The political campaign by the Canadian state against Palestine solidarity activist Charlotte Kates escalated again on Nov. 14 with a violent police raid at her residence in east Vancouver. Rather than simply obtain a warrant to search the building, Vancouver Police entered with guns, ludicrously claiming that they faced potential danger. The obvious motive for such aggressive tactics was to intimidate solidarity movements and to spread the lie that critics of Israel’s genocide against the people of Gaza and Palestine are to be considered “terrorists” or “supporters of terrorism” by definition.
In condemning this police raid and the ongoing “hate crime investigation” against Charlotte Kates, the Communist Party of Canada calls attention to the presence of many who actually do promote hate, supporters of the Israeli genocide who have vilified and attacked Palestinian Canadians, Muslim Canadians and the many other Canadian citizens who have raised their voices and filled the streets in opposition to that genocide.
Shamefully, instead of facing charges for their actions, these people have the enthusiastic support of the government of Canada, most members of Parliament, and the corporate media. While Charlotte Kates stands accused of supporting the thousands of political prisoners held in Israeli jails – including children – the backers in Canada of Israeli PM Netanyahu and his ultra-right government openly call for intensifying the mass killings conducted by the “IDF” and praise the fascist settler gangs who terrorize and murder Palestinian residents of the West Bank.
The Communist Party of Canada will continue to condemn this appalling hypocrisy by apologists and supporter of the anti-Palestinian genocide. We support the International Criminal Court’s ruling that Netanyahu and his former defence minister Gallant have committed genocide and war crimes, and we call for public pressure to demand that the government of Canada support efforts to bring these Israeli war criminals to justice.
We restate our long-standing support for peace and justice, including an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, and support for relevant UN resolutions including recognition of a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the removal of all Israeli settlements on the occupied Palestinian territories, the right of return for all Palestinians driven out of their homes and lands during and after the Nakba of 1948, and the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. We welcome the recent Beijing declaration signed by all Palestinian political forces as the basis for moving towards peace and justice in the Middle East, and we pledge to continue our efforts to broaden and expand the Palestine solidarity movement in Canada.
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada