Fredericton Peace Coalition

Speech by Robert Fisk, with introduction by Noam Chomsky. Some snippets of Robert Fisk’s over 1000 page long “The Great War For Civilization: Conquest of the Middle East”. Good clips, watch them!

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The Fredericton Chapter of the Breaking the Silence (BTS) Maritime-Guatemala Solidarity Network will host Noche Latina, an annual fundraiser, on Friday, February 1 st. This lively annual event will be in support of a scholarship fund for indigenous students in Rabinal, Guatemala. Recipients are all students of New Hope Institute, a bilingual (Spanish and Achi) and bicultural school, operated by the New Hope Foundation, for children of families affected by the genocide during the early 1980s.

Each year Breaking the Silence commits to raising $10 000 – a five year commitment of $50 000 — to fund the tuition for 40 students. The Fredericton chapter has been a key participant in this campaign and Noche Latina is an integral fundraising event. It is expected that this year will be as successful as ever and we hope that Frederictonians will get to share in this wonderful effort.

Come join BTS and friends in a celebration of Central American culture and food. Admission includes the chance to sample typical Guatemalan cuisine, along with an evening of Latin dance performance and the music of Cesar Morales. All proceeds from admissions and a silent auction will go towards the scholarship fund.

Noche Latina will take place at Wilmot United Church (corner of King St. and Carleton St.) on Friday, February 1st. Doors will open at 5:30 pm and food service will begin at 6:00. Tickets are available for sale at Doodles Café (inside the Charlotte St. Arts Centre), Multicultural Association of Fredericton (123 York St.), True Foods Organics (207 Charlotte St.), and at the door. Ticket prices are as follows: Adults – $10, Students – $8, Children – $5 (ages 5- 12), Family – $20.

For more information about the New Hope Foundation and the scholarship fund please email Valerie Kilfoil at vkilfoil@rogers.com

For more information about Noche Latina, please email Judy Loo at loo.judy@gmail.com

For more information about the Breaking the Silence Maritime-Guatemala Solidarity Network please visit: www.tatacentre.ca

Malalai Joya: After six years in control, this government has proved itself to be as bad as the Taliban – in fact, it is little more than a photocopy of the Taliban. The situation in Afghanistan is getting progressively worse – and not just for women, but for all Afghans.

For several months there has been a new twist in the history for the poor in Haiti, but the story has been enveloped in silence. The standard of living has been declining, with rising costs of basic goods and a continued lack of social programs. People cannot afford to eat.

Poverty, cold weather, and hunger forced a woman to sell her four month baby in Kunduz….About 600 children under five die every day in Afghanistan due to pneumonia, poor nutrition, diarrhoea and other preventable diseases… The country is ranked second in the world in terms of its maternal mortality rate with about 1,600 deaths per every 100,000 live births.

There were five suicide cases registered in this Afghan province over the past one year.

The Fredericton Peace Coalition denounces the recent arrest of Mohamed Harkat at his home in Ottawa. Mohamed Harkat is one of several men being detained on a Security Certificate, a piece of legislation which denies basic legal rights including access to the evidence, cross- examination of informants, and a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, denying the detainees the right to a fair trial.

Tuesday’s arrest of Mohamed Harkat for allegedly breaching bail conditions further illustrates the injustice behind the Security
Certificate legislation. Mohamed Harkat did not breach his conditions at all, even though these conditions are some of the most restrictive in Canadian legal history. Further, this arrest comes in the same week as Mohamed Harkat’s bail is up for review and as the new Security Certificates law is up for debate in the House of Commons. This arrest is nothing more than an example of the torment imposed on the Security Certificate detainees by the Canadian government.

The Fredericton Peace Coalition joins community groups, organizations, and individuals across Canada in calling for an abolishment of the Security Certificate legislation and the release or fair trial for those currently being detained on a certificate.

In war-ridden Afghanistan, the dignity and rights of women have become the cheapest commodity.

Sheila Samples: Everything that happened in 2007 is a direct result of events in 2006, a continuation of 2005 crimes, the bloody mess of 2004, the shock and awe of 2003 and the vicious, ruthless lies of 2001 that led us to where we are today. It’s impossible to appraise the malignant nature of this administration in any intelligible way. From the outset, it came at us — at the world — on all fours with fangs bared. Whether ripping the humanity from our Constitution or drowning the innocent in a sea of blood, its appetite is insatiable. It rises from each feast hungrier than before.