[sust-mar] Upcoming events re: Ukraine crisis, statements, resources & petitions - please share widely

[Tamara Lorincz]

Hello Sust-Mar,

Just as we should denounce Russia’s violence against Ukraine, we must also denounce Ukraine’s violence against ethnic Russian Ukrainians in the Donbass region in the east of the country. For years, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has monitored the violations of the ceasefire of Minsk agreements by both sides: https://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/reports  This past weekend the OSCE found hundreds of incidents of shellings, gun fire etc on both sides of the demarcation line in eastern Ukraine. 

Equally, we must also denounce how Canada has exacerbated the crisis by sending soldiers, special forces, lethal and non-lethal weapons to Ukraine, a warship to the Mediterranean as part of NATO mission, and more soldiers and an electronic warfare troop to Latvia, see Operation REASSURANCE: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/transition-materials/caf-operations-activities/2020/03/caf-ops-activities/op-reassurance-europe.html 

What is Canada doing with an electronic warfare troop in Eastern Europe?

Please see the list of upcoming events, actions, resources and petitions related to this terrible Ukraine crisis. Finally at the very bottom is a job posting: VOW is hiring!

There is no military solution to the Ukraine crisis, it’s got to be diplomacy. 

In solidarity for peace in Ukraine and peace with Russia, Tamara

(1)
ONLINE MEETING: VOW Peace's Strategy Discussion about Ukraine W/ Tamara Lorincz of WILPF Canada and Canadian Voice of Women for Peace & Glenn Michalchuk, Ukraine-Canadian and member of Winnipeg Peace Alliance VOW Peace is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Time: Feb 26, 2022 10:00 AM America/Toronto Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87572975096?pwd=VzlGajVJRHdNc1FRdGlEcnV1WUpXUT09 

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IMPORTANT RESOURCES
A.
RAND’s 2019 report “Overextending and Unbalancing Russia: Assessing the Impact of Cost-Imposing Options”: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10014.html
*This is what the US and NATO have been doing for the past three years. 

B.
International relations scholar at the University of Chicago John Mearsheimer 2015 lecture “Why is Ukraine the West’s Fault” posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrMiSQAGOS4 

C.
International law expert and professor emerita of Thomas Jefferson School of Law Marjorie Cohn published an article on Feb. 23 in Truthout “US Stokes Tensions With Russia by Building Military Base 100 Miles From Border”: https://truthout.org/articles/us-stokes-tensions-with-russia-by-building-military-base-100-miles-from-border/   

D.
Oliver Stone’s important 2016 documentary “Ukraine on Fire”: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/ukraineonfire 

E.
Yves Engler’s latest “Condemn the invasion, but retain your critical faculties”: https://yvesengler.com/2022/02/24/condemn-the-invasion-but-retain-your-critical-faculties/ 

(3)
STATEMENTS ON THE UKRAINE CRISIS

Canadian Voice of Women for Peace’s statement on Russia’s attack of Ukraine and call for a ceasefire, negotiated resolution and demilitarization: https://vowpeace.org/vow-statement-on-ukraine-feb-24-2022/ 

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s statement: “Militarism Cannot Prevent War: An urgent call for de-escalation, demilitarisation, and disarmament in relation to Ukraine and beyond”: https://www.wilpf.org/militarism-cannot-prevent-war-an-urgent-call-for-de-escalation-demilitarisation-and-disarmament-in-relation-to-ukraine-and-beyond/ 

Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War: “Ukraine: The US & NATO Created This Mess” https://hamiltoncoalitiontostopthewar.ca/ 

(4)
POPULAR RESISTANCE: INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF ACTIONS TO STOP WAR WITH RUSSIA https://popularresistance.org/marchinternationalactions/ 

(5)
WEBINAR: INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ONLINE RALLY: NO WAR IN UKRAINE – NO TO NATO Sat. Feb 26th @ 12PM EST
Register: https://www.codepink.org/ukraine_022622
Cohosts:
Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK and Kate Hudson, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)
Speakers:
Jeremy Corbyn, UK Member of Parliament
Daniele Obono, Member of the French National Assembly Sevim Dagdelen, Member of the German Bundestag, Committee on Foreign Affairs Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental Institute for Social Research Lindsey German, UK Stop the War Coalition Nora Garcia, Madrid Anti-NATO Peace Summit Nina Potarska, Ukraine section of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Ludo de Brabander, Belgium Vrede and No to Nato Coalition Nadezhda Azhgihina, Russian journalist, US-Russia Women’s Call for Peace Organized by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, CODEPINK, Stop the War Coalition, No to NATO Network

(6)
WEBINAR: NO WAR IN UKRAINE – NEGOTIATIONS NOT ESCALATION Tue March 1 @ 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm EST Featuring ret. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson and Reiner Braun
Register: https://www.codepink.org/03012022

Col. Lawrence Wilkerson is an adjunct professor of government and public policy at the College of William and Mary and the former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell (2002 to 2005). He is a critic of U.S. foreign policy surrounding the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, Iran, and the new Cold Wars with China and Russia, and asserts that the U.S. is not a democracy but a war state that forces its will on the global community. In 2020, Wilkerson worked on bipartisan projects to prepare for the possibility that a defeated Donald Trump would refuse to leave office.

Reiner Braun is the executive director of the International Peace Bureau, the founder of the No to NATO Network, and is active with the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES) and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA).

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WEBINAR: Diplomatic Paths to Resolution of the Ukraine/European Security Crisis Wed March 2 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am EST
Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qOf-FBCISHC8BJ_zIjaHsw 

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WEBINAR: NO TO NATO - PEACE SUMMIT – Planning Meeting in March Online meeting: Mar 19, 2022 03:00 PM in Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna
Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpcuGgrz8qHtQniV-lWmypE7DXTiFimf9o
NATO counter / peace summit in June 2022: https://peacesummitmadrid.org/
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SIGN & SHARE PETITION: CANADA SIGN NUCLEAR BAN TREATY Please sign and share widely the parliamentary e-petition to call on the House of Common to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 

In English: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3828

En francais: https://petitions.noscommunes.ca/fr/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3828 

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READ WILPF Canada’s new report Soaring: The Harms and Risks of Fighter Jets and Why Canada must not buy a new Fleet can be found https://wilpfcanada.ca/index.php/2022/02/09/soaring/.
Two-page summary in https://wilpfcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/03-Harms-of-Fighter-Jets_FactSheets_English.pdf. 
Two-page summary in https://wilpfcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/03-Harms-of-Fighter-Jets_FactSheets_French_Final.pdf.
Please send to your Member of Parliament to say no new fighter jets. 

(11)
SIGN & SHARE PETITION: CANADA DON’T BUY NEW FIGHTER JETS Please sign and share widely the parliamentary e-petition 3821 to call on the House of Commons to not buy new fighter jets. 
We need 1,000 signatures by March 9. 

In English: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3821 

En francais: https://petitions.noscommunes.ca/fr/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3821  

Please share on Twitter : https://twitter.com/TamaraLorincz/status/1493423783360741376

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SIGN & SHARE PETITION: CANADA REFUSE PARTICIPATION IN AUKUS MILITARY ALLIANCE

In English: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3777 

En francais: https://petitions.noscommunes.ca/fr/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3777 

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HIRING! The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace is hiring a national coordinator Find out more: https://vowpeace.org/were-hiring-position-national-coordinator/