click here for information on prep meeting, Saturday January 25
ARE YOU SICK OF WAR...?
Sick of bombs falling in your name without your consent?
Sick of misinformation and false pretexts?
Sick of detached "experts" talking of geopolitics when people's lives are at stake?
Sick of the US government thinking it should rule the world by economic and military might?
Sick of the Canadian government toeing the line, and preaching hollow peace while profitting from war?
We're sick of a lot of things...***SICK-IN AGAINST WAR ON IRAQ!***
That's right, a sick-in. On January 31, 2003, call in sick to work or school, put aside whatever it is you might normally do during the day, get together with others and work for peace!
WHEN? Friday, January 31, 9:30am
WHERE? Meet at the Central Library, Room A (Hamilton Room), first floor
Learn about, connect with and participate in numerous activities to challenge war, and foster an active culture of peace. Planned and suggested activities:
- Info and lobby delegations to MP offices
- Sit-in parties at MP offices
- Poster, leaflet and petition distribution brigades
- Citizen inspection and disarmament team visits to local military establishments
- Anti-War songs with the Raging Grannies in Gore Park
- Food Not Bombs servings and info table
- War toy de-shelvings
- Chalking crews...paint the town with messages of peace!
- Art shops - create images, skits, songs for public display
- Write the authorities, the media, and tell them what you think!
- Spontaneous call-in...bring your cell phone, some government phone numbers, and encourage people to phone in to oppose the war!
- Support any of the above actions with your presence, financial help, skills, labour, kind words, etc.
This is by no means an exhaustive or accurate list. If you have something you want to do, let us know, come on out and do it! Get others to join in!
Following an initial morning gathering, groups can break off to do their activities. It is up to individual groups to organize themselves, break for lunch, etc. We will gather later in the day at the library to share the day's stories.
If you prefer to call in sick and just stay home, that's okay too! We understand people could be under scrutiny at work or school. To simply withdraw your labour and refuse business as usual is a great contribution, all by itself.
WHAT WILL THIS DAY ACCOMPLISH?
Will it stop a war? Probably not - at least not by itself. What it can do is send a very strong message that people are not willing to pretend like everything is normal when an unconscionable act of violence is about to happen. It also provides an opportunity for us all to come together, share with eachother our efforts and be as effective as we think we can be in countering a war - politically, economically, culturally and so on. It can unify us in a diversity of actions. It provides us with a whole day to do whatever it is we can, on as many levels as we can think of, to counter this march to war.
A NOTE ON NONVIOLENCE
While we're feeling pretty nasty about the prospect of war, healing the sickness of a society that preaches peace while marching to war will take a thoughtful approach. All participants are asked to remain disciplined in committing no physical or verbal violence toward anyone. Check your head; hold your cool; tell it like it is; be persistent; laugh a little.
UPDATES
Saturday, January 25, Prep skill-share for Sick-In (Jan. 31, 2003)
1) PREPARING NONVIOLENT ACTIONS FOR PEACEA gathering to share skills and ideas about how to effectively to oppose a war, and prepare actions through which we can all work for peace. Many of us are wondering: what we can do? While it is heartening that this question is being asked by so many people, that it often goes unanswered in societies of relative privilege is unacceptable. We invite you to join us on Saturday, January 25, when we'll:
- Ground ourselves in the issues of war on Iraq, and in solid motivations to act for peace
- Watch videos of past actions
- Hear stories about past actions and how we can learn from them
- Brainstorm with others about how to most effectively act for peace now, in many, many ways
- Begin forming and preparing for actions
The gathering will begin at 9:30am and last until approximately 3pm. It will take place at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Butty Place in Hamilton. Directions available at www.hwcn.org/link/hmm/direx.htm The meeting house is a child friendly space, and children are welcome to participate in the gathering. The day's proceedings will be based on principles of nonviolence and consensus decision making.
We will have a potluck lunch. Please bring a dish or drink if you can. HSR bus tickets are available for those requiring a travel subsidy.
2) SICK-IN ACTIONS SO FAR
We're all coming from different places and have different ideas about what will work, what is needed and what is possible in building peace. The idea of the sick-in is to have as many people involved as possible, and see as many peace-creating actions as possible. Gathering this diversity is a strength FOR those participating, and TOWARD those we are hoping to reach. Here's what is planned for January 31st so far:
a) RAGING GRANNIES
Sing it out loud! The Raging Grannies role political satire into a savy package that's hard to dismiss. They dress up in shalls and outrageous hats while cutting George Bush, Jr. down a size or two, and challenging us all to work for peace. The grannies will be singing songs of peace in Gore Park (weather permitting) from 1pm until 3pm. You don't need to be a grandma to join in. Visit: hamilton.indymedia.org/
or the Seattle raging grannies websiteb) FOOD NOT BOMBS
Hamilton's Food Not Bombs will be serving food in Gore Park in and around lunch time on January 31. This will provide some sustenance to folks participating in the sick-in, and anyone passing by on the street who needs food. Visit www.opirg.org/mcmaster/groups.html#fnb for local contacts or http://www.foodnotbombs.org/ for general info.c) CHILDREN'S ART FOR PEACE
Many delegations have from North America and Europe have been travelling to Iraq to get in the way of war. Member of a Christian Peacemaker Team are leaving from Toronto on February 1. We have an opportunity to send along a small amount of material through them with the hope of making connections with Iraqis. One medium will be children's art. This has a history in Hamilton, as teacher Sue Markey travelled to Iraq in 1991 and coordinated an Iraqi children's art project, highlighting the effects of the Gulf War and sanctions. This time we're going in the other direction, getting children here to think about the people in Iraq, getting powerful adults to realize the gravity of their war-making decisions, and perhaps giving some hope for a better world to Iraqis. Join us on January 31st to participate in this project, or work on something between now and then. This activity need not be limited to children, or to art. Letter writing and adult participation are also encouraged. Join us first thing, 9:30am on January 31st in the Central Library.d) PAINT THE TOWN RED...(and green and blue and yellow and....)
A revolutionary chalking brigade will arm themselves with sidewalk chalk and water soluable paint with the aim of spreading messages of peace throughout the city. God knows Hamilton has enough abandoned buildings; and we all know we've been bombarded with too much propaganda for war.Want to help with any of these actions? Have ideas of your own? Questions? Concerns? Please do get in touch. Hope to see you on January 25th for the action preparation and/or January 31st for the sick-in itself.