It is quite a remarkable moment in our history that the Canadian Labour Congress has found its voice over the genocide in Gaza. CLC President, Bea Bruske has sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney urging the recognition of Palestinian statehood and outlining further action to end the crisis in Gaza. The details we could all quibble about, but it is a very informed statement and lays a blueprint for the network of federations of labour and union affiliates to action across English-speaking Canada. As the representative of worker associations, federations and unions covering more than 3 million workers in Canada, the letter by the CLC should settle any internal consternation within the labour movement about whether Canadian workers should or should not speak out about Israel’s assault on Gaza, and the rights of Palestinian peoples.
Unions and Palestine solidarity
Until now, unions in Canada have been kind of staggering to figure out how to address the genocide in Gaza and not abandon common solidarity, or working-class solidarity across borders. International solidarity has historically been one of the biggest headaches of the labour movement. With a few notable exceptions, many unions did not take very clear positions at the beginning of this genocide.
There has, however, been a very dramatic shift in the last couple of months and it’s clear most Canadians, most union members, are appalled at what we see happening in Gaza and want their unions to speak out more forcefully. The recent letters to government alongside publicized statements from the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Association of Professional Employees, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, National Union of Public and General Employees, Ontario Federation of Labour and Unifor are recognition of this.
These letters are specific in their cataloguing of the atrocities underway, as well as making plain the inalienable rights held by Palestinians. Take for example, this excerpt from the letter written by the President of the CLC:
“The collective punishment being inflicted on millions of Palestinians in response is a crime of historic scale. … Recognizing Palestine cannot be a reward at the end of negotiations. It is a precondition to the start of a real peace process. In the face of immense human suffering, it is important to see Canada recommit itself to the principles of international law, human dignity, and peace. Recognition of Palestinian statehood is a critical first step, but it alone will not stop the suffering in Gaza. Nearly 22 months into this war, more than 60,000 Palestinian people are dead, including more than 15,000 children. The 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face starvation and indiscriminate bombardment. Three million more in the West Bank suffer daily humiliation, violence, and a systemic campaign of land confiscation and settlement expansion. Canada must take further steps to build on the recognition of Palestinian statehood to end the suffering in Gaza and bring a peaceful resolution. … Prime Minister, Canada has an opportunity and a responsibility to be a force for peace. Thank you for your commitment to recognizing Palestinian statehood. There are those who will seek to weaken the growing international consensus that the horror of what is occurring in Gaza must stop. It is important to remain resolute in the face of that pressure. Our commitment to diplomacy, international law, and human rights must guide our actions toward a just and lasting resolution.”
Canada and the recognition of Palestinian state
On the matter of recognition, it is important to point out that Canada’s position is a rather empty gesture in some respects because, first, it was done in a consensus way with France and the United Kingdom, neither of which have distinguished themselves in solidarity with the people of Palestine. For reasons known to those parties, they had political agreement among them and are deciding on how to manoeuvre as states. In the case of the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer essentially threatened Israel with recognition of a Palestine state unless its occupation of Gaza wasn’t sanitized. His sentiment is void of political principle. Mark Carney did not have to toe the line of the UK, but he couldn’t help it, and the result was the same patronising and racial problem in his statement. Supremacism is so ingrained in our culture that Carney found it necessary to say all the foolish things that define the century of colonialism in Palestine.
In some ways these statements are clarifying because they outline the basic problem, the fundamental concept that the British, Canadian and French governments operate from. They have the old monarch’s idea that people are their subjects, and they will give or they will take away, they might do something, but it’s them. In fact, Palestine and all others who struggle against colonialism, those who struggle for the right to self-determination, do not have to ask permission and they don’t have to meet some criteria that is established by the monarchists.
Prime Minister Carney should be reminded that when he comments on the composition of a Palestinian government, that in 1948, there was a man who was a leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, in Palestine, Mandate Palestine, Menachem Begin. Begin was regarded as an assassin and a murderer and a terrorist by the British because many British soldiers died at the hands of that group. The British regarded him as a murderer and as a terrorist. And even after Israel was given recognition by the UK and the Americans, Begin remained on a wanted list. Yet, he eventually became prime minister of Israel.
The Palestinians’ right to a state is already settled. Recognition began in 1948. The decision was made. The reason states continually say two-state solution is because that’s what they voted on. The great overwhelming majority of states recognize the Palestinian state. So long as you have international law and you have a UN charter, the matter is already settled. It’s on this point that the Canadian Labour Congress statement is so very important because it simply makes clear that Palestinians have an inalienable right to a state and that Canadian workers have tools at their disposal to further that reality.
Authors
Did you like this article? Help us produce more like it by donating $1, $2, or $5. Donate
