The biggest moment of the Congress was deciding to shift the main campaign to support the liberation of Palestine. This felt like a crucial and urgent move, given the dire situation and ongoing genocide. At the same time, we made sure not to leave our longstanding campaign for the paid and unionization of internships in the dust. And instead, we committed to continuing it as a secondary focus. The CRUES member associations acknowledged that both campaigns challenge systems of oppression and exploitation, just on different levels.
To push our new Palestine campaign forward, we set clear goals (these are summarized from the actual minutes which can be found here) :
– Transparency : We demand full financial transparency from educational institutions regarding their financial activities and we call for complete divestment from any products, services, and collaborations (academic, commercial, or military) tied to “Israel”.
– Ending Apartheid : We call for the end of apartheid and an end to Palestine’s occupation by “israel”.
– Decolonial Education : We advocate for accessible education on decolonial resistance, bridging the context from Canada to Palestine for the student community.
– Immediate Humanitarian Action : We demand an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and an end to the blockade on humanitarian aid in Gaza.
– Solidarity Beyond Borders : Our demands extend to include support for all victims of “Israeli” policies in regions like Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, and Syria.
– Complicity : We demand that so-called Quebec Government close the “Québec Office in “Tel Aviv”, and that so-called Quebec cut all financial ties with “israel”.
– Support for Decolonial Struggles : CRUES’ commitment to backing decolonial movements and ensuring consistent support for broader resistance efforts across so-called Quebec.
CRUES is calling for a strike on November 21-22, 2024 in order to accomplish those demands (and many more). You can find a list of associations planning to go on strike here.
CRUES adopted a mandate that encouraged all member associations to reach out and strengthen ties with Arab and Muslim students, with the goal of uniting students from diverse backgrounds across all of so-called Quebec.
We also held partial elections for both the committees and the executive council. If you or someone you know would like to be more involved and join a committee or the executive team please feel free to come in-person or online to the next Coordinating Council on November 17: email [email protected] for details.
Furthermore, CRUES now has an Inter-asso which is a non decisional-instance that all student associations across so-called Quebec can join and discuss. There will be semi regular meetings as well, as a shared folder with materials pertinent to the campaign. For more information or how to join please email [email protected] .
Finally, CRUES is committed to supporting Concordia and McGill students facing political repression at the hands of the police and their administration, as well as politically motivated tribunals and we decided to form an ad-hoc committee to support them.