August 8, 2004 Ottawa's Centretown Buzz: Why Ottawa needs a pesticide bylaw - July 2004 The City's pesticide education efforts, coupled with a voluntary pesticide reduction strategy, evidently are not working. Grannie Ria's Comment: Halifax is satisfied with their by-law and will see stricter implications as time goes on. People accept it very well. Grannie Rosalie and I recently saw pesticide warning signs around Tunneys Pasture! That means: Federal land does not have to obey the Municipal standards? Our Ottawa Public Lands are chemical free, except for spraying some very noxious weeds such as poison ivy. We are pursuing that issue. Letter
containing the sentencing statements of three anti-nuke nuns
July 26, 2003 Friends Below is a letter we received today from Jonah House describing the criminal sentencing of three nuns - Sisters Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Hudson-- in Colorado to extended stays in the penitentiary for acts of symbolic nonviolent disarmament. Many of you have heard their story as we have campaigned against Canada's participation in space warfare. We must continue to commit ourselves to their visionary resistance work here in Canada, where the government's stated policy of trying to devise a plan to "place 70 tons of lethality (killing power) into a 20-ton package" is one of their own "unique" contributions to space warfare. We will pass along the sisters' addresses as soon as we know where they are being held so you can write to them. peace Matthew
Behrens Dear Friends - Today, Sisters Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Hudson were sentenced for breaking into a federal missile silo in Colorado, smearing it with their own blood and pounding on it with hammers. The Dominican nuns said the act symbolized that they would rather pour out their own blood than have U.S. weapons take the blood of another. The day began in Colorado with a press conference in front of the Federal building at which the nuns read their pre-sentencing statements; they would not read them in court. Instead, in solidarity with women around the world, they decided to dress as Women in Black and remain mute in the courtroom. It proceeded with the Judge deciding to consolidate the sentencings - despite his prior refusal of that motion. Once
in
court, arguments were made by both sides on the length of sentence. The
prosecutor and the probation office requested sentences ranging from 5
to 10 years in prison. The nuns' attorneys argued that when the
guidelines
for sabotage were set to mandate lengthy sentences, the actions defined
under "sabotage" in no way included what the nuns did. The legal
precedent
is that of Daniel Sicken and Sachio Ko Yin who, some years back, were
sentenced
in the same court for a similar action. Their judge - Judge
Sr.
Jackie
Hudson was sentenced to 30 months in prison In addition, a period of 3 years supervised release follows their prison sentences; no fines were imposed but restitution of $3,081.04 was. They were ordered to self-surrender but refused and were taken immediately into custody. Supporters in the packed courtroom chanted: "Close the silos; free the nuns!" and the courtroom was cleared. The
day
began in Baltimore with reading and reflecting on the scripture
passages
for today. The passage from 2 Corinthians 4: 8ff was a gift for today;
it reminded us that the nuns (and through and in solidarity with
We are grieved that the nuns will have to serve that kind of time for an action that was totally symbolic; but we are relieved that it is not the 8 - 10 years that the prosecution was demanding. The nuns were and are prepared to accept prison, however much they - and we - believe that they committed no crime, certainly no major crime. "We had no criminal intent at any level," said Sr. Ardeth Platte, a member, with Sr. Carol Gilbert, of Jonah House. "We accept the consequences of our actions joyfully.I know it will be a long journey, but we're not afraid." Platte said. The sisters believe nuclear weapons are the "taproot" of social and economic injustice because the billions of dollars spent on them could go to programs for the poor and needy. Standing against militarism, they say, is a way to challenge skewed priorities that cause orphanages and soup kitchens to exist in the first place. The Nuns' "crimes" revealed that we in the U.S. accept rule by our own "evil tyrants who threaten and use weapons of mass destruction and ignore international law." Even more shocking to the current "might makes right" school of "law," the Nuns showed that together we could nonviolently accomplish complete nuclear disarmament one weapon at a time starting with open declaration and inspection. We have no news yet of where the nuns will be taken. We expect they will spend some time in a local or transitory facility before being taken to the federal prisons where they will serve their time. We will be in touch when we have an address for them. Below are the statements Carol and Ardeth made this morning in front of the courthouse, having determined not to speak in court. SENTENCING
STATEMENT - SISTER CAROL GILBERT, OP For many months I have pondered what to say, if anything at all. St. Francis once said, "Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words." It seems that today a few words are necessary. For the past ten months we have tried to cooperate with these courts. We have been asking since day one - what are the charges? What is Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 2155, if not sabotage? We are not saboteurs. Today, we ask no more questions. We know something is very wrong with a system that can incarcerate us for years in prison for inspecting, exposing and symbolically disarming America's Weapons of Mass Destruction. We know we should be acquitted for upholding the United States Constitution that declares all laws and treaties to be the supreme laws of the country. Article
6, Section 2 of the United States Constitution "declares this
constitution
and the laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance
thereof,
and all Treaties made, or which shall be made under the
We should be acquitted for upholding International laws which this court has deemed unnecessary but which is bound to enforce under Article 6, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. It hurts to hear the prosecutor continue to call Frances Boyle a "self-professed international law guru." We should be acquitted for upholding the highest law - God's Law. Judge Blackburn talked a lot about law. He didn't want this to be a political trial but a case about law. So did we. That was our deepest hope. But, we were not the ones that turned this into a political trial nor will we make of ourselves political prisoners - that will be the prosecutor and judge. We have read in the press and in our pre-sentencing reports that the lengthy sentence is for deterrence - both for ourselves and others. But, what the government fails to recognize is that long prison sentences will only energize the movement. As a tee shirt in upstate New York reads, "You can jail the resister but not the resistance." We will not be silenced. During our seven months in the Clear Creek County Jail we received thousands of letters from the United States and international community, over a thousand signatures from people who stand in solidarity with us and more than 650 letters were sent to the judge asking for compassion and justice. There have been four plowshares actions since ours - one of them in the United States. This Memorial Day, four plowshares activists enfleshed the Isaiah and Micah prophecies on the USS Philippine Sea in New York harbor during fleet week naming themselves Riverside Ploughshares. No charges were filed. No, Judge Blackburn needs no more words from us. Judge Blackburn needs no character witnesses this morning. What Judge Blackburn needs is to listen to his God. He needs to heed these words from one of my church's social justice documents, Gadium et spes. # 16. "Deep within their consciences men and women discover a law which they have not laid upon themselves and which they must obey. It's voice, ever calling them to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells them inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For they have in their hearts a law inscribed by God. Their dignity rests, in observing the law, and by it they will be judged. Their conscience is people's most secret core and their sanctuary. There they are alone with God whose voice echoes in their depths." Tomorrow,
non-violent citizens in Colorado will inspect and expose America's
weapons
of mass destruction, the Minuteman 111 , with others joining in
solidarity
in other states and others exposing other weapons
Resistance
will not be deterred. You cannot silence truth. Truth will be spoken.
Law
will be upheld. Judge Blackburn and the prosecutor need to reflect on
the
story in the Acts of the Apostles of Gamaliel - Chapter 5 vv. 17-42.
Gamaliel
was a Pharisee, a member of the Council, and a teacher of the Law. He
was
highly respected by all the people. As Peter and the other apostles
were
taken to the Council and high-priest, Someday history will prove what we did on the early morning of October 6, 2002 - inspecting, exposing and symbolically disarming a Minuteman 111, a weapon of mass destruction was legal. Until that day I will continue being led where I would rather not go. I will continue to resist with every fiber of my being so that not one child will ever ask, "Why were you complicit?". Lastly,
a few words about fear. I don't fear going to prison. I don't fear loss
of freedom to move about. I don't even fear death. The fear that fills
me is not having lived hard enough, deep enough and sweet enough with
There
is
a story told of Daniel Berrigan, Jesuit priest, prophet and friend that
he was once asked to give the commencement address at a prestigious
university.
