The Communist Party of Canada unequivocally condemns the Zionist aggression against the people of Gaza. A three day Israeli bombing campaign on Gaza has left at least 49 Palestinians dead, including 17 children. Israel alleges their criminal attack was ‘pre-emptive’, a claim that has nothing to do with reality. The Israeli war machine dropped bombs on residential dwellings and critical infrastructure that was still being rebuilt and repaired from last year’s bombing campaign.
The Communist Party extends our utmost solidarity with our sister Palestinian parties and all Palestinian people and their struggle for national liberation. We reiterate our long-standing internationalist commitment to strengthening the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israeli occupation.
For over 15 years the people of Gaza have suffered from a genocidal siege. The control of all air, land, and sea access by foreign states has not only stripped the Palestinian people of their sovereignty but has made Gaza the world’s largest open air prison. A 2012 United Nations report predicted Gaza, which is home to over 2 million Palestinians, would be unlivable by 2020. In the last two years alone the Palestinian people have suffered from a myriad of attacks: from the enormous toll of the betrayal of Arab states following Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’, the COVID pandemic exacerbated by the siege, increased displacement and violence in Sheik Jarrah and throughout the occupied territories, and last year’s devastating 11 day bombing campaign. The siege of Gaza was tightened during last week’s bombing, leaving the people of Gaza without electricity or running water. Make no mistake, the bombing campaign was not a ‘war’ between belligerents but a cowardly attack by an occupying force trying to impose subjugation using death and destruction.
We demand the Canadian government condemn these crimes against the Palestinians being perpetrated by the Israeli government and an immediate end to displacement and violence against Palestinians in Gaza and throughout the occupied territories. We demand the Canadian government respond to these crimes by recalling Canadian diplomats, and implementing other serious diplomatic, economic, and cultural sanctions against Israel.
We further demand that the Canadian government finally speak up for a peaceful and democratic solution with the immediate creation of a Palestinian state comprised of the land occupied by Israel since 1967, including the West Bank and Gaza, with the capital in East Jerusalem, and including the right of return of Palestinians in exile, as set out in numerous UN resolutions, including resolution 242.
The Communist Party stands with the Palestinian people – the victims of Canadian and US support for Israel’s expansionist policies, and we support the right of the Palestinians to defend themselves against these policies and attacks, as set out in the UN Charter. Their heroic resistance deserves the support of all who care about human rights and the rule of international law.
We call on the labour and democratic movements and all those opposed to Israel’s brutal attacks, forced displacement and seizure of Palestinian homes and lands, and its illegal occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, to demand that the Canadian government condemn Israel’s actions and support UN resolutions calling for an end to occupation, for the creation of a Palestinian state, and for peace.
Communist Party of Canada, Central Executive Committee