30 Mahuru 2026
30 September 2026

Five steps for Palestinian solidarity this week

1) Share the details of your local October 10 protest on all your social media pages. You can find the details here and they also appear on the PSNA events page here

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2 Click here to send this short message to all current MPs.

To: All current MPs

Kia ora koutou,

Which of you will condemn Israel’s cruelty and depravity against Palestinians as more than 140,000 tarpaulins and 7,500 tents meant to provide shelter for the winter for homeless Palestinians sit blocked in the Jordan corridor?

Will you speak out to condemn Israel’s withholding humanitarian aid in Gaza and it’s ongoing ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank?

Please let me know urgently.

(Your name)

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3 Click here to send this letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters. PLEASE CLICK AND SEND 50 TIMES (or more if you like) SO THE MINISTERS GET THE MESSAGE!

Mr Christopher Luxon
Prime Minister
c.luxon@ministers.govt.nz

Mr Winston Peters
Foreign Minister
w.peters@ministers.govt.nz

Kia ora Mr Luxon and Mr Peters,

A challenge to avoid 100 days of silence – you are on 99 now so act today

It’s 99 days since the release the United Nations Independent Commission report on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel which details Israel’s calculated killing and maiming of Palestinian children. It’s been 99 days of unforgivable silence from both of you.

Surely 100 days of silence is too much even for the two of you!

I assume neither of you want to be regarded as cowardly vassals of a genocidal, apartheid state. The challenge therefore is to stand up for New Zealand values on the international stage and condemn the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank.

Just a single day left - please respond urgently.

(your name)

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If you want to, please edit the messages above to better reflect Your thoughts. Or if you are happy with them, please just send them as they are.

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4 Go to the PSNA website at www.psna.nz, click on the social media link and spend five minutes liking, sharing and following our social media accounts.

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5 Cheer yourself up by watching this post here (look out for the red puppet!)

Items in this newsletter

Nationwide rallies/marches/flagwavings this week
Where do our political parties stand on sanctions against Israel
Free Palestine Party update
Pedal for Palestine – October 18
Bake sale for Palestine in Wellington
Hind Rajab files criminal complaint against Israeli soldier
Māori Identity Is Not a Political Access Pass
Fight police harassment of Palestine supporters
Follow the apartheid money – J4P’s new campaign
Important stories this week

Films, books, performances, Palestinian culture

NAZA, an expose on Israel’s use of AI systems in Gaza gets lengthy standing ovation in Venice

Regular items

“Sitting on the Fence” documentary now available for general release
Your KiwiSaver may be funding violations of Palestinian rights
Join the ICC Six watch
MPs Complicit with Genocide
Keep spreading the message about the Genocide Hotline!
Annual Palestinian Solidarity Dates
How to Donate
Palestine Solidarity Groups around Aotearoa

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 "Events" image on the banner line. 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.

At this stage of the election campaign where do our main political parties stand on sanctions for Israel?

ACT: No sanctions. Has the most outspoken MPs in support of Israel.

Green Party: Introduced Sanction Israel Bill, based in sanctions against Russia. Promises ‘recognition of Palestine and sanctions against Israel’. “It is time to sanction Israel and it is time to expel the Israeli ambassador” - Ricardo Menéndez March

Labour: Supports the Greens’ Bill. States it will end procurement and investment in companies on UN Human Rights Council list, which profit from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

National: Bans immigration of some West Bank settlers and two ministers – specifically not ‘the government of Israel’. No action at all on the Gaza genocide. Deteriorating voting record in the UN.

New Zealand First: Leader holds post of Foreign Minister. No sanctions on Israel. Welcomes Israeli soldiers and visitors.

Te Pāti Māori: Comprehensive sanctions on Israel and expel the US Ambassador too. ‘Stands unequivocally with the people of Palestine’.

TOP: Supports ‘two-state solution’ but no sanctions policy.

If they won’t sanction Israel – don’t give them your vote!

Free Palestine Party Update

Free Palestine Party Update

Kia ora,

Sorry for the delay in communication. We have been busy working behind the scenes

We have got our $82 000 dollars of broadcasting allowance campaign planned and booked in. Many thanks go to Don Carson for leading the work on this. You will see and hear our ads on TV and radio leading into the elections

Our election strategy is one based on making Palestine a central issue of the election. We want to build and use the power of the Palestine solidarity movement in Aotearoa to force whoever the next government is to take action against Israel.

It is we, the people of the solidarity movement, who will make our campaign a success. Below are the ways you can get involved.

Leaflets
We have produced a leaflet that lays out our principles, demands, actions and where the main parties stand on Palestine. We need to get this leaflet into the hands and homes of as many people as we can. If you are an individual or a member of a solidarity group, please contact the email below with your address and the number you think you can distribute. Email secretary@palfree.nz

Social Media
We have set up an Instagram account for the party: “fppaotearoa”. We need content for this account. Any members who would like to produce a short video, 1 minute or less, on why they support Palestine would be great. Any footage of protest actions, confronting our complicit politicians during this election campaign, etc can be sent to the address below. If there are any members out there who would like to help with our Instagram or social media, please contact us through email or DM the Instagram account.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QX4DMDME6GtXn0jbs7JlEnE74WPGmjp5

Actions/Protests
This is an activist-driven campaign, and we need to let all the mainstream politicians and political parties hear our message and know the power of our solidarity movement. With the help of the solidarity movement throughout the country, we aim to make sure that no election meeting, politicians' PR exercise or meet-and-greet, etc., occurs without them being confronted by the issue of Palestine. Please get to your local election meetings and ask the candidates from ALL parties the hard questions about complicity with genocide.

We need to make sure around the country that the 10th October international day of protest is huge. Please support and help build your local protest on October 10. Here in Christchurch, we are also making it the date of the official launch of the Free Palestine Party election campaign

It would be a good time to have the election leaflets to hand out - remember, just email secretary@palfree.nz to get leaflets.

List members
We would be interested in hearing from anyone who would like to be on our party list or perhaps a constituent candidate. If you are employed by the government, you would have to take leave without pay for the duration of the election campaign. If you are interested, you need to let us know asap. Please send an email to secretary@psna.nz or to myself staffranga@gmail.com

Donations
If you can afford to give us any donations towards our campaign expenses, that would be much appreciated. The $82 000 of broadcasting allowance can only be spent on TV, radio and some social media. We have costs we have to meet as part of us being a registered political party, such as paying for an audit. So we have few funds to spend on printing and other forms of campaigning. Any contributions you can afford to make will be put to good use. Please find the party bank account on our website:https://palfree.nz/

Please email us to let us know any other ideas or help you can offer for the campaign.

We the people have the power to stop our government and New Zealand companies from being complicit in the holocaust of the people of Palestine.

Resistance until victory
Paul Hopkinson
President
Free Palestine Party

Pedal for Palestine – October 18

PSNA is supporting a national “Pedaling for Palestine” event on Sunday October 18 to raise money for the Palestinian cycling team, the “Gaza Sunbirds”. It comes a week after the October 10 International Day of Solidarity with Palestine and could be advertised at these events. The poster for the Christchurch event is above.

The weather is improving and this event is a great way to keep Palestine before the public in the leadup to the election.

Any money raised locally (either through sponsorship, entry fees or donations) can be sent to PSNA national account with “Sunbirds” in the reference line and we will get it through to the Gaza club.

Bake sale for Palestine in Wellington

Hind Rajab files criminal complaint against Israeli soldier

Māori Identity Is Not a Political Access Pass: Why the Recent Delegation to Israel Demands Accountability

Pita Tipene, Chair of the Northland Regional Council, posted this picture with Gaza in the distance on his all-expenses-paid trip to Israel. Other Māori leaders turned it down but Tipene is happy to play the propaganda game for genocidal, apartheid Israel against the indigenous people of Palestine.

Here is piece from Raewyn Kapa from Tamaki Makaurau which calls out this “Māori delegation”:

The recent trip by a group of Māori individuals to Israel — publicly framed as a “Māori delegation” — has raised significant contention across Aotearoa and rightfully so.

At a time when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found Israel’s actions in Gaza plausibly constitute genocide, and the United Nations has determined Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory to be unlawful, the optics and implications of this visit is fundamentally flawed.

This was not a Māori delegation. It was a political act dressed in cultural clothing — and ALL New Zealanders deserve an explanation of why that matters.

The full article can be read here

Fight police harassment of Palestine supporters

This story from Ōtautahi/Christchurch will be on interest to everyone…

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Here is Ben and John’s submission to court:
This charge involves putting stickers on SodaStream products in the Noel Leeming shop on Moorhouse Ave.

The police information alleges no less than $10,321.60 in damage was done to Noel Leeming property and the police seek this amount in reparation.

Our concerns are these:

The police decision to lay a charge of wilful damage under the Crimes Act for alleged stickering means we have elected trial by jury. So we have allegations of anti-genocide stickers applied to products complicit in genocide and the police have weighed in with charges of wilful damage under the Crimes Act resulting in a trial by jury – a massive waste of the court’s time and resources.
The stickers could have been removed easily and quickly by the police or the staff at Noel Leeming at zero cost. But that’s clearly not the outcome the police wanted. The claim of $10,321.60 in damages seems a crude attempt to claw back the $10,000 police paid to John Minto after the Independent Police Conduct Authority found the police acted unlawfully when they pepper sprayed and arrested him two years ago.