He stood up, walked to the podium and said, "Know where you stand and
stand
there" and then he sat down. My friends, "know where you stand and
stand
there." (Bow) ELOCUTION
AT SENTENCING BY ARDETH PLATTE, O.P. While we were at home at Jonah House, we opened our liturgy with the music, "Here I am God. Is it I God? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go God, if You lead me. I will hold your people in my heart ." We closed the liturgy with: "Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come follow Me and I will give you rest." Faith and the words of the stanzas to these hymns record key notes in my journey of life - in waging peace, led on a quest for a world without war ever again, in an attempt to stop the crimes and sins of government in my name, in disarming weapons of mass destruction and stopping the merchant- sales of the killing machines and technology sold to other nations, and calling for a design of a global economy that will assure people in the entire world all basic human necessities of food, shelter, education and health care, etc. With a vision for disarmament, a mandate to speak truth, and a mission to halt the sinfulness, illegality and criminality being touted in my name, I march to the Drummer of my soul Who instills faith rather than fear, trust not hopelessness, and love instead of hatred and enemy relationships made through endless threats, innuendos, propaganda, and permanent warmaking. This
journey has included numerous direct actions over decades: forums,
vigils,
lobby, processions, demonstrations, boycotts, and civil resistance in
various
areas of the country. Our social analysis, along with the need to
unmask urgent and sometimes secretive matters, has led me into
nonviolent
symbolic public actions of resistance, such as: Sisters Carol, Jackie and I believe that we had a responsibility to inspect, expose, and symbolically disarm this weapon of mass destruction to avert a crime of our government and uphold the laws of the United States, not break them. Don't people claim today that the citizens of Germany should have blocked the trains carrying people to the crematoriums, dismantled the ovens, or done something to stop the mass murder of people by Hitler? How will future generations judge all of us? I find the charges in the Sacred Earth and Space Plowshares II bogus. Ours was a simple, measured, nonviolent, symbolic action wherein the liturgical rituals were crystal clear. What were the fears within the prosecutor to call for an "in limine" motion that silenced us on all the laws so pertinent to the threats to use the Minuteman III? What fears were within the judge to grant the silencing? Being stripped of our law defenses made the trial a farce. The elements of the charges were not substantiated beyond a reasonable doubt by the prosecutor. The jury did not recognize the ongoing change in the wording of the charges throughout the trial: from an indictment under sabotage by a grand jury, citing a specific intent to obstruct the national defense, then use of vandalism and trespass, and finally use of destruction of national defense premises recorded on the verdict form. Even the government's witnesses claimed under oath that the national defense was never jeopardized. How can a national offensive first strike weapon be launched as a national defensive weapon? Deliberation by the jury seemed brief and without researching answers to the complexities in such a serious case. Are we charged with sabotage? Yes! Isn't that the reason I face 92 to 115 months in prison? Could
peacemakers
lives be that expendable? Will the punitive measures taken
against
dissenters, enforced under Patriot Bills I and II, be so harsh that any
lawlessness on the part of government officials will go
The sentencing consequences are exaggerated; the prosecutor and probation offices' research is skewed. Why would multi-hundreds of letters and more than 1,000 solidarity communications have no effect for downward departure? Why has the prosecutor's statements to the press been considered acceptable - that a long sentence for us will deter others. Four plowshare actions have been carried out since ours - one on Memorial Day on the USS Philippine Sea with the use of blood poured out on the bomb hatches and hammers used in the same symbolic way? Yet no charges were brought forth. How will we wage the struggle together to keep democracy alive, to bring our nation from its killing mode to a life-giving mode, to keep the tenets of the beatitudes, commandments and Sermon on the Mount practiced by the nation as well as by us as individuals? Tomorrow's direct action at the silos and bases to inspect, expose and demand disarmament is a bold and worthy beginning. We join you in spirit with deepest gratitude. Whatever sentence I receive today will be joyfully accepted as an offering for peace. With God's help it will not injure my spirits. In the sacred moments or years of imprisonment, I will remain with you in prayer and walk together with you for the good of all humanity and creation. My love and gratitude always. The following is an unedited letter written by Khalid Lasfar, a witness to an incident of police brutality in the neighbourhood where he lives. No response has been received. June 27, 2003 Professional
Standards Section At around midnight on June 23, I heard the screeching of cars' wheels outside of my balcony, when I came out I saw Leo Villeneuve, 36 surrounded by 4 or 5 police officers, they were trying to get him to obey their orders in a very aggressive manner. It seemed as if he was trying to negotiating with them in order to protect himself against an impending physical assault by the police, as if asking them not to hurt him. The officers shouted and cursed at him to drop to his knees and then on his stomach. With no time to respond to the officers' orders, 2 or 3 male officers got closer to him and started punching and kicking him, beating him like street gangs do, on the head, neck and chest. Eventually, he was put on the ground face first, an officer sat with his knee on the back of his neck, another officers knee was on his back and yet another officer seem to be setting on the back of his legs. While he was still on the ground, hand cuffed, and shackled by his ankles, I heard the sound of what seems like a stun gun applied to his body, onlookers were talking about the fact that the stun guns were used. I saw at least two officers punching and kicking him alternatively from the opposite back doors while he seemed to be calmly sitting in the back of the police cruiser. The stun gun was used on Villeneuve at least two times while he was calmly setting in the back of the police's car. I believe the stun guns where use on about six occasions. Police cars started to leave and curious bystanders started to disperse, two police cruiser with the suspect in the back of them stayed plus two unmarked police SUVs and one black or dark blue unmarked car stayed on the scene. More than half an hour after the arrest an ambulance came, the technicians checked Villeneuve in the cruiser and then conferred with police officers before going back to the ambulance and getting the stretcher. He was loaded in the ambulance after all the witnesses have left the street. At one point a female officer by the name of Dion and a male officer were confronting a couple of onlookers who seemed to have complained about the police's use of excessive force and who asked Dion to provide her badge number but she refused. Later she asked me if I can read, implying I could read here name tag, when insisted that it was against the law not to identify herself. She
tried
to justify police tactics on the ground that maybe Villeneuve has Aid
and
that if he spits on the officers he would contaminate them. When I
asked
why he was punched while he was already cuffed and shackled in the back
of the police's cruiser, she asked me if I was a taxpayer, I answer
that
indeed I was, she seem to imply that he was beaten in the cruiser to
protect
the car from been damaged. She also said that until we get in
their
shoes we have no right to criticize them. Is
writing to the government a waste of time?
