Today is the International Day of Action to mark one year of genocide being perpetrated on the people of Palestine since the horrific attacks of October 7.
CAPE condemns the continued actions of Israel that amount to genocide in the region, and the deepening of settler colonialism, occupation, and apartheid in historic Palestine. We recognize the role our unionized members play as federal public servants within a government that has repeatedly failed to name the genocide in Palestine. Worse, Canada continues to support the sale of arms and weapons with Israel despite mounting evidence that they are being used to perpetuate crimes against humanity. We see the clear linkages between Israel’s actions and Canada's own settler-colonial policies towards, and histories with, Indigenous peoples across the lands our members live and work on.
As workers, we stand in opposition to the exploitation of our labour for the purposes of supporting genocide and settler colonialism, either at home or abroad. Our shared humanity with the Palestinian people compels us to reject, resist and publicly speak out against the shroud of impunity that our government's actions lends to Israel, allowing it to conduct a genocide that has killed potentially hundreds of thousands of people.
CAPE continues our commitment to confronting anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism within our union, the federal public service, and the policies advanced by the Government of Canada.
We call on our sister unions to work with us on a joint call to the Government of Canada to name the genocide in Palestine, to commit to building a lasting and democratic peace for all peoples in the region, and to immediately enact a complete arms embargo of Israel. This should encompass all Canadian arms, associated parts and machinery, and military and surveillance technology.
We recognize that through minimizing and denying the role public servants play in the creation, maintenance and strengthening of systems of oppression, racism, and colonialism, we risk serving as their complicit agents.
None of us are free until all of us are free.
