Canada must act to stop genocide in occupied Palestinian territories

[Link] As part of a four-city tour of Canada, Francesca Albanese - United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 - met with union representatives in Ottawa, including CUPE National President Mark Hancock and National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick.

Albanese has a mandate to examine, monitor, advise and publicly report on human rights issues within the occupied Palestinian territories. She recently presented a report entitled Genocide as Colonial Erasure to the UN General Assembly, which demonstrates that despite the interventions of the International Court of Justice, genocidal acts by the State of Israel have proliferated. Nearly a year of scorched-earth assault has led to the calculated destruction of Gaza: the human, material and environmental cost is unquantifiable.

During the meeting, she stressed that the situation is worsening by the day; ​more than 43,000 people have been massacred, including more than 700 babies among 17,000 children, and not accounting for the thousands more tortured, maimed, and disappeared. All while ​the pace and intensity of destruction has spread to the rest of the occupied territory, leaving no Palestinian safe under unfettered Israeli control.

CUPE raised the challenges that Canadian unions face when advocating for a cease-fire, as the horror unfolding in the ​M​iddle ​E​ast also fuels anti-Palestinian racism​, Islamophobia and antisemitism, including the antisemitic conflation with legitimate critique of Israel, ​here in Canada.

In releasing her report to the UN, Albanese issued a direct call to countries to uphold international law. "For over a year I have pleaded to all concerned parties as well as States, particularly those with influence, to take concrete action to stop the destruction of the Palestinian people, to ensure the prompt and unconditional release of all hostages, both Israelis and Palestinians, and to ensure international law is respected."

Canada has obligations under international laws, including the UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

CUPE reiterates our previous calls to the Canadian government that, as a signatory to the UN Genocide Convention, Canada has an obligation and a duty to prevent and punish the crime of genocide wherever it occurs. The Canadian government must hold Israel accountable​,​ impose a full and immediate arms embargo​,​ and act to stop the spiralling violence.