Largest ethnic cleansing of Palestinians since 1967 has begun – government urged to speak out!
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
5 January 2023
Media Release:
Largest ethnic cleansing of Palestinians since 1967 has begun – government urged to speak out!
PSNA has sent an urgent message to the Minister of Foreign Affairs today urging the government to speak out condemning the Israeli ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta which has begun NOW.
In August last year New Zealand representative to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Greg Lewis, spoke out supporting the Palestinians facing eviction from Masafer Yatta.
This helped stall the evictions but in the last two days the new extremist Israeli government has begun this ethnic cleansing.
The stories are here and here.
We have told Hon Nanaia Mahuta that speaking out TODAY can help stall this racist persecution of Palestinians and give practical support to Palestinians living under Israel’s brutal military occupation.
We want action now rather than an ineffectual statement after these imminent human rights abuses have taken place.
Nā,
John Minto
National Chair
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
0220850161
Chair@PSNA.NZ
www.PSNA.nz
Further background:
Expelling people from Masafer Yatta is Israel’s largest ethnic cleansing operation against Palestinians since 1967 – 1200 Palestinians from 12 villages.
This mass eviction of Palestinians has been described by United Nations human rights experts as a breach of international humanitarian and human rights law.
The pretext for the forced removal of these Palestinians, including 500 children, is that the Israeli military want to use the land for military training despite the vast areas of Israel which are virtually uninhabited after former ethnic cleansing operations. This is simply an excuse for this rapacious apartheid regime to intensify its marginalization and oppression of Palestinians.
UN human rights experts have appealed to the international community to act. That means us.
“The international community must not become complicit to this serious violation of international humanitarian and humanitarian laws by remaining silent: it must exert available diplomatic, political and economic measures prescribed by the UN Charter to bring Israeli violations to a halt,” said the experts.
If 1,200 Jews anywhere in the world were being forcibly removed from their land New Zealand would, quite rightly, speak out loudly in condemnation. We would describe it as anti-semitic and would take action to sanction those responsible.
The New Zealand government must do the same in the case of racist persecution of Palestinians as is taking place in Masafer Yatta.
John Minto
National Chair
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
New Zealand 0220850161
John Minto is also former National Organiser for HART (Halt All Racist Tours) which successfully campaigned to stop rugby contact between New Zealand and apartheid South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s.