It is not the role of the court to humour this police overreach and my requests to the court are these:

Request the police to withdraw the charge of wilful damage under the Crimes act and ask them to reconsider whether this situation warrants any intervention of the criminal law in the first place.
I request that the court propose to Noel Leeming that if they think there is $10,321.60 worth of damage to their property that they make a civil claim along these lines. It is not the role of the police to act as debt collectors for private businesses acting unethically and immorally.

Around the western world – in countries with deep histories of European colonialism and Eurocentrism alongside anti-Arab and Anti-Palestinian racism there is a widespread crackdown on protest in opposition to Israel’s apartheid, genocidal policies against Palestinians.

For example in Germany people have been arrested for chanting “Free Palestine”, in the UK people have been arrested for supporting civil disobedience to stop a genocide, in parts of Australia chanting “from the river to the sea” has been criminalised while Australia’s so-called anti-Semitism hearings (reminiscent of the McCarthyistic hearings in 1950s America) have largely ignored Jewish groups opposed to Israel’s genocide and have equated opposition to Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide – to anti-semitism.

Here in Aotearoa New Zealand this court case is the way we do things. A campaign of police harassment and legal bullying.

At home John Minto has a tyre which was slashed by someone coming on to his property recently – it follows spray painting on the footpath and other damage at his home. John registered this on the police 105 number but nothing has happened – the police just aren’t interested. They say they are too busy. But a person puts stickers on a genocidal product in a Noel Leeming store and the police magically appear in huge numbers.

Our request is for this court to bring some sanity to the fore here and act along the lines we have proposed.

Ben Vorderegger - Chair PSNA
John Minto – Campaign co-ordinator PSNA

Follow the apartheid money – J4P’s new campaign

Following their win in getting ASB to divest from Motorola last year Justice for Palestine’s next target is ASB – again targeting Motorola investments by the bank. You can sign their petition and support their campaign through their Instagram account. The post is here

To go straight to the petition on Action Station to sign it, click here.

Important stories this week

Editor’s picks

Invercargill Council becomes seventh NZ local body to ban illegal Israeli settlement goods here
Palestinians in Masafer Yatta are surviving without water after Israeli settlers cut off a lifeline here
Netanyahu fails to flip genocidal reality here
Netanyahu just incited genocide in his UN speech. Here’s what you missed here

Films, books, performances, Palestinian culture:

NAZA, an expose on Israel’s use of AI systems in Gaza gets lengthy standing ovation in Venice

Regular items

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“Sitting on the Fence” now available online

In Sitting On The Fence, Kiwi voices speaking truth to power in Aotearoa, US and Israel over their complicity in genocide have at last been given the platform that those in Parliament, the media and diplomacy have sought to silence.” Jane Kelsey - Emeritus Professor of Law, Auckland University, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Sitting On The Fence is now available to watch online in New Zealand.

The film can be viewed at this link www.sittingonthefence.tv. Please share on your social media networks.

And from Ilan Pappe…

**Ilan Pappe, Israeli historian / author, Professor at Exeter University UK**

When asked to comment on the kiwi film by Daniel Cleary well-known Israeli historian Ilan Pappe has high praise:

“Albert Einstein said that "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” This includes those politicians in New Zealand who sat on the fence, and still do, during the most televised genocide in our times. But Sitting On The Fence and some of the brave critics interviewed in it give us hope that complicity is not only exposed but can also be challenged. This film is a tribute to the few who did not remain silent and a harsh indictment of those who will be judged for being on the wrong side of the history of New Zealand and of Palestine. This is not just a film about complicity in New Zealand, but how the silence in New Zealand tragically epitomises that of the world”

You can watch the film here: www.sittingonthefence.tv

Your KiwiSaver may be funding violations of Palestinian rights

Important message from Barry Coates – founder and CEO of Mindful Money

(Website: mindfulmoney.nz. Join our mailing list here)

The judgement won by PSNA forcing the NZ Super Fund to review its investments in four companies that violate the rights of Palestinian people was important. It also sends a warning across the bow of KiwiSaver and other investment funds funds. You may not realise it, but your KiwiSaver might be invested in those four companies.

Mindful Money is a charity that tracks investment in KiwiSaver, including companies on the United Nations Human Rights Council database of companies involved in the building and maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Our analysis shows there is even more invested in the four companies by KiwiSaver funds than by the NZ Super Fund.

So what can you do? Check your fund – it is free, quick and easy to do so. Go to www.mindfulmoney.nz, type in the name of your KiwiSaver fund into the Fund Checker, click the button ‘Show Companies’ and look for the companies with an OPT symbol. If you see any of those companies in your fund, write to your fund manager (the address is on your KiwiSaver statement) and tell them you don’t want your savings going to those companies.

If you want to shift to a fund that doesn’t invest in those companies, use the Fund Finder to find a Mindful Ethical Fund. You can also use the same website for non-KiwiSaver managed funds.

It’s your money. Don’t let it be used to fund companies that violate human rights.

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