Justice for Palestine – Asia Pacific Report

Local plumber Hannah Spencer beats both Reform and Labour to win UK byelection

APR editor — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 10:06:56 +0000

Novara Media

In a spectacular triumph, Britain’s Green Party has won the Gorton and Denton byelection in Greater Manchester.

Local plumber Hannah Spencer has now become the party’s fifth MP — a historic victory for the ascendent Greens, who ran a campaign of national hope and international solidarity against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The byelection result is also a huge upset in Britain’s political status quo.

The Labour party, which won the seat with more than 50 percent of the vote in 2024 and held the seat for many years, was pushed into third place behind Reform UK. No more.

After coming third behind the Greens and Reform, questions over the future of the party’s leader, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, now grow increasingly urgent.

Meanwhile, Reform UK came second. On their own terms, a result.

Clear defeat by Left
And yet, a clear defeat by the Left. Its candidate, Matt Goodwin, along with the party as a whole, will now be taking stock, disappointed that a major target constituency has rejected them.

The Greens stormed the seat and Spencer won a majority of more than 4000 despite a race sullied by dirty tricks and cynicism from a Labour Party that appeared desperate at every turn.

Tactics included an invented electoral organisation and misinformation over polling. A last ditch effort to transport Starmer to the constituency may have amounted to a final and fatal backfire.

This is the second byelection loss to the Green Party since Labour’s general election victory in 2024.

Fiji, NZ protesters kick off UN day of solidarity for Palestine amid calls for sanctions, boycotts on Israel

APR editor — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 09:46:20 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

Protesters in Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand kicked off the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People today as Israel faced global condemnation over more “war crimes” against Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

At least 13 people, including two children, were killed and 25 were wounded as Israel launched another incursion into Syrian territory in the Damascus countryside, according to state media.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned “the criminal attack carried out by an Israeli occupation army patrol in Beit Jinn”.

At Albert Park in Fiji’s capital Suva today, members of Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network (F4PSN) defied police repression and gathered to celebrate Solidarity Day.

They issued a statement declaring:

“On the 48th anniversary of this day, we must be clear: Fiji cannot claim to stand for human rights while aligning itself with GENOCIDE, APARTHEID and OCCUPATION.

“We refuse to let our government speak in our name while supporting systems of colonial oppression.”

Fiji ‘not on side of Palestine justice’
The statement went on to state that in 1977, the UN General Assembly had called for the annual observance of November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

But now, Palestinians faced dispossession, military occupation, forced displacement, and the systematic destruction of their homes and lives. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 20,000 children, in the Israeli war on Gaza, report the last Gaza statistics.

“The world is watching genocide unfold in Gaza — entire families wiped out, children buried under rubble, hospitals bombed, and civilians starved — while governments continue to fund Israel’s genocidal campaign and shield it from accountability,” the network said.

Fiji was not on the side of justice and humanity, added the network. These were some of the reasons why:

Fiji has repeatedly abstained or voted against resolutions protecting Palestinian rights at the United Nations, including resolutions calling for humanitarian ceasefires;
Fiji voted against renewing support for Palestinian refugees under UNRWA;
Fiji abstained on a resolution supporting a two-state solution;
Fiji was the only country to publicly support Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and land annexation at the International Court of Justice; and
Fiji has opened an embassy in Jerusalem, in Occupied Palestine.

“This is not foreign policy — this is complicity,” said the network.

Fiji pro-Palestinian protesters in Albert Park, Suva, today marking UN Solidarity Day. Image: Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network

“And we say loudly from Fiji: End occupation. End apartheid. End genocide. Free Palestine — from the River to the Sea.”

Powerful speeches in NZ
In New Zealand’s Te Komititanga Square beside Auckland city’s main transport hub, protesters heard several powerful speakers before marching up the Queen Street shopping precinct to Aotea Square and raised the Palestinian flag.

Journalist and videographer Cole Martin, of Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine who recently returned from six months bearing witness in the occupied West Bank, gave a harrowing account of the brutality and cruelty of daily life under Israeli military control.

Describing the illegal destruction of Palestinian homes by Israeli military bulldozers in one village, Martin said: “They [villagers] put up tents. And they Israeli military returned because the tents, they say, didn’t have the correct permits, just like their homes.

“And so they demolished them.

“But when Palestinians apply for permits, they are pretty much never granted them. It is an impossible system.”

Journalist Cole Martin speaking at the UN Solidarity Day rally in Auckland today about his recent experiences bearing witness in the occupied West Bank. Image: Asia Pacific Report

Speaking for Amnesty International Aotearoa, people power manager Margaret Taylor described the US President Trump-brokered “ceasefire” in Gaza as “dangerous” because it gave the illusion that life in Gaza was returning to normal.

“We here today are aware that the ‘normal’ for the people of Gaza is the ongoing genocide perpetrated against them by Israel.

“Earlier this week Amnesty international again came out saying, ‘yes, it is still genocide’.

“‘It is still genocide. It is still genocide.” It continues unabated.

“We had to do that because world leaders have denied that it is genocide and are using this alleged ceasefire.”

“Boycott Israel” declares a banner at today’s UN Solidarity Day rally in Auckland. Image: Asia Pacific Report

Gaza flotilla plans
Gaza Sumud Flotilla activist Youssef Sammour, who was also rally MC, brought the crowd up-to-date with plans for another flotilla to attempt to break the Israeli siege around the Gaza enclave.

About 30 other protests are happening across New Zealand this weekend over the Gaza genocide.

Global news media reports described Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon and Syria, although little was reported in New Zealand media.

Several Israeli soldiers were also reported wounded in clashes at the town of Beit Jinn.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned “the criminal attack carried out by an Israeli occupation army patrol in Beit Jinn”.

Al Jazeera reports that Israeli military incursions have become more brazen, more frequent and more violent since Israel expanded its occupation of southern Syria.

Several Israeli soldiers were also reported wounded in clashes at the town of Beit Jinn when local people fought back against the Israeli incursion.

Meanwhile, the UN has condemned an incident in Jenin in the occupied West Bank as another “apparent summary execution” and warned that killings in the Occupied West Bank were surging “without accountability”.

Footage from Jenin showed Israeli forces shooting two Palestinian men in the back after they had raised their hands to surrender. They were unarmed.

“The beast must be stopped” says a placard held aloft by protest artist Craig Tynan among the Christmas decorations in downtown Auckland today. Image: Asia Pacific Report

How Israel has set a dangerous precedent in international law

APR editor — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 01:42:48 +0000

ANALYSIS: By Emad Moussa

“Israel appears set on destroying the framework created to ensure compliance with international law . . . ”, the International Court of Justice heard in April 2025.

To a similar effect, Norway’s Development Minister said in May that Israel was setting a dangerous precedent for international human rights law violations in Gaza.

Both accounts stem from the belief that Israel’s crimes in Gaza are so extreme that they have broadened the scope of impunity under international law. That would make future conflicts more fluid and the world more dangerous, possibly precipitating the emergence of a New World Order.

READ MORE: Other Gaza reports

The First World Order emerged in 1920 with the creation of the League of Nations, the first intergovernmental organisation. The goal was to prevent conflicts and wars from ever happening again. But because of, inter alia, structural weaknesses and the unresolved injustice of the defeated parties, the Second World War erupted in 1939 and the world order crumbled.

The horrors of the Second World War thus paved the way to the emergence of the Second World Order. It rallied universalism with the establishment of the United Nations and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was reinforced by numerous bodies and treaties to maximise compliance with international law.

While International law was never perfect, let alone fully implementable, it has had an indirect, normative influence on shaping domestic politics, academia, civil society, and journalism. It set in motion the emergence of a global rights-based consciousness, setting a frame of reference against which states are morally and legally judged, even if lacked enforcement.

‘Self-defence’ claim
Israel is the product of the Second World Order. It was initially legitimised by the UN Partition Plan of Palestine in November 1947, and was admitted as a full UN member state in May 1949.

It is today a signatory of multiple UN treaties and engages with international law in various domains. Yet for years it has employed quasi-legal concepts hoping to inject dangerous exceptions in the law tailored to its own image.

It dealt with international law based more on self-perceived legitimacy (via historical victimhood or Biblical ties to the land of Palestine) than objective legality. That resulted in the production of Israeli societal beliefs regarding the country’s boundless right to, say, “self-defence”, that only few in the international community shared.

This exclusive outlook was helped, ironically, by international law’s own lingua franca, its rhetorical nature. It equipped Tel Aviv, like several other states, with the linguistic tools to justify themselves.

Think of how Israelis defend their military occupation of Palestinians by quoting legal arguments regarding self-defence. Or by re-interpreting the UN Resolution 242, which calls for the “withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967”, to mean not “all” territories.

They also argue that the Gaza Strip was not occupied since 2005. But ignore Israel’s continued “effective control” over it, which makes it an occupation as per the Fourth Hague Convention.

And while Israel isn’t a party to the Convention, it is customary international law, and therefore binding.

Dahiya Doctrine
In the same vein, Tel Aviv’s ratification in 1995 of the convention on certain conventional weapons, did not stop it deploying cluster bombs against civilians in Beirut’s southern Dahiya’s district in 2006.

The Israeli army readily denied it was in violation of international law, because “they warned the area’s population”.

It is in Dahiya that a new legal threshold was crossed, or rather twisted. One that would define Israel’s next military campaigns, namely “The Dahiya Doctrine”. It permits the unleashing of extraordinary force against the civilian population and infrastructure.

While a clear violation of international law’s “principle of proportionality”, Israeli officials often justified the attacks as lawful for they target the civilian bedding of “terrorists”.

Needless to say, the Israeli definition of terrorism encapsulates almost every act of dissidence directed at the state, or Jews. Regardless of the legitimacy of that act, and irrespective of its form — violent or passive.

Israel would upscale the Dahiya Doctrine in its consecutive onslaughts on Gaza since 2008, while continuing to pay lip service to international law.

After 7 October 2023, even the words of justification had been abandoned. Calls by Israeli officials and some journalists to commit war crimes in Gaza, including genocide, were mostly unapologetic.

Save for the gas chambers, the Israeli army committed every atrocity imaginable against Gaza’s civilians. Gaza became the world’s largest graveyard of children. Most hospitals, schools, and universities were destroyed, alongside nearly 80 percent of the Strip’s infrastructure and homes.

More journalists were targeted and killed in Gaza than both world wars, the Vietnam War, wars in Yugoslavia, and the war in Afghanistan combined. And unknown to modern conflict, Israel systematically went after aid workers, including UN-associated ones.

Enemies and allies
The gun barrels were then turned against the very representative of international law, the UN. In October 2024, the Knesset banned the UNRWA — going even further by labelling it a “terrorist organisation”.

Sure, Israel has long looked at the UN as biased, and saw the UNRWA as detrimental to Tel Aviv’s wishes to erase the Palestinian refugee problem from existence. But after October 7, not only did Israel unleash a genocidal war against Palestinians, it used quasi-legal instrument and military prowess to neutralise the legal bodies that may limit its scope.

This is unprecedented in the United Nation’s history.

Yet, despite its unbridled brutality, Israel could have been kept at bay had it not been for the US support.

Indeed, the White House helped Israel normalise its violations of international law in two ways. Firstly, by emphasising the “reason of the state” doctrine over international law. The White House under Biden and Trump, almost fully embraced the Israeli narrative of self-defence after October 7, even when it was evident that the Israelis went too far in Gaza.

Secondly, the US was already waging its own lateral war on international law. In February 2025, Donald Trump issued an Executive Order authorising sanctions on the ICC and its Chief Prosecutor.

It expanded the sanctions on four ICC officials in August, saying they had been pivotal in efforts to prosecute Americans and Israelis.

