Dear Editor,
20 000 American citizens, including some victims of the Sept 11 massacre
and their families, gathered in Washington on Sept 29 to demand a
non-military response to the tragedy. The US peace movement is
growing
fast, despite anthrax scares. And the Canadian peace movement is growing
too.
Far from being “insensitive” to the suffering of victims of violence,
peace activism at this time is the bravest and most compassionate
approach. In the face of so much pressure to march off to war, it takes
a great deal of courage to speak up for peace in the tradition of Mark
Twain.
As a young speaker at the Washington rally pointed out: "A racist war
will not bring back our loved ones. It will only multiply the
tragedy a
thousandfold." At the conclusion of his speech, the young emergency
medical technician who lost four members of his squad and was nearly
killed himself, called not for a moment of silence, but for a moment
of
resolve "that all of us here, in this moment, resolve that we will
committ our hands,our voices, our bodies, and all resources at our
command to stand with the International Action Center and say: 'We
are
going to Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.'"
For more information on the US antiwar movement surf to:
www.iacenter.org For streaming video of the Sept 29 peace
rally, surf
to: www.internationalANSWER.org To become involved in the
local peace
movement come to Sunshine Coast Peace Group meetings Thursday evenings
at 7pm on the Sechelt Elementary campus. The group is also holding
weekly demonstrations Saturdays from 12:00 to 1:00 pm in the park at
the
corner of Cowrie and Wharf in Sechelt, with a major demonstration
planned for Saturday, Oct. 27, an internationally coordinated day of
action against racism and war.. For more information surf to the
Sunshine Coast Peace Group Homepage:
www.user.dccnet.com/welcomewoods/SunshineCoastPeaceGroup or call
883-4353.
Sincerely, Roger Lagassé