MEDIA ADVISORY
March 24 2023
Protests across Canada mark 8 years of Saudi-led war in Yemen, demand Canada end arms deals with Saudi Arabia
Cross-Canada Days of Action to End the War in Yemen – March 25 – 27, 2023
WHAT: On the eight-year anniversary of the brutal Saudi-led intervention in the war in Yemen, members of the Yemeni community and solidarity activists will rally in six cities across the country as part of the #CanadaStopArmingSaudi Days of Action: End the War in Yemen.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Azza Rojbi, Organizer with Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice, in Vancouver: 778-707-8027, rojbi.azza@gmail.com
Rachel Small, Canada Organizer for World BEYOND War, in Toronto: 647-769-2472, rachel@worldbeyondwar.org
Interviews available in English, French, Arabic and Spanish
INFO: Info on protests and actions in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Waterloo and Calgary on March 25-27 are listed here: https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/canadastoparmingsaudi2023
Follow @WBWCanada and #CanadaStopArmingSaudi on twitter for updates throughout the weekend.
From March 25-27, the Yemeni community and peace groups are marking 8 years of the brutal Saudi-led intervention in the war in Yemen by holding coordinated actions across Canada. The war in Yemen has killed an estimated 377,000 people to date, and displaced over 5 million people. Canada has sent over $8 billion in weapons to Saudi Arabia since 2015, the year the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen began.
In recent weeks, a Chinese brokered deal restoring relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran has raised hope for the possibility of establishing a lasting peace in Yemen. However, despite the current pause in bombings in Yemen, there is no structure in place to prevent Saudi Arabia from resuming airstrikes, nor to permanently end the Saudi-led blockade of the country. The blockade has meant that almost no containerized goods have been able to enter Yemen’s principal port of Hodeida since 2017. As a result, children are starving to death every day in Yemen, with millions malnourished. 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.
“We are protesting across Canada because the Trudeau government is complicit in perpetuating this disastrous war,” emphasized Azza Rojbi, antiwar activist with Fire This Time Movement for Social Justice, a member of the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network. “In 2020 and 2021 the United Nations panel of experts on Yemen named Canada as one of the states fueling the ongoing war in Yemen. This is due to the billions in weapons Canada sells to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as the controversial $15 billion deal to sell Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs) to Saudi Arabia.”
“Yemen desperately needs humanitarian aid, none of which can get into the country now because of the ongoing Saudi-led sea, land and air blockade. But instead of prioritizing saving Yemeni lives, the Canadian government has focused on continuing to profit off of fueling the conflict and shipping weapons of war,” says Rachel Small, Canada Organizer with World Beyond War.
The Days of Action to End the War in Yemen includes protests in cities across Canada including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Waterloo, and Ottawa as well as online actions, coordinated by the Canada-Wide Peace and Justice Network, a network of 45 peace groups.
More information and list of actions available at https://peaceandjusticenetwork.ca/canadastoparmingsaudi2023
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