The GUCU executive committee have been deeply horrified to witness the extreme escalation of violence in Palestine/Israel since October 7th 2023. Our thoughts are with members directly impacted by recent events.
International Humanitarian Law upholds that the category of ‘civilians’ is opposable to that of ‘combatants’ and the deliberate killing, imprisonment and collective punishment meted out to civilians amounts to war crimes. We are committed to a future where every life is sacred and all people live in freedom and safety.
We recognise that the current situation in Palestine cannot be divorced from the ongoing system of Israel’s settler colonialism, apartheid and illegal occupation, and the continuous denial of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. The offensive launched from Gaza must be understood within the context of 16 years of Israel’s draconian land, sea, and air military blockade of the Gaza Strip that has restricted over 2 million civilians and their access to food, fuel and medical aid, alongside the intensification of attacks by both Israeli forces and armed Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of 2023.
We are dismayed by the International community’s failure to speak to the root causes of the violence we see unfolding in Palestine. There must be an immediate ceasefire and we urge our politicians and trade unions to speak out against the ongoing Israeli military occupation and violation of Palestinian human rights. In the face of the appalling mass ethnic cleansing, we stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, justice and equality in the land of Palestine/Israel.