Trump had withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, allegedly over anti-Israel bias. The Biden administration re-joined in 2021 despite being critical of the council’s “disproportionate attention on Israel”. But in 2025 Trump re-withdrew from the organisation.

Ultimately, whether Israel is being driven by a sense of doom post-October 7, one that has overshadowed rationality, or it is rationally using whatever necessary militarily capacity it has to achieve its war objectives, matters little.

Whatever the explanation, what stands is that Israel’s unprecedented crimes set a trajectory in the international system. There is now a possibility that under the increasing normalisation of such crimes, the system will ultimately break.

But if the trajectory follows the same pattern as in the past 100 years, then the crisis may usher in a third world order. A rectifying phase. But that remains speculative, for the path of history is not linear.

Dr Emad Moussa is a Palestinian-British researcher and writer specialising in the political psychology of intergroup and conflict dynamics, focusing on MENA with a special interest in Israel/Palestine. He has a background in human rights and journalism. Follow him on Twitter: @emadmoussa

95 lawyers demand stronger NZ stand over Israel amid Middle East tensions

APR editor — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 07:04:26 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

Ninety-five New Zealand lawyers — including nine king’s counsel — have signed a letter demanding Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and two other ministers urge the government to take a stronger stand against Israel’s “catastrophic” actions in Gaza.

The letter has been sent amid rising tensions in the region, following Israel’s surprise attacks on Iran last Friday, and Iran’s retaliatory attacks.

A statement by the Justice For Palestine advocacy group said the letter’s signatories represented all levels of seniority in the legal community, including senior barristers, law firm partners, legal academics, and in-house lawyers.

The letter cited the 26 July 2024 joint statement by the prime ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand which acknowledged: “The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.”

“But it has continued,” said the letter. “The plight of the civilian population in Gaza has significantly deteriorated, featuring steadily escalating levels of bombardment, forced displacement of civilians, blockades of aid and deliberate targeting of hospitals, aid workers and journalists.”

The same month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had declared Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to be unlawful.

Obligations under international law
In September last year, New Zealand voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution calling on all UN member states to comply with their obligations under international law and take concrete steps to address Israel’s ongoing presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the Justice For Palestine statement.

At the time, New Zealand had noted it expected Israel to take meaningful steps towards compliance with international law, including withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The letter stated that Israel had done nothing of the sort.

Part of the lawyers’ letter appealing to the NZ government for a stronger stance over Israel. Image: J4P

The letter points out that last month independent UN experts had demanded immediate international intervention to “end the violence or bear witness to the annihilation of the Palestinian population in Gaza.”

UN experts have observed more than 52,535 deaths, of which 70 percent continue to be women and children, said the statement.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, had called for a response “as humanitarians” urging “Humanity, the law and reason must prevail”.

The Justice For Palestine letter urged the government to consider a stronger response, including:

condemning Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
reviewing immediately all diplomatic and political and economic ties with Israel, and
imposing further sanctions after New Zealand had imposed sanctions on two extremist Israeli politicians.

Rising concern over Israeli breaches
One of the letter’s signatories, barrister Max Harris, said:

“This letter reflects rising concern among the general community about Israel’s breaches of international law.

“The Government has tried to highlight red lines for Israel, but these have been repeatedly crossed, and it’s time that the Government considers doing more, in line with international law,”

Aedeen Boadita-Cormican, another barrister, who signed the letter, said: “The government could do more to follow through on how it has voted at the United Nations and what it has said internationally.”

“This letter shows the depth of concern in the legal community about Israel’s actions,” she added.

Ōtautahi man says family in Gaza will never leave despite US proposal

APR editor — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 12:48:52 +0000

By Rachel Helyer Donaldson, RNZ News journalist

A Palestinian man living in Aotearoa New Zealand who has lost 55 relatives in three Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, says his remaining family will never leave, despite a US proposal to remove them.

US President Donald Trump doubled down on his plan on Friday after it was rejected by Palestinians and leaders around the world.

Yasser Abdulaal, who has lived in Ōtautahi Christchurch for five years, said his two sisters had lost their homes in the 15-month-long war.

“Toxic wasteland” . . . Palestinians take shelter in tents set up amid heavily damaged buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot APR

Abdulaal said they and their husbands — all teachers — could have left at the start of the bombing but refused to abandon their land — and they would not be leaving now.

“After the ceasefire and with Trump’s statements, they are definitely not going to leave Gaza, regardless of what he says and what [the US] does. It’s their land.”

He said New Zealand should recognise Palestine as a state and sanction Israel in accordance with international law.

It should also call for more funding for international aid to Gaza, he added.

‘Two-state solution’
“New Zealand voted for a two-state solution and we have been asking the government to enforce that. Many countries during the genocide already recognise Palestine as a state but our government sees it as ‘not the right time’.

“I think it is the right time, and New Zealand should recognise Palestine immediately.”

Abdulaal said he reached a moment during the war where he could not bring himself to call his sisters.

“I didn’t know what to say, remotely, from New Zealand.

“It’s a really hard time for everyone, they’ve been in tents for more than eight months, both [my sisters’] houses have gone, they are completely rubble.

“They are still in tents despite the ceasefire because they have no other place to go to.”

But he has talked to the pair since the ceasefire began.

Israeli tanks in area
“One of my sisters can’t even go and see her house as there is still Israeli tanks in that area [the Philadelphia corridor]. But we know from footage — as she says — the height of my house now is half a metre, it was two levels but now it’s half a metre.

“It’s mixed emotions. The killing and bloodshed has stopped, but I have lost 55 [relatives] in the airstrikes, most of them women and children.

“They haven’t even had a proper funeral . . . it’s really hard, people are just trying to get food for their kids, those basic human rights for people which they don’t have.

“They are happy with the ceasefire, and we hope it will be a permanent ceasefire, but we have also lost lots of people . . . [the rest] have lost their houses, their jobs, everything.

Families returning to northern #Gaza are shocked by the scale of destruction.

