Dear John,
This
week we made local, national, and international headlines when we
joined with allies to mark the anniversary of the Yemen school bus
massacre
and demand that Canada immediately
stop arming Saudi Arabia
— including literally painting tank tracks to the doors of Canadian weapons dealers. The Saudi bombing of a school bus in a crowded market in northern Yemen
on August 9, 2018 killed 44 children and ten adults and wounded many
more.
The actions were featured front and centre in Canadian news, but also in Europe, Yemen's national news, as well as in key Arabic-language media across the Middle East and North Africa.
Now in its sixth year, the Saudi-led war on Yemen has killed almost a
quarter of a million people, according to the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It’s also led to what the UN body
has called the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”
Watch my interview on CTV News at 6 about the red tank tracks painted in London, Ontario.
Just two weeks ago it was revealed that the Canadian government had
approved a new deal to sell $74 million worth of explosives to Saudi
Arabia in 2020. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Canada has exported
over $1.2 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia. In 2019, Canada
exported arms valued at $2.8 billion to the Kingdom — more than 77 times
the dollar value of Canadian aid to Yemen in the same year.
If we're going to succeed at cutting off weapons sales to Saudi Arabia — from Canada and around the world — we need to keep the pressure up.
Actions like what we supported this week take organizers. They take
ongoing skill-building and training with local activists. They take
connecting with legal resources, media strategizing, and building our
own power so we can take on powerful institutions, be they government,
military, or weapons manufacturers.
Please help us
to make sure we can continue to amplify bold actions like these that
push the antiwar movement forward.
Thanks for your solidarity and for all that you do.
Rachel Small
Canada Organizer, World BEYOND War
World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
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