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Indymedia coverage for June 23-26

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*** LABOUR PEACE FORUM CALLS FOR CANADIAN WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN ***
Labour leaders from throughout the world expressed their support for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan at the labour forum, part of the World Peace Forum held in Vancouver today.
Approximately 150 participants joined in the discussion which focused on the need for the labour movement and the peace movement to participate in common activities to bring about peace and the end to war...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/815

*** REPORT OF LABOUR PEACE FORUM ***
We acknowledge the role of the labour movement in Canada and throughout many countries of the world in successfully helping to mobilize so many participants in demonstrations prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, such as the 250,000 who were on the streets of Montréal, which helped to ensure to government of Canada and of other countries did not join the invasion. We also need to acknowledge that our mobilizing efforts were largely secondary to the peace movement's efforts and those of other social justice groups...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/834

*** WORLD PEACE FORUM FIRST NATIONS PLENARY TO FOCUS ON COMMUNITY, FROM THE FAMILY, TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD, TO THE WORLD ***
Elected Pentiction Chief Stewart Philip at the Wolf Sessions tells delegates that "We have 91 countries gathered here to talk about peace and that is what it is going to take," said the master of ceremonies Dalannah Gail Bowen at the opening of the World Peace forum's First Nations Plenary, a two-day series of talks, gatherings, and celebrations linked to the global peace movement...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/816

*** MAKE 2010 OLYMPICS PEACE GAMES, SAYS OLYMPIC MEDALIST SILKEN LAUMANN ***
"Wouldn't it be great to turn the 2010 Olympic Games into sport for peace?"Silken Laumann asks. Three time Olympic medalist in women's rowing, Laumann arrived at the World Peace Forum today to talk to school children about her global work for kids, sports, and peace. Within the context of the Olympics,the connection between sports and peace is obvious, or is it? "I don't think that the Olympics as an entity does that enough," says Laumann, while asking the children to imagine what it would be like if all famous athletes used their fame to speak about the work that they can and do for children in impoverished and war-torn countries...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/817

*** LES MAIRES S'OPPOSENT AUX DÉPENSES MILITAIRES AMÉRICAINES ***
Aujourd'hui, à la séance plénière d'ouverture du Forum mondial sur la paix, des maires américains se sont opposés au budget militaire de leur nation qui ne cesse de croître.
Des maires des quatre coins du monde ont participé à la séance plénière d'ouverture, y compris Christopher Weeramantry du Sri Lanka, Jennifer Hosterman de Pleasanton en Californie, et Winstanley Johnson de Freetown à la Sierra Leone...

Full story: http://www.worldpeaceforum.ca/live/media/french2

*** 世界平和フォーラム開幕 ***
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Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/813

*** CUBAN DELEGATION TO PEACE FORUM CALLS FOR END TO TORTURE IN GUANTANAMO AND IRAQ ***

Orlando Fundora, Cuban president of the World Peace Council, is calling for an end to state-sponsored torture in Guantanamo and in Iraq, and is asking all governments to abide by the UN Convention against Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Fundora, a victim of torture at the hands of former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, is making his demands on June 26, the day that the UN General Assembly has declared as International Day in Support of Torture Victims...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/792

*** WORLD PEACE FORUM HIGHLIGHTS ROLE OF CANADA AND UN IN PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS ***

Former cabinet member, Officer of the Order of Canada, and President of the World Federalist Movement, the Hon. Warren Allmand, praised the World Peace Forum today for focussing on human rights.
"One way to advance the cause of peace is to protect human rights," said Allmand. " We now have two new bodies to work with, let's try to make sure they work properly."...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/794

*** YOUTH HEAR JAPANESE A-BOMB SURVIVORS AT WORLD PEACE FORUM ***

Upon first glance it would be difficult to imagine they have much in common besides nationhood. Her youth and calm stand out in contrast to his weathered face and quivering voice. But 23-year-old Hibiki Ouchi and 77-year-old Sumiteru Taniguchi, who is speaking to a crowd of about 40 onlookers on a small patch of grass outside the Student Union Building at the University of British Columbia, have both flown to Vancouver from Japan as part of a group of people united in their resolve to end nuclear armament...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/799

*** ONE DREAM CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING ***

Departments of Peace around the world look to powerful leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. as inspiration, inspiring people and nations around the world to work together to promote prevention, education, and new alternatives for the resolution of armed conflict.
This Sunday at the World Peace Forum, on the UBC campus, in a series of panels and workshops, seven presenters discussed concepts regarding the Global Alliance for Ministries and Parliamentarians Supporting Departments of Peace...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/797

*** LATIN AMERICAN PLENARY HEARS OF TRAGEDIES CAUSED BY WAR ***

At 4:30 in the morning, Fabiana Garcia grabbed her family and left her childhood home and ran up a mountain. Nearly 12 hours later, she looked down the mountain and saw her home in flames, destroyed by the invaders of her village.
That April morning in 1981, everything was lost. They could take nothing, as they had to climb a mountain. Those who stayed behind were gone. Garcia's parents managed to escape, but lived in the jungle in the mountains Garcia escaped from for 13 years...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/796

*** PEACE FORUM CONCERT SPOTLIGHTS LANDMINE THREAT ***

It was a wild success. Legendary Canadian singer and songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie and Somali born hip-hop artist K'Naan drew a crowd of over 2,000 to Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre last night for a benefit concert for the Canadian Landmine Foundation's 2020 Campaign to eradicate the antipersonnel explosive devices that kill and maim more than 10,000 civilians a year...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/node/785

*** WORLD PEACE FORUM OPENS WITH CALL TO "FORGE WEAPONS OF MASS CIVILITY." ***

More than 1500 delegates and guests packed Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre for the opening of the World Peace Forum. The theme of the Forum, is cities and communities working together to end war and build a peaceful, just and sustainable world...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=node/781

*** MAYORS SPEAK OUT AGAINST U.S. MILITARY SPENDING ***

At the Opening Plenary of the World Peace Forum today, American mayors spoke against the ever increasing U.S. military budget...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=node/776

*** OPENING PLENARY OF THE WORLD PEACE FORUM HEARS CALL FOR "NO MORE HIROSHIMAS!!" ***

"No more Hiroshimas! No more Nagasakis! No more Hibakusha! NO MORE WAR!" That was how Ono Reiko of the Japanese Confederation of A- and H-Bombs Survivors' Organization concluded an emotional address at the Opening Plenary of the World Peace Forum in Vancouver...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=node/777

*** THOUSANDS MARCH TO OPEN PEACE FORUM IN VANCOUVER ***

Close to 10,000 Vancouverites marched under a scorching summer sun to mark the opening of the 2006 World Peace Forum...

Full story: http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=node/779

For more World Peace Forum Indymedia coverage see:
http://vancouver.indymedia.org/?q=en/taxonomy/term/81

For more information: World Peace Forum, 1-604-822-1173, www.worldpeaceforum.ca