Together for Gaza and Palestine: ISRAEL MUST BE STOPPED!
Israel has been waging a genocidal assault on Gaza for 14 months. 2.3 million Palestinians, referred to as “human animals,” face relentless bombardment, deprivation of food and water, and the systematic destruction of the infrastructures that sustain life. As of December 17, 2024, there were at least 45,059 dead, including 17,492 children, more than 11,000 missing and over 107,041 wounded. Ninety percent of the population has been forcibly displaced multiple times, enduring conditions that lead to slow death. Throughout Gaza, food supplies are at an all-time low. These atrocities could not have been committed without the weapons and complicity of the West, including Canada. We have a responsibility to do whatever we can to stop them.
Israel scorns and weakens international law and institutions
Far from complying with the rulings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found a plausible case of genocide and called for unimpeded access for humanitarian aid on January 26, 2024, a halt to the assault on Rafah and the opening of the border with Egypt on May 24, 2024, and an end to the Israeli occupation and settlements on July 19, 2024,1 Israel dismissed the orders as antisemitic and escalated its atrocities. On July 18, the Israeli parliament voted against any establishment of a Palestinian state. On November 21, Israel also labelled the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity as antisemitic.
Invasion of Lebanon and ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza
In late September 2024, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon, resulting in over 3,400 deaths, 14,600 wounded and more than a million displaced. Netanyahu even threatened Lebanon with the same fate as Gaza. In early October 2024, Israel implemented the “generals’ plan“ to empty northern Gaza—a-third of the territory—of all its inhabitants, turn it into a military zone and recolonize it. Relentless bombing has left 70,000 people who were unable or unwilling to evacuate without food, water, or electricity for weeks.
Risk of wider regional conflict
On November 27, after announcing a ceasefire with Lebanon—which it then violated over 100 times in less than a week—Israel declared its intent to escalate the war regionally. It acted quickly, taking advantage of the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria to massively bom Syrian military installations. With a fresh influx of weapons, Israel could not only resume its aggression against Lebanon but also start a new war with Iran.
Israel must be stopped
Israel is forging ahead with its strategy to dispossess the Palestinian people by means ranging from ethnic cleansing to genocide. It is also seeking to establish itself as a hegemonic regional power through continued war. More ICJ rulings or UN resolutions will not deter it. Only the swift application of tough sanctions could make Israel back down.
Canada and Quebec must act
Québec’s and Canada’s complicity and inaction are loathsome. We must mobilize to demand severe sanctions against Israel, a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. We must demand the closure of Québec’s office in Tel Aviv, a genuine embargo on military supplies, divestment from industries fueling genocide and colonization in Palestine, and a reassessment of Canada’s diplomatic relations and free trade agreement with Israel.
IT IS NOT ANTI-SEMITIC TO UPHOLD THE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE!
1 On September 18, 2024, the UN General Assembly demanded that Israel end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within one year at the latest.