Categories
News

#CanadaStopArmingSaudi 2023 Days of Action to End the War in Yemen

photo of a bombed building with text on top reading 8 Years of War on Yemen

Canada has blood on its hands.

March 26 2023 marks eight years of the brutal Saudi-led intervention in the war in Yemen. A war that has killed an estimated 377,000 people. Over 5 million people have been displaced because of the war, and a staggering 21.6 million people are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, as 80 per cent of the country’s population struggles to access food, safe drinking water and adequate health services.

The Saudi-led coalition has bombed Yemeni markets, hospitals, and civilians, and yet Canada has exported over $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015, the year the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen began. It’s despicable for Canada to be profiting from selling billions in arms to Saudi Arabia.

The war in Yemen must stop! Antiwar and peace activists and organizations are marking 8 years of the war on Yemen with days of action from March 25-27, 2023.

 

Le Canada a du sang sur les mains.

Le 26 mars 2023 marque les huit ans de l’intervention brutale de l’Arabie saoudite dans la guerre au Yémen. Une guerre qui a tué plus de 377,000 personnes. Plus de cinq millions de personnes ont été déplacées à cause de la guerre, et 21,6 millions de personnes ont désespérément besoin d’aide humanitaire, alors que 80 % de la population du pays lutte pour avoir accès à la nourriture, à l’eau potable et à des services de santé adéquats.

La coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite a bombardé les marchés, les hôpitaux et les civils yéménites, et pourtant le Canada a exporté pour plus de 8 milliards de dollars d’armes vers l’Arabie saoudite depuis 2015, année du début de l’intervention militaire dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite au Yémen. Il est méprisable que le Canada profite de la vente de milliards d’armes à l’Arabie saoudite.

La guerre au Yémen doit cesser ! Les militants et organisations antiguerres marqueront les 8 ans de la guerre au Yémen par des journées d’action du 25 au 27 mars 2023.

 

Statement on the war in Yemen
Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network – March 2023

As the  war in Yemen enters its eighth year, the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network calls on the Trudeau Liberal government to end its complicity with the aggressors—the Saudi-led coalition—and to help the victims, the people of Yemen.

Who are the parties to this war?


In 2015, a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates started a brutal bombing campaign and a military intervention in Yemen against the Ansar Allah movement (also known as Houthis). The stated goal of the Saudi-led coalition was to reinstate the deposed former president Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi. Thus, an internal dispute in Yemen became an international military intervention led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States, United Kingdom (UK), France, Canada, Germany and Italy.

Yemen is a land of rich history and ancient civilization; beautiful and complex culture; and resilient people. The Yemeni people deserve to determine the future of their country freely without any foreign military intervention or coercion. The Saudi-led war in Yemen is an attack on Yemen’s sovereignty and self-determination.

The humanitarian situation

Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen has killed hundreds of thousands of people and wreaked havoc on the country. The United Nations has declared the Yemen war to be the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

This war breaks the conditions of the Geneva Convention by deliberately targeting civilians and civilian structures, schools, markets, hospitals, roads, water tanks, sanitation facilities and places of worship in Yemen, as documented by Amnesty International, Human Rights  Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières and the United Nations.  

A staggering 21.6 million people in Yemen require some form of humanitarian assistance in 2023, as 80 per cent of the country’s population struggles to access food, safe drinking water and adequate health services. Multiple  emergencies have pummeled the country: violent conflict, an economic blockade by the Saudi-led coalition, currency collapse, natural  disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Canada’s role 

Canada has played a huge role in perpetuating this disastrous war. One of the first actions of the newly-elected Trudeau government in 2015 was to reaffirm the signing of a $15 billion deal to sell Light Armored Vehicles  (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia. This was the largest arms exporting contract in Canadian history and included training in the use of the vehicles. Canada also trained Saudi pilots in Alberta and Saskatchewan. 

Canada continues to sell weapons and military equipment to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The United Nations panel of experts on Yemen has twice named Canada, in 2020 and 2021, as one of the states fueling the ongoing war in Yemen. Canada provides well over $1 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE every year. 

U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia has been constant since the war began, even in the face of a 2019 UN report revealing that Saudi Arabia was committing war crimes and that its Western supporters were complicit. In Canada, many politicians want to keep the war profits from weapons sales rolling in. These war profiteers and our compliant media cheer on the proxy war in Ukraine and are mute as the war in Yemen drags on.  

Alarmingly, a Breach (Canadian online investigative news outlet) investigation shows that this complicity extends to the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. As it reported, the Canadian government is buying two aircraft, for $133 million, for a fleet to be used by the prime minister. The seller is a company controlled by notorious Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.  

