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Kairos Times: January/ February 2008, Vol 7, #1
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In this edition:
- Urgent action: End the siege of Gaza now
- KAIROS podcast "Giving Canadians A Bad Name" ready for air
- March 29, Turn Out The Lights!
- Reflections on the latest UN Climate Change Conference
- KAIROS paper on Afghanistan now available
- KAIROS human rights training survey: please help us out!
- KAIROS local members in the news
- New KAIROS executive announced
1)
Urgent action: End the siege in Gaza now
The Gaza strip is home to 1.5 million people. It has been under increasing Israeli military siege and the flow of the most basic supplies has been all but cut off. The result is a humanitarian crisis made worse by ongoing military attacks. Many in the international community have condemned the siege and asked Israel to lift it immediately. In a “kairos moment” this week, some Gazans broke through the wall and found essential supplies-- temporarily. Yet Canada refuses to recognize the crisis caused by the siege. Recently our government cast the lone vote against a recent UN Human Rights Council resolution that called for an end to the siege of Gaza and the accompanying military operations.
We request that you, your church, or your community group write to the Prime Minister, expressing your concern and asking that Canada call for an immediate end to the siege of Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis. Please see the full action at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/urgent/uaEndSiegeGaza080128.asp and distribute it far and wide.
Palestinians and Israelis alike are asking for international support and a peaceful resolution to this crisis. In the spirit of an Israeli-led caravan that drove to Gaza with essential supplies on January 26, please raise your voice at this critical time.
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of page2) KAIROS podcast "Giving Canadians A Bad Name" ready for air
As part of KAIROS' ongoing campaign calling for legislation of Canadian corporate activity abroad, KAIROS has produced its first ever fictional drama podcast. The play uses the case of KAIROS partner The Broad Opposition Front in Cerro de San Pedro, Mexico to highlight the issues facing villagers and concerned citizens who do not want mining operations in their communities. To read more about Cerro de San Pedro, see our submission to the Roundtable Process http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/corporate/mining/cerrodeSanPedro.asp To hear Giving Canadians a Bad Name click here:
http://kairoscanada.org/e/resources/multimedia/GivingCanadiansABadName.mp3
Feel free to spread this podcast play far and wide, and encourage your local radio stations to air the program. To date, although the Roundtables on Corporate Accountability published their consensus recommendations in March 2007, the government has yet to respond. The urgent path to greater accountability and legislation remains in limbo and the government remains silent. For more information contact Rusa Jeremic, Global Economic Justice Program Coordinator, rjeremic kairoscanada.org , 416.463.5312, ext. 225
3) March 29, Turn Out The Lights!
What are you doing at 8 pm on Saturday March 29? Why not join the global "Earth Hour" (or "Lights Out") action to raise awareness and combat climate change?
Earth Hour is part of a global effort to continue the public witness made in Sydney, Australia last March, when 2 million households and businesses turned off their lights for an hour to bring attention to the threats poses by global climate change. It is a symbolic action, but symbolic acts are of tremendous importance in building movements for change. And so we hope the KAIROS network and churches across Canada will mark Earth Hour as a part of the Re-Energize campaign -- use this time to build community around this issue, advocate with local governments to turn the lights out and address climate change, gather signatures on our campaign action, and think about how you can move from a single hour of "lights-out" to a more intentional life of energy reduction. We will collaborate with other social partners and develop some simple resources for church use. We want to encourage communities to gather together for a time of simple (candle-lit!) music and worship in a nearby church during this time. Stay tuned for more details -- and send along any great ideas that you may already have!
For more information on Earth Hour, visit www.earthhour.org. To share plans and ideas or for more information on KAIROS' plans for Earth Hour, or to sign up for our Re-energize campaign e-newsletter, contact Campaigns Coordinator Sara Stratton, 416-463-5312/1-877-403-8933 x 241, sstratton kairoscanada.org Resources for our Re-energize campaign are posted at www.re-energize.org
4) Reflections on the latest UN Climate Change Conference
KAIROS’ ecological justice staff Dorothy McDougall was
part of the World Council of Churches delegation to the UN Climate
Conference in Bali, Indonesia that took place December 2-14, 2007.
She offers her reflections at
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/ecology/climateChange/UNClimateChangeConference1208.asp
A video of the youth presentation to the Conference is also available; you will need to download RealPlayer to view it.