UNICEF’s Tess Ingram shares the reality on the ground and the immense challenges people are facing. pic.twitter.com/IRYrN9AsNM

— UNICEF MENA – يونيسف الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا (@UNICEFmena) February 9, 2025

“When I close my eyes and I think about losing 55 people, and that’s just the ones we know about. It’s horrific, I can’t believe it . . . they’re all relatives: cousins, uncles, extended family.”

Trump’s proposal was a “dangerous statement and outrageous”, Abdulaal said, likening it to “a reward to Netanyahu and the Israeli government who have been bombing everything in Gaza, killing everyone, committing genocide”.

“[President Trump] says he wants to drive the people out of Gaza, meaning he wants to ethnically cleanse the people from Gaza, which is another war crime,” said Abdulaal.

“This is our land and we are rooted to this land and we’ll never leave it.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Peters’ refusal to join ICC backers puts NZ in Trump’s ‘lawless minority’

APR editor — Mon, 10 Feb 2025 01:50:53 +0000

COMMENTARY: By John Minto

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ refusal to join 79 other countries trying to protect the International Criminal Court (ICC) after vicious attacks and sanctions issued by US President Trump is unconscionable.

Endless New Zealand politicians, including the present government, have pointed to our support for a rules-based international system.

The ICC is a key part of that system but Winston Peters has jettisoned this policy in favour of a US-First approach, rather than a New Zealand-First approach.

READ MORE: World leaders react to Trump sanctions on International Criminal Court

In fact, we can find no evidence that Peters has ever uttered a word of real criticism of the US in his entire political career.

Within the past two weeks Winston Peters has:

Openly welcomed Israeli soldiers and Israeli war criminals coming into New Zealand, with no questions asked, for “rest and recreation” from their genocide in Gaza
Refused to condemn Trump’s racist plans for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza so his son-in-law can turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East”. This is an intended international crime of epic proportion, and now
Refused to join 79 countries supporting the International Criminal Court against Trump’s actions

The countries we are refusing to join in criticising Trump include two other Five Eyes countries — the UK and Canada — as well as Germany, France, Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden, Netherlands, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Spain and so on.

Extremist camp
Winston Peters has put New Zealand in the hard-right international minority extremist camp with Trump. This is creepy and cowardly complicity with a state whose values we do not share.

His ministry has been at great pains over the past year to state how much our government supports the work of the ICC. The MFAT website states: “We have also been clear in our support of the International Criminal Court’s mandate in Palestine.”

But when the ICC issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity, our government goes completely silent.

Will Winston Peters now copy his master and revoke an immigration ban on 33 Israeli settlers responsible for leading pogroms against Palestinian communities in the Occupied West Bank, as Trump did a few days ago?

US policy towards Palestine underlines the case for New Zealand to leave the Five Eyes US international spy network.

An independent foreign policy means making our own decisions and working with the great majority of like-minded countries who support international institutions, such as the ICC and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Instead, we have a foreign minister who is in the US pocket and blindly working for the interests of Trump and his robber barons.

John Minto is national chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA).

Gaza genocide protesters welcome ceasefire but will fight on for justice

APR editor — Sat, 18 Jan 2025 09:00:08 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

About 200 demonstrators gathered in the heart of New Zealand’s biggest city Auckland today to welcome the Gaza ceasefire due to come into force tomorrow, but warned they would continue to protest until justice is served with an independent and free Palestinan state.

Jubilant scenes of dancing and Palestinian folk music rang out across Te Komititanga square amid calls for the Israeli ambassador to be expelled from New Zealand and for the government to halt holiday worker visas for “Zionist terrorist” soldiers or reservists.

While optimistic that the temporary truce in the three-phase agreement agreed to between the Hamas resistance fighter force and Israel in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday would be turned into a permanent ceasefire, many speakers acknowledged the fragility of the peace with at least 116 Palestinians killed since the deal — mostly women and children.

Many parts of the complex 42-day first phase of the agreement have the potential to derail peace.

New Zealand Palestinian Dr Abdallah Gouda speaking at today’s Gaza ceasefire rally . . . “We want to rebuild Gaza, we will rebuild hospitals . . . we will mend Gaza.” Image: David Robie/APR

“We have won . . . won. We are there, we are here. We are everywhere,” declared defiant Gaza survivor Dr Abdallah Gouda, whose family and other Palestinian community members in Aotearoa have played a strong solidarity role alongside activist groups during the 15-month genocidal war waged on the besieged 365 sq km enclave.

He said the struggle would go on until Palestine was finally free and independent; Palestinians would not leave their land.

“They’re [Israelis] killing us. But Palestinians decided to fight [back] . . . No Palestinians want to leave Gaza. They want to stay . . .”

‘We want to rebuild Gaza’
Dr Gouda said in both Arabic and English to loud cheers, “We promise God, we promise the people that we will never leave.

“We can be starved, we can be killed , but we will never leave.

Dr Abdallah Gouda speaking at today’s rally. Video: APR

“We want to rebuild Gaza, we will rebuild hospitals, we will rebuild schools, we will rebuild churches . . .

“We will mend Gaza. It’s not too difficult because Gaza was beautiful, we will rebuild Gaza as the best!”

His son Ali, who has been the most popular cheerleader during the weekly protests, treated the crowd to resounding chants including “Free, free Palestine” and “Netanyahu, you can’t hide”.

PSNA’s Neil Scott speaking. Video: APR

Commenting on the ceasefire due to start tomorrow, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) national secretary Neil Scott said: “This is just the end of the beginning — and now we will fight for justice.”

Scott said the continued struggle included the BDS — boycott, divest, sanctions — campaign. He appealed to the crowd to check their BDS apps and then monitor their “cupboards at home” to remove and boycott Israeli-sourced products.

He also said the PSNA would continue to keep pressing the NZ government to ban Israelis with military service visiting New Zealand on working holiday visas.

