8 Paenga-whāwhā 2026
8 April 2026

Newsletter No 235

Items in this newsletter

New Items

Nationwide rallies/marches/vigils this week
PSNA National Hui in Rotorua – Friday May 1 to Sunday May 3
Holocaust education yes, but the Palestinian genocide must be included
Something you can do now with just a few clicks…
Peters urged to put Palestine at the top of agenda with the US
Government clarifies “move-on” orders
Winston Peters virtue signals
Yasmine Serhan to contest Glendene for the Green Party
Remembering Terry Bell
“Put your soul on your hand and walk”
Update from Hind Rajab Foundation
Israeli settler attacks in Occupied West Bank
Fundraising raffle
Important stories this week

Nationwide rallies/marches/MP protests/vigils this week

To view events around Aotearoa:

We have an events page on our website as well as a Facebook events page

PSNA Website events page:

You can find it here – www.PSNA.nz/Events

The QR code for the PSNA website events page is this:

It is updated on Wednesday afternoon and ongoing as events are notified to us. Please check back on Friday afternoon to see if there has been Additions or Changes.

Or go to the PSNA Homepage – www.PSNA.nz. Scroll down to the button “For a list of events Nationwide, please click here - Check back often for updates”. Click the button. Check back on Friday for any moves, adds or changes

PSNA Facebook events page

Go to the PSNA Facebook events page here

There are more than 30 events around the Motu this week.

PSNA National meeting in Rotorua

– 5pm Friday May 1 to 1pm Sunday May 3, 2026 –

PSNA are holding our National Hui in Rotorua on Friday 1st of May to Sunday 3rd of May. The venue is a marae where most people will be able to stay with any extra accommodation provided in cabins or billeting with locals. Alternatively you may like to make your own accommodation arrangements.

PSNA will be covering the cost of meals and accommodation and we’d like you to register with Anne secretary@psna.nz as soon as possible to help with planning.

We imagine most people coming from the South Island and lower North Island will need to fly and others will come by car. Either way if you need help with a travel subsidy please let Anne know.

If you are flying we advise to BOOK NOW to get reasonably priced airfares.

Please note there will be a Mihi Whakatau (welcome) late on Friday afternoon so please try to arrive by 5pm on the Friday.

This national will be a critically important event for people from around the country to come together to build the campaign to isolate genocidal, apartheid Israel and build the campaign for Palestinian liberation.

We are fighting the most important human rights issue of the 21st century and we need your help to shape, plan and organize for the future.

Holocaust education yes, but the Palestinian genocide must be included

The government is consulting on a new draft Social Studies curriculum which for the first time makes Holocaust education compulsory in New Zealand schools.

The curriculum can be read here

PSNA supports including Holocaust education in the compulsory curriculum but it must be seen in the broader context of genocide, crimes against humanity and international law.

Six million Jews were killed by Germany’s Nazi regime in the 1930s and 1940s along with six million others who did not fit the Nazi view of European racial purity. All these 12 million people must have their memories honoured along with the numerous other more recent genocides such as those of Rwanda, Rohinga and Sudan genocides.

And most importantly, the current, on-going genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel.

Just as the Nazi Holocaust was the defining human rights issue of the 20th century, Palestine is the defining human rights issue for the 21st century. Any credible curriculum must include all these as examples of “the crime of crimes” – genocide.

It is simply not appropriate for the curriculum to centre genocide of Europeans while bypassing the numerous genocides of people of colour throughout colonial history and up to the present day.

The New Zealand curriculum needs to put the message of “never again” from the Nazis Holocaust to the test in the modern world where “never again” is being ignored and genocide normalised by European powers.

Of clear concern to PSNA is the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand, which is lobbying hard for Holocaust education in the curriculum while refusing to condemn Israel’s genocidal rhetoric or the mass killing and mass starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. The Holocaust Centre is part-funded by the Israeli Embassy and hard-pressed teachers will likely use “exclusive” material from the Centre in their social studies classes.

We need to broaden the scope of what is taught.

Something you can do now with just a few clicks…

Note the deadline for submissions is 24 April 2026.

Send the following message to nationalcurriculum.refresh@education.govt.nz

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Kia ora,

Genocide education must examine “never again” in the present day

I support including Holocaust education in the compulsory social studies curriculum but for its message to have meaning for our students, it must be seen in the broader context of genocide, crimes against humanity and international law.

