Join the Chain Fast Against Canadian Government Racism

 

(photo from Witness Against Torture's 2014 Fast for Justice)

How it works:

You can fast as per your tradition (some people refrain from eating sun-up to sun-down, others do it for 24 hours. Some people will drink water or other fluids, others not). You sign up for a day (or more) by emailing tasc@web.ca with suggested dates, which will be publicly posted at the Homes not Bombs blog site (http://homesnotbombs.blogspot.ca/2015/04/join-chain-fast-against-canadian.html). The key thing is to do this publicly: while the roots of racism are deep in our culture, they receive a huge boost when the racist messages comes from on high.

TEXT

I am joining the Chain Fast To End Canadian Government Racism

because:

Members of the Harper government are contributing in word and deed to an increased climate of racist tension with comments that equate Islam with violence and abuse the term jihad. Such comments include telling Muslim women to "stay the hell where they came from", declaring that Muslims are connected to a "culture that is anti-women," and tweets like " Niqab, hejab, burqa, wedding veil -- face coverings have no place in cit oath-taking." This is part of a broader attack on racialized communities, including the comment that it makes no sense to pay "whities" to stay home while companies bring in "brown people" as temporary foreign workers, and an incendiary Conservative-sponsored petition insulting First Nations governments.

The Harper government is rushing through legislation (C-51) that will likely increase the targetting, surveillance, harassment, and potential detention and torture of members of Canada's Muslim communities, while also criminalizing/terrorizing First Nations, Inuit and Métis, as well as all racialized communities.

The Harper government has repeatedly refused to answer calls for an inquiry into the over 1,200 missing and murdered aboriginal women, and done nothing to address the shockingly high rates of suicide in aboriginal communities, nor to end the hundreds of devastating boil water alerts in First Nations communities, some lasting for well over a decade. Instead, this government has targeted First Nations leaders and treated them as security threats.

The Harper government is refusing to act on a motion passed by a majority of the House of Commons in December, 2009, to apologize to, provide compensation for, and clear the names of three Muslim Canadian men – Abdullah Almalki, Ahmed El-Maati, and Muayyed Nureddin – who were found to have been falsely labelled as security threats and tortured with Canadian complicity. All cases were motivated in part by racist/religious profiling.

The Harper government has refused to apologize to, provide compensation for, and clear the name of Canadian Muslim Abousfian Abdelrazik, in whose overseas torture the Canadian government was found to be complicit by  a Canadian court.

The Harper government has continued to demonize and block any efforts seeking justice for detained Canadian Muslim Omar Khadr, who was tortured with Canadian complicity at Bagram Air Force Base (Afghanistan) and the U.S. torture camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and remains behind bars in Alberta based on a fundamentally flawed process.

The Harper government continues pursuing secret trial security certificates against a number of Muslim men (all of which were signed by previous Liberal governments).

The Harper government plays a racist double standard when it refuses to categorize the actions of white supremacists and gun fanatics (such as the targetted murders of RCMP officers in Alberta and New Brunswick and the planned Valentine's Day masscare in a Halifax mall) as terrorist threats, preferring to dismiss them with terms such as "murderous misfits".

Canada's state security agencies (RCMP and CSIS) are pressuring and threatening young Canadian Muslims to spy on their communities and self-censor opinions on social injustice, while those same agencies continue treating First Nations as surveillance targets because of the false connection to  "threats to national security and criminal extremism or terrorism".

The Harper government has falsely, slanderously accused the reputable National Council of Canadian Muslims as connected to terrorism, with one MP openly attacking the group's executive director at a recent Parliamentary hearing.

Recognizing that the latest attacks are part of a long, unfortunate Canadian tradition of provoking fear and hatred by targetting specific groups and spreading racist lies, we believe standing up and speaking out is an obligation.  

Beginning April 15 and lasting until the beginning of Ramadan, June 18, 2015, we pledge to join the chain fast for one full day (or more throughout the time period), explaining to friends, colleagues, and neighbours, as well as local media, why we have undertaken this fast, and educating our fellow residents about the need to reject the dangerous discourse of racism infecting public life and emanating from the highest levels of the Canadian government.

The day after our fasting, as the chain fast passes on to a new member, we will continue to raise these issues in our communities and refuse to stay silent.

