The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing 800,000 workers across Canada, stands in full solidarity with CUPE members Mskwaasin Agnew (CUPE 7797) and Sadie Mees (CUPE 2329) who were aboard the Freedom Flotilla and were detained this week by Israeli authorities.
Mskwaasin Agnew is a Cree/Dene health care worker and harm reduction practitioner at Street Health in Toronto. Sadie Mees is a library worker at the Public Library in St. John’s, NL.
The ship they were aboard, The Conscience, was intercepted as they, alongside dozens of other workers, journalists and human rights defenders, attempted to peacefully break the illegal siege of Gaza.
Over 1050 health care workers in Gaza have been killed, and over 500 have been detained since October 2023. Earlier this year, Israeli forces executed a convoy of fifteen medical and emergency workers in Gaza.
According to the UN, at least thirteen libraries were destroyed or damaged in Gaza within the first six months since October 2023.
CUPE calls on the Canadian government to secure the safe return of CUPE members aboard the Freedom Flotilla.
The Canadian government must take all steps to end its complicity in the genocide in Gaza, including the following:
- Work actively towards an immediate, permanent ceasefire and the release of all Israeli and Palestinian captives
- Implement a two-way arms embargo
- Support all efforts to hold accountable the perpetrators of the crime of genocide in Gaza in accordance with domestic and international law