Solidarity movements with Palestine have made important gains in the past few months. Labour for Palestine reports that labour federations in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador all recently passed Hot Cargo resolutions – making the cutting of all services and relationships with Israel including with the Israeli labour group, Histradut, union policy.
The Jewish Faculty Network published The CIJA Report, a scathing indictment of the Centre for Israel and Jewish affairs (CIJA) for its anti-Palestinian Racism and genocide denial. The Palestinian Youth Movement/Arms Embargo Now/Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, and World Beyond War together released the blockbuster report Exposing the U.S. Loophole.
On the governmental front, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow has finally decried the Israel war against Palestine as genocide, and Burnaby City Council passed councillor Allison Gu’s motion to sign the Apartheid-Free Communities Pledge. BC Green Party leader Emily Lowan recently met with Palestine solidarity organizers to discuss how the party can support the struggle against the genocide in Palestine.
“I’m honoured to stand and fight alongside you,” she said in her Instagram post.
The Palestine Tribunal on Canadian Responsibility exposed Canadian complicity in the genocide and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnpeg announced that: “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present” will be a feature exhibit opening in June 2026.
University instructor and Palestine solidarity activist Natalie Knight won her arbitration case against Langara University for wrongful termination, a victory for academic freedom and freedom of expression, according to the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC.
These are but a small sample of recent steps forward and reflect a massive amount of hard work and creativity on the part of activists across the country.
Not all is clear sailing, however. The Canadian government and public institutions continue to harass Palestine solidarity actions, refuse to facilitate Palestinian refugees coming to Canada, and continue to be complicit in Israel’s war crimes against Palestine.
In addition, a new challenge has appeared – coming to terms with the impact of the UN Security Council’s decision to approve Resolution 2803.
UN 2803
On November 17, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2803 incorporating all facets of the Trump-sponsored peace proposals for Palestine. China and Russia abstained but did not veto the plan. Although endorsed by the Palestinian Authority, the resolution has come under fierce criticism from Palestinian political organizations and from the international solidarity movement.
Resolution 2803 endorses what is known as the Comprehensive Plan, the first priority of which is to “deradicalize and demilitarize” Gaza; the creation of a “Board of Peace” headed by Trump with broad powers to control Gaza; and the establishment of a military “International Stabilization Force” to police Gaza.
Israel will be free to impose a “security perimeter” around Gaza. As for Palestine realizing its inherent right of self-determination, Resolution 2803 renders it meaningless, suggesting if the plan is completed then, and only then, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
All this to support a “ceasefire” that has come to mean “Palestine ceases, Israel fires.” The IDF has murdered over 300 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire was announced.
No wonder the Palestinian NGO Network and the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council issued a position paper: Palestinian Civil Society Condemns UNSC Resolution 2803 Establishing Joint US-Israel Illegal Occupation of Gaza. The paper characterizes the proposed measures, including the demilitarization/deradicalization of Gaza as “another form of foreign occupation” that will weaponize the provision of aid and provide impunity for Israel for its genocidal actions.
According to the position paper, Palestinians have had no input in this plan that will again deny the inherent right self-determination to the Palestinian people. Furthermore, it sidelines previous UN resolutions that support Palestine and undermines the International Court of Justice. For that reason, the paper concludes that UNSC Resolution 2803 is a “catastrophic failure to abide by international law,” and therefore inherently unlawful. It calls on Third States to take meaningful actions, including diplomatic, military and economic sanctions against Israel.
After years of Palestinian resistance, with the rising tide of solidarity in Canada and around the world, how have we come to this?
History matters
One point becoming clear is that the UN has feet of clay. Even though it has proclaimed November 29 as the International Day of Support for Palestine, it was the UN General Assembly itself that passed Resolution 181(II) in 1947 that recommended the partition of Palestine and is often referred to as the ‘two state’ solution. This resolution carried no legal justification for partitioning Palestine, but it lent credibility to the Zionist claim for land in Palestine.
Taking advantage of the resolution and world sympathy for Jews after the Second World War, Zionist forces began their campaign to assert control over Palestine, despite fervid opposition from Palestinians. The Nakba ensued with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced, a violent process that continues to this day. Israel was created through the barrel of a gun, dispossessing indigenous Palestinians and denying their inherent right to self-determination.
