Keeping up with Friends
Latest actions on situation in Israel/Palestine
CFSC joined many civil society groups calling on Canada to implement an arms embargo on Israel in keeping with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s urging all countries to immediately “cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions, and other military equipment to Israel.”
https://QuakerService.ca/ArmsEmbargo
We joined a huge list of legal experts and others asking Canada to unequivocally support and cooperate with the International Criminal Court as it issued arrest warrants for three Hamas and two Israeli officials suspected of extensive war crimes: https://QuakerService.ca/ICC
CFSC promoted a Gaza ceasefire pilgrimage, which many Friends across the country took part in. CFSC’s Sandra Wiens then joined church leaders in meetings with Members of Parliament when the pilgrimage arrived in Ottawa. Our Associate Clerk Ro Fife wrote about and shared some photos from Friends’ participation: https://QuakerService.ca/GazaPilgrimage
You can still donate to support relief work in Gaza being implemented by American Friends Service Committee: https://QuakerService.ca/Gaza
Reconciliation reports
In 2016, Canadian Friends came to a collective decision to take six actions in support of Indigenous peoples’ human rights and reconciliation. One of these actions was for local Quaker Meetings to report back to CFSC on the reconciliation work they do each year.
This reporting process was disrupted by the pandemic. We’re pleased to share two reports now as well as a short video for Friends seeking to make land acknowledgments (a topic that came up often in the reports we received): https://QuakerService.ca/ReconciliationReports
Two campaigns shine a light on deep problems with prisons
Did you know that Canada plans to expand the use of federal prisons to detain some migrants? 85 groups, including CFSC, have called on Canada to stop using federal prisons for immigrant detention. As Alberta’s public safety minister, Mike Ellis, stated, “People who come to Canada for a fresh start and a new life deserve a better welcome than a jail cell while paperwork is sorted out.” Read the open letter: https://QuakerService.ca/WelcomeToCanada
If so led, take action via Amnesty International Canada: https://QuakerService.ca/WelcomeToCanadaCampaign
WriteOn! a volunteer-run organization that CFSC has supported financially and done events with, notes having received, “hundreds of letters from incarcerated people across Canada who request all kinds of information, including general legal information, educational resources, and information about supports and programs that can benefit them in preparation for their release.”
Many are hoping to get an education to improve their chances of finding work when released. But courses today are almost all online and Canada doesn’t let incarcerated people have access to the Internet! WriteOn! has started a petition you can sign calling for this to be changed: https://QuakerService.ca/WriteOnPetition