Francesca Albanese on Fire: A Lesson to Canada 🇨🇦 on International Law and Palestinian 🇵🇸 Rights
"The priority is to stop the genocide. If the government here, the parliamentarians here want to call it a 'Ceasefire,' call it the way they want, but this is the priority. The rest is secondary. Which doesn't mean that the recognition of the State of Palestine is not important. My question is, if this country has entertained discussions on the two-state solution, how come it does not recognize the state of Palestine yet? What is there to be debated? The recognition of Palestine 🇵🇸 shouldn't take time; it should be automatic and be an act of coherence. Otherwise, if you don't recognize it, it means that you shouldn't be talking about it at all. Why are you even a voice in the debate? It's about coherence. I know what I'm saying is blunt, but we need to be blunt because the impunity that has been granted to Israel for decades has led to this, which is a disaster both for the Palestinians and the Israelis. Again, diplomatic talks have been turned into a place to justify the unimaginable, the illegal...
Is Canada spending any of its political capital to make sure that the genocide ends as soon as possible, the ceasefire, whatever, but then there is already a deadline set for the end of occupation? The ICJ has passed an advisory opinion which declares the occupation unlawful and to be dismantled unconditionally and totally as rapidly as possible, and that 'as rapid as possible' has been defined by the General Assembly; it must happen by September next year. What is Canada doing to ensure that the Occupation is dismantled? And then, more than these, there is Apartheid. I know that in this country, you feel uncomfortable with the word 'Apartheid,' but you have to tell me why? Because I, together with Israeli human rights organizations, Palestinian human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Harvard University, and thousands of Israelis, talking about Apartheid, give you the evidence of it, and here, like in other parts of North America, I hear, 'Hmm... we cannot say that word.' It's your problem...
International law is so clear that it doesn't allow you to find excuses. So, however, end the genocide, end the Occupation, end the Apartheid; this is what it means to apply international law and help build peace for Palestinians, Israelis, and anyone who calls that land home." — Francesca Albanese at a Press Conference in Canada.
@FranceskAlbs