Christchurch City becomes the first New Zealand city to sanction Israel
This morning Christchurch City became the first city in New Zealand to sanction Israel after passing a resolution to amend its procurement policy to exclude companies building and maintaining illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.
“We are delighted the council has taken a stand against Israel’s ongoing theft of Palestinian land”, says PSNA National Chair John Minto.
“It has been the failure of western governments to hold Israel to account which means Israel has a 76-year history of oppression and brutal abuse of Palestinians.”
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As the 12-month anniversary of the October 7th attack on Israel approaches, PSNA is appealing to New Zealand mainstream media to stop reporting Israeli war propaganda when it has already been comprehensively debunked.
For example, on TVNZ News tonight, 4 October, the presenter told us that in the October 7th attack “Hamas gunmen killed around 1200 people - mostly civilians”. This is repeating Israeli war propaganda. Even ABC News in Australia has reported on this debunked lie but a full year on TVNZ is happy to keep telling us porkies.
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New Zealand must immediately withdraw from the 2024 US-led RIMPAC military exercises due to take place from June 26th to August 2nd around Hawaii.
Israel is listed as a participating country.
“We are calling on our government to withdraw from the exercise because of Israel’s ongoing industrial-scale slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza” says PSNA National Chair John Minto. “Why would we want to join with a lawless, rogue state which has demonstrated the complete suite of war crimes over the past eight months”
“It’s hard to believe the government hasn’t withdrawn already”.
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31 events across 26 centres across the country this week continue to challenge the government’s weak, “look busy” approach to the eight-month genocide of Palestinians by the settler-colonial state of apartheid Israel.
Links to the events are below. In many cases Palestine solidarity protests are being run in conjunction with environmental activists protesting the fast-track bill.
76 years of massacres, ethnic cleansing, casualised and normalised brutality against the Palestinian people has led to our government excusing the colonial oppressor of Israel while condemning the victims of that oppression, the Palestinians. The government prefers to stand with a racist apartheid state rather than its victims.
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PSNA welcomes the government decision to continue funding UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians) but we are deeply disappointed the funding will remain unchanged from previous years despite the massive increase in need from Israel’s war on Gaza.
UNRWA is by far the most important and effective organisation as delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
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PSNA is renewing its call for the government to suspend exports of Rakon parts to the US defence industry following yesterday’s Israeli strike on a United Nations School in Gaza which killed at least 14 children and nine women.
The school housed thousands of Palestinian families fleeing Israel’s war on Gaza.
Rakon makes crystal oscillators used in the guidance systems of smart bombs. Their 2005 business plan says the company’s objective was to dominate "the lucrative and expanding guided munitions and military positioning market" within five years.
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Shame on you both.
Israel is conducting genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza and you haven’t opened your mouths demanding it end. Over 8,000 civilians now dead with more than 3,000 children killed but not a single word from either of you to hold Israel to account. This is contemptable.
"More than two million people, with nowhere safe to go, are being denied the essentials for life - food, water, shelter and medical care - while being subjected to relentless bombardment.” United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Muttering meaningless comments about respect for international law is a copout when you won’t call out Israeli war crimes. As the UN Secretary General said “This didn’t happen in a vacuum”. Silence in the face of genocide is complicity.
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On his appearance on breakfast television this morning Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has sided with Israeli guns over Palestinian children.
(Last week Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein said “we should side with the child over the gun every single time, no matter whose gun and no matter whose child”)
In his appearance Hipkins once again condemned the killing of Israeli civilians on October 7th.
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