On the eve of an important meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Montreal, we are marching together today in clear opposition to the WTO and its agenda of dispossession and displacement.

This is a demonstration representing over eighty groups, and many more individuals, who are publicly and unabashedly declaring our solidarity with movements for self-determination, justice and dignity, at home and abroad. We also march as a message of support and solidarity for our sisters and brothers in Latin America, who will converge in September to oppose the WTO in Cancun, Mexico.

Today, we wish to particularly assert our support for the sovereignty of the indigenous peoples and nations of the Canadian state, who were the original victims of dispossession on this land, justified in the name of colonialism. Our indigenous sisters and brothers stand as an inspiring example of resistance from whom we have much to learn.

We also assert our support for immigrants and refugees in this country, human beings whose existence continues to be marginalized and criminalized by racist immigration laws and the implementation of Jean Chretien and George Bush's Fortress North America. Hypocritically, capitalist globalization makes it easier for rich people and their money to cross borders, while controlling and exploiting the poor. We call for open borders, and full rights for migrants and refugees worldwide.

Arabs, Muslims, South Asians and other identifiable groups have been targeted and scapegoated by recent anti-terrorist and security laws. This march affirms our rejection of racial profiling, and attempts to slander entire communities. We celebrate the full humanity of our cultures and peoples.

Similarly, we reject the self-serving excuses and blatant lies that have led to bloody and destructive wars. The so-called war on terrorism has meant state terrorism against civilian populations throughout the global South, including Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq. Around the globe and at home, people-centered movements for social justice assert their dignity through various and diverse struggles - from the Philippines to Colombia; from the jungles of Chiapas to the so-called "reserves" of Turtle Island.

We are highlighting today certain struggles and movements. There are many more. But they are all fundamentally linked in their opposition to exploitive systems like capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy. Importantly, they are linked in their demand for social justice, dignity, and genuine democracy. In the face of attempts to divide peoples and movements, and to render entire groups of human beings illegal, invisible or disposable, we march together today to declare publicly and with conviction: "No One is Illegal!"

This is just the beginning ...

To get in touch with the organizers of the No One Is Illegal March, please phone 514-409-2049 or e-mail: resi...@resist.ca

No Justice, No Peace!
Open the Borders!
End All Occupations!
No One Is Illegal!

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La Mobilisation Populaire
contre l'OMC à Montréal
The Popular Mobilization
Against the WTO in Montreal

July 26-30 Juillet 2003
resi...@resist.ca
http://montreal.resist.ca