| Kia ora Peace Friends,
Across the planet, the living conditions for billions of people are getting worse by the day. This is why we need join together: we can collectively build the New Zealand peace movement into a serious and sustained force for real political, environmental, economic and social change. We’re getting stronger already! This month the peace movement has had some great victories. We’re getting geared up for some more actions, and we hope you will be part of them.
Fifteen peace activists win in court
Fifteen people arrested for minor charges at the 2015 Weapons expo in Wellington have been in court defending these charges, because they knew they had done nothing wrong. And guess what? The court agreed! After the first day, the prosecution withdrew nine charges, and as the week went on, it became clear that not a single one of the charges would stack up. The campaign continues this year to shut down the Weapons Expo for good! Thank you to everyone in the community who supported the Give-A-Little and PledgeMe campaigns, and to our sister organisation, Peace Action Wellington for hosting the Week of Resistance.
Drone Awareness Week February 26- March 3
Catholic Workers, together with friends from various social justice traditions are mobilising for six days and nights of fasting and prayer in solidarity with drone assassination victims and families. At the end of the week, an offering of blood will be made to the GCSB (the NZ spy agency that provides targeting information to the US military) as they call for them to “take our blood instead” of those of Muslim people in the Middle East. While more of this action will be happening in Wellington, please help to amplify the messages of the campaign by liking and sharing information on the Facebook Page or visit the website here.
Crafting Resilience : @ Ōtāhuhu Library, Mason Ave.
Tena Koutou Talofa lava, Kia orana, Malo e laumalie, Fakatalofa atu, Ni sa bula vinaka, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Malo ni
Please join us for an afternoon of crafting resilience in our community, through crafting, waiata, karanga, and spoken word. Light refreshments will be available, children are welcome to attend with their whanau / aiga. Our sister Camila Larsen from Chile will be teaching participants about a technique called Arpillera, a type of patchwork quilting born during the Pinochet dictatorship when a lot of women started sewing images of what they were experiencing. Please bring whatever crafting you are working on. Presented by the Pacific Panther Network. Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1861391760811644/
No War for Oil! Blockade the Petroleum Summit 21-23 March
The oil industry has scarpered to Taranaki for their annual conference and it’s our job to disrupt it. We can no longer allow business-as-usual for the fossil fuel industry. They aren’t going to stop extracting oil and making heaps of cash because it’s the right thing to do. They will only do it when we make it impossible for them to continue to burn up the planet. Auckland Peace Action is headed to Taranaki to join the action, and you should, too! Non-violent direct action training workshops are being offered in Auckland to prepare for the action, and transport is also available. Check out the facebook page or website for more details.
Auckland Peace Action has been doing some planning work over the past couple of weeks, and will be publicly launching into our major campaign work for the year following the Taranaki blockade. Stay tuned next month for more details.
Wish you peace & joy,
Auckland Peace Action |
GPJA 