60th session of HRC
Item 9
General Debate
Action Canada makes this statement on behalf of Wahoo, a Waves of Freedom vessel participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Since its inception, the international human rights system has watched the colonial and apartheid regime of Israel disregard and violate international law. Since its very founding, Israel has relentlessly expanded illegal settlements in Palestine while human rights mechanisms are threatened and sanctioned by Israel’s unshakeable allies among Western governments, especially the US, Germany and the UK. Gaza has been under siege since 2007 and under a direct genocidal attack since October 2023, even as Israeli and Western weapons manufacturers, tech corporations, and mercenaries have profited from the systematic killing and maiming of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Western politicians and corporate-controlled Western media have ignored, justified, and lied about the genocide for almost two years, even as Israel’s racist lies and murderous actions have been on non-stop display for all the world to see. We have seen how even the most timid attempts by the international community to hold Israel accountable are met by an escalation of aggression against the Palestinian people.
Today, a few hundred ordinary people from 44 countries are sailing toward Gaza to break the siege and open a humanitarian corridor. Our action is rooted in the failure of states to stop the humanitarian catastrophe created by Israel and to end the genocide. Under international humanitarian law, our governments must protect us from any attack on the flotilla.
The Human Rights Council must act with clarity and urgency and condemn Israel’s genocide, and call on all states to fulfil their legal obligations. This requires a full arms, trade, and cultural embargo on Israel, and concrete steps to end impunity for these crimes.
Endorsing organisations
- Sexual Rights Initiative
- Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)
- Women Deliver
- Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development