It’s despicable for Canada to be profiting from selling billions in arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Owen Schalk, writing in Canadian Dimension, summarizes the situation: 

Canada’s involvement in the war on Yemen can be explained in two words: blood money. It is that  simple, and there is no excuse for the federal government’s consistent facilitation of these weapons  transactions, no matter how many pathetic justifications they conjure up. You can’t make  nationwide famine disappear by insisting upon the importance of Canadian manufacturing jobs. You can’t eliminate the Houthis’ domestic popularity by blindly applying the “Iran-backed”  descriptor to any discussion of their resistance. And Yemen can’t wait for the Liberal Party to grow a conscience.  

Our demands 

We call on the Trudeau Liberal government to take these steps to permanently end Canadian complicity in this war: 

  • Cancel active and pending sales of Canadian arms (light armored vehicles and other weapons) to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 
  • Call on the Saudi-led coalition to end its illegal military offensive. 
  • Call on the Saudi-led coalition to fully lift the land, sea, and air blockade on Yemen.
  • Open unconditionally the door to all Yemeni refugees under the same terms as has been done for Ukrainian refugees. 
  • Increase humanitarian aid to Yemen to an amount that will be meaningful given the scale of misery and destruction that Yemenis have suffered in this eight-year war. After the Canadian government cancels the $15 billion LAV sale, they must donate the refunded amount (after penalties) for humanitarian aid in Yemen. 

Déclaration sur la guerre au Yémen
Réseau pan-canadien pour la paix et la justice – Mars 2023

Alors que la guerre au Yémen entre dans sa huitième année, le Réseau pan-canadien pour la paix et la justice demande au gouvernement libéral de Trudeau de mettre fin à sa complicité avec les agresseurs – la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite – et d’aider les victimes, le peuple du Yémen.

Qui sont les parties à cette guerre ?
En 2015, une coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite et les Émirats arabes unis a lancé une campagne de bombardements brutale et une intervention militaire au Yémen contre le mouvement Ansar Allah (également connu sous le nom de Houthis). L’objectif déclaré de la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite était de rétablir l’ancien président Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi dans ses fonctions. Ainsi, un conflit interne au Yémen s’est transformé en une intervention militaire internationale menée par l’Arabie saoudite et soutenue par les États-Unis, le Royaume-Uni, la France, le Canada, l’Allemagne et l’Italie.

Le Yémen est un pays à l’histoire riche et à la civilisation ancienne, à la culture belle et complexe, et au peuple résistant. Le peuple yéménite mérite de décider librement de l’avenir de son pays, sans intervention militaire étrangère ni coercition. La guerre menée par l’Arabie saoudite au Yémen est une attaque contre la souveraineté et l’autodétermination du pays.

La situation humanitaire

La guerre menée par l’Arabie saoudite au Yémen a tué des centaines de milliers de personnes et ravagé le pays. Les Nations unies ont déclaré que la guerre au Yémen était “la pire crise humanitaire au monde”. Cette guerre viole les conditions de la Convention de Genève en prenant délibérément pour cible des civils et des structures civiles, des écoles, des marchés, des hôpitaux, des routes, des réservoirs d’eau, des installations
sanitaires et des lieux de culte au Yémen, comme l’ont démontré Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières et les Nations Unies.

En 2023, 21,6 millions de personnes au Yémen auront besoin d’une forme ou d’une autre d’aide humanitaire, car 80 % de la population du pays a du mal à accéder à la nourriture, à l’eau potable et à des services de santé adéquats. De multiples situations d’urgence ont frappé le pays : conflit violent, blocus économique imposé par la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite, effondrement de la monnaie, catastrophes naturelles et pandémie de COVID-19.

Le rôle du Canada

Le Canada a joué un rôle considérable dans la perpétuation de cette guerre désastreuse. L’une des premières actions du gouvernement Trudeau nouvellement élu en 2015 a été de réaffirmer la signature d’un accord de 15 milliards de dollars pour la vente de véhicules blindés légers (VBL) à l’Arabie saoudite. Il s’agissait du plus gros contrat d’exportation d’armes de l’histoire du Canada, qui incluait la formation à l’utilisation des véhicules. Le Canada a également formé des pilotes saoudiens en Alberta et en Saskatchewan.
Le Canada continue de vendre des armes et des équipements militaires à l’Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis. Le groupe d’experts des Nations unies sur le Yémen a désigné à deux reprises le Canada, en 2020 et 2021, comme l’un des États qui alimentent la guerre en cours au Yémen. Le Canada fournit chaque année pour plus d’un milliard de dollars d’armes à l’Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis.

Le soutien militaire des États-Unis à l’Arabie saoudite est constant depuis le début de la guerre, même face à un rapport de l’ONU de 2019 révélant que l’Arabie saoudite commettait des crimes de guerre et que ses soutiens occidentaux étaient complices. Au Canada, de nombreux politiciens souhaitent que les profits de guerre provenant des ventes d’armes continuent d’affluer. Ces profiteurs de guerre et nos médias complaisants
encouragent la guerre par procuration en Ukraine et restent muets face à la guerre au Yémen qui s’éternise.