Some scepticism was recently expressed regarding the value of writing letters to our MPs, Ministers and Prime Minister. I have a friend in the higher levels of government who assures me every time I speak to her that writing to the government is crucial to our cause. She says that it is incredible how organized "the other side" is in this respect and it works. Although I do not work at the level that she does, I have been sent hopping on occasion as a result of a complaint by a constituent to their MP. I phoned her this week and asked her to put her thoughts down on paper so that you could get the message directly from her. [see below] I also asked her if it is worth writing now that the House has adjourned for the summer and she says that it is. The assistants are all still up there on the Hill. ****************** Many people feel that the government is not listening to them, and think that letter writing appears to be a futile effort. I would like to tell you firsthand that it does indeed make a difference, and how the process works. First of all, you may not get a response, and that can be discouraging. Sometimes the response consists of a mere acknowledgement, which is also discouraging. I want to tell you that it matters. More that some of you could ever imagine. The government sways in the wind according to which side makes the most noise. Further, Ministers and heads of departments become paranoid when bombarded with great numbers of letters, faxes and phone calls on a particular issue. I have seen firsthand how they will actually ignore policy, ignore or reinterpret the law, and generally act outside what is morally right in order to stop the barrage in its tracks. The government is impressed by numbers, and they interpret this to mean that this is an important issue to all these VOTERS who have bothered to contact them. They do not stop to think of the sheer numbers on the other side of an issue because the other side doesn’t make a noise. That is interpreted to mean that these people really don’t care about the issue and that they can satisfy the complainers without it being really noticed by the rest of the population. The regular civil servants who are ordered to take steps to satisfy those who have contacted government have been known to wonder (in amazement) why the other side has let a particular issue pass unnoticed when it should matter so much. The rank and file in many instances sympathize with the silent majority, but are powerless to do anything about it because the politicians and higher ups have “sent down the word” on how to deal with the issue. I will tell you as well that what matters is volume and persistence. You don’t have to slave over a letter for perfection, these matters are decided by the numbers and by the persistence of the writers. Perhaps you know that the right wing and other groups are very well organized. It is not out of the ordinary for a government official or MP to receive hundreds of letters, e-mails or faxes on an issue. Frankly, they then feel besieged and simply want to get these people and groups off their backs. Remember that in order to reach the higher echelons of government, somewhere along the way the member of parliament or the bureaucrat made choices that were expedient rather than moral. Responding to the “constituency” or lobby is what counts. Nothing, but nothing, causes more action within government departments than an effective letter writing campaign on an issue. Nothing can arouse a senior bureaucrat in quite the same way. A call or e-mail from and MP or cabinet minister on a particular issue has them scurrying around like crazy in order to carry out the Minister’s wishes. Remember that they are all bucking for promotions and they have gotten where they are by pleasing their masters. It is unfair but I want to be honest, when you don’t write, those in government who sympathize with your cause and want to help you, are left powerless. It will be pointed out that there is no support from the public for the other side. I have seen it happen first hand. And as a word of further encouragement, I have seen action taken for the good when ONE person complained. The person was persistent, had a worthy cause, was in the right, and never gave up. Don’t expect letters back saying that they will act, or that they agree with you. This does not happen. But rest assured, with a good campaign, things will be happening that you will not necessarily be aware of until sometime in the future. The wheels turn slowly but they do turn. An effective lobby will not be ignored. They do so at their peril. Silence, however, is never rewarded. If you want an example, look to the peace movement. Rest assured, had that movement not been persistent, Canada would have been in Iraq. Be
in the
government’s face on every issue that concerns you. You would be
horrified at how the right wing is pushing through their agenda by
these
methods. Don’t be outsmarted. ******************