Six million Jews were killed by Germany’s Nazi regime in the 1930s and 1940s along with six million others who did not fit the Nazi view of European racial purity. All these 12 million people must have their memories honoured along with the numerous other more recent genocides such as those of Rwanda, Rohinga and Sudanese people.

And most importantly, students must understand the current, on-going genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel.

Just as the Nazi Holocaust was the defining human rights issue of the 20th century, Palestine is the defining human rights issue for the 21st century. Any credible curriculum must include Palestine and the other modern-day examples of “the crime of crimes” – genocide.

It is simply not appropriate for the curriculum to centre genocide of Europeans while bypassing the numerous genocides of people of colour throughout colonial history and up to the present day. People of colour have been, and are currently, the vast majority of the victims of genocide. Our students must learn this.

The New Zealand curriculum needs to put the message of “never again” from the Nazis Holocaust to the test in the modern world where “never again” is being ignored and genocide normalised by European powers.

(your name)

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You can send this email by clicking here.

Please remember of fill in your name.

And, please consider BCC'ing your email to Admin@PSNA.nz so we can track how many emails were sent.

Peters urged to put Palestine at the top of agenda with the US

PSNA media release: 6 April 2026
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa has just written to Foreign Minister Winston Peters, urging him to put Palestine front and centre in his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington this week.

“The escalating international crisis, which all stems from resistance to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, must be reined in, and pressure from New Zealand should be part of this” says PSNA Co-Chair Maher Nazzal.

“The US will want to recruit New Zealand into the US and Israel war on Iran, and try to get Peters to offer something crazy, like dispatching the New Zealand frigates Te Kaha and Te Mana to help force the Straits of Hormuz.”

‘But the open wound of Palestine remains the single greatest threat to peace and stability across the entire world.”

“We are urging Peters to press the US to demand equal rights for everyone living ‘between the river and the sea’”, says Nazzal.

“This means confronting the apartheid state of Israel head-on. The world can no longer tolerate a genocidal and racist state in West Asia, which is armed to the teeth by the US and hell-bent on attacking its neighbours to capture territory.”

“Israel continues to stoke the flames of hatred and eternal war by last week passing legislation to execute Palestinians convicted of what Israel calls ‘terrorism’.”

“This racist apartheid law does not apply to Jewish Israeli settlers who are killing Palestinians daily. It exclusively applies in the Military Courts, which are only used to try Palestinians. They have a conviction rate of over 96 percent.”

“Racist Israeli ministers and Knesset members celebrated the inflammatory racist law with champagne. There was barely a peep from Peters.”

“New Zealand has played an important role in helping resolve international conflicts in the past - we can be part of the solution now.”

Government clarifies “move-on” orders

Winston Peters virtue signals

Yasmine Serhan to contest Glendene for the Green Party

More details on Yasmine are here

Remembering Terry Bell

Terry Bell was a true internationalist who was active in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa as well as in the UK and New Zealand. He returned to South Africa and remained a strong critic of the ANC’s failure to transform the South African economy post liberation.

Throughout his life he was a strong supporter of the Palestinian struggle. A fuller account of his political work is here

“Put your soul on your hand and walk”

Details of screenings around the country are here

Update from Hind Rajab Foundation

Details and updates from the Hind Rajab Foundation are here

Israeli settler attacks in Occupied West Bank

A good resource for letter-writing to local papers etc

Fundraising Raffle – Flightless in Gaza

Important stories this week

Editor’s picks

Israel passes extreme death penalty law targeting only Palestinians here
Deafening silence about the Israeli Dimona nuclear double standard here
How the US, Israel and Iran are controlling their media narratives here
Jonathan Cook: Does the tail wag the dog? How both sides are missing the bigger picture here
‘Torture and genocide’ – UN expert Francesca Albanese denounces Israeli abuse of Palestinians here
VIDEO: Israeli settler violence in West Bank worse after war with Iran here
Settlers driving Christians out of Occupied West Bank here

Regular items

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Join the ICC Six Watch

Share the poster on social media – keep alert – email ICC6@PSNA.nz if you find where any of these six genocide deniers are due to show up.

Keep spreading the message about the Genocide Hotline!

