The CUPE 3906 executive extends its utmost solidarity with the people of Palestine, who have been collectively resisting against Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid since 1948. This month, Israeli state violence against Palestinians intensified and has manifested in lynching and police brutality, heavy bombardment in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, attacks on worshippers and the desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque – which is the third holiest site in Islam – and colonist violence and ethnic cleansing in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian lands of Sheikh Jarrah and the West Bank. In the last couple of weeks, Israel has killed at least 243 Palestinians, including 66 children, and wounded 1,910 in the Gaza Strip alone. Israel’s genocidal actions mimic those of Canada and other settler-colonial regimes. We see the fundamental connection between Palestinian resistance and decolonization of Turtle Island and thus, we call for the dismantlement of settler-colonialism everywhere it exists. Israel must provide equal rights to Palestinians and Jewish Israelis, dismantle its apartheid wall, allow Palestinian refugees to return to their land, and end its illegal occupation and colonization of Arab lands.
We reaffirm our support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel into complying with international law and call on our members to also join the movement (visit bdsmovement.net for more information). Furthermore, we demand that McMaster University boycott and divest from complicit Israeli companies and academic institutions. For instance, the University must end and not renew its exchange program with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Parts of the Hebrew University were built in the illegally occupied Eastern part of Jerusalem, allowing Israeli police to use its premises to track Palestinian movement and repress the local Indigenous population. We also call on the McMaster community to educate themselves on Palestine, follow updates on Israel’s violations of the rights of Palestinians and their resistance, use social media and other platforms to raise awareness, and center Palestinian voices. In this regard, we are proud to endorse on-going solidarity marches organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement in Toronto and to support similar actions in Hamilton. We also call on workers, trade unionists, and the socialist movement across the country to act in solidarity in the fight for Palestinian freedom.
Sharoni Mitra President- CUPE 3906
On behalf of CUPE 3906 Executive Committee