OPSEU/SEFPO’s Coalition of Racialized Workers Committee stands in solidarity with Palestine and strongly condemns the settler colonial apartheid that has been perpetrated. The displacement and violent killings of Palestinians are in direct contradiction with the principles of social justice, equity and human rights. Canada is built on the intentional design, implementation, and ongoing strategies of colonial violence against Indigenous peoples. Throughout the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, our government failed to denounce this violence, refusing to speak out against the forced displacement of Palestinians and the theft of their lands and resources because doing so would force them to confront the past and present colonial violence through which Canada exists today. We acknowledge the interconnected movements for Black liberation and Palestinian solidarity as well as the history and framework of apartheid.

It is through our commitment to continuously fight for Indigenous sovereignty and land stewardship at Home, that we also extend support for the liberation of Palestine. We call on our government and our union to do better; we call on our membership to uplift marginalized voices, to educate themselves, to enter important conversations with care, and to be accomplices in the movement for decolonization.

The settler-colonial state of Canada, its government, and public institutions are all complicit in this ongoing genocide and war crimes being committed on Palestinian soil. Post-secondary institutions continue to use student money to invest in weapons and arms manufacturers that are contributing to the displacement and death of innocent people around the world. Not only have these institutions deterred students from protesting and raising awareness, but they are also trying to censor the Palestinian student communities and their allies.

Historically, unions spoke out and took action in the face of injustice. Unions have a proud history of standing against apartheid and war. It is up to us as union members to rise against governments and institutions that are complicit in apartheid and we must continue to spread awareness and support for the liberation of Palestine.

OPSEU/SEFPO Coalition of Racialized Workers calls for an end to all settler-colonial occupation and violence. We call for a cease fire. We will not be silent, and we will always stand in solidarity for all workers.