Action Blast October 2
💥Take Action Today!
📣 Say NO to More Cops! Add your name 📣
alt: It’s time to hit the COPS LOCK key. Add your name to demand a cap on cops in Toronto! Image: Keyboard key labelled
The Toronto Police want more officers, and that will mean more of the same: discrimination, violence and corruption, paid for by Torontonians. It's time to hit the Cops Lock key — because more police officers will not make our city safer.
But what if we stopped adding to Toronto's massive $1.2 billion police budget? What would you spend that money on instead?
Sign the letter here to say no to a bigger police force, and to say yes to a safe and just Toronto. #Toronto #TorontoPolice #DefundThePolice
🤝 Hear from two SURJ members about their solidarity work in the West Bank 🤝
alt: United Jewish People's Order Presents 10 Days of Awe & Action: Witnessing and Resisting + Occupation in the West Bank: All Eyes on Masafer Yatta Region. Hear stories of Israeli aggression and Palestinian resistance from two Canadian-born Jews who spent time doing solidarity work with Palestinians in the West Bank. Thursday Oct 10 6 PM to 8:00 PM EDT Location: https://bit.ly/3TINDKn. Day 8. Image: Colourful frame, black and white image of a town in the West Bank. Logos: SURJ Toronto, UJPO.
Join a webinar next Thursday, October 10th to hear from two Canadian-born Jews who recently returned from a ten day solidarity shift in Susiya, Masafer Yatta in the West Bank.
“More than anything, the activists, youth, families, elders and communities we met in Palestine wanted us to share their experiences in life under Israeli occupation and apartheid to those around us so that they could be known. Using video storytelling, we will describe the political, legal and structural context of occupation and apartheid. We will discuss the current state of aggression and what has changed even since our return. We will share voices and strategies of resistance and other considerations and ways to sharpen the efficacy of solidarity and collective action here on Turtle Island.”
This webinar is part of the United Jewish People’s Order’s 10 Days of Awe & Action, a set of daily programming over the 10 days between Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur designed to facilitate both reflection and action. Check out the whole itinerary here!
🍉Grieve and resist as we mark one year of genocide🍉
alt: October 5 One Year of Genocide One Year of Resistance Toronto International Day of Action. 2PM Yonge and Dundas Sq. Graphic: Person wearing a keffiyeh as a mask holding a Palestinian flag. Logo: Palestinian Youth Movement.
alt: From Tkaronto to Palestine: 12 hours of grieving for 12 months of genocide. October 8 8 AM - 8 PM Nathan Phillips Square. Vigil speakers poetry art performances. Gather together in grief, rage, and in community. Bring an item to add to a memorial to honour martyrs. Illustration: An arm waving a Palestinian flag in front of Toronto City Hall. Logos: Riding groups from Toronto 4 Palestine
As we reach the one-year anniversary of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and as Israel’s continues to escalate its assaults on the West Bank and Lebanon, join two actions this week to grieve and resist.
On Saturday October 5th, join PYM Toronto at Yonge and Dundas Square at 2 PM, as part of an International Day of Action to mark one year of genocide and one year of resistance. We will not stop, we will not rest, until every inch of Palestine is free!
On Tuesday, October 8th, join a coalition of riding organizations from across the GTA for a 12 hour vigil at Nathan Phillips Square. Gather together in grief, rage and community, and hear from from Indigenous comrades, Palestinian community members, healthcare workers, Jewish organizers, comrades speaking to other genocides, labour organizers, artists, and more. Participate in collective art, offer an item to a memorial, join in song, listen to poetry, bear witness to reading of martyrs’ names, and experience performances as we create a collective container for our grief.
📚More Actions and Resources💻
Act:
Demand fairness for international students. Sign this petition against new rules which could prevent tens of thousands of international students from getting work permits.
Tell Doug Ford’s government to restore access to overdose prevention. Sign this petition to save supervised consumption sites in Toronto.
Read:
Check out Chief Rudy Turtle of Grassy Narrows First Nation in the Toronto Star last week, writing about the River Run and the urgent need for mercury justice.
The Yellowhead Institute is launching an online course based on their Land Back Red Paper Report – register today
Watch this video from The Breach debunking Poilievre’s xenophobic claim that immigration is driving the housing crisis.