Fait alarmant, une enquête de The Breach montre que cette complicité s’étend jusqu’au Premier ministre Justin Trudeau. Le gouvernement canadien est en train d’acheter deux avions, pour un montant de 133 millions de dollars, afin de constituer une flotte utilisée par le Premier ministre. Le vendeur est une société contrôlée par le célèbre prince héritier saoudien et Premier ministre Mohammed bin Salman.

Il est ignoble que le Canada profite de la vente de milliards d’euros d’armes à l’Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis. Owen Schalk, qui écrit dans Canadian Dimension, résume la situation : L’implication du Canada dans la guerre au Yémen peut s’expliquer en deux mots : l’argent du sang. C’est aussi simple que cela, et il n’y a aucune excuse à la facilitation constante de ces transactions d’armes par le gouvernement fédéral, quelles que soient les justifications pathétiques qu’il invente. Ce n’est pas en insistant sur l’importance des emplois manufacturiers canadiens que l’on fera disparaître la famine qui sévit dans tout le pays. On n’éliminera pas la popularité nationale des Houthis en appliquant aveuglément le qualificatif “soutenu par l’Iran” à toute discussion sur leur résistance. Et le Yémen ne peut pas attendre que le Parti libéral acquière
une conscience.

Nos revendications

Nous enjoignons le gouvernement libéral de Trudeau à prendre les mesures suivantes pour mettre un terme définitif à la complicité du Canada dans cette guerre :
• Annuler les ventes d’armes canadiennes (véhicules blindés légers et autres armes) à l’Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis.
• Demander à la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite de mettre fin à son offensive militaire illégale.
• Demander à la coalition dirigée par l’Arabie saoudite de lever complètement le blocus terrestre, maritime et aérien du Yémen.
• Ouvrir inconditionnellement la porte à tous les réfugiés yéménites dans les mêmes conditions que pour les réfugiés ukrainiens.
• Augmenter l’aide humanitaire au Yémen pour atteindre un montant significatif compte tenu de l’ampleur de la misère et de la destruction subies par les Yéménites au cours de cette guerre qui dure depuis huit ans. Lorsque le gouvernement canadien aura annulé la vente des VBL pour un montant de 15 milliards de dollars, il devra faire don du montant remboursé (après pénalités) pour l’aide humanitaire au Yémen.

Thank you to everyone who joined a solidarity action!

Read a report back on cross-country actions here.

Webinar on Monday March 27
The Forgotten War: Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the Canadian arms trade

Send an email to your MP now

Use this online tool to send a letter to your MP calling on the Canadian government to stop sending weapons to Saudi Arabia and stop arming the horrific war in Yemen.

Shareable graphics

Don’t forget to use the hashtags #CanadaStopArmingSaudi and #YemenCantWait

Handouts available to download as PDF files:

English: Full page, half-page


French: Full page, half-page

Check out photos, videos, and more from 2022 actions HERE.

Categories
Uncategorized

#CanadaStopArmingSaudi Day of Action to End the War in Yemen

#CanadaStopArmingSaudi Day of Action
End the War in Yemen

Canada has blood on its hands.

March 26 2022 marks seven years of the brutal war in Yemen. A war that has killed over a quarter of a million people. Over 4 million people have been displaced because of the war, and 70% of the population, including 11.3 million children, are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

The Saudi-led coalition has bombed Yemeni markets, hospitals, and civilians, and yet Canada has exported over $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015, the year the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen began. It’s despicable for Canada to be profiting from selling billions in arms to Saudi Arabia.

After months of escalating organizing across the country — from arms blockades and banner drops, to car caravans and dozens of protests, to media exposés and damning reports — we know the Trudeau government is feeling the pressure.

The war in Yemen must stop! Antiwar and peace activists and organizations are marking 7 years of the war on Yemen with a day of action on March 26 & 27.

Online Actions to Take Right Now

Send an email to your MP now

Use this online tool to send a letter to your MP calling on the Canadian government to stop sending weapons to Saudi Arabia and stop arming the horrific war in Yemen.

Email your MP here

Sign the Parliamentary Petition

Call on Canada to stop fueling the 7-year-long war in Yemen. When submitted, this petition will obligate the Trudeau Government to submit an official response.

Sign here

Online rally

We held an online rally on March 31st to learn about the war in Yemen, Canada’s role in the violence, and take collective action to make #CanadaStopArmingSaudi. Watch the recording by clicking the play button below, or access on Youtube here.

Join the Day of Action to End the War in Yemen and Demand #CanadaStopArmingSaudi

Thank you to everyone who came out to an action on March 26-27  in 7 cities across Canada to call for an end to the war in Yemen and to demand #CanadaStopArmingSaudi. More photos, videos, and news coverage here.

