At the recent Canadian Labour Congress(CLC) convention in Winnipeg, a resolution calling for all trade, services and relationships with Israel to be declared “hot cargo” was never allowed to reach the convention floor for debate. Instead, CLC leadership submitted a weaker diversionary resolution, which was ultimately passed with an amendment that the CLC cut ties with the Israeli trade federation Histadrut. Although this was positive and something that Palestinian activists have demanded for decades, the broader demands of “hot cargo” were shelved.
The final resolution that was passed (Gen 134) was reported to also include some highly problematic clauses, like endorsing the bankrupt “negotiated two-state solution”. However, the most egregious was the following: That the CLC will work “towards the immediate release of Israeli hostages’ remains”.
First off, there are no Israeli hostage remains left in Gaza, something even the Israeli government openly declared in January 2026. So if we’re talking about Gaza and Palestine, then this clause is not only factually incorrect but its inclusion is suspicious. Why did the CLC leadership feel compelled to put this in their revised resolution? Was it just window dressing to mollify the Zionist lobby, or does it try to justify further Israeli aggression in the future?
Secondly, if we really want to properly discuss the issue of returning body remains, why not include the remains of the 766 Palestinians (and 10 foreign nationals) that Israel insists on holding to this day, some of them for decades. And this number only includes the documented and known cases, there are many more. Israel refuses to release a list of Gaza prisoners and denies families confirmation of whether their loved ones are alive or dead. Released prisoners have stated there are hundreds of bodies in the morgue and cellars of the infamous Sde Teiman torture prison. (The horrific violence at this particular prison has been well-documented even by Israeli media.)
But no, the CLC leadership prefers to focus on non-existent Israeli hostage remains in Gaza with no mention of the much greater level of Palestinian suffering on this issue. How racist, how supremacist do you have to be to totally ignore and dismiss the hundreds of Palestinians and their families impacted by this, as if they are not worthy of our consideration. This resolution also called to support initiatives against anti-Palestinian hate; we suggest they start with themselves and examine their own deadly biases.
All we can say with certainty at this point is that Palestinian lives and dignity have again been desecrated, many times over by Israel and now by the CLC leadership. We demand the implementation of “hot cargo” as the bare minimum that should be done by union allies here in the imperial core if they really are committed to social justice internationally.
(Cover photo collage includes painting by Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour)
Speech at Nakba78 rally in Vancouver