Draw the Line

United we stand, divided we fall -- and it will be one hell of a fall

There is a global event coming up on Saturday, September 20th, called Draw the Line, and my hope is that it will be well attended, and endorsed by many and varied organizations.

These are the demands being made on our governments:

1. Put people over corporate profit. Fund our families and communities.

2. Refuse ongoing colonialism. Uphold Indigenous Sovereignty.

3. Stop blaming migrants. Demand full immigration status for all now.

4. End the war machine. Stand for justice and peace.

5. End the era of fossil fuels. Protect Mother Earth.

What makes this hard is that the groups that represent these interests are very different from, and sometimes hostile towards, each other.

Believe me, I know. Coming from a trade unionist background, I understand and honour the values of those who stand up for social justice. And have seen how easily trade unionists are sometimes dismissed.

As a teenager, I read the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson which compelled me to become an environmentalist. Coincidentally, her quote on this site is as follows:

“In nature nothing exists alone.” The same applies to our issues. They’re interconnected, just as in nature.

Since October, 2023, I’ve been paying close attention to geopolitical issues, and what an eye opener that’s been. It connects so many issues.

All of Draw the Line’s demands are interconnected. The more we can connect these issues the stronger we, and all of our movements, are.

Here are just some of the ways they are connected.

Let’s start with war. It connects all of the above points. War prioritizes corporate profit over everything: people, communities, our environment — everything!

Although people don’t always connect war with climate change, the environmental impacts of war are huge.

As stated in this article in the Guardian from May, 2025:

The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel’s war (sic) on Gaza will be greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries, exacerbating the global climate emergency on top of the huge civilian death toll, new research reveals.

And this doesn’t even take into account the ecocide, or the destruction of buildings and infrastructure, or the trauma inflicted on those experiencing and witnessing this horror.

Now western nations are expected to put more money into NATO. Those funds will be removed from our already stressed social supports, and we as citizens will have to cope with yet more austerity.

We don’t need NATO for our security. There are no countries threatening the west, despite what we’re told. And we can’t forget that the same people profiting from wars, fossil fuels and western austerity are the same people who own most of our media, both print and online. It’s important to find news sources that have proven to be reliable in the past.

Jeffrey Sachs articulates clearly how today’s wars are about western hegemony, and how NATO is the tip of that spear. We all want peace in Ukraine, but NATO refuses to recognize Russia’s legitimate security concerns. China is threatening no one, and neither is Iran. These and other countries are organizing to resist NATO through groups such as BRICS. And I don’t blame them.

Ongoing wars are also being used as an excuse to increase production of oil and gas while riding roughshod over Indigenous rights and environmental regulations.

And what else does war produce? Immigrants. If I was living in a war torn country, I’d be looking for a safer place to live, wouldn’t you? As well, unless we’re indigenous, we’re descendants of immigrants, if not immigrants ourselves.

Those who profit from wars, fossil fuel production and austerity want people to blame immigrants. Or women, the working class, the gender divergent, people of colour or any other identifiable group. This takes the attention off of the profiteers and puts it onto people who, like everyone else, are probably struggling. Please don’t fall for this.

These profiteers want us to be afraid. Of other countries, of other groups of people, and of each other. But we can’t afford fear in this critical moment. On the contrary, we need to have the courage to reach out, build community, and support each other.

When we witness Israel as it kills Palestinians and steals their land, it’s important to notice that it comes from the same colonial impulse that we are trying to come to terms with when we make land acknowledgements. If we make these acknowledgements, shouldn’t we do everything we can to stop this genocide being enabled with our tax dollars?

Here’s a clip by stand up comedian Aamer Ramn called Reverse Racism that captures the essence of colonialism. I hope you’ll watch it. It’s under three minutes long.

The genocide in Gaza isn’t just Israel’s, it’s the whole western world’s. If the USA and its allies stopped providing Israel with money, weapons and diplomatic cover, the genocide would end tomorrow.

Genocide is the crime of crimes, and we have to face our countries’ complicity, and then do all we can to stop it. And we have to stop people who are willing to use our tax dollars to commit genocide, and then lie about it from holding power. And that’s going to be a huge task.

As has been said by many, if you wonder what you would have done if you’d lived in Nazi Germany, it’s what you’re doing now.

When we hold a vision of a peaceful, inclusive world where we heal our environment, societies and relationships between countries, we need to value the interconnections of our different movements.

Yes, we have divergent worldviews, there are class differences, and we don’t always have the same priorities. And that’s OK. All of it is important; we’re each doing our part.

And as a long time activist, what I would love to see is an end to the bickering about groups that are different from ours.

In Canada, it can look like the NDP vs. the Green Party, or the environmental movement vs. the union movement. If we can collaborate, and accept our differences in this upcoming event, it could be the start of a powerful force for the common good.

Collectively we have the wisdom, know how, resources, money and connectivity to have every single person on the planet adequately housed and fed, as we restore the planet we share.

If our leaders can’t do everything they can to make that vision real, they’re not fit to govern.

I hope our organizations will endorse this action. And, even more than that, I hope we can treat each other with kindness and respect, and be willing to learn from each other despite our differences.

That doesn’t mean we don’t call out things out, like investing in pipelines or expanding NATO. But there’s no need for attacks based on our very real differences. We’re all working on different pieces of the same puzzle, and that is a good thing.

Draw the Line is an opportunity to do this important work.

We’re stronger together, and what will steer this world in a better direction is our solidarity.

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I love the BDS campaign and the effect it’s having on Israel’s economy.

Here's an excellent list of products from Israel: https://boycott.thewitness.news/browse/1

Here's a way to help others who are not in your bubble to boycott Israel: https://www.cjpme.org/stickies_2024_en

And here's where you can support Palestine by buying a keffiyeh: https://www.hirbawi.ps/

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