opnewseditor@gmail.com Vancouver Joins in international Women’s Day Celebration Nicole Burton, News Editor Hundreds of women and supporters marched up Commercial Drive to Vancouver’s Grandview Park on March 4th, celebrating the legacy of women in their strug- gle for justice, freedom, and dignity. Among the crowd were the faces of youth, elders, stu- dents, workers, activists, and women from all over the world. Signs and banners featured slogans, quotes, and poetry supporting the women of Afghanistan, Africa, and Latin America. The theme of Vancouver’s annual International Women’s Day march for this year declared, “Women Stand in Solidarity Against War at Home and Abroad!” International Women’s Day celebrations are historically held around March 8, as a day marked for honoring the women who have struggled, fought, and died for women’s rights throughout history. Important victories for women in the last century include women’s rights to vote, be elect- ed to office, receive equal opportunity employment as men in workplaces, as well as the right to choose. The list of achievements is long, but women’s rights’ activists today say the fight is far from over. So why, of all the issues, are women saying “No to war?” According to International Women’s Day organizer ’ Nita Palmer, “Women today fight for their rights all around the world, as part of an ongoing legacy against women’s oppression.” “But some of the biggest battles by and for women today are being fought around the world in places like Afghanistan and Iraq—places under occupation. We can support women who are struggling under war by helping them to kick military occupiers out of their countries.” A US-based women’s peace group, CODEPINK, made the call for an anti-war International Women’s Day in January. In their statement, they appeal, “To tell our leaders— and the world—that women have had enough of the senseless war in Iraq and we want the foreign troops...to leave Iraq now.” Their statement, and an accompanying petition demanding an immediate pullout of US troops from Iraq, reached its goal in gathering 100,000 signatures last week. Female anti-war activists attempted to deliver the petition to a UN meeting in New York City, but were denied. Three were arrested in the attempt, including anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2003. “Women carry an important voice in opposing war around the world,” said Palmer. She argues that the condi- tions for entire populations worsen under the boot of a military occupation. “But women, as an already marginal- ized group, face an intensified oppression.” Dalal Assad, an Iraqi woman and one of two keynote speakers for the demonstration, illustrated this. “In the months that US invaded Iraq, there were hun- dreds of documented cases where Iraqi women were raped and attacked by the occupation forces,” she said from the stage. Assad lived in Baghdad before the 2003 invasion of her country, when Iraq was under UN sanctions that already limited Iraqi women’s access to social services. To a crowd of nearly 150 supporters, Assad asserted, “The conditions for women in Iraq are now much, much worse. We must demand an end to this occupation.” Also speaking was Terri Brown, an Indigenous woman from Vancouver, who shared her experiences fighting women’s oppression coupled with the racism of colonial Canada. She spoke about the third-world living conditions of indigenous women who face greater rates of poverty, malnutrition, rape, and assault than nearly any other group in the country. Brown joined with Assad in connecting the struggle of women around the world—in solidarity and against war— from Iraq to Indigenous nations in Canada. International Women’s Day events were held all this week by a host of different groups and organizations, including here at Douglas College through the Women’s Centre. For more information about upcoming Women’s Centre events, contact them at: 604.527.5148, or visit their office in Room 2850 at the New Westminster Campus. Student Union Blectian Call: Come git some, ye hear? Brandon Ferguson, Christian Soldier out of the candidates. On Wednesday, March the 8th, the Douglas Students’ Union finally got off its ass and called an election. After weeks of delay, it was finalized and voting will take place on both the David Lam and New Westminster campuses from March 2gth to April 3rd, Key issues in the upcoming election will be...everything. From gross incompetence in auditing practices to the ridiculous accusations of hate crimes and homophobia throughout the college, if you have a pulse then you can be offended by, and interested in, the students’ union. Nominations will be collected from March 14" to March 20. If you are interested in running (please, please run), then go to the Students’ Union Building and ask for a nomination form. You have a week to collect signatures and submit it. Campaigning begins on March 215 and runs through to the 27th, Please note that no campaigning may be done in the New West concourse, or whatever the hell David Lam’s equivalent is, during the voting period. This election matters, Get interested and go ask questions. Ass clowns will run; some will win. So speak up, use your voice, ask the tough questions, and pester the hell Oh, and if successful, be sure to take advantage of some after hours shagging on the pool table. It’s your students’ union; that’s why it’s there.