PSNA Newsletter No 147 - July 31 2024
31 Hōngongoi 2024
31 July 2024
Newsletter No 147
Kia ora koutou,
Ceres Organics makes the right decision – a win for BDS
After a flurry of emails from PSNA supporters, organics firm Ceres Organics has decided to abandon importation of tahini from Israel.
As we reported last week Ceres was purchasing tahini from an illegal Israeli settlement on Palestinian land. Ceres initially defended the decision but in less than 24 hours pressure from the solidarity movement resulted in emails from Ceres to our supporters saying:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hi _____
Thank you for your email regarding the supply of tahini sourced from Israel. We no longer place orders with our Israeli supplier, and we are seeking sesame supply from alternative countries.
Kind regards
_______
We welcome the decision and in the “Take Action” section of the newsletter we are inviting supporters to sent a brief note of thanks to Ceres.
This is a small but significant victory for the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign.
Is your Kiwisaver working for you or for genocidal Israel?
You can check the investments in your Kiwisaver fund by going to the mindful money website. Mindful Money is tracking which Kiwisaver companies are backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. You can check your Kiwisaver provider and compare it to other providers by following the links on the Mindful Money website.
University staff take a stand on Unisaver
If you are a university worker, please sign this open letter to the directors of UniSaver (the superannuation scheme which most universities in Aotearoa participate in) calling on them to divest from entities that invest in and benefit from the illegal military occupation of Palestinian territories, as well as the genocidal war on Gaza. The open letter, written by Uni Workers for Palestine, outlines these financial ties and will be presented to UniSaver directors in the first week of August, so please sign and share widely with your networks by Monday 5 August. Please note, you don't need to be a member of the scheme to sign.
Mercury Energy in the spotlight
Rallies, marches, vigils and protests around the motu this weekend
Kerikeri poster for this week
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
There are more than 30 events around the Motu this week.
Events list
North Island
Opononi – Gathering for Palestine
Sunday 4 August
1:30 pm
Outside the Four Square, Opononi
Kerikeri - Rally
Saturday 3 August
9:00 am
Kerikeri roundabout, State highway 10
Whangarei – Rally
No Rally this weekend
Auckland Picket – MFAT
Friday 2 August
12:00 noon
MFAT - 139 Quay St, Auckland
Auckland – Banners around Tamaki Makaurau
Saturday 3 August
10:00 – 1:00 pm
At National AGM – Due Drops Event Center - 770 Great South Road, Manukau, Auckland
Text Steve for details (dependant on wind speeds)
Auckland – Rally and March
Sunday 4 August
2:00 pm
Te Komititanga – Britomart Square
Thames – Monthly Vigil (by The Basket – Social and Environmental Justice - Hauraki)
First Saturday of the month – Saturday 3 August
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Thames Market, 700 Pollen Street, Thames
Tauranga – Vigil
Sunday 4 August
11:00 am
Vigil outside Tauranga Hospital, Cameron Road
Hamilton – Rally
Saturday 3 August
1:00 pm
Civic Square, Hamilton
Cambridge Rally
Saturday 3 August
11:00 am
Cambridge Town Hall
Gisborne - Farmers Market
Every Saturday at the Farmers Market
Saturday 3 August
9:30 – 11:30 am
Gisborne Farmers Market
Rotorua - Rally
Thursday 1 July
4:00 pm
Rotorua Lakes Council, Haupapa Street (Sir Howard Morrison Corner)
Napier - Rally
Saturday 3 August
11:30 am
Marine Parade Soundshell Roundabout
Hastings – Rally
Sunday 4 August
1:00 pm
Hastings Town Clock – Hastings CBD
Palmerston North - Rally
Sunday 4 August
2:00 pm
The Square, Palmerston North
New Plymouth – Flags on the Bridge
Friday 2 August
4:30 pm
Paynters Ave Bridge
New Plymouth – Rally
Saturday 3 August
1:00 pm
The Landing, 1 Ariki Street, New Plymouth
Whanganui - Rally
Saturday 3 August
11:00 am
Riverside Market, Whanganui
Carterton - Vigil
Every Tuesday
12:00 midday
Memorial Square.
