeaturing readings of newly commissioned works by the students of our new Poet Laureate and led by Lillian Allen herself, this evening of poetry speaks to the way that belonging creates a sense of safety and power within Communities of Colour.
Montgomery’s Inn
Gaza in Every City rally!
When: Sunday February 25th, 1pmWhere: Mississauga Celebration Square
Join us on February 25th for our Gaza in Every City rally! We will continue to demand an arms embargo on Israel, reinstatement of funding to UNRWA, the siege on Gaza lifted, and a CEASEFIRE NOW! #T4P
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Canadian Foreign Policy Hour with Yves Engler
When: Mondays at 6pmJoin author Yves Engler on Mondays for a weekly news roundup and interactive discussion about Canada’s role abroad. This weekly session will delve into the latest developments on subjects ranging from military affairs and Canada’s role in Ukraine to its contribution to Palestinian dispossession, and the exploitation of African resources. Join Yves for a critical take on Canada’s foreign policy. Questions, comments, and criticisms are all welcome.
zoom.us
A Very Canadian Coup in Haiti
When: February 26th, 6:30pmWhere: 45 Willcocks St
On February 29, 2004, the Canadian military participated in the overthrow of the democratically elected President of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide. Under Aristide, Haiti was making progress towards building a people’s democracy, strengthening political institutions and the rule of law through elections, and reforming the economy to redirect resources to build much needed schools and primary clinics and infrastructure for the Haitian people. This was done through a popular platform based on the idea that these modest reforms would transform life for the majority of the Haitian people, moving them “from absolute misery to dignified poverty”. Combine this with the call for reparations, Aristide and the Lavalas party had to go.
Join us for a conversation with an exciting panel that brings some of the top minds and critical voices together, as we are delighted to host Professor Jemima Pierre, filmmaker and journalist Etant Dupain, and activist and educator Jean St. Vil.
eventbrite.com
From Fringe to Foreground
When: Wednesday, February 28th, 12 noonJoin us to explore the influence of far-right politics on Canada’s climate conversation and what this means for communicators. This discussion and Q&A session will follow the evidence to disentangle the far-right’s financial ties to the oil and gas industry, the messaging strategies employed by Canada’s anti-climate influencers, and the media and networks that move anti-climate politics from the fringe to the mainstream and what this all means for Canadian politics and journey to net-zero.
Hosted by Re.Climate out of Carlton University.
mailchi.mp | zoom.us
Solidarities + Connections with Palestine
When: February 28th, 4pmA panel discussion hosted by the Centre for Human Rights Research at the University of Manitoba.
zoom.us
50 Years of Feminisms in the City
When: February 28th, 4pmWhere: William Doo Auditorium, 45 Willcocks St.
What were the wider conditions of possibility of WGSI’s formation? What are some of the key issues animating struggles and dreams today? This panel brings together a wonderful lineup of fierce activists who will speak to fifty years of feminist organizing in Toronto.
Register
Healing Resistance
When: February 28th, 6pmThis workshop is on Healing Resistance. We are living in time of upheaval. As social, ecological, economic and political systems are on the brink of collapse, we are presented with an incredible opportunity to shape a new future. Join SURJ for a discussion on how these compounding crises impact our ability to engage in the work of racial healing.
zoom.us
Decolonize Drag
When: February 29th, 6pmWhere: OISE Auditorium
Join us for an evening of learning at the intersections of drag, gender, sexuality, and decolonization with author of Decolonize Drag, Kareem Khubchandani. As part of the Indigenous Education Network’s Two Spirit Series, this event is a unique collaboration with the Critical Health and Social Action Lab and Between the Lines Publishers.
eventbrite.ca
ARTICLES
John Saul and the Meaning of Solidarity
Like many others from around the world, and particularly Southern Africa, we have mourned the passing of John S. Saul in September 2023 in Toronto, the city where he grew up, taught and wrote his numerous books and essays. His contributions to the liberation of Southern Africa from his years there, his writings, and his role in forming the Toronto Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa, a key fulcrum of anti-apartheid activism in Canada. For many of us, John was a teacher, comrade, and spirited partisan of jazz, theatre and the Toronto sports teams. He was also an important force behind the Canadian political magazines Southern Africa Report and This Magazine. The following convey something of the importance of John’s life and contributions to the socialist movements in Canada and Southern Africa.Source: The Bullet No. 2950
Enabling Genocide: Trudeau, Joly and Poilievre
By Canadian BDS CoalitionOn December 29, 2023, the government of South Africa filed an application instituting proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning alleged violations by Israel of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the “Genocide Convention”) in relation to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In its application to the ICJ, South Africa wrote that “Israel, since 7 October 2023 in particular, has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute the direct and public incitement to genocide” and that “Israel has engaged in, is engaging in and risks further engaging in genocidal acts against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
Source: The Bullet No. 2951
It Is Dark Before the Dawn, But Israeli Settler Colonialism Is At an End
By Ilan PappéThe idea that Zionism is settler colonialism is not new. Palestinian scholars in the 1960s working in Beirut in the PLO Research Centre had already understood that what they were facing in Palestine was not a classical colonial project. They did not frame Israel as just a British colony or an American one, but regarded it as a phenomenon that existed in other parts of the world; defined as settler colonialism. It is interesting that for 20 to 30 years, the notion of Zionism as settler colonialism disappeared from the political and academic discourse.
Source: The Bullet No. 2952
Fascist Threat and What it Means for Working Class Politics
Amidst unfolding environmental disaster, ongoing genocide, and a lack of faith in public institutions, fascist and anti-democratic movements continue to gain political ground, both at home and abroad. How can working class movements respond to these fundamental threats? How can we build a real alternative that can challenge the dominant politics of division and distrust? To speak to this pressing topic, the Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education (LPSSE) is thrilled to host Adolph Reed Jr. for his special guest lecture, “The Fascist Threat: What it Means for Working Class Politics.”Source: LeftStreamed