Nurses Call on CFNU and Affiliates to Take Concrete Actions Against Gaza Genocide

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Nurses Call on CFNU and Affiliates to Take Concrete Actions Against Gaza Genocide

The executive of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions

Palestinian healthcare workers are among the thousands killed, injured or imprisoned by the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza which has entered its 9th month.

CFNU and its affiliates have remained largely silent at a time when speaking out and taking action is morally, politically and professionally the right thing to do.

Sign the petition and help us move CFNU and provincial affiliates into action in support of Palestinian human rights.

Sponsored by

Labour 4 Palestine

To: The executive of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
From: [Your Name]

Whereas:
- The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses requires nurses to advocate and act against global “ violations of human rights, war, world hunger.”
- The labour movement played a crucial role in global struggles for justice, including dismantling of South African apartheid.
- Since October 7, 2023, over 37,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israel, including at least 541 health care workers, of which 150 were nurses.
In December 2023, 18 Palestinian healthcare unions issued an urgent call to healthcare unions worldwide for solidarity and immediate assistance through six key demands.
- The CFNU and its affiliates have engaged in performative allyship, with statements that have failed to commit to tangible actions, as our Palestinian colleagues and people have implored us to do.
- The CFNU, part of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), supported an arms embargo in 2021, but has not done so since the start of the genocide in Gaza. The CFNU co-signed a letter to reinstate UNRWA funding but did not join these unions in their call for an arms embargo.

We, the undersigned, call upon the CFNU and its affiliated provincial unions to:

1. Join with CUPE, CUPW, PSAC and FSSS-CSN in signing and promoting the Arms Embargo campaign and lobby the Government of Canada for a two-way arms embargo.

2. Join the growing number of Canadian unions in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and its campaigns, and honour the 2021 emergency resolution to promote divestment in provincial pension plans.

3. Demand the end of restrictions on access to medical care and import of supplies, including the unconditional opening of the Rafah crossing; free movement for patients to care outside of Gaza; unimpeded import of medicines and equipment.

4. Provide tangible support like medical supplies and ongoing funding to rebuild Gaza's healthcare sector via the International Solidarity Committee Fund.

5. Denounce the conflation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism, meant to intimidate, silence or discipline union members supporting Palestinian human rights and opposing genocide. Sign the Statement Against the Adoption of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism at Health Faculties and Institutions (form to sign here). Similarly, acknowledge and combat anti-Palestinian racism in our workplaces.

6. Promote educational events to raise awareness about the challenges Palestinian healthcare workers face, thus allowing members the professional safety to do the same.