Canterbury-Bankstown Picnic for Peace

A coalition of organisations opposed to the proposed war on Iraq have called on people to join them for a "Peace Picnic" on Sunday March 2 at 1pm in the Bankstown Gardens off Restwell St in Bankstown.

Jamal Daoud explained the purpose of the picnic, "On February 16 we saw nearly half a million people gather to show their opposition to the war. Among these there must have been tens of thousands from the Canterbury-Bankstown region. We think it would be great if people could get together in a relaxed environment to organise initiatives for peace in the local area."

A number of organisations active in the area will be represented at the picnic, these include: Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Lebanese Muslim Association, Sawiyan (Coalition for Palestine), Canterbury-Bankstown Anti-War Group, The Greens, Socialist Alliance and the Unity Party.

Sam Wainwright strongly rejected the suggestions by the Prime Minister that opponents of the war were naïve and misguided. He said, "How can we believe that Bush, Blair and Howard are concerned about the well being of the Iraqi people when the bombing and sanctions regime that they have applied has already killed nearly a million Iraqi civilians, half of them children. We know that a new war would cause tens of thousands more civilian casualties. Many of us believe this war is really about oil and power, nothing Howard has said has convinced us otherwise."

Participants in the picnic are encouraged to bring a blanket, something to eat and to enjoy a Halal sausage sizzle.

For more comment contact the picnic organisers: Jamal Daoud (available for comment in Arabic) 0413 467 367, Sam Wainwright 0412 751 508, Marlene Obeid (available for comment in Spanish) 0401 758 871.