Remember possible action for local groups

For groups affiliated to PSNA we suggest the following actions could be taken at any time in support of this campaign

Asking your local backpacker accommodation to display the poster and draw it to the attention of any Israeli soldiers here on “rest and recreation” from the genocide.
Pasting the hotline poster (use the version in this newsletter which includes a contact email) around the vicinity of backpacker venues in your local area. This is already happening in some areas.
Hand out flyers to people in the vicinity of your local backpackers
Contact us on the hotline if you come across Israeli soldiers

Merchandise for sale - please check with your local branch and/or contact us Merchandise@PSNA.nz

**Recent new material – leaflets and stickers are free the bucket hats and caps are $25**

If your local branch does not have what you are after we are ready to mail to you any of our t-shirts, long ($35) and short ($30) sleeved, hoodies ($45) bumper stickers ($3), Tino/Palestine pins ($3) flags large & medium ($10 or $7) and other items plus postage.

The watermelon and the fist stickers will be back in stock early next week.

See more on the PSNA website here.

Reminder: Annual Dates for Palestine Solidarity

28 Mar – 4 Apr Israel Apartheid Week

30 Mar Land Day Palestine

5 Apr Palestinian Childs Day

9 Apr Deir Yassin massacre - Irgun Terrorism - 107-120 Palestinian men, women and children massacred

17 Apr Palestinian Prisoners Day

11 May World Kufiya Day

15 May Nakba Day – marking the mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Palestine in 1948

5 Jun Nakba Day - Start of 1967 War - Land Grab – Invasion of Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza, Egypt and Syria - 5 June 1967 – 10 June 1967

20 Jun Attack on Gaza - 6–21 May 2021 (2 weeks and 1 day)

16-18 Sep 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres

28 Sep Second Intifada - 28 Sept 2000 – 8 Feb 2005

2 Nov Balfour Declaration

29 Nov United Nations - International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

8 Dec "First Intifada - 8 Dec 1987 – 13 Sept 1993

Are you able to donate a cup of coffee a month to the campaign?

We will need some serious money to make our campaign as effective as possible. For example, we will need somewhere in the vicinity of $25,000 to bring speakers to New Zealand over the next year and organise large public meetings to help spread the message.

You can help. Are you able to donate a cup of coffee a month to the campaign? In other words, can you afford to make an automatic payment of $5 per month to support the Palestinian struggle? (If you can afford more that would be great!)

Our account details are:

Account name: Palestine Solidarity Network
Account number: 38-9015-0849542-00

We are happy to provide a receipt upon request (however, we are not a registered charity so this is not tax-deductible)

Nationwide Rally list

To view events around Aotearoa:

Go to the PSNA Homepage – www.PSNA.nz. Scroll down to the button “For a list of events Nationwide, please click here - Check back often for updates”. Click the button. Check back on Friday for any moves, adds or changes
Or events are on the PSNA Facebook events page here
Or Scroll down to the bottom of this Newsletter for the detailed list of events for this week.
We have added a page to the PSNA website where we now post the Events list. You can find it here – www.PSNA.nz/Events

The QR code for this is:

It is updated on Wednesday afternoon and ongoing as events are notified to us. Please check back on Friday afternoon to see if there has been Additions or Changes.

More ways you can get involved

Forward this Newsletter – If you know people who may be interested in this movement, please forward this Newsletter to them.
Join in local activities in your area - Contact Secretary@PSNA.nz if you would like to know where and how to get Flags and Banners
Help set up a Students for Justice in Palestine groups on your campus
Tell Your MP your opinions on Divestment and Sanctions of Israel.
Write Letters to Newspapers – Call Talkback Radio
Keep in touch with the campaign on social media

o NZ Palestine Solidarity Network website: https://www.PSNA.nz

o NZ Palestine Solidarity Network Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/671376706283605/

o NZ Palestine Solidarity Network email: Secretary@PSNA.nz

The Palestine Human Rights Campaign produces the In Occupied Palestine newsletter. It is a regular daily newsletter on the daily situation in Palestine, compiled by Leslie Bravery and emailed to subscribers. If you would also like to become a subscriber, please contact Leslie at “lesliebravery @ icloud .com” (remove the spaces to use as an email address) for further information.
Keep Updated on our Facebook pages and websites (listed below)
Human rights for Uyghur refugees - In line with our support for human rights for the people of Palestine we have added our name to the petition in support of human rights for Uyghur refugees so they can be included in the government’s refugee quota. PSNA members who wish to also sign this petition can do so here - https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/open-letter-let-s-show-compassion-to-the-uyghur-community