BY KIM BULLIMORE
SYDNEY — “Women and children will the ones who will suffer the most if the war on Iraq goes ahead”, said peace activist Win Childs. Along with Dr Gillian Deakin and actor Genevieve Lemon, Win Childs is organising the February 21 Women for Peace rally.
“A war will have a catastrophic impact on the people of Iraq”, said Deakin, who is a member of the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAWP). Citing a recently released report by MAPW's British counterpart, Medical Action, Deakin said that up to 260,000 Iraqi civilians could lose their lives in a US-led invasion of Iraq and another 200,000 will suffer serious injury.
“This is why we oppose the war and will not support it under any circumstances, whether it has UN approval or not”, Deakin told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly.
Both Lemon and Childs hoped that the Women for Peace rally would give a powerful voice to the majority of women who oppose Bush and Howard's push for war.
The Women for Peace rally will begin at 12.30pm in Hyde Park on February 21 and will be addressed by writers Anne Deveson, Sister Susan Connelly and film-maker and anti-racism campaigner Paula Abood, who is also involved in organising the Women Against War and Racism rally on March 8, International Women's Day.
For more information on Women for Peace, phone (02) 9358 4834 or email <winchilds@bigpond.com>.
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, February 19, 2003.
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