Signed

TO JOIN: Email tasc@web.ca with your name, city, and dates you would like to fast

 

Chain Fast Participants

Thursday, April 16: Michele Schmidt, Toronto, Sadia Jama, Kingston, ON

Friday, April 17: David Heap, London, ON, Tenzin Tharchen, Owen Sound, ON

Saturday, April 18: Tanya M. Gulliver-Garcia, Toronto

Sunday, April 19: Matthew Behrens, Perth, ON

Monday, April 20: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON, Sadia Jama, , Kingston, ON

Tuesday, April 21: Sue Breeze, Barrière, BC, Jamie Page, Toronto, ON

Wednesday, April 22: Murray Lumley, Toronto, ON

Thursday, April 23: Michele Schmidt, Toronto, Sadia Jama, Kingston, ON

Friday, April 24: Mary Cowper-Smith, Charlottetown, PEI, Judy Deutsch, Toronto, ON, Helga Mankovitz, Kingston, ON

Saturday, April 25: James Campbell, Toronto, ON

Sunday, April 26: Genevieve Gallant, Ottawa, Ontario

Monday, April 27: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON, Ria Heynen, Ottawa, ON, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON, Jamie Page, Regina, SK

Tuesday, April 28: Louise Slobodian, Kingston, ON, Nino Pagliccia, Vancouver, BC, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Wednesday, April 29: Murray Lumley, Toronto, ON, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Thursday, April 30: Michele Schmidt, Toronto, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Friday, May 1: Donna Loft and Ed File, Priceville, ON, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Saturday, May 2: Nino Pagliccia, Vancouver, BC, Angelina Martz, Saint John, NB, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Sunday, May 3: Jozef Konyari, Toronto, ON, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON, Jamie Page, Regina, SK

Monday, May 4: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Tuesday, May 5: Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Wednesday, May 6: Murray Lumley, Toronto, ON, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Thursday, May 7: Michele Schmidt, Toronto, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Friday, May 8: Genevieve Gallant, Ottawa, ON, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Saturday, May 9: Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON, Jamie Page, Regina, SK

Sunday, May 10: Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Monday, May 11: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON, Deka Omar, Ottawa, ON

Tuesday, May 12: Barbara Gordon, Toronto, ON

Wednesday, May 13: Murray Lumley, Toronto, ON

Thursday, May 14: Michele Schmidt, Toronto

Friday, May 15: Jamie Page, Regina, SK

Saturday, May 16: David Heap, London, ON

Sunday, May 17: Matthew Behrens, Perth, ON

Monday, May 18: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON

Tuesday, May 19: Luke Stocking, Toronto, ON, Ria Heynen, Ottawa,  ON

Wednesday, May 20: Jamie Page, Regina, SK, Helga Mankovitz, Kingston, ON

Thursday, May 21: Michele Schmidt, Toronto

Friday, May 22: Jennifer Deguire, Grimsby, ON

Saturday, May 23: David Janzen, London, ON, Dunia Hamou, London, ON

Sunday, May 24: Marisa Conte, Rome, Italy, Dunia Hamou, London, ON

Monday, May 25: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON, Dunia Hamou, London, ON

Tuesday, May 26: Jamie Page, Regina, SK, Dunia Hamou, London, ON

Wednesday, May 27: James Campbell, Toronto, ON, Tina Stevens, London, ON

Thursday, May 28: Michele Schmidt, Toronto, Nusaiba Al-Azem, London, ON

Friday, May 29: Juan Davis, Victoria, BC

Saturday, May 30: Chris Stroud, London, ON, Elaine Stewart, Toronto, ON

Sunday, May 31: Marie Lloyd, Kingston, ON

Monday, June 1: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON

Tuesday, June 2: Jamie Page, Regina, SK

Wednesday, June 3: Paula Marcotte, London, ON

Thursday, June 4: Michele Schmidt, Toronto, Nusaiba Al-Azem, London, ON, Leila Almawy, London, ON (note that a community discussion event on C-51 takes place in conjunction with the chain fast, https://www.facebook.com/events/1515109218750054/

Friday, June 5: Sâkihitowin Awâsis, London, ON

Saturday, June 6: Sâkihitowin Awâsis, London, ON Sâkihitowin Awâsis, London, ON

Sunday, June 7: Jamie Page, Regina, SK

Monday, June 8: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON

Tuesday, June 9: Matthew Behrens, Perth, ON

Wednesday, June 10: Nusaiba Al-Azem, London, ON

Thursday, June 11: Michele Schmidt, Toronto

Friday, June 12: Elaine McIlwraith, London, ON

Saturday, June 13:

Sunday, June 14: Jozef Konyari, Toronto, ON

Monday, June 15: Gary Connolly, Brampton, ON

Tuesday, June 16: Jamie Page, Regina, SK, Barb Campbell, Ottawa, ON

Wednesday, June 17:

Thursday, June 18: Michele Schmidt, Toronto

Week-long march against Canadian government racism, repression and war, Summer, 2002, Hamilton to Scarborough (Homes not Bombs/Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada)