As Israel began its latest assault on Gaza in October, and the civilian death toll began to mount at unprecedented speed with ample evidence of countless war crimes and crimes against humanity underway, Palestinian unions appealed directly to the global labour movement for support in ending the conflict, Alexander Livingston writes for Al Jazeera.

While some unions have become increasingly vocal in their support for the Palestinian plight, many others have not; their muted response is representative of a continued trend of sidestepping issues facing the broader Muslim community.

Flimsy press releases and token donations are wholly insufficient given the current scale of suffering, and the decades-long history of occupation, apartheid and oppression in Palestine.

This failure to firmly demand an end to Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing constitutes an outright betrayal of the very ethos of our unions.

Read the full opinion here.