For more information contact Dorothy McDougall, Program Coordinator for Ecological Justice at jmcdougall kairoscanada.org or 1 877 403 8933 x222.
5) KAIROS paper on Afghanistan now available
KAIROS has posted a discussion paper on Afghanistan and Canada’s role in the ongoing conflict there. Please click here to read or download this PDF file. We thank our partners, member churches and local KAIROS groups for their thoughtful discussion of a difficult situation.
See also the Canadian Council of Churches’ response to the recent Manley report on Canada’s role in Afghanistan, We Believe God Desires Peace in their Land as in Ours, at http://www.ccc-cce.ca/english/home/2008/jan24_2008.htm , the response of our member Development and Peace at
http://www.devp.org/devpme/eng/pressroom/2008/comm2008-01-25-eng.html and a commentary from the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, of which KAIROS is a member: Manley Panel: Heavy on Combat, Light on Diplomacy, Development and Peace-Building at http://www.ploughshares.ca/libraries/Statements/ManleyCCIC.pdf
For more information, contact Dale Hildebrand, team leader for KAIROS’ Global Partnerships Program at 1 877 403 8933 x235 or dhildebrand kairoscanada.org
6) KAIROS human rights training survey: please help us out!
KAIROS is exploring an initiative to support greater social justice advocacy by members of church congregations and communities across Canada.
KAIROS and local partners would offer to train “animators” from over 100 churches and other groups across Canada to educate and involve their churches and communities in new advocacy initiatives to promote human rights and poverty reduction in Canada. We think this can be an exciting effort shared by local, regional and national groups.
We need to hear from you. What would help you to strengthen the
involvement of your communities in advocacy for human rights and
social justice? If this project interests you, please take about
15 minutes to respond to our survey. And if you know of others
who would be interested, please forward this article! The survey
can be found at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Iy027nKgWBMKr_2bWCJIFTZw_3d_3d
For more information on the project, please contact Michael Polanyi, Canadian Social Development Program Coordinator, at 1 877 403 8933 x 237 / mpolanyi@kairoscanada.org or KAIROS Network and Education Coordinator Julie Graham at x 233 or jgraham kairoscanada.org
7) KAIROS local members in the news
Several local KAIROS members and supporters will be going to court on Ash Wednesday. In November 2006, 10 people attempting to enter into a dialogue with company executives for the Burlington, Ontario military manufacturer L-3 Wescam were arrested and charged with trespassing. They wanted to talk about transforming Wescam's business from a place of war profiteering and possible complicity in acts of torture into an organization that produces socially useful things for the betterment of the world community. Those charged are Frank (Barney) Barningham, Matthew Behrens, Dan Hilton, Gail Lorimer, Dave Marshall, David Milne, Maggie Panter, Kirsten Romaine, Mike Smith, and Paul York.
Their trial takes place on Ash Wednesday, February 6, 2008, at 9 am in Burlington, Ontario. Our prayers are with them as they witness strongly to peace in an increasingly militarized world.
Folks in the Atlantic region were busy just before Christmas.
Mary Boyd of Charlottetown, PEI penned a guest editorial on the
limits of charity for the PEI Guardian, Turkeys won’t cure
the root cause of poverty:
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=95586&sc=104
Sheila Zurbrigg of the Halifax-Dartmouth KAIROS cluster wrote an article that ran in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on December 20, reprinted on the Tars Sands Watch website, Is this the world we want to leave to our children?: http://www.tarsandswatch.org/world-we-want-leave-our-children
Did we miss anyone? Let us know! And please tell us about any social justice events that involve the KAIROS network so we can tell the world about them. Contact our regional representatives or Julie Graham, Education and Network Coordinator at 1 877 403 8933 x233 or jgraham kairoscanada.org
8) New KAIROS executive announced
Learn more about our new Board executive members in this news
release:
http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/media/press/maNewBoardExec080109.asp
You’ve been reading Kairos Times, the free
monthly e-newsletter of KAIROS, which unites eleven Canadian churches
and church organizations in action for social justice. To learn
more about us or to support our work visit www.kairoscanada.org
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You’ve been reading Kairos Times, a monthly e-bulletin from KAIROS, the social justice organization of eleven Canadian churches and church agencies. Sign up for this free bulletin and occasional urgent actions or email us or call us toll-free 1 877 403 8933.
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