Who are we ?

Member groups of CESAPI (Coalition in Solidarity with the People of Iraq)

• Arab Community Association of BC
• Hands Off Iraq
• Physicians for Global Survival (BC)
• Voice of Women (BC)
• Veterans Against Nuclear Arms
• St. Chiara Community
• Religous Society of Friends (Quakers)
• Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (BC)

Past Initiatives

The Coalition in Solidarity with the People of Iraq (CESAPI) has been working on many events over the last few years, including:

March 2005 March for Peace

Vigils for Christian Peacemaker Team hostages.

February 2005 Federal Election campaign

Dec 2005 films The Oil Factor & Sir No Sir! at Cinematheque and VanCity theatre.

4 Nov 2005 street theatre ILLEGAL AND INHUMANE TREATMENT OF THE PRISONERS OF "THE WAR ON TERROR"

Oct 2005 Vancouver International Film Festival

The Oil Factor and Aristide and the Endless Revolution

Sept 2005 Film 'Fallujah 2004'

A documentary by Toshikuni DOI that chronicles the death and destruction within Fallujah caused by U.S. Forces in April 2003 and April 2004.
Through eyewitness accounts, director Toshikuni DOI exposes a side of the U.S. war in Iraq not seen in mainstream media.

June 2005 the OIL factor: Behind the War on Terror

[=>]http://www.theoilfactor.com/ (movie website)
After spending three months in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the produces of this new documentary, Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy,  assess the results of the U.S. attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan.  They expose the human cost and examine the bigger geo-strategic picture of these invasions that may lead the world toward the next global conflict.

Wed May 4, Fri May 6 IRAQ - a slide show

Presentation by Greg Rollins who has just returned from 5 months in Iraq with the Christian Peacemakers Team ([=>]www.cpt.org). The slides depict life in Iraq today - the toll the occupation is having on the people of Iraq, also under-cover images of the US seige of Fallujah.

Thu Apr/28 Tariq Ali on Empire and Resistance, from Vietnam to Iraq

Author and activist Tariq Ali will speak on movements against Empire` from Vietnam to Iraq. The London-based Ali was a leader of the movement against the war in Vietnam, and remains a prominent figure in today's anti-war movement. Ali is the author of numerous books, including the new collection of interviews Empire and Resistance, Clash of Fundamentalisms and last year's Bush in Babylon.

Thu Apr/21 the OIL factor - Behind the War on Terror

[=>]http://www.theoilfactor.com/ (movie website)
While the world is focused on terror, did you know that At the current rate of production, North America and Western Europe will run out of oil in 2010?

• Friday April 8: Iraq Veterans say “Bring the troops home now”

  Friday, April 8, 7:00pm
  Room 1700, SFU Harbour Centre (515 west Hastings St.)

  “It's unacceptable that more than 1200 Americans have died and so many thousands of Iraqis have died in a place that U.S. forces shouldn't be in the first place.”

  Kelly Dougherty, 26, spent 10 months in Iraq as a Sergeant with her National Guard unit. She is a co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW.net). Hear her speak about the situation in Iraq, the growing resistance within the US military, and what you can do to help war resisters.

  For more information: www.resisters.ca

  Sites related to the issues:
  Canadian Friends Service Committee www.cfsc.quaker.ca
  Military Families Speak Out www.mfso.org
  Travelling Soldier Online www.traveling-soldier.org
  Brandon Hughey brandonhughey.org
  Jeremy Hinzman jeremyhinzman.net
  Vietnam War Resisters in Canada www.library.ubc.ca/jones/amcan.html

  Online articles on the issues:
  US War Heroes of the Iraqi War www.tomjoad.org/WarHeroes.htm
  Let the war resisters stay www.socialist.ca/En/SW2005/444-06-warresisters.html

