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| Iraq Peace Team (I) Callout |
Three members of the Ottawa and Montreal communities will be leaving for Iraq on January 26, 2003, as participants in the Iraq Peace Team at the end of January. This message provides the basic details of the delegation and the various ways in which you can support .
A C T I V I T I E S I N I R A Q. Our programme in Iraq could include visits to families, hospitals, universities, and other public centres. If the situation allows, we will meet with NGOs and other organisations, give interviews with international and Canadian media, participate in press conferences, and take part in public protests against the war. Our programme will have to be flexible to adapt to the volatile situation. M O N T R E A L / O T T A W A G R O U P . The members of the Montreal/Ottawa group soon leaving for Iraq are Mary Foster (peace and social justice activist in Ottawa and Montreal), Lisa Ndejuru (religious studies student at Université du Quebec a Montréal), and Mick Panesar (a teacher working for CAUT and journalist with CKCU FM in Ottawa). Bios of each individual are to be found at the end of this message. We will be joining other internationals, mostly from the United States, in a delegation due to enter Iraq around 30 January. We intend to remain two weeks. Y O U R S U P P O R T. There are many ways in which you can help to ensure our delegation to Iraq happens and is effective in building resistance to the war. ---> F i n a n c i a l s u p p o rt. Each member of the team needs to raise $2400. This will cover the flight to Amman (about $1200) and all logistical costs, including transportation to Baghdad, accommodation, food, support from Voices in the Wilderness (about $1000). In addition, we will be purchasing and bringing a limited supply of children's vitamins, other vital health supplies, CD ROMs of medical journals and small gifts prohibited by the sanctions. Checks can be made out to either "NOWAR-PAIX" (c/o UNIT 12, 604 MacLaren St., Ottawa ON K1R 5K9) or "Objection Conscience - Voices of Conscience" (c/o 8166 Henri-Julien, Montreal QC H2P 2J2). In either case they need to be clearly marked "for Iraq Peace Team." --->E n d o r s e m e n t s. If you are connected with any organisations likely to support us (unions, NGOs, grassroots organisations, faith-based groups, etc.), we are seeking endorsements. Please let us know.
---> W r i t t e n r e p o r t s . If you would like to receive and use our reports about how the war is affecting people in Iraq, please let us know or sign on to our list (iptcanada@yahoogroups.ca). It would be great if as many folks as possible could circulate them, post them on websites, publish them, and generally use them in your antiwar work. --->M e d i a c o n t a c t s . If you have contacts in alternative or mainstream media, please put us in touch with them. We are looking for opportunities to publish our reports in print, online and tv/radio media before, during and after our visit. Daily columns in print media would also be a good idea if people have contacts to set something like that up. --->R a d i o r e p o r t s. We intend to report regularly to community radio stations, including CKUT and Radio Centre-Ville (TBC) in Montreal, CKCU in Ottawa, and CKLN in Toronto (TBC). These reports will also be posted online. Please pass on and otherwise use the reports once they are posted. --->S u p p o r t g r o u p s. If you can help to coordinate support for us, join the support groups in Ottawa (contact Jo Wood, jwood@ccs.carleton.ca, tel 613 565 5959) or Montreal (contact Raymond Legault, legaultr@colba.net, tel 514 858 7584). They will be fund-raising, organizing contact with MPs and other government people (as necessary), providing support for our families, sending reports and appeals, doing media work and other support as it arises. --->F o l l o w u p . It will be very important to speak to as many people as possible about the Iraq Peace Team when we come back. If you can set up a public speaking event for us, please let us know. C O N T A C T S : iptcanada@yahoo.ca, tel. 514 521 5252 During our stay in Baghdad, we can be reached by telephone at our hotel (please contact support groups for telephone numbers). You can also contact: ---> Montreal and Ottawa support groups (contacts above) ---> Canadian coordination of Iraq Peace Team, Erica Lamacraft, tel 1 604 215 2779, email ericalamacraft@hotmail.com ---> International coordination of Iraq Peace Team, Voices in the Wilderness, Stephanie Schaudel, tel 1 773 784 8065, stephanie@vitw.org |
| Peace Team Biographies |
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I R A Q P E A C E T E A M In the face of mounting threats against Iraq on the part of the Bush administration, the US/UK group Voices in the Wilderness initiated the Iraq Peace Team project. Since September 2002, this has ensured ongoing presence of international activists on the ground in Iraq standing in solidarity with the Iraqi people, while at the same time working to prevent a US/UK attack. The Iraq Peace Team intends to remain with the Iraqi people during an attack and will provide accurate reports about the effects of the war (both economic and military) on Iraqis. Voices in the Wilderness participated in the Gulf Peace Team in 1990, and has been very actively opposing the sanctions and continuing bombing ever since. They have organised over 50 delegations to Iraq from the US and, as a result, have excellent connections in Iraq and a solid understanding of the situation. For more information about the Iraq Peace Team, see www.iraqpeaceteam.org. Throughout November and December 2002, Canadians associated with the Canadian Network to End Sanctions on Iraq (CANESI) have also been active participants in this project. First, with the 4-week presence of Dr. David Swann from Calgary (see 
G O A L S. Although we don't entertain any illusions that the presence of four Canadians in Baghdad is going to directly influence the Bush administration's decision to escalate the war on Iraq, we do hold out hope that it can deepen resolve and concretely assist the growing antiwar movement in Canada. This is our primary goal as participants of the IPT. This goal is important not only for the immediate situation in Iraq, but because the invasion of Iraq is unlikely to be the last step along the war path of the Bush administration. The mere fact of our presence - a powerful symbol of solidarity and a statement that Iraqi lives are no less valuable than Canadian and American lives - can potentially help to build the antiwar movement in North America and beyond. To facilitate this, insofar as possible in the very difficult circumstances, we will be providing our networks and media with accurate reports (written, radio, interviews, and photos) on the impact that the war (or threat of an escalated war) is having on Iraqis, already weakened by over a decade of sanctions and bombing. A second possible goal, depending on circumstances, is to use our localised presence in particular situations to protect Iraqi citizens from attack, where this is likely to be effective through support from our networks.
--->T r a n s l a t i o n . Two members of our team speak and write French, but there will be a need for English to French translation. If you can volunteer to translate reports and media bulletins, please let us know.
M a r y Foster has an MA in Political Science (thesis in Political Philosophy) from McGill University. She has worked as a teacher in northern Quebec and Turkey, at peace-oriented NGOs and as a researcher at a peace research centre in Bonn, Germany. She has been active in the peace and social justice movement since the mid-90s, with active involvement in a number of different groups in Montreal and Ottawa. With 11 September and the threat of perpetual war, helping to build resistance to the dangerous agenda of the George Bush administration became a priority. In addition to living and working in Turkey and Germany, Mary has travelled in the Middle East, Europe and North America, Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia and India. 
M a n m o h a n ( M i c k ) P a n e s a r has degrees in engineering, philosophy and education. He has been politically active for many years in the student, environmental, labour and anti-war movements in the Ottawa area. In addition to his recent anti-war efforts, he has been working on curriculum development with the global education organization, World Inter-Action Mondiale, and, over the last several years he has been a public-affairs and music programmer, producer and board member at CKCU-FM 93.1. He works both as a Grade 7/8 teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board as well as with the Canadian Association of University Teachers in the area of communications. During the summer months, he works as a field biologist (ornithology and botany). Some of his other interests include hiking, camping, canoeing, cooking, eating, music, reading, cycling, running (10K/marathons), travelling, gardening, ecology, political theory, philosophy, and theology.