“Even now, stop allowing young Zionist terrorists — because that’s what they are — to come to Aotearoa to live among the decent people of New Zealand and wash the blood off their hands and feel innocent again,” Scott said.

“Not a chance, we are pushing this government to end that working holiday visa.”

Speakers also called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from New Zealand.

Ali Gouda’s flagwaving challenge to the crowd. Video: APR

New Palestine documentary
In his final chant, Ali appealed to the crowd: “Raise and wave your Palestinian flags and keffiyeh.”

Future rallies will include protest marches in solidarity with Palestine.

RNZ reports that New Zealand’s Justice for Palestine co-convenor Samira Zaiton said she would only begin to breathe easy when the ceasefire began on Sunday.

“It feels as though I’m holding my breath and there’s a sigh of relief that’s stuck in my throat that I can’t quite let out until we see it play out.”

In Sydney, Australian Jewish author Antony Loewenstein, who visited New Zealand in 2023 to speak about his award-winning book, The Palestine Laboratory, has been a consistent and strong critic of Israel throughout the war.

“I often think about what Israel has unleashed in Gaza — the aim is complete devastation, and Palestinians there have a long history of suffering under this arrogant and criminal war-making,” he said today in a post on X.

“My first visit to Gaza was in July 2009, six months after Israel’s Operation Cast Lead war, and I made a short film about what I saw and heard:”

Gaza Reflections. Video: Antony Loewenstein

His new documentary based on his book, The Palestine Laboratory, will be broadcast by Al Jazeera later this month.

Protesters at today’s Gaza ceasefire rally in Auckland today. Image: David Robie/APR

Civil society groups call on NZ to bar new Israeli envoy over ‘flagrant’ Gaza genocide

APR editor — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 23:53:08 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

A broad coalition of civil society organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand have signed an open letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters urging the coalition government to refuse to accept the credentials of a new Israeli ambassador while the state continues to disregard international law and to commit war crimes.

The term of Israel’s ambassador to New Zealand, Ran Yaakoby, has ended as the Israeli military continues its more than 14-month genocide in Gaza, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has declared Israel’s occupation of Palestine illegal.

About 40 civil society organisations and prominent individuals at institutions have signed the open letter.

READ MORE: ‘You are subhuman’ : Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza – Amnesty International report

The ICJ has made it clear that all states parties — including New Zealand — have obligations not to recognise, and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by measures that are illegal under international law.

The international community has failed to hold Israel to account for its actions.

Kate Stone from Justice for Palestine, one of the signatory organisations, said in a statement: “As we say in the letter, while ambassadors usually provide an important avenue for dialogue, it is clear that the Israeli regime is not prepared to respond to the concerns of the New Zealand government, or the international community more broadly, and intends to continue to disregard international law.

“This is about demonstrating that there are consequences for Israel’s actions in breach of international law, and at the expense of Palestinian human rights.”

Just this week, the Israeli government announced its decision to close its embassy in Dublin, citing Ireland’s decision to join the ICJ case considering whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Clearly, Israel is not prepared to maintain diplomatic relations with states that seek to uphold international law.

Those who have signed the letter are urging the New Zealand government to not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel until it is prepared to comply with international law.

“New Zealand should stand with those seeking to uphold international law and human rights, not with those seeking to avoid accountability for their actions which have resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 Palestinians.” said Kate Stone.

Open letter

16 December 2024

Tēnā koe Minister,

We are aware that the term of the current Israeli ambassador is coming to an end. We, the undersigned organisations, urge you, on behalf of the New Zealand government, to refuse to accept the credentials of a replacement ambassador while Israel continues to disregard international law.

The Israeli regime is currently committing a genocide in Gaza and the International Criminal Court has issued warrants for the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes. The International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion from July 2024 declared Israel’s occupation of Palestine illegal and identiﬁed numerous international law obligations that Israel is violating, manifesting in systematic breaches of Palestinians’ fundamental human rights.

The current Israeli regime, and any representative of that regime, is ﬂagrantly ﬂouting international law and has ignored all calls for it to cease its illegal activities in Gaza and the wider Occupied Palestinian Territories. It is quite clear that Israel intends to continue expanding its illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and to re-settle Gaza — changing the facts on the ground to such an extent that a two-state solution, or any just solution, becomes an impossibility.

The ICJ makes it clear that all states parties — including New Zealand – have obligations not to recognize, and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by measures that are illegal under international law. The failure of the international community to hold Israel to account for its actions is undermining the integrity of the rules-based international order that New Zealand relies upon.

While ordinarily a diplomatic mission provides an avenue for dialogue, it is clear that the Israeli regime is not prepared to respond to the concerns of the New Zealand government.

Therefore, we urge you to announce that New Zealand will not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel until it demonstrates that it is prepared to comply with its international obligations. Please do not accept diplomatic credentials from a regime carrying out war crimes.

Nā mātou noa, nā

Justice for Palestine

ActionStation

Alternative Jewish Voices (NZ)

Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine

Aotearoa Healthcare Workers for Palestine

Asians Supporting Tino Rangatiratanga

Auckland Action Against Poverty

Auckland Peace Action

The Basket Hauraki – Social and Environmental Justice

Ceaseﬁre Now Hawkes Bay

Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation

DECOL Collective Whanganui

Falastin Tea Collective

First Union – Dennis Maga, General Secretary, on behalf of First Union Kaiāwhina Tāmaki

Matika mō Paretinia

Mauri o te Moana

NZCTU – Te Kauae Kaimahi

Otago Staﬀ for Palestine

Otago Students for Justice in Palestine

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa Whanganui

Palestine Solidarity Network Whangārei

Palestine Solidarity Taranaki

Palestine Human Rights Campaign Waikato

Peace Action Wellington

Peace Movement Aotearoa

People Against Prisons Aotearoa

Professor Richard Jackson, Co-Director Te Ao O Rongomaraeroa – The National Centre for Peace and Conﬂict Studies, University of Otago

Protect Pūtiki

Rainbow Youth

Reanga Taketake

Satellites

Stand with Palestine Waiheke

Student Justice for Palestine Pōneke

Students for Justice in Palestine Canterbury

Tauranga Moana for Palestine

Te Kuaka

Te Tau Ihu Palestine Solidarity

University of Auckland Student Justice for Palestine

New poll shows NZ support for recognising Palestinian statehood, sanctioning Israel

APR editor — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 08:23:11 +0000

By Luka Forman, RNZ journalist

A new poll shows a significant number of New Zealanders support recognising Palestine as a state and applying sanctions against Israel.

Commissioned by advocacy group Justice for Palestine and conducted by Talbot-Mills, the poll found support for recognising Palestinian statehood and sanctions for Israel was higher among young people.

It also showed many people were not sure where they stood.

While Israel’s embassy questioned the neutrality of the poll, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said it was a matter of “when, not if” for Palestinian statehood — but the main priority for now was a ceasefire.

The poll found 40 percent of the 1116 people surveyed supported recognising Palestine as a state, while 19 percent did not.

Forty-two percent of the respondents supported sanctioning Israel, while 29 percent did not.

Laura Agel, a Palestinian-British woman and a member of Justice for Palestine — the group which commissioned the poll — said it sent a clear message to the government.

“I think that the government needs to respond to the needs of its citizens, and the wants of its citizens and sanction Israel fully. I think we can see that other countries, whether small or big have taken strong action against Israel,” she said.

Many respondents without opinion
Although the poll showed strong support for Palestine, many respondents did not give an opinion either way.

Forty-one percent were not sure whether New Zealand should recognise Palestine as a state, and 30 percent were not sure whether the government should sanction Israel.

Agel put this down to the issues New Zealanders were facing in their day-to-day lives, and a lack of knowledge.

“Issues such as the cost-of-living crisis, and I think it also shows that the Israel-Palestine issue is one that people don’t necessarily think they’re very informed about,” she said.

She also blamed the government and media for not showing the extent of what was happening in Gaza.

“What they’ve done to civilians and infrastructure in Gaza. What they’ve done bombing hospitals and schools since October 7th. But also within a context of decades-long oppression.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters . . . immediate focus should be on a ceasefire and the provision of aid in Gaza. Image: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone

Long-standing conflict
Israel and Hamas have been locked in a number of battles since 2008 — with people on both sides being killed.

The current 12 month bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israel followed a Hamas attack last October.

About 1139 people were killed and about 240 hostages were taken. Some were freed, some died and about 97 were still unaccounted for.

More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The military campaign also led to what the United Nations said was a “massive human rights crisis and a humanitarian disaster”.

Israeli embassy responds
Israel’s embassy in Wellington told RNZ Checkpoint in a statement that Israel was defending its citizens from Hamas, and the focus should remain on “dismantling terrorism” and releasing the remaining hostages.

It added that while polls could be informative, those commissioned by advocacy groups would not always provide a comprehensive or neutral view.

It said the poll’s respondents might not be familiar with the complex roots of the Middle East conflict and the positions of all parties involved, and a question should have been added to reflect that.

Marilyn Garson, co-founder of Alternative Jewish Voices of Aotearoa, said the poll’s result that 51 percent of New Zealanders under the age of 30 supported recognising Palestinian statehood reflected a growing movement of young people rejecting Zionism — the ideology that supported the creation of a Jewish state.

That was playing out in New Zealand and overseas, she said.

“An unprecedented number of Jews are taking part in demonstrations, joining organisations for justice — for dignified solutions. And they are disproportionately young people. I think that’s magnificent.”

Garson did not care whether the solution to the crisis involved two states or 12, she said, as long both Palestinian and Jewish people were involved in the process.

“I don’t care what the number of administrative entities is, I just want to know that two peoples sat down and made a dignified choice that represent their peoples. I’ll support any outcome.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs responds
In May this year, Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognised a Palestinian state — 146 of the 193 UN members (more than 75 percent) have now recognised Palestine as a sovereign state.

A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the government had supported the establishment of a Palestinian state for decades and it was a matter of “when not if”.

But asserting Palestinian statehood at this point would not alleviate the plight of the Palestinian people, he said. The immediate focus should be on a ceasefire and the provision of aid in Gaza.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Of the 193 UN member states, 146 recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. Graphic: The Palestine Project

Palestine solidarity group condemns ‘colonial violence’ in Rafah, Kanaky

APR editor — Wed, 29 May 2024 01:39:27 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

A New Zealand solidarity group for Palestine with a focus on settler colonialism has condemned the latest atrocities by the Israeli military in its attack on Rafah — in defiance of the International Court of Justice order last Friday to halt the assault — and also French brutality in Kanaky New Caledonia.

In its statement, Justice for Palestine (J4Pal) said that Monday had been “a day of unconscionable and unforgivable violence” against the people of Rafah.

As global condemnation over the attack on displaced Palestinians in a tent camp and the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting on the ground invasion, a new atrocity was reported yesterday.

Israeli forces shelled a tent camp in a designated “safe zone” west of Rafah and killed at least 21 people, including 13 women and girls, in the latest mass killing of Palestinian civilians.

“Gaza deserves better. Kanaky deserves better. Aotearoa deserves better. All our babies deserve better,” said the group.

“It is not our role to articulate what indigenous Kanak people are fighting for. Kanak people are the experts in their own lives and struggle, and they must be listened to on their own terms at this critical moment,” the statement said.

“Our work for Palestinian rights is, however, part of a larger struggle against settler-colonialism. It is our duty, honour and joy to make connections in this common struggle.

‘Dangerous ideologies’
“These connections begin right here in Aotearoa, where Māori never ceded sovereignty. As New Zealand’s current government, France and Israel all demonstrate, the dangerous ideologies of colonialism are not yet the footnotes in history we strive to make them.