Martinborough – Gathering for Palestine
Every Wednesday
11:00 am
The square at the top of Kitchener St, Martinborough
Masterton - Vigil
Every Sunday
9:30 am
Town Hall Lawn
Featherston - Vigil
Every Saturday
11:00 am
The Squircle (opposite the op shop).
Wellington – Flags (by the Falastin Tea Collective)
Every Friday
7:15 – 8:15 am
Hill Street bridge Overbridge, Wellington
Wellington – Vigil for Palestine (by Aotearoa Healthcare Workers for Palestine)
Every Friday
6:00 pm
In front of Wellington Hospital
49 Riddiford Street, Newtown, Wellington
Wellington – Rally (by the Falastin Tea Collective)
Saturday 3 August
1:00 pm
Te Aro park across from The Opera House (changes weekly)
Please see Instagram account @falastin_tea_collective for updates.
South Island
Nelson – Rally
Saturday 3 August
10:30 am
1903 Square, Upper Trafalgar Street, Nelson
Blenheim - Rally
Saturday 3 August
11:00 am
Blenheim Railway Station
Christchurch – Rally
Saturday 3 August
1:00 pm
Bridge of Remembrance, Cashel Street, Christchurch
Timaru
No Rally this weekend
Dunedin - Rally
Saturday 3 August
1:00 pm
Otago Museum Reserve to the Octagon, Dunedin
Queenstown
No Rally this weekend
Invercargill - Rally
Sunday 4 August
1:00 pm
Wachner place Invercargill
Nationwide rallies and marches on August 10
Planning is well underway across the country for nationwide rallies and protests on Saturday 10 August with children as the theme.
Christchurch poster for 10 August “March for Children”
Four things you can do now with just a few clicks…
1) Share the poster/event details for the August 10 event in your area on your social media pages.
2) Copy and paste this email to the Prime Minister
Hon Christopher Luxon
Prime Minister
c.luxon@ministers.govt.nz
Kia ora Mr Luxon,
The recent decision of the International Court of Justice that Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are illegal demands immediate action from your government.
The ICJ found that "Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law"
The Court went on to say that the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and all states have an obligation not to recognise the occupation as legal and not to give “aid or assistance” to the occupation.
This has wide implications for New Zealand but the government’s immediate response should be to:
impose a ban on the importation of all products from illegal Israeli settlements and
direct our Superfund, ACC and Kiwisaver funds to divest from companies identified by the United Nations Human Rights Council as complicit in the building and maintenance of these settlements. The recently updated database is here in a pdf.
The ICJ ruling confirms what the United National Security Council found in passing resolution 2334 in 2016.
This resolution was co-sponsored by New Zealand under a National-led government.
The United Nations Security Council stated that, in the occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli settlements had “no legal validity” and constituted “a flagrant violation under international law”. It said they were a “major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace” in the Middle East.
Friday’s ICJ ruling reinforces the UN resolution and the need for government action.
New Zealand, which co-sponsored the UN resolution, should lead the way on putting this resolution into practice. We need to put our money where our mouth is – especially since the current far-right Israeli government has said its “top priority” is to push ahead with more illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land”
Please respond without unnecessary delay.
(your name)
3) Sign the open letter to the government organised by Educators for Palestine here (see more information elsewhere in the newsletter)
4) Copy and paste this letter to Ceres Organics into an email and send to hello@ceres.co.nz (see story elsewhere in this newsletter)
Dear Ceres
Thank you for your decision to abandon tahini imports from Israel.
We appreciate your quick and principled response.
Thank you,
(your name)
Health workers standing with Palestine
For many months now health workers in Wellington have been gathering in solidarity with Palestine – please forward the image above to family and friends in Wellington who may be able to join their vigil.
Man on the run!
PM Christopher Luxon’s security team rushes him out of law and order conference here
“Educators for Palestine”, seeking your help
We included this message in the previous newsletter but are including it again because it’s an important initiative:
“Educators for Palestine”, standing together for the