MAKING PEACE VIGIL Newsletter - January 1, 2026

[Oscar]

MAKING PEACE VIGIL Newsletter - January 1, 2026


SPECIAL READING—Words of encouragement as we move into 2026

FRANCESCA ALBANESE AND THE LONELY ROAD OF DEFIANCE, by Chris Hedges
[ https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/fran ... the-lonely ]


WHY I WAS ARRESTED
[ https://newsletter.peoplepowerunited.or ... sobedience ]


GOOD READING & VIEWING & LISTENING

SASKATOON MAN WANTS RENTERS TO KNOW THEIR RIGHTS AFTER WINNING CLAIM AGAINST LANDLORD
[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoo ... -9.7030120 ]


TRANSIT FARES ARE GOING UP. WHY DO CANADIAN CITIES STRUGGLE TO KEEP IT AFFORDABLE?
[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/public-t ... -9.7025634 ]


GEORGY GALLOWAY ON MARK CARNEY
[ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NNMzrHNJclU ]


LET’S BE CLEAR – BANNING THE HIJAB IS AN ACT OF DESPERATE ISLAMOPHOBIA. PERIOD!
[ https://www.muslimnetwork.tv/lets-be-cl ... ia-period/ ]


BOURBON WAVES A WHITE FLAG, by Charlie Angus
[ https://charlieangus.substack.com/p/bou ... white-flag ]


MORE ARTISTS CANCEL KENNEDY CENTER PERFORMANCES AFTER TRUMP'S NAME ADDED TO THE BUILDING
[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/m ... -9.7030221 ]


SIMU LIU SAYS HOLLYWOOD HAS DEEMED ASIAN ROLES TOO 'RISKY' ONCE AGAIN
[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/s ... -9.7030174 ]


INSIDE RETURN TO THE LAND, A NEW GROUP ATTEMPTING TO LEGALIZE SEGREGATION
[ https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hat ... gregation/ ]


THE US TRILLION DOLLAR WAR MACHINE—Canada is going down the same road
[ https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the- ... -machine-w ]


NIGERIAN VILLAGE BOMBED BY TRUMP HAS ‘NO KNOWN HISTORY’ OF ANTI-CHRISTIAN TERRORISM, LOCALS SAY
[ https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump ... christians ]


WHAT’S BEHIND TRUMP’S CHRISTMAS STRIKES ON NIGERIA? ANTI-CHRISTIAN GENOCIDE OR APPEASING MAGA BASE?
[ https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/29/nigeria_strikes ]


VENEZUELA ENVOY DELIVERS SCATHING SPEECH AT UNITED NATIONS AMID TRUMP WAR THREATS AGAINST MADURO
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6szNSdon2Ns ]


U.S. STRIKES AGAINST VENEZUELA: TRUMP “WANTS THE OIL” AS GRASSROOTS RESIST “ECONOMIC ASPHYXIATION”
[ https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/31 ... ir_strikes ]


“WAR OF THE ENTIRE PEOPLE”: VENEZUELA'S GRASSROOTS RISE TO RESIST TRUMP'S NAVAL BLOCKADE
[ https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/trump-ve ... ted-states ]


‘THIS IS AN ACT OF WAR’: CIA CARRIED OUT DRONE STRIKE ON PORT FACILITY INSIDE VENEZUELA
[ https://www.commondreams.org/news/cia-d ... -venezuela ]


CRITICS WARN ISRAELI BAN ON AID GROUPS IN GAZA ‘WILL COST THE LIVES OF PALESTINIANS’
[ https://www.commondreams.org/news/israe ... -from-gaza ]


“ONE MORE STEP TO PUSH OUT PRINCIPLED HUMANITARIAN ACTORS”: NRC ON ISRAEL BAN ON AID GROUPS IN GAZA
[ https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/31/gaza ]


“WITCH HUNT”: JAILED U.K. PALESTINE ACTION ACTIVISTS CONTINUE HUNGER STRIKE DESPITE HEALTH RISKS
[ https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/29 ... ine_action ]


AN IMPRISONED DOCTOR, A WOUNDED HUMANITY: AN URGENT CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA
[ https://www.pressenza.com/2025/12/an-im ... bu-safiya/ ]


FREE THEM ALL’: ONE YEAR AFTER DR. ABU SAFIYA ABDUCTED, ISRAEL URGED TO RELEASE GAZA HEALTH WORKERS
[ https://www.commondreams.org/news/free- ... abu-safiya ]