“We recognise common injustices:

• The failure of media to place the current uprising in the context of 150 years of history of French violence in Kanak,
• The characterisation of Kanak activists as ‘terrorists’ all while a militarised foreign force represses them on their own land,
• The deliberate transfer of a settler population to disenfranchise indigenous people and their control over their own territory,
• A refusal to engage with the righteous aspirations of the Kanak people, and
•The lack of support from Western governments around these aspirations.”

Justice for Palestine said in its statement that it was its sincere belief that a world without colonialism was not only necessary, it was near.

“With thanks to the steadfastness of not only Kanak, Māori and Palestinian people, and indigenous people everywhere.

“The struggle of the Kanak people is an inspiration and reminder that while we may face the brute power of empire, we are many, and we are not going anywhere.”

Justice for Palestine is a human rights organisation working in Aotearoa to promote justice, peace and freedom for the Palestinian people.

It added: “Now is the hour for Te Tiriti justice, and liberation for both the Kanak and Palestinian people.”

1000 protest in Auckland over Israel’s war on Gaza, honour Nakba victims

APR editor — Sun, 12 May 2024 11:05:46 +0000

Asia Pacific Report

About 1000 people in Aotearoa New Zealand gathered for a two-hour rally in central Auckland today and marched down Queen Street and returned to Aotea Square to mark the Nakba three days early — and protest over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

They called for an immediate ceasefire in the war as the death toll passed more than 35,000 people killed — mostly women and children – and chanted “hands off Rafah” as the Israeli military intensified their attack on the southern part of the besieged enclave.

Israel’s Defence Force (IDF) also deployed tanks in northern Gaza months after claiming that they had “dismantled” the resistance force Hamas in the area.

For the past seven months, protesters have staged rallies across New Zealand every week at more than 25 different towns and locations and they have rarely been reported by the country’s news media.

Ironically, today was also marked as Mother’s Day and many protesters carried placards and banners mourning the mothers and children killed in the seven-month war, such as “Every 15 min a Palestinian child dies”, “Israel/USA, how many kids did you kill today”, “Decolonise your mind — stand with Palestine”, and “Stop the genocide”.

Some protesters carried photographs of named children killed in the war, honouring their short and tragic lives, such as 13-year-old Hala Abu Sada, who “had a passion for the arts – she made educational and entertaining videos for deaf children”.

“Hala dreamed of becoming a singer.”

The Nakba – ‘ethnic cleansing’
Every year on May 15, Palestinians around the world, numbering about 12.4 million, mark the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the near-total destruction of Palestinian society in 1948, reports Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian experience of dispossession and loss of a homeland is 76 years old this year.

“Happy Mothers’ Day” in New Zealand . . . but protesters mourn the loss of mothers and children as the death toll in Israel’s War on Gaza topped 35,000 on Nakba Day. Image: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report

On that day, the State of Israel came into being. The creation of Israel was a violent process that entailed the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland to establish a Jewish-majority state — the wishes of the Zionist movement.

The 1948 Nakba . . . more than 750,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homeland and become exiles in neighbouring states. Many dream of their UN-recognised right to return. Image: Wikipedia

Between 1947 and 1949, at least 750,000 Palestinians from a 1.9 million population were forced out of their homeland and made refugees beyond the borders of the state.

Zionist forces seized more than 78 percent of historic Palestine, ethnically cleansed and destroyed about 530 villages and cities, and killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres.

The current resolution does not give Palestinians full membership, but recognises them as qualified to join, and it gives Palestine more participation and some rights within the UNGA.

Thank you to the peoples of the world, nations, & majority of States who voted for Palestinian self-determination, for Palestinian existence & future. Thank you for standing for humanity, for the UN Charter, & for freedom & justice. Onwards, until 194th Member pic.twitter.com/H15egK4zwj

— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) May 10, 2024

Overwhelming UN vote backs Palestine
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has overwhelmingly voted to support a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably”.

Memberships can only be decided by the UN Security Council, and last month, the US vetoed a bid for full membership.

The current resolution does not give Palestinians full membership, but recognises them as qualified to join, and it gives Palestine more participation and some rights within the UNGA.

Voting yes for the resolution were 143 countries, including three UN Security Council permanent members, China, France and Russia and also Australia, New Zealand and Timor-Leste.

Nine countries voted against, with four Pacific nations, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Papua New Guinea among those joining Israel and the US.

Twenty five countries abstained, including UNSC permanent member United Kingdom and three Pacific countries, Fiji, Marshall Islands and Vanuatu.

“Look up Nakba” . . . and The Key to returning home to historical Palestine. Image: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report

Palestinian children singing at Aotea Square today . . . a speaker said their future was in “good hands with our young people”. Image: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report

Some of the pro-Palestinian protesters at Auckland’s Aotea Square today . . . the background banner says “IDF = Murder Machine”. Image: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report

John Minto: Kudos to Jane Campion for saying no to apartheid Israel’s Jerusalem Film Festival

Pacific Media Watch — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 08:09:48 +0000

By John Minto

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) congratulates New Zealand film director Jane Campion over her request for her 1989 debut film Sweetie to be withdrawn from apartheid Israel’s Jerusalem Film Festival.

The announcement was made by Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) late last night.

We are delighted to have an esteemed New Zealand director join at least four other international film directors — from the Basque region in Spain, United Kingdom and the United States — in requesting their films be withdrawn from the festival which is partnered with the Israeli Ministry of Culture.

This is a moment of pride for Aotearoa New Zealand — similar to the pride felt when New Zealand entertainer Lorde cancelled a scheduled concert in Israel in 2018.

A Sweetie film poster. Image: Madman Pictures

At a time when Palestinians are suffering immeasurably under the most fanatical, openly racist Israeli government ever, this solidarity action will be deeply appreciated by Palestinians everywhere.

These film directors are taking action where governments — New Zealand included — have failed morally and politically, again and again and again to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people.

This is similar to the fight against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s when it was civil society organisations around the world, and in New Zealand, which led the anti-apartheid struggle outside South Africa while Western governments either colluded with the regime or looked the other way.

John Minto is national chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa.

The Sweetie trailer.

John Minto: NZ joining IHRA a weak, cowardly decision over Israel

APR editor — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 18:43:46 +0000

COMMENTARY: By John Minto

The Aotearoa New Zealand government decision to take on observer status at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is a step backwards in the fight against anti-semitism and the struggle for Palestinian human rights.

The IHRA is a partisan, political organisation working hard to deflect criticism of Israel’s racist policies towards Palestinians with false smears of anti-semitism.

For example the IHRA has adopted its own definition of anti-semitism which claims calling Israel an apartheid state (as every major international human rights group such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch does) or calling for sanctions against Israel is anti-semitic.

The New Zealand Jewish Council and the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand have already adopted this bogus IHRA definition which they used in a so-called “survey of anti-semitism” earlier this year to make the absurd claims that describing Israel as an apartheid state or calling for sanctions against Israel were anti-semitic.

Palestinian civil society organisations called for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) in 2005 to build international pressure to require Israel to abide by international law and United Nations resolutions.

BDS was an important part of the fight against apartheid in South Africa and is also an important strategy in the fight against apartheid in Israel.

The three aims of BDS are to end Israel’s military occupation, end its apartheid policies towards Palestinians and allow Palestinian refugees to return to the land and homes from which they were ethnically cleansed by Israel in 1948.

This legitimate and successful BDS strategy is fiercely opposed by Israel which is weaponising the Holocaust against Palestinian demands for human rights.

Needless to say, Palestinians had no role in the Holocaust whose cause was European anti-semitism.

By joining the IHRA, Aotearoa New Zealand is undermining the fight against anti-semitism and racism of all kinds.

The government has caved in to relentless bullying and threats of false smears of anti-semitism from the pro-Israel lobby.

Joining the IHRA is a weak, cowardly decision.

Aotearoa New Zealand should adopt the Jerusalem Declaration on Anti-Semitism and insist on Holocaust education in every school in the country as part of a comprehensive anti-racism education programme.

John Minto is a political activist and commentator, and spokesperson for Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa. This article was first published by The Daily Blog and is republished with the author’s permission.

Memo MFAT, media and Mayor Foster, time to outgrow your Jewish stereotypes

APR editor — Wed, 18 May 2022 08:05:48 +0000

COMMENTARY: Sh’ma Koleinu – Alternative Jewish Voices

When Marilyn Garson’s memoir of working in Gaza was published, Radio NZ scheduled an interview. On the day of the interview, RNZ first promoted and then cancelled it. In response to her OIA request, RNZ disclosed this internal email:

The RNZ quote about a 2019 Gaza interview … bookended “balance” the Israeli way. Image: Marilyn Garson

It reads in full, “Hi guys, given the huge flood of formal complaints we get any time we do a Palestine story without Israeli balance, [e]ither we have to drop it or set up another interview — which you would have to mention before and after tonights one.”

We hear about Israel casually, without always hearing from Palestine before and after. But we are not allowed to hear a first-person story of Gaza unless it is bookended by something, anything, from Israel. That’s not journalistic balance, that’s a one-way concession to the possible inconvenience of complaint.

On Sunday, May 15, Nakba Day, Wellington Mayor Andy Foster was advised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to disallow an already-approved display of Palestinian colours on a public building.

Although the same building had recently displayed Ukrainian colours without evident concern for the Russian ambassador’s feelings, MFAT advised that “displaying the Palestinian colours could result in complaints from the Israeli ambassador and other Israeli groups.” The Mayor shut it down — leaving Justice for Palestine to get the job done on the following evening.

Again, Palestinian expression was forbidden because someone might complain. Forget the validity of the complaints – there were none to evaluate. The mere prospect of Palestinian stories or the display of a Palestinian flag was problematised in advance.

When the right to be Palestinian in public is made contingent, policy has become racially intolerant. We share this space and we are prevented from enjoying it equally. That makes the suppression of Palestine everyone’s issue.

MFAT’s advice angers us as Jews
MFAT’s advice is further inappropriate in ways that anger us as Jews. A government ministry issued advice that “displaying the Palestinian colours could result in complaints from the Israeli ambassador and other Israeli groups.”

The Israeli ambassador is a guest in Aotearoa, whose presence ought not to drive our municipal policy. Given the frequency with which his government is characterised as apartheid, and given the exceptional brutality it has displayed in the past week, he might benefit from seeing the healthy exercise of pluralist public expression.

See our joint open letter to the Prime Minister on the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh and the desecration of her funeral procession by Israeli police.

And exactly who are these “other Israeli groups” whose sensitivities preempt citizens’ peaceful public expression? Is Mossad operating here again? Or does a ministry of our own government truly not know the difference between the Jewish community of New Zealand and an Israeli interest group — can that possibly be??

MFAT, RNZ, Mayor Foster; we are Aotearoa Jews and you need to outgrow your stereotypes of our community.

Members of Aotearoa’s Jewish community express our identities in many ways. Some Jews place a nationalist project called Israel at the centre of their identity.

We and other Jews who love justice oppose the apartheid that Israel enacts in our names. We sharply distinguish it from our Jewish identity and we accept a responsibility to pursue justice and peace for all who live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

We hold equal citizenship
You do not aid Aotearoa’s Jews by marginalising our Palestinian neighbours. Do not prevent us from sharing our city and our airwaves by perpetuating such a zero/sum model of belonging. We hold equal citizenship and we enjoy equal rights to public space and expression.

We are members of a pluralist community that needs to unite against exclusion or racism in all of its forms.

Our support of Palestinian expression is pro-democratic, not anti-anyone. We uphold Palestinian rights as we expect others to stand with us when we need them.

Our safety lies in the mutual respect we build with our neighbours. That is a necessity, not a nicety. We live together in a dangerous time and we are each others’ best hope.

Alternative Jewish Voices. Republished with permission.