Apartheid-Free Communities Petition
The Mayor and Members of Mississauga City Council
The Apartheid-Free Communities (AFC) movement invites communities to pledge: to work with others to end all support for Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.
In Canada, municipalities from B.C. to Ontario are taking the AFC pledge to end support for Israeli apartheid. Mississauga City Council must join other Canadian municipalities by passing a resolution to adopt the AFC pledge. Learn more about the Apartheid Free Communities pledge here.
The crime of apartheid is defined by the United Nations International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA).
The world’s leading human-rights bodies and legal experts are united: the Israeli system meets the ICSPCA definition of apartheid. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem have all released reports concluding that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid.
Municipalities have a duty to act. Under international law and the UN Charter, all governments — including municipalities — are obligated to uphold human rights and international justice. Apartheid is prohibited absolutely under international law. When a state commits the crime of apartheid, all other states must not recognize the situation as lawful, must deny aid or assistance in maintaining it, and must cooperate in bringing it to an end. Municipal governments share these obligations through their partnerships, purchases, and investments.
In the 1980s Canadian municipalities passed motions to end support for Apartheid South Africa.
Today, we ask that the City of Mississauga pass the AFC pledge to cut ties with Israeli apartheid, continuing Mississauga’s legacy of human rights leadership from South Africa to Palestine.
Taking the Apartheid-Free Communities pledge is the first step. The pledge is not a declaration that the municipality is already free of complicity. Taken in good faith, the pledge begins a community process that is inclusive and transparent: a commitment to learn, to assess the city's own ties to apartheid, and to work with others toward ending ties to apartheid step by step.
Sign the petition below to ask the City of Mississauga to take that first step and pass the AFC pledge.
This petition is intended for residents of Mississauga and/or those who own or rent property in the City.
This petition will be considered a public document at the City of Mississauga and the information contained in it may be subject to the scrutiny of the City and Members of Council.
Sponsored by
To:
The Mayor and Members of Mississauga City Council
From:
[Your Name]
Subject of Petition:
That the City of Mississauga sign the Apartheid-Free Communities Pledge and continue the city's legacy of opposing apartheid through municipal motions and policies. As people of conscience and residents of Mississauga, we believe our city must refuse any complicity in apartheid, occupation and genocide, including Israeli apartheid and occupation. We call on Council to sign the Apartheid-Free Communities Pledge and to urge the Government of Canada to impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel and to reform the Gaza Temporary Resident Visa program.
We, the undersigned, hereby submit this petition for Council's consideration for the purpose of:
The City of Mississauga sign the Apartheid-Free Communities Pledge to:
a. Affirm our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian People and all people;
b. Oppose all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression;
c. Declare ourselves an apartheid-free community and to that end;
d. Pledge to join others in working to end support to all Apartheid Regimes, settler colonialism and military occupation
[This petition will be considered a public document at the City of Mississauga and the information contained in it may be subject to the scrutiny of the City and Members of Council.]
Personal information collected through this petition is collected under the authority of the Council Procedure By-law 139-13 and the Petition to Council Policy 02-01-05. Your name and address are collected in order to verify Mississauga residency. No signer sees another signer's details. All signatures will be compiled into one document and submitted to the Mayor and Members of Council; petitions are published online in the Council Agenda, where personal addresses are removed. Questions about this collection should be directed to the Deputy Clerk, Office of the City Clerk, 300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, ON L5B 3C1, Telephone 905-615-3200 ext. 4516.