The Communist Party of Canada condemns the inclusion of the Palestinian solidarity organization Samidoun on the list of terrorist entities by Canada, in a coordinated action with Germany and the United States. We call on all political, social, and democratic forces to organize and denounce this attack on freedom of expression in the context of the criminalization of solidarity with Palestine.
We are also concerned that, more broadly, any expression of international solidarity is increasingly being targeted under the pretext of either foreign interference or terrorist association.
Let us remember that this decision comes at a time when Israel, the United States’ favored military outpost and its allies in the Middle East, is completely isolated on the diplomatic stage. It is losing all legitimacy in the streets of the world, including in Western imperialist countries, and even in the streets of Tel Aviv itself. Little by little, solidarity with Palestine is once again revealing the true criminal, barbaric, and murderous nature of imperialism. In doing so, it challenges its hegemony and brings international solidarity back to the heart of public debate.
For the monopolies, this is too much: forcing a debate on this topic reveals the sham of bourgeois democracy, where, on such a fundamental issue, social democrats, conservatives, and the far right have more in common than not.
Moreover, it is no suprise that the Conservative Party is behind this maneuver. In 2016, they passed a motion in the House of Commons condemning the BDS movement. By doing so, they are only proving their obsession with serving the interests of the monopolies and the most reactionary, war-mongering forces. They do so at the expense of our democratic rights—even as they support the so-called “freedom convoys” under the pretext of defending freedom of expression.
Let it be clear: this decision is purely politically motivated. The alleged links between Samidoun and the PFLP, an organization labeled as terrorist by Canada, are unproven. Furthermore, the PFLP is a member of the PLO (recognized by Canada), and so the anathema placed on this organization is utterly grotesque.
The real terrorists in this war, the murderers, are Israel and its army, which occupies, terrorizes, and massacres the Palestinian people. The armed settlers are not defending themselves but seeking to expand the Israeli occupation in violation of all international law. If Israel has the right to defend itself, it is not against a population it occupies. On the contrary, that population has the right to defend itself by any means necessary.
However, our more than a century-long history reminds us that the ruling class, the imperialists, will use every possible loophole to attack their opponents. Thus, we can only express our regret at the adventurist maneuver, the fleeting expression of legitimate anger, carried out by some speakers at an October 7th, 2024, solidarity rally in Vancouver. No doubt in seeking to make a bold gesture, they went to the extreme of burning a Canadian flag and shouting slogans designed to provoke. That was all it took for the Zionist and reactionary forces to spring into action and, by blacklisting Samidoun, harm all the forces in solidarity with Palestine, peace advocates, and anti-imperialists.
As Communists, we are not calling for solidarity with Palestine to be ‘radicalised’, but to see that solidarity extended. In our neighbourhoods, our workplaces and our places of study, it is not a question of wishing for the destruction of Israel or a military solution to the conflict, but of fighting for a diplomatic solution, the only guarantee of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East to which the peoples of the region aspire.
In the final analysis, the struggle for solidarity with the Palestinian people and for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East is not a rhetorical struggle. Nor can it be won on social networks. It requires an organised response based on bringing together all the progressive social, democratic and political organisations so as to be capable of forcing political change in Ottawa. Admittedly, this struggle involves painstaking, patient and relentless long-term work that requires a high degree of subtlety, tact and strategy – like any battle. But it is the only way if the aim is to truly liberate Palestine and the peoples of the Middle East from the yoke of Western imperialism.
There is real urgency in this struggle to stop the ongoing genocide and the dangerous escalation towards a regional war. Unity is needed against any attempt to criminalize the Palestine solidarity movement at this critical time. As such the Communist Party stands in solidarity with all those speaking out against the banning of Samidoun and all those defending democratic rights.
Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada