Location: U.S. Consulate, 201 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
Organizer: ACTION 1:21
Background: We are a Christian group that believes following Jesus involves working for justice and peace. Our name is derived from Phillipians 1:21, a Bible verse “for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. Although we are a Christian group we look forward to working with people from all backgrounds, beliefs and worldviews on issues of social justice and peace.
A strike March 16, 2009 by a US drone in Janikhel, Pakistan. Photo: Associated |Press
The US drone attacks on Pakistan that have been taking place since 2004 have resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 people. According to many Pakistani sources, more than half of the dead are civilians. The strikes have picked up in both intensity and deadliness- in 2010 alone over 1,000 people were killed and of them an estimated 700 were civilians. The strikes are against the wishes of even the Pakistani government and are ineffective in addition to being immoral- the Taliban have not been weakened in any way and people who normally would be repulsed by their brutality are driven to them.
The air raids go unnoticed in the news, unlike the bloodshed in Egypt or Libya. They are ignored completely- while everyone knows there is a war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the killings of Pakistanis by the drones is completely under-reported by most media outlets. We seek to call attention to them.