Shareable graphics

Don’t forget to use the hashtags #CanadaStopArmingSaudi and #YemenCantWait
Categories
Uncategorized

Email your MP – No more weapons to Saudi Arabia

Canada has blood on its hands.

Now approaching its seventh year, the war in Yemen has killed over a quarter of a million people. Over 4 million people have been displaced because of the war, and 70% of the population, including 11.3 million children, are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

The Saudi-led coalition has bombed Yemeni markets, hospitals, and civilians, and yet Canada has exported over $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia since 2015, the year the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen began. It’s despicable for Canada to be profiting from selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

The UN Human Rights Council has twice named Canada as one of the states fueling the ongoing war in Yemen by continuing arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

After months of escalating organizing across the country — from arms blockades and banner drops, to car caravans and dozens of protests, to media exposés and damning reports — we know the Trudeau government is feeling the pressure.

Send a letter now calling on the Canadian government to stop sending weapons to Saudi Arabia and stop arming the horrific war in Yemen. Canada must immediately end all arms exports to Saudi Arabia, expand humanitarian aid for the people of Yemen, and work with trade unions to develop a plan for a just transition for arms industry workers who would be impacted by the cessation of arms exports to Saudi Arabia.

Categories
Uncategorized

Join the Global Day of Action to End the War on Yemen

March 25/26 2021

March 25/26 marks 6 years of a brutal U.S.-backed, Canada-armed, Saudi-led war on Yemen. Alongside an indiscriminate and ongoing bombing campaign, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, backed by the United States, have imposed an air, land and sea blockade on Yemen. The blockade has caused critical fuel and food shortages, resulting in 400,000 children at risk of dying right now in Yemen, as reported by CNN. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the United Nations had declared  Yemen the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Now Yemen is facing famine along with the Covid-19 pandemic, with an overwhelmed medical system devastated by war and blockade.

Alongside the U.S. and U.K., Canada also has blood on its hands as it also continues to profit from selling arms to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the military coalition. On September 28, 2020, the UN Human Rights Council named Canada as one of the parties fueling the ongoing war in Yemen by continuing arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Canada exported nearly $2.9-billion worth of military equipment to Saudi Arabia in 2019.

The war on Yemen must stop! Antiwar and peace activists and organizations are marking 6 years of the war on Yemen with days of action on March 25 and 26. As fellow activists across Canada, we encourage you to hold actions in your towns and cities on these days. Actions can include street actions, car caravans, webinars, letter writing, and social media campaigns, considering your local situation.

 Action Ideas & Resources

  • Deliver a letter: 68 organizations across Canada have signed a letter to demand that Canada Stop Arming Saudi and to highlight 28 companies in Canada complicit in this arms deal. The letter has been delivered in person to Justin Trudeau’s office, as well as a number of other MPs and companies listed in it. We encourage others to also deliver the letter to government officials and named companies in your area. If you take this action remember to take a photo of the delivery and post on social media using the hashtags #CanadaStopArmingSaudi and #YemenCantWait. Photos of letter deliveries are being collected and posted here.
  • Residents of Canada are invited to sign these two parliamentary petitions:

Whatever action you decide to take, remember to reflect your action on social media with the hashtag #CanadaStopArmingSaudi and #YemenCantWait so activists and organizations across Canada can amplify each others actions!

Categories
News

Taking action to get Canada to #StopArmingSaudi

On March 1st, the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network publicly launched a letter signed by 68 organizations, representing one million people, calling on the Canadian government and Canadian companies to stop sending weapons to Saudi Arabia and stop arming the horrific war in Yemen. For the first time, it publicly named 28 companies in Canada implicated in this arms trade.

Since the letter was launched on March 1st it’s been hand-delivered to government officials and MPs across the country, and protests and banner drops have been held at the locations of the companies listed who are arming Saudi Arabia and profiting off of the war in Yemen.

Categories
News

End Canada’s Support of the War on Yemen and Ongoing Weapons Exports to Saudi Arabia

The Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network wrote the following letter condemning the Canadian government and Canadian companies’ ongoing profiteering off of arming Saudi Arabia and sending weapons to the worst humanitarian situation on the planet in Yemen.

We’re pleased to announce that 68 organizations across Canada, representing nearly one million people, have signed on to demand that Canada #StopArmingSaudi and to highlight 28 companies in Canada complicit in this arms deal.

On March 1st, the letter was delivered to Prime Minister Trudeau’s office. Throughout the week it will be delivered to the companies and government officials named across Canada.

The full letter is available for download here.

Act now:

Help spread the word on social media! Sample messaging here and shareable graphics here.

Residents of Canada are invited to sign these two parliamentary petitions: