The Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC) condemns in the strongest possible terms the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people being perpetrated by the Israeli government. The current wide-scale massacre of Palestinian citizens in Gaza and the West Bank is rooted in an ethno-nationalist settler colonial ideology. This genocide, combined with the explicit statements of intent by multiple Israeli government officials, leaves no room for doubt or debate – this is a clear-cut case of genocide.
Just as the CNC rejects the genocidal blockade of Cuba, we reject this genocide of the Palestinian people. We reject all those who support this genocide and the 75 years of national and human rights violations against Palestinians, and the theft of their ancestral lands. The Canadian Network on Cuba is perfectly clear on where we stand on this issue, and we recognize that the struggle of Indigenous, African and African descendants, and oppressed peoples against colonialism, racism and imperialism is the fight for human dignity and social justice.
The CNC denounces the active material and political endorsement of these horrific human rights violations by the government of Canada. Canada, in addition to the United States and some other Western countries, are directly complicit in this heinous slaughter of Palestinians on their own land. which is illegally occupied by Zionist Israel. Shamefully, the Canadian government abstained from voting for a ceasefire in the UN General Assembly as the world bears witness to a level of atrocity that will reverberate for generations, and as the count of dead Palestinian civilians continues to rapidly increase by the day, 40% of them being children.
Cuba has consistently been outspoken on the international stage in its support for Palestinian rights Cuba has been a steadfast supporter of Palestinians since its Revolution in 1959 and has always shown strong recognition and support of Palestine diplomatically. It has accepted hundreds of Palestinian students into its Latin American School of Medicine, some of whom are practising in life-threatening siege conditions in Gaza right now, and it has accepted Palestinian refugees for many years.
Cuba was part of a contingent of countries which proposed the overwhelmingly approved resolution to the United Nations General Assembly, demanding an immediate ceasefire, the establishment of an urgent mechanism to protect Palestinian civilians, rejecting the displacement of civilians and human rights defenders, and the provision of emergency humanitarian aid.
To stand against Palestine, to support the Israeli state, or to “both-sides” this conflict, is to stand against Cuba, and against the overlapping struggles of Cubans and Palestinians.
The Canadian Network on Cuba’s principles are unequivocal when it comes to the right to self-determination, sovereignty, and the right of nations to determine their own path to development without outside interference or pressure, including colonialism, occupation, apartheid, and it goes without saying, genocide.
We call for an immediate cease-fire and to end the blockade of Palestine. We strongly urge the Canadian government to end its support for genocide.
Samantha Hislop
Julio Fonseca
Co-Chairs, Canadian Network on Cuba
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