May 14-15, 2025 marks the grim 77th anniversary of the Zionist attacks on Palestine; and ethnic cleansing by massacres and dispossession/displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland.

One cannot understand the Nakba or the Catastrophe without knowing that the Zionist “movement” began in the late 19th century when Eastern European Jewish leaders proposed occupying Palestine and turning it into “their homeland”. By the early 20th century British imperialism had occupied Palestine following the defeat of the Ottoman empire in WW1. In 1917 the anti-Semitic British government issued the infamous “Balfour Declaration” promising a “homeland for the Jewish people” in Palestine because it did not want Jews in England. Another main objective of British imperialism was to protect the Suez Canal with a settler society from Europe.

By 1947 the British in Palestine were facing increasing resistance. The Palestinian population rose up in general strikes and armed rebellion in opposition to the massive increase in foreigners settling in their country. Zionist terrorists organizations such as the Palmach, the Stern Gang and the Irgun repeatedly attacked Palestinians and the British authorities. Britain, already struggling with its collapsing empire, decided to end its occupation of the so-called “British Mandate for Palestine”. British authorities always “looked the other way” when Zionist thugs attacked Palestinian villages and towns.

Zionist terror was centrally planned by the Jewish Agency led by David Grun. Grun was born in Poland and changed his name to David Ben-Gurion in 1909. He played a critical role in developing Plan Dalet by which the colonizers would “take over the land and expel the indigenous population by force.”

Force meant a combination of trying to paint Palestinian resistance as “a second holocaust”, destruction of Palestinian villages and towns, mass expulsions and massacres. Among the worst massacres were Deir Yassin (April, 9, 1948), Khirbat Nasr al-Din (April 12, 1948), Ayn al-Zaytun (May 1, 1948), al-Dawahima (October 29, 1948),  Khirbat al-Wa’ra al-Sawda (November 2, 1948). These are just a small sample of Zionist atrocities in Palestine. In addition to brutal mass murder the Zionist forces forced over 700,000 Palestinians from their native land.

On this 77 anniversary of the horrors of the Nakba the Canadian Peace Congress salutes the Palestinian people in their ongoing struggle to defend their homes, lives, and their undeniable right to self-determination. We condemn the current Zionist genocide now happening in Gaza and the West Bank. We underline that the struggle for national liberation is inherently an anti-imperialist and anti-fascist struggle which deserves the support of all those who search for justice and peace.

The Canadian Peace Congress joins in demanding a complete two-way arms embargo to stop arming Israel. We demand that Israeli war criminals be tried and, if found guilty, punished by the International Court of Justice. Further,  we demand that Palestine be recognized with the 1967 borders including the Right of Return to all Palestinians and their surviving family members displaced during the Nakba.

Long live the Palestinian resistance!
End the genocide now!
Free, Free Palestine!
Nakba, Never Again!

Canadian Peace Congress, Executive Committee
May 15th, 2025