Palestine: a history of colonization, occupation and resistance.

The Palestinian struggle for liberation from colonialism and occupation has deep roots dating back to the early 20th century. The emergence of the Zionist settler-colonial project in historic Palestine, backed by British colonialism, led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This period witnessed the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and the destruction of more than 500 villages and towns.

  • The Palestinian struggle for liberation from colonialism and occupation has deep roots dating back to the early 20th century. The emergence of the Zionist settler-colonial project in historic Palestine, backed by British colonialism, led to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This period witnessed the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and the destruction of more than 500 villages and towns.

    In the aftermath, Palestinians who remained in what became Israel faced marginalization and discrimination, living as second-class citizens in their own land. The occupation of the remaining 22% of historic Palestine in 1967 marked a significant shift in the Palestinian struggle, with Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, and the West Bank falling under Israeli control.

    The subsequent "peace process" in the 1990s failed to deliver on the promise of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state. Instead, it further fractured Palestinian society, leading to the creation of fragmented territories that mirror the apartheid-era bantustans.

    Today, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza continue to face

On May Day, Labour for Palestine Calls for Global Solidarity Against Genocide

Labour for Palestine marks this year’s International Worker’s Day by calling on labour activists across Canada and Quebec to stand in solidarity with Palestinian trade unions against the Israeli genocide and apartheid. As we commemorate the labour movement’s historical struggle for dignity and justice, we denounce the daily humiliation, abuse, detention, torture, discrimination, and murder of our Palestinian comrades. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the Canadian government’s complicity in the ongoing genocide by blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza and through its support and continued illegal flow of arms to Israel.

In light of our government’s abetment in the active extermination of Palestinian communities, their history, culture, and memory, the Canadian labour movement has a responsibility to use its power and interfere where it can. We call on labour activists to seize this day as an opportunity to begin organizing their places of work and answer the call of Palestinian trade unions for an arms embargo on Israel. To this end, we call on the Canadian government and the  Canadian Labour Congress to declare all military goods and arms components flowing to and from Israel as “hot cargo.”

Our labour movement has a rich history of opposing imperialist regimes and rising for justice, as manifested during the military dictatorships in Argentina and Chile, the South African Apartheid, the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, and the Iraq war, to name a few. In the face of the ongoing genocide on Gaza, Labour for Palestine invites workers to join forces with its local chapters and caucuses to, among other actions, adopt motions within their unions to recognize the concept of “hot cargo,” and work towards the ability to withhold labour where it may serve the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and implement Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaigns within their places of work.

Finally, we applaud and express our unwavering support to the students currently carrying out encampment actions across Canada and the United States. The post-secondary education sector has deep ties with the Israeli occupation and the ongoing genocide in Gaza through pension investments and research partnerships. We call on workers in the sector to support and join campus actions and echo students’ calls for a free Palestine.  

The Community Defence Fund is HERE! To donate:

Please e-transfer to l4pcanada@gmail.com and note ‘community defence’ in the message field.

All funds raised will go toward:

  • Any future costs from bylaw tickets issued for alleged violations by those using sound amplification devices (including megaphone) use at Ottawa actions/protests;

  • Legal defense and bail costs related to arrests and charges that may occur at Palestine solidarity protests and actions; and

  • Other costs identified by PYM, IJV and L4P as essential to maintaining a healthy and growing Palestine solidarity movement in Ottawa

Legal Support:

Palestine Legal Referral Service

A national legal referral service connecting individuals expressing support for Palestine and Palestinians with over fifty experienced legal counsel across Canada.  An initiative launched by members of the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers, Labour 4 Palestine and the Legal Centre for Palestine.

  • As Israeli colonial violence escalates in Gaza, Labour for Palestine – Canada demands that the Canadian government call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation and apartheid in Palestine.

    We offer our condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives in recent days, and throughout the decades of forcible dispossession and occupation, no matter where they live.

    It is a heartbreaking truth that the daily violence and terror experienced by the Palestinians, at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces and with the support of the international community, requires relentless and sustained resistance. A population cannot live under siege and apartheid with the daily threat of harassment, humiliation, violence, home demolitions and murder without responding. 

    The UN claims 2023 has already been the deadliest year for Palestinians since it started counting deaths in 2006. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of this year, according to the health ministry. Western world  leaders, including Canada, have shamefully turned a blind eye as far right Israeli ministers publicly provoke violence, as land grabbing became official government policy, and unspeakable war crimes are a regular occurrence.

    After more than 16 years of living under economic and military siege by Israel, of being confined to the world’s largest open air-prison, Gaza has finally broken free and Palestinians are demonstrating their determination to liberate themselves and their land from 75 years of settler-colonization, apartheid and occupation. The current Palestinian violence must be understood within the context that it is taking place in order for genuine peace and justice to be realized.

    Now, after such prolonged and shameful silence, Canada and its political parties have jumped to condemn Palestinians for resisting their own annihilation. Yet they refuse to even mention that Israel, a military superpower, has now declared war on Palestinians for daring to resist. 

    As members of the labour movement in Canada, we call for an end to the Israeli occupation and apartheid in Palestine. We further call on the Canadian Government to recognize and condemn the incessant violence perpetrated and provoked by Israel.  

    We commend Palestinians for their heroic resistance and their indomitable will. We recognize the right of all people to resist their own occupation, including through armed struggle. This right, first protected by the Geneva Conventions in 1949, has been reaffirmed numerous times by the United Nations general assembly. We refuse to be divided or to fall into the colonial trap of condemning certain Palestinian groups or certain forms of resistance. Canadians should not attempt to dictate how an oppressed indigenous population fights for their own liberation. 

    We call on all trade unions and labour leaders to be in solidarity with Palestinian resistance by educating their members, pressuring politicians, and championing boycott, divestment, and sanctions against apartheid Israel. The labour movement must use its power and influence to end Canada’s support for Israel’s racist colonial regime. We encourage trade unionists to contact Labour for Palestine for resources and support towards that end.

    Labour4Palestine is a pan-Canadian network of labour activists who work to deepen solidarity with Palestinian workers and people in their struggle for Liberation. For more information or to collaborate, contact: L4PCanada@gmail.com 

TAKE ACTION

Join our Labour Against Apartheid Campaign

The Labour Against Apartheid campaign is coordinated by Labour4Palestine to deepen Palestine solidarity in the Canadian labour movement. Our goals are to:

  1. Empower the many unions in Canada that have expressed support for Palestine to move to concrete action by launching Palestine solidarity campaigns.

  2. Support those unions that have not yet passed resolutions in support of Palestinian liberation to take those first steps.