“WHATEVER ISRAEL WANTS”: TRUMP BACKS NETANYAHU’S “COLONIAL” WARS IN GAZA, IRAN & BEYOND
[ https://www.democracynow.org/2025/12/30 ... _ceasefire ]


MANY IN GAZA TO ‘LOSE ACCESS TO CRITICAL MEDICAL CARE’ AS ISRAEL SUSPENDS DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
[ https://www.commondreams.org/news/israe ... ur-borders ]


GREAT NEWS! AIPAC BACKS AWAY FROM ENDORSEMENTS AFTER GAZA PROTESTS
[ https://leftymorrill.substack.com/p/gre ... -away-from ]


YEAR’S END REVIEW WITH VIJAY PRASHAD--TRUMP TARIFFS, GAZA, & LATIN AMERICA’S FAR-RIGHT WAVE
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBsUIk7QgDY ]


‘A WAKE-UP CALL’: SCIENTISTS FIND 2025 AMONG HOTTEST YEARS ON RECORD
[ https://www.commondreams.org/news/2025- ... ttest-year ]


WORLD SLAMMED BY EXTREME WEATHER IN 2025, ONE OF THE HOTTEST YEARS ON RECORD
[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/climate ... -9.7030427 ]


EVENTS, WEBINARS, TV PROGRAMS, & FILMS


TUESDAY JANUARY 6, 6:30 pm: THE FUTURE OF THE NDP AND WHO WILL LEAD IT
[ https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... gistration ]


WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7, 7 pm: QUEEN CITY URBANIST BOOK CLUB, CATHEDRAL COMMUNITY CENTRE, 2900 13TH AVE
The book that will be discussed is Places of the Heart, by Colin Ellard


TUESDAY JANUARY 13, 9 am: INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES ON THE GLOBAL CRITICAL MINERALS RUSH
[ https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... gistration ]


FRIDAY JANUARY 16, NOON: BUFFALO’S FAVOURITE FLOWERS: RESTORATION, RELATIONSHIP, AND LEARNING FROM THE LAND
[ https://www.prairiefoodsystemvision.org ... m-the-land ]


MONDAY JANUARY 26-MONDAY MARCH 23, 6:30-8 pm: PROJECT OF THE HEART, LUTHER COLLEGE 207, U OF R
In this edition of Project of Heart, participants will learn about the health care that the children detained at the Qu’Appelle Industrial School received. This includes care provided by the school’s staff, along with other services and public health initiatives, such as the File Hills Colony Hospital, the Fort Qu’Appelle Sanatorium, and the Fort Qu’Appelle Indian Hospital. They will also hear about the Church’s and the State’s motivations for providing these services, while actively seeking to suppress local forms of knowledge and healing practices.
[ https://www.luthercollege.edu/universit ... ister-2026 ]


TUESDAY JANUARY 27, 9 am: CANADA’S APPROACH TO CRITICAL MINERALS AT HOME AND ABROAD
[ https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... gistration ]


WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 7 pm: QUEEN CITY URBANIST BOOK CLUB, CATHEDRAL COMMUNITY CENTRE, 2900 13TH AVE
The book that will be discussed is Messy Cities, by Dylan Reid, Zahra Ebrahim, Leslie Woo, and John Lorinc


NEW PETITIONS & ACTIONS

END CANADIAN BACKING FOR US WAR ON VENEZUELA
[ https://actionnetwork.org/letters/end-c ... -venezuela ]


LEADERSHIP MEANS DEFENDING DEMOCRACY
[ https://actionnetwork.org/letters/leade ... democracy/ ]


NEW YORK TIMES: RETRACT ‘SCREAMS WITHOUT WORDS’ IMMEDIATELY
[ https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/res ... t-screams/ ]


FREE DR. ABU SAFIYA
[ https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/fr ... 8/action/1 ]


FREE PALESTINIAN PEDIATRICIAN AND HOSPITAL DIRECTOR
[ https://act.amnestyusa.org/page/164198/action/1 ]


TELL EUROPE TO STAND STRONG ON ITS PLAN TO REQUIRE ZERO-EMISSIONS VEHICLES AND TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE
[ https://www.thepetitionsite.com/399/678 ... 3535579522 ]


- Making Peace Vigil