International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

Palestinian and international resistance to the Zionist war on Gaza and the West Bank has forced the Israeli occupation forces to accept a pause in its genocidal campaigns.

According to António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, more than 13,000 civilians have died in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The vast majority of those massacred by the apartheid forces have been women, children, the elderly and the infirm. Importantly, the collective punishment of civilians includes the almost complete blockade of Gaza prohibiting the entry of food, water, medicine and fuel which will certainly increase the number of civilian deaths. The World Health Organization warns that deaths from disease due to lack of sanitation will surpass the victims of Zionist bombardments.

The forceful displacement of civilians from Northern Gaza towards the south has not provided any safety for civilians as the Israeli forces have relentlessly bombed the escape routes and civilian infrastructure in the south.

The Canadian Peace Congress agrees with the World Peace Council (WPC) when it states that “the deep root cause for the suffering of the Palestinian people is the decades’ long Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. No peace and justice in the Middle East can exist without the solution of the Palestinian issue based on the relevant UN resolutions and the establishment of an independent State of Palestine within the borders prior to June 6, 1967 and East Jerusalem as its capital. The Palestinian people have the right for return to their homes based on the UN Resolution 194 and all Palestinian political prisoners have to be released from Israeli jails.”

The Canadian Peace Congress fully recognizes that the US, EU, and Canadian imperialist states have a direct hand in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. We condemn the Canadian government for its cowardly refusal to use its diplomatic resources to pressure Zionist Israel to halt its genocidal war against Palestine, and for continuing to permit the export of weaponry and other war materiel to Zionist Israel.

We demand that the current pause become a permanent ceasefire. We fully recognize that Palestinian people (like any subjugated or occupied nation or people) have every right to resist that oppression. We demand an end to siege of Gaza, the cancellation of the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, the release of all imprisoned Palestinians, and the complete and irrevocable end to the occupation of Palestine.

Free Palestine!

Isued by the Executive Committee, Canadian Peace Congress

November 29, 2023