The UN proved unable to halt the Zionist war machine. Instead, when Zionists proclaimed Israel an independent state, US president Harry Truman and the Soviet Union rushed to recognize the Zionist entity. Arab states responded to the growing refugee crisis by militarily intervening, but the Arab forces were divided and outgunned by battle-hardened, well-equipped Zionist military units. The UN Security Council appointed a Swedish diplomat to mediate but he was assassinated by Zionist forces.
This prompted the UN to pass Resolution 194, providing displaced Palestinians with the right of return, and demanding Israel negotiate. Israel agreed to enter conciliation discussions but in return the General Assembly accepted a recommendation from the Security Council to admit Israel as a member state to the UN because “it was a peace-loving State which accepts the obligations contained in the Charter and is able to and willing to carry out those obligations.”
The UN decision to admit Israel on these terms was a fatal mistake. Many countries, including Canada, recognized Israel on the basis of this resolution, providing the Zionist state with a mantle of international legitimacy.
With no nation-state of their own, Palestinians were dispersed and left to fend for themselves. Having lost the first war with Israel, Arab states were put on the defensive and decided to discard their opposition to the UN partition resolution and instead tried to invoke Resolution 181(II) to stop further erosion of Palestinian rights. In retrospect, this only consolidated the Zionist belief that they had the right to dispossess Palestinians.
Palestinians organized under extremely difficult conditions, with several resistance organizations emerging. The Arab League sponsored the creation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the 1960s to bring together Palestinian groups. On the ground, Palestinians resisted in their daily lives, producing a national renaissance and an abiding determination to regain their lands.
For years the PLO refused to accept the UN partition resolution, but they faced an uphill battle. Even though legally they had the right to resist even with armed force the illegal occupation of their traditional territories, they were largely condemned as terrorists.
Nevertheless, resistance organizing continued among Palestinians in Israel, in the occupied territories, and among Palestinians globally. This ongoing resistance, based on the just Palestinian demand for the return of their lands, convinced many Zionist leaders that only a super military could guarantee the existence of a Zionist state. Israel, with the support initially of France and then the United States, became a garrison state, armed with nuclear weapons.
In 1967, Israel launched a military offensive known as the Six-Day War, capturing and occupying all of historic Palestine, as well as Egyptian and Syrian territories. By this time, it had largely abandoned any pretense of supporting the UN partition resolution.
The illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, including Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, caused ongoing resentment and the first Intifada (Uprising) began in 1987 with the resistance manifesting itself continually and flexibly ever since.
Pushed onto the defensive in the face of Zionist attacks and undermined by divisions among Arab states, the PLO finally made the decision in 1988 to accept the ‘two state’ solution, declaring: “More than 40 years ago, the United Nations, in General Assembly resolution 181 (II), decided that the establishment of two States in Palestine, one Palestinian Arab and one Jewish. Despite the historic wrong that done to our people, it is our view today that the said resolution continues to meet the Arab people’s right to sovereignty and national independence.”
On one hand this opened the door to ‘peace’ discussions (Oslo Accords, etc) that, in retrospect, positioned the PLO in a collaborative stance with the Israeli occupation that in the end weakened its position. This then opened the door for newer organizations such as Hamas, among others. Stunned by the October 7 attacks, Israel mobilized its garrison state for total war, leading to the genocide currently taking place.
Dealing with UN Resolution 2803
Criticism of China and Russia for not vetoing Resolution 2803 is being voiced, particularly on social media. This is an important issue which deserves a fuller discussion keeping in mind the fact that not only the United States but Qatar, Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Türkiye issued a Joint Statement voicing their support for Resolution 2803 three days before the final vote. The newly acquired status and influence of rich Gulf states is an additional important factor.
In light of this new resolution, understanding what future role the UN might play in Palestine’s liberation requires some serious reflection. To some degree, any consensus regarding the ‘two state solution’ seems to be breaking down. More importantly, has the time not arrived for a serious discussion on how Israel might be expelled from the UN? This is effectively what happened in the case of apartheid South Africa in 1974.
Regardless, Palestinians will continue to resist and persist in their quest for justice and self-determination. Their actions in the face of a continuing genocide can only inspire further solidarity work including more pan-Canadian initiatives that will demonstrate the power of collective action in support of Palestine.
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