Zeinab Merai, Sada al-Mashrek
Having been living in Ottawa, on the unceded Algonquin Territories for 36 years, he has simultaneously been maintaining ties with his homeland, Lebanon.
An activist ever since studenthood, Hassan Husseini has been involved in the left politics in Canada for many years. He was a member of the leadership of the Communist Party of Canada during the 1990s before leaving the party entirely in 2006.
The socialist then got more engaged in the labour movement, in which he has been working for the past 15 years.
Coming from Mashghara, a town of Lebanon’s West Beqaa, Husseini is actively and unapologetically involved in promoting Palestinian human rights within the Canadian labour movement.
Interviewed by Sada al-Mashrek, the realist yet sanguine negotiator has discussed the economic and political challenges and injustices in Canada, highlighting where the movement has been making progress.
Networking through unions
For long, Husseini has been a full-time national negotiator for the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), a union which represents about 200,000 workers primarily employed in the federal public service across Canada. The union also represents workers in other sectors including universities, gaming, as well as some in the private sector.
As a labour activist, Husseini has held a number of elected union positions. He is currently a member of the executive committee of Unifor Local 2025, representing staff at PSAC. He has also served as President of the Ottawa CUPE District Council, among others, for a couple of years.
Labour for Palestine
Husseini is a volunteer organiser with Labour for Palestine, which he, alongside other labour activists across Canada, “have been rebuilding over the past three years. It is the vehicle we use to work with labour unions and activists across the country to deepen the roots of solidarity with the Palestinian people and workers,” explains Husseini.
“In 2005, 170 Palestinian civil society and trade-union organisations called for the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign (BDS). In 2006, CUPE Ontario, the union that I was a member of, passed Resolution 50, the first at the level of Canadian trade unions in support of the BDS campaign. We were organising at the convention and lobbying to make sure that resolution passes, and it did.
Since then, more unions have come around and supported or endorsed the BDS campaign to put pressure on Israel to make it comply with international law.
Labour for Palestine started during that period of time: 2006-2007 as a small group in Toronto. Over the years it became inactive, and since 2017 we have been trying to rebuild it at a national level in order to work on campaigns in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
Husseini further illuminates that “we invite people to participate in our meetings and actions on an open basis, and we support labour activists in passing BDS and Palestine solidarity resolutions within their own unions.
Labour for Palestine is run by a volunteer coordinating committee with membership from diverse unions (private /public-sector) and regions across the country.”
Union Support for Palestinian Human Rights
“One way we engage unions and their members in Palestine solidarity is by putting forward policy resolutions in support of Palestinian human rights at labour conventions, which are held every 2, 3 or 4 years, depending on the union,” explains the union negotiator.
“Zionists work very hard and put a lot of pressure on the leadership as well as on delegates at those conventions so that they vote it down or not let it even be debated. Zionists are afraid of the debate, so they often revert to the anti-Semitism accusation in order to scare people away from taking more advanced positions in support of Palestinian human rights.
From our perspective, even bringing a resolution to the floor of a convention for debate and discussion is an incredibly important educational tool. That’s good even though it may lose, as we are engaging members directly at these conventions, which sometimes can have up to 3,000 or 4,000 delegates in attendance.”
Husseini argues that “over the years, an increasing number of national, provincial, and local unions has stepped up and passed BDS resolutions in support of Palestinian human rights and their right to be liberated from Israeli apartheid and occupation. At the national level this includes the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), Unifor, as well as the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).
At its last convention in June of 2021, the CLC (an umbrella organisation representing labour unions across the country) endorsed an emergency resolution that was prompted by the Israeli attack and massacres in Gaza that took place in May 2021. The resolution includes support for certain boycotts and sanctions on Israel, specifically when it comes to Canada’s sale of weapons to Israel.”
“So we’ve been making important gains in the trade union movement as far as the increasing support for the struggle of the Palestinian people, but we are nowhere near where we want to be,” believes the BDS activist. “I think that the fact that more unions are taking explicit positions in support of the Palestinian people’s human rights and the right to self-determination is a great step forward.
In that sense, the change in the support from within the labour movement in Canada is a reflection of the changing viewpoint and sentiment of rank and file union activists and average Canadians generally. This is scaring the Zionist movement and their supporters and apologists within the Canadian state and society.
They’re losing the battle of public opinion because they know more Canadians are seeing Israel for what it is: a settler colonial racist state maintaining the longest occupation of the Palestinian people. That’s why we see increasing efforts by the Zionists to brand everyone supporting Palestinians as anti-Semitic.”
Foodbenders
The case of Foodbenders falls in line with Husseini’s understanding. Just last November, Foodbenders won a court case. Back in July 2020, the complainants, pro-Israel Canadians, alleged that the catering and wholesale service owner Kimberly Hawkins had discriminated against a local Jewish Canadian, trying to depict her as an ‘anti-Semite’. Un-shockingly, Hawkins’ business was vandalised, and she was harassed and received death threats because of her unwavering support for Palestinian human rights.
On 15 November 2021, a provincial court ruled that Foodbenders hadn’t violated anti-discrimination laws.
While the news cheered pro-Palestine Canadians, Canadian mainstream media remained silent about it, and so did the Zionist lobby, which had made noise about the charges back in 2020. Following the court ruling, Hawkins considered she had just battled the City of Toronto, tweeting, “City of Toronto vs Foodbenders” and “charges dismissed”.
Foodbenders’ owner as well wrote, “The silence by the lobby today is interesting given that news of the city bylaw charges against me was released to the public by @bnaibrithcanada before the city disclosed that information to myself or my lawyer. You won’t hear it on the news, but I’m not guilty, everyone…”
On 21 Nov 2021, author and former President of Ontario Federation of Labour and CUPE Ontario Sid Ryan tweeted, “Where is the apology from @fordnation [Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who had described Hawkins’ language as “disgusting”], @JohnTory [Toronto Mayor], @bnaibrithcanada? Once again BB et al levels false allegations of anti-Semitism for criticising Israel. A judge disagrees. This destroys the campaign to weaponise IHRA. #FreePalestine.”
Interestingly, you would normally see signs reading “I love Gaza” or “Free Palestine” on the shopfront of “Foodbenders”, and if you visit Hawkins’ Twitter page, you would find the picture of a person in keffiyyeh raising the flag of Palestine. The statement heading her page reads, “Food & Politics. No IHRA. No Pipelines. Legal Fight Donations...”
Please do stay tuned for further talk with Husseini.