Re: "Is writing to the government a waste of time?" This was a FANTASTIC posting - Merci! Here's a little something I learned as a child when a neighbour was 'in government'. I don't know how accurate is is at present, but I think it illustrates the power we still hold: Every phone call represents at least 10 constituents Every letter represents at least 100 constituents Every person on the street represents at least 1,000 constituents NEVER GIVE UP! Marsha
Insane Race to Destruction The
Editor
of May
12-2003 Yes, the American Government will go ahead with its missile defence program anyway, with or without Canada! It will go it alone as a true empire would do. So why would there be any reason to join them, thereby rejecting our role of peace builders, believers in international law and opposing the use of weapons in Space? Let me correct this and say: Canada already has joined the USA in the Star Wars Program. I read that Canadian and the U.S. militaries signed a joint statement of "Intent for Military Space Cooperation ' in October 1997. The understanding was that such an agreement as this is "in the mutual security and economic interest" of both countries. And did the Ottawa Citizen (January 2001) not have an article in which it reported that DREO (Defence Research Establishment Ottawa) is involved in the "Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector Project'? It said that the Canadian QWIP system has "significant implications for future exploitation to support U.S. Space-based Infrared Surveillance Systems, surveillance from space and missile defence applications." There you have it! Of course there is much more. For example the Canadian Defence Industries Association likes to make a fortune out of Star Wars and will not sit idle but put enormous pressure on our Government to push the involvement even further. Some might say that we only play a very small part in it, but this will never decrease but rather increase. When will we stop this insane race to destruction - which war-production always is? When will Canada say 'No' ? Why two women went to war Globe and Mail (TORONTO) Comment By NAOMI
KLEIN Jessica Lynch and Rachel Corrie could have passed for sisters. Two all-American blondes, two destinies forever changed in a Middle East war zone. Private Jessica Lynch, the soldier, was born in Palestine, W.Va. Rachel Corrie, the activist, died in Israeli-occupied Palestine. Ms. Corrie was four years older than 19-year-old Pte. Lynch. Her body was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza seven days before Pte. Lynch was taken into Iraqi custody, on March 23. Before she went to Iraq, Pte. Lynch organized a pen pal program with a local kindergarten. Before Ms. Corrie left for Gaza, she organized a pen pal program between kids in her hometown of Olympia, Wash., and children in Rafah. Pte. Lynch went to Iraq as a soldier loyal to her government. Ms. Corrie went to Gaza to oppose the actions of her government. As a U.S. citizen, she believed she had a special responsibility to defend Palestinians against U.S.-built weapons, purchased with U.S. aid to Israel. In letters home, she described how fresh water was being diverted from Gaza to Israeli settlements, and how death was more normal than life. Unlike Pte. Lynch, Ms. Corrie did not set out to engage in combat; she went to try to thwart it. Along with fellow members of the International Solidarity Movement, she believed that the Israeli military's incursions could be slowed by the presence of highly visible "internationals," that Israel would not want the diplomatic or media scandals that would result if it started shooting U.S. and British college students. In a way, Ms. Corrie was harnessing the very thing she disliked most about her country -- the belief that American lives are worth more than any others -- and trying to use it to save a few Palestinian homes from demolition. Believing her florescent orange jacket would serve as armour, that her bullhorn could repel bullets, she stood in front of bulldozers, slept beside wells, and escorted children to school. If suicide bombers turn their bodies into weapons of death, Ms. Corrie turned hers into a weapon of life, a "human shield." When that Israeli bulldozer driver pressed the accelerator, her strategy failed. It turns out that the lives of some U.S. citizens -- even beautiful, young, white women -- are valued more than others. And nothing demonstrates this more starkly than the opposing responses to Ms. Corrie and Pte. Lynch. When the Pentagon announced Pte. Lynch's rescue, she became an overnight hero, complete with "America loves Jessica" fridge magnets, stickers, T-shirts, mugs, country songs and a made-for-TV movie. According to White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush was "full of joy for Jessica Lynch." Her rescue, we were told, was a testament to a core American value. As Senator Jay Rockefeller said, "We take care of our people." Do they? Ms. Corrie's death was met with almost total official silence, despite the fact that witnesses claim it was a deliberate act. Mr. Bush has said nothing about a U.S. citizen being killed by a U.S.-made bulldozer bought with U.S. tax dollars. A congressional resolution demanding an independent inquiry into Ms. Corrie's death has been buried in committee, leaving the Israeli military's investigation -- which conveniently cleared itself of any wrongdoing -- as the only official probe. The ISM activists say this non-response sent a dangerous signal. According to Olivia Jackson, a 25-year-old British citizen still in Rafah, the Israeli military "waited for the response from the American government, and the response was pathetic. They have realized that they can get away with it, and it has encouraged them to keep on going." On April 5, Brian Avery, a U.S. citizen, was shot in the face. On April 11, Tom Hurndall, a British ISM activist, was shot in the head and left brain dead. Next was James Miller, a British cameraman shot dead while wearing a vest that read "TV." Witnesses said the shooters in all three cases were Israeli soldiers. There is something else Pte. Lynch and Ms. Corrie have in common: the military's distortion of their stories. According to the Pentagon, Pte. Lynch was captured in a bloody gun battle, mistreated by sadistic Iraqi doctors, then rescued in another storm of bullets by heroic Navy SEALs. But another version has emerged: The Iraqi doctors who treated her found no evidence of battle wounds, and they donated their own blood to save her life. And witnesses have told the BBC that the SEALs already knew there were no Iraqi fighters in the area. While Pte. Lynch's story has been distorted to make its protagonists appear more heroic, Ms. Corrie's has been twisted to make her and her fellow ISM activists appear sinister. For months, the Israeli military had been looking for an excuse to get rid of the ISM "troublemakers." It found it in Asif Mohammed Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif, the two British suicide bombers. It turns out they had attended a memorial to Ms. Corrie in Rafah, a fact the Israeli military has seized on to link the ISM to terrorism. ISM members say that the memorial was open to the public, and that they knew nothing of the British visitors' intentions. The ISM says it is opposed to the targeting of civilians, whether by Israeli bulldozers or Palestinian bombers. And many ISMers believe their work can reduce terrorist incidents by demonstrating that there are ways to resist occupation other than the nihilistic revenge offered by suicide bombing. No matter. In the past two weeks, half a dozen ISM activists have been arrested, several have been deported, and the organization's offices have been raided. The crackdown is now spreading to all "internationals." On Monday, the United Nations special co-ordinator for the Middle East peace process told the Security Council that dozens of UN aid workers had been prevented from getting in and out of Gaza. On June 5, the 36th anniversary of the Israeli occupation, there will be an internationally co-ordinated day of action for Palestinian rights. One of the key demands is for the UN to send a monitoring force into the occupied territories. Until that happens, many activists are determined to continue Ms. Corrie's work. More than 40 students at Ms. Corrie's college, Evergreen State in Olympia, have already signed up to go to Gaza with the ISM this summer. So who is a hero? During the war on Iraq, some of Ms. Corrie's friends e-mailed her picture to MSNBC asking that it be included on the station's "wall of heroes," along with Pte. Lynch. The station didn't comply, but Ms. Corrie is being honoured in other ways. Her family has received more than 10,000 letters of support, communities across the country have organized dozens of memorials, and children all over the occupied territories are being named Rachel. It's not a made-for-TV kind of tribute, but perhaps that's for the best. Naomi Klein is the
author of No
Logo and Fences and Windows. Police must be neutral at protests Date:
Thu,
15 May 2003 13:07:06 -0400 PHILIP BERGER On
May 11,
2003 a mistrial was declared for members of the Ontario Coalition
Against
Poverty who were charged with offences arising from the June 15, 2000
Queen's
Park riot. The police are not called upon to choose sides about these views, either expressly or by their behaviour. The police presence is a neutral one that should protect constitutional rights. In my view, one role of the police is to secure the right to legitimate and peaceful protest while at the same time protecting the public from personal harm and property damage. Such policing is difficult and requires on the part of the police leadership and the ordinary officer a certain degree of maturity, professionalism and flexibility. Instead, police now show a clear bias toward certain groups of protesters and have implemented severe - and provocative - policing measures in the absence of criminal activity. The police leadership should instruct all officers to defend and facilitate peaceful protests no matter what the cause. Read the Full Story |
Ottawa
Raging Grannies