Vote Palestine Vancouver

Palestine is the moral litmus test of our times.

The Vancouver Palestine Platform outlines key demands of Palestinian organizations and allies in Vancouver for municipal recognition of and action on the human rights of Palestinians, as enshrined in international and Canadian law.

Voters can use the Vote Palestine Vancouver site to pledge support for Palestinian human rights and review candidates' stances on the Vancouver Palestine Platform when deciding how to vote on October 17th. Candidates can make their stance on justice for Palestinians public. Organizations can endorse the platform and mobilize their constituents to vote.

We encourage everybody (voters or not) to ask your local candidates to endorse the four platform points below. Make it clear that this election, voters of conscience will only support candidates that stand up for Palestinian human rights and international law.

The Platform

Condemn the genocide

The genocide of Palestinians in Gaza since 2023 has been documented by multiple human right organizations. Despite the November 2025 ceasefire declaration, Israel continues killing about 4 Palestinians in Gaza per day, is still deliberately starving children by choking off humanitarian aid, while blocking reconstruction of hospitals and homes to make Gaza uninhabitable. The Gaza genocide has not ended but rather been rendered invisible by the silence of global media. Please see the Apartheid Free Communities Municipal Package for more info.

Condemnation of the genocide by the City of Vancouver would locate the City on the right side of history and add grassroots pressure on the provincial and federal governments to likewise take a principled stance on Palestine. This action would ensure that the Gaza genocide does not go unrecognized and cannot be ignored.

Sign the Apartheid Free Communities pledge

The Apartheid Free Communities (AFC) pledge asks for communities to take a “renewed public pledge against all forms of racism, bigotry, and oppression, including against racist discrimination, islamophobia, antisemitism, and xenophobia in our own communities.”

By signing the AFC pledge, the City of Vancouver would be joining over 400 signatories including Burnaby (BC), Powell River (BC), and Brampton (ON), and would become the 16th in a growing list of North American Apartheid-Free Cities.

Cut ties with Israeli institutions, including reviewing contracts

Israel's war crimes in Gaza are enabled by its continued political, economic, and institutional support from other countries. We in Canada have been made complicit in Israeli genocide and apartheid, whether through Canada's arms imports and exports; economic, cultural, and academic ties with illegal settlements established on occupied Palestinian land; or forced passivity in the face of Israeli atrocities like sexual abuse of abducted civilians, deliberate targeting of children, or demolishing of Gaza's educational and healthcare systems.

The City of Vancouver could review its municipal contracts/procurements and cut any ties it has to Apartheid Israel's genocidal actions to maintain the City's values of fairness, responsiveness, and integrity. The City of Vancouver could further abide by the Apartheid Free Communities pledge and rule out any future contracts with entities that support apartheid and genocide in Palestine.

Recognize the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA) framework of Anti-Palestinian Racism

Canada's Anti-Racism Strategy states that Palestinians in Canada have faced unprecedented hate in the past few years. The City of Vancouver's Anti-racism Framework and 2026-2027 Action Plan specify municipal efforts to address historical and ongoing harm to specific marginalized communities. However, there is no acknowledgement of Anti-Palestinian Racism in the City's framework.

Recognizing the ACLA framework of Anti-Palestinian Racism is a City obligation under Vancouver's Anti-Racism Action Area B, which focuses on developing and improving policies around racism.

Furthermore, residents of Vancouver have been targeted by police, been disciplined or fired by employers, and repressed by public institutions like universities or public libraries for protesting Israel's occupation, apartheid, and genocide of Palestinians.

Freedom of political belief is protected under the B.C. Human Rights Code and is a cherished Canadian value, yet often faces the “Palestine Exception.” Ending the Palestine Exception by establishing and enforcing a plan to protect freedom of expression on Palestine is an obligation under the City of Vancouver's Equity Framework.