• Mar. 20, 2004: Rally on anniversary of bombing. 25,000 people marched from Peace Flame park, across the Burrard Bridge to Sunset Beach, where they listened to Noam Chomsky.  For other March 20 events in Canada and around the world see [=>] Canadian Peace Alliance
• Jan. 17, 2004 Rally for Maher Arar Public Enquiry (BCCLA)
• Sun. Nov. 23rd: Milan Rai on "Regime Unchanged"
• Mon. Nov. 3, 2003: U.S., MIDDLE EAST & EMPIRE : public forum with Phyllis Bennis.
  A fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies, in Washington D.C. and of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam, Phyllis Bennis has been a writer, analyst andactivist on Middle East issues for 25 years. To read current articles by Phyllis Bennis go to [=>] www.ips-dc.org/iraq
• Sat. Oct. 25, 2003: over a thousand marched in good weather from Vancouver Art Gallery to Beatty street Armouries to oppose the " Occupations of Iraq , Palestine, & Afghanistan, and to bring Canadian troops home". Speakers included Mordecai Briemberg, Hemsa Nosh and Gabor Mate, music by Wickedhouseparty, street theatre by Artists Against War.
• Tue. Sep. 30, 2003:Vigil for Mordechai Vanunu on the 17th anniversary of his kidnapping and imprisonment. For more information about Vanunu, and to sign the international petition calling for his release, visit www.nonviolence.org/vanunu and www.vanunu.freeserve.co.uk
  Endorsed by [=>] CanPalNet (Canada Palestine Support Network) and CESAPI (Coalition to Support the People of Iraq).
• Sun. Sep. 28, 2003 A few thousand rallied at Vancouver Art Gallery and marched along Robson street.
• July 14, 2003 An overflow audience of around 400 attended talk on Iraq by Kathy Kelly, 3 time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize and co-founder of => Voices in the Wilderness, and Bert Sacks of Seattle [=>]CommonDreams article on medecine to Iraq.
• April 12,2003 Thousands marched through downtown Vancouver, organized by [=>] stopwar.ca . Speakers included Derek Corrigan (mayor of Burnaby), Robert Bateman (artist), Reem Alnuweiri (International Solidarity Movement).
• April 8, 2003 Tariq Ali spoke at St. Andrew Wesley to 700 people, hosted by the Ad Hoc Tariq Ali Tour Committee [=>] www.canpalnet.ca/events.html with help from CESAPI and others. See "Tariq Ali: War and Empire - World Politics After Iraq" [=>] video at http://www.workingtv.com/tariqali.html .
• March 16, 2003. Candlelit vigils were held in 6860 locations in 141 countries , including over 20 locations around Vancouver. See pictures at [=>]www.moveon.org.
• March 15, 2003. About 20,000 people marched through downtown Vancouver See video highlights of speeches by Sunera Thobani and David Suzuki's at [=>] www.globaljustice.ca .
• March 14, 2003. About a hundred people held a positive 24-hour vigil in a mini-park near the US Consulate in Vancouver
• February 15, 2003. About 25,000 people marched through downtown Vancouver from Canada Place to Art Gallery, joining their voices with 50 million around the world ( => www.UnitedForPeace.org ). See CBC.ca review of cross-canada actions.
• January 18, 2003. Twenty thousand people marched in downtown Vancouver from Library Square to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Videos available on http://vancouver.indymedia.org. Canadian Peace Team members reported on their travel in Iraq at SFU Harbour Centre: see www.globaljustice.ca for audio or video of discussion with students in Baghdad.
• January 8, 2003. The CESAPI meeting Jan-08 endorsed the "Cairo Declaration" of 2002-dec-18. See article by John Rees in Left Turn or go directly to Cairo Declaration.
• December 31, 2001. Local Peace Team Members Vandas and Ziemann returned from Baghdad greeted by participants Morgan and MacInnes. See Voices in the Wilderness website iraqpeaceteam.org on Peace Teams, and www.globaljustice.ca for audio or video of discussion with students in Baghdad.
• November 21, 2002. Felicity Arbuthnot spoke at SFU Harbour Centre on sanctions.
• November 17, 2002. As part of cross-Canada effort, several thousand Vancouverites marched cheerfully in the rain to Sunset Beach. See photos at vancouver.indymedia.org
• October 4, 2002. Scott Ritter spoke to 1100 people while hundreds were turned away for lack of space.
  See Review Of The Meeting By Azad On Www.Vancouver.Indymedia.Org
  RealAudio recording under CFRO Animal Voices (57min. 7MB) under October 14 show.
  Quicktime movie under http://globaljustice.ca/ (25 min. 46MB)
• August, 2002 antiwar rally and die-in to mark the 12th anniversary of the sanctions on Iraq and the 57th anniversary of the A-bombing of Hiroshima.
• February, 2002 300 people attended protest at the Orpheum when Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State, was speaking.
• January, 2002 British MP George Galloway was the guest at a March and Forum to mark the 11th anniversary of the Gulf War.
• 2001/2 CESAPI organized 3 Canada wide phone waves to our Foreign Minister.
• November, 200l CESAPI hosted a forum with guest speaker Hans von Sponeck, the second UN Coordinator in Iraq to resign his position in the UN in protest against the sanctions. Approximately 900 attended.
• September, 2001 A cross-Canada caravan "To End Sanctions on Iraq" was organized by CESAPI on behalf of the Candian Network to End Sanctions on Iraq (CANESI). 31 cities hosted the caravan.
• 20 Jan 2001, held a memorial march to mark the 10th anniversary of the Gulf War, using 200 coffins to symbolize the daily death toll of children in Iraq.
• November, 2000 CESAPI members staged a 48 hour fast on Remembrance Day outside of Hedy Fry's Office.
• March, 1999 six members of CESAPI went to Iraq to witness the effects of sanctions. During the next year they made 40 slide presentations across Canada. Sept 2000, held a public forum with Denis Halliday, former UN Assistant-Secretary General and UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq who resigned in protest over the sanctions. Over 1,000 people in attendance.

Contact CESAPI: email <[email protected]> or call Irene 604 737 1299
- to join us in our work
- to be on our upcoming events mailing list
- or for more information

Updated 2004-jan-06 DL