Canadian demonstrators arrested protesting CANSEC arms fair

 

Dear Christopher, On Wednesday, World BEYOND War members joined hundreds of people from Ottawa and across Ontario and Quebec to directly confront Canada's biggest weapons fair. Together we blocked all the roads leading to CANSEC for hours and made a mess of their opening morning. Our protest was covered by local, national and international media outlets (some of the media coverage is compiled here).

Hundreds of armed police officers in riot gear attacked us and arrested many protesters, including a journalist and a medic. 10 of the people arrested now face charges. Please donate to the Ottawa Community Defense Fund to help support them! Donations can be sent by e-transfer to L4PCanada@gmail.comwith the note “community defence” in the message field.    We later found out that, as we had suspected, the very weapons Israel is using to massacre Palestinians right now were on display inside CANSEC, for instance the artillery shells whose explosive fuel is produced by General Dynamics in Quebec and is still being exported to Israel. Now it's on all of us cross-country to continue to ramp up the pressure to end Canadian complicity in Israel's escalating genocide.    We've just launched an urgent new action as part of the Arms Embargo Now campaign. Starting now and continuing until the House of Commons rises, people across the country are delivering two documents to their MPs: a mandate letter from the people and a briefing note laying out in detail the Canadian government’s ongoing role in arming Israel. As the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza continues to escalate, and with signals from Canada and allied countries that more action may be coming, this is a crucial time to raise our voices and demand an immediate halt to the Canada-Israel arms trade.   And the following week we join allies cross-country in holding a Day of Action targeting Scotiabank to force them to fully divest from Israeli weapons giant Elbit Systems. After sustained movement pressure, Scotiabank divested from $370M to $111M worth of shares in Elbit Systems by mid 2024. However, they have recently quietly re-upped their investment. Now is the time to take action! Pick a branch near you and sign up to take action there on June 14.

In solidarity, Rachel Canada Organizer, World BEYOND War P.S.  One more thing: this Wednesday evening I'll be hosting an info session on how to start local World BEYOND War chapters in communities across the country. If you want to get involved in local organizing, take action to resist militarism, and join a global movement of people coming together to build a better world in solidarity with those most impacted by war and violence...then please join us this Wednesday June 4! Sign up here for the link.

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