From June 29 to 30, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) gathered in Madrid, Spain, to make decisions that would impact the people of oppressed nations around the world. This imperialist military alliance held their summit when NATO was escalating its war drive, advancing the U.S. hegemonic strategy with their imperialist allies, including Canada. For over 20 years, U.S.-NATO wars have devastated Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now Ukraine, where NATO provoked and fuelled a war with Russia.
Peace and antiwar activists in Madrid came out in the thousands to protest the NATO Summit, along with protesters across Europe and around the world. Here in Canada, the Canada Peace and Justice Network called for days of action from June 24 – 30, demanding Stop NATO and Canada out of NATO!
Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO), a member group of the Canada Peace and Justice Network, joined in organizing the Vancouver action on June 25. This action was a joint effort of the Just Peace Committee, Global Peace Alliance-BC, World Beyond War, Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO), and Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice, with the support and participation of other organizations and communities. The action was held in front of the CBC news offices in downtown Vancouver, demanding that CBC stop acting as a mouthpiece to promote Canada-NATO wars. A brief program was held with speakers from the Just Peace Committee, East Indian Defence Committee and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network, Mobilization Against War and Occupation,
Global Peace Alliance-BC Society and the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). Protesters also distributed antiwar literature to passers-by, including a statement for the days of action against NATO from the Canada Peace and Justice Network, which can be read at https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/stopnato.
Alongside Vancouver, the days of action against NATO took place across Canada, including in Victoria, Nanaimo, Regina, Winnipeg, Collingwood, Hamilton, Montreal, Calgary, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Waterloo, Oakville and Ottawa - cities small and large!
On June 30, MAWO participated in another important event against NATO, a webinar organized by the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and Science for Peace. The speakers included MAWO executive member Janine Solanki, Djibo Sobukwe from the Black Agenda Report and Black Alliance for Peace, Danny Haiphong, host of The Left Lens and Tamara Lorincz from Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. The event was very well attended and included a lively discussion. To read the speech given by Janine Solanki, turn to page 4.
Join in upcoming events and actions against war and occupation, online and in the streets of Vancouver! Visit www.mawovancouver.org or follow MAWO on Twitter and Instagram @MAWOVan and Facebook @MAWOVancouver.
Follow Janine on Twitter: @janinesolanki
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