Montreal, August 3, 2023 - CJPME Statement: Today’s announcement that Quebec will establish an office in Tel Aviv is deeply out of touch with events on the ground and significantly undermines Quebec’s stated support for Palestinian self-determination.

At this moment, Israel’s government is led by a coalition of far-right and racist political parties that are dedicated to the permanent subjugation of the Palestinian people. The coalition has stated that it believes that the Jewish people have an “exclusive” right to all Palestinian land, and key coalition partners believe that Palestinians are inferior and have called for their expulsion. Israel is currently moving forward with long-held plans to illegally annex the occupied West Bank.

Just last year, Amnesty International concluded that Israel is practicing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians, joining a consensus in the human rights sector shared by UN experts, Human Rights Watch, Israeli NGOs B’Tselem and Yesh Din, and Palestinian civil society.

Quebec’s decision to expand economic and research partnerships with Israel also contradicts the demands of Palestinian civil society, which has asked the international community to impose boycotts, divestment, and sanctions on Israel as a form of non-violent economic pressure.

If Quebec wanted to support Palestinian self-determination it would stop rewarding impunity and start holding Israel to account for its crimes. Quebec must reverse this decision and condition any further partnerships with Israel on its respect for human rights and international law.