Remembrance Day, Peace & the environment

From: "Jody" <jslakov@saltspring.com>
To: <sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca>
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 08:12:56 -0700
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Return-Path: <sust-mar-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>

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Dear Sust-mar people,

While I think many people know that there is a real relationship between the
resources squandered on militarism and planetary destruction, it is often
hard to make the connections in our lives.

Remembrance Day offers us an opportunity to help make the necessary
connections. As one slogan I have come to appreciate very much says, "To
remember is to end all war." We need to remember to spur us on to find ways
to prevent war and militarism.

Below are some "enviro-ideas" which touch on this theme. (I do a column of
"enviro-ideas" for a local bi-weekly paper.) If anyone would like other
Remembrance Day resources, I have some I could send, including a lesson plan
by WW2 vet, former teacher and the current president of Veterans Against
Nuclear Arms, David Morgan. But I will only be able to respond to e-mails
after Nov. 5 as I am away from home right now.

all the best, Jan Slakov
********************************
(français ci-dessous)
statement from:

Fred H. Knelman, Victoria, B.C., WW II veteran  and author of "Every Life is
a Story: The Social Relations of Science, Ecology and Peace", Black Rose
Books, Montreal, Que., l999

_White Poppies for Remembrance Day_

 I want peace and security for Canadians and the whole world. This is one
reason why I will be wearing a white poppy for Remembrance Day, as well as a
red one.

 I want not only to remember those who have fought and suffered as
soldiers but  to rededicate myself to preventing war and
ending militarism. I also want to remember that 95% of the casualties in
contemporary wars are civilians.

Some of our government's policies towards Yugoslavia, including the bombing,
violated international law, which many veterans fought hard to establish.
Now our government is joining in the obscenely costly and destabilizing NMD
(Nuclear Missile Defence) project. The battlefield today is in the hearts
and minds of all citizens. We must unite to bring true peace and security to
Canada and the world.
**************************************
Addiction to arms (January, 1998?)

Last issue's enviro-idea was about personal addictions and how to overcome
them.

This week, let's remember the words of Rosalie Bertell, scientist, author,
Grey Nun and president of IICPH.

"It seems that many of the world's governments, including our own, are
addicted to violence as a way to solve international problems. They suffer
from  ever increasing military budgets which rarely make us more secure.

While most members of the global family do without, governments squander
money and resources on arms, just the way alcoholics squander family
resources on booze.

"Let's make sure the Canadian government provides proper benefits for its
military personnel but let's not let it get away with increased spending on
weapons and military training."

Let's find out more about how Canada's most expensive federal department
spends its money and work to make the Department of Defence accountable.
Enviro-Clare can provide you with more information.

Remember, ARMS ARE FOR HUGGING, not for killing.

This Enviro-idea based on information provided by:
Rosalie Bertell, Ph. D., GNSH
President, ACS (1998-2000)
President International Institute of Concern for Public Health  (1984+)
710-264 Queens Quay West
Toronto ON M5J 1B5 CANADA
Tel: 1-416-260-0575
Fax: 1-416-260-3404
Email: IICPH@compuserve.com
************************************************
White Poppies

It is widely recognized that one of the things we need to do to stop
destroying the earth is to cut back on military build-up, especially the
arms race which continues apace despite the end of the Cold War.

With this in mind, I am joining with others in wearing a white poppy this
year, as well as a red one.

I want to remember not only our veterans, but the many civilians who die in
war and the many people who work for peace and justice. I want to renew my
commitment to creating the kind of social justice and basic security which
help prevent war.

The white poppy tradition began in England in 1933; a tradition I am glad to
see here in Canada now too.

To obtain a white poppy, contact me (in Bear River) or  Jan Slakov (address
below).

Stephen Downes
retired Canadian soldier
former UN peacekeeper
Bear River, NS (467-3886)
Jan Slakov, Box 35, Weymouth, NS B0W 3T0 (902) 837-4980
mailto:jslakov@tartannet.ns.ca
****************************************************
texte de :

Fred H. Knelman, Victoria, B.C., ancien de la 2e Guerre Mondiale et auteur
de "Every Life is a Story: The Social Relations of Science, Ecology and
Peace", Black Rose
Books, Montreal, Que., l999

_Des Coquelicots blancs pour le Jour du souvenir_

Je veux la paix et la securité pour les Canadiens et pour tout le monde.
C'est une des raisons pour lesquelles je porterai un coquelicot blanc (avec
un coquelicot rouge aussi) pour le Jour du souvenir.

Je veux non seulment célébrer le souvenir des soldats qui ont lutté et qui
ont souffert, je veux également redédier mes efforts pour prevenir la guerre
et
pour mettre un terme au militarisme. Je veux aussi rappeler que, de nos
jours, les 95% des victimes de la guerre sont des civils.

Certaines politiques de notre gouvernement envers la Yougoslavie, y compris
les bombardements, ont violé le droit international, ce même droit
international pour établir et pour faire respecter lequel de nombreux
d'anciens combattants ont travaillé si fort. Maintenant notre gouvernement
contribue au coûteux Systeme national de defence antimissile, qui risque
d'avoir un
effet déstabilisateur.

Le champ de bataille aujourd'hui se trouve dans le coeur et dans l'esprit de
tous les citoyens. Il faut s'unir pour établir une paix et une securité
véritables au Canada et dans le monde.
**************************************************************
Remembering the Causes and Costs of War

White poppies for Remembrance Day? Why?

Back in 1933, the Women's co-operative Guild in England chose to wear white
poppies to symbolize their commitment to work for peace and to end their
complicity with militarism.

The tradition is being adopted in many other communities now too. Many
people are choosing to wear red poppies to remember veterans and white
poppies to renew their commitment to work for peace and to remember the true
costs and causes of war:

1) The arms trade, in which Canada actively participates, flourishes at the
cost of empty bellies and displaced peoples.

2) The late Eric Fawcett, Founding President of Science for Peace, supported
the white poppy campaign, adding: Financial warfare, the deliberate
undermining of regional economies,  kills people and cripples even more
lives than the hot wars that inevitably follow. The concept of 'financial
warfare' refers to the grinding poverty in which up to half the human race
lives in poor countries that are loaded with huge debts that can never be
paid; and now with free market economies being forced on Asian countries,
the former Soviet Union and East Europe, we see major nations like Russia
and Indonesia falling into the same morass.

3) We need to remember that 95% of the victims of war are not soldiers but
civilians.

Bruna Nota, president of WILPF (Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom), hopes that the white poppy tradition will help us arrive at a new
way of viewing security. "We are like the people who created a whole science
based on the false premise that the earth is flat.  We are operating on the
false premise that security is garanteed by military forces and
preparedness. In fact only a just sharing of all resources, by the
availability of education, food, shelter, sanitation, health care, by the
full respect of human rights, by adopting practices that ensure the health
of the earth, air, water and all its inhabitants, can provide the security
in which we can care for each other in trusting and responsible
communities."

While it is possible to buy manufactured white poppies in Britain, many
Canadians have been making their own. Homemade poppies are a way of
honouring diversity. They have often been made of waste materials such as
boxboard, so they are also a tribute to sustainability.

People can contact Jan Slakov at Box 35, Weymouth, NS, B0W 3T0, (902)
837-4980,
<jslakov@tartannet.ns.ca> if they would like more information or a sample
homemade white poppy. Teachers in particular might want to request a
Remembrance Day lesson plan and other educational resources.
Note: Jan will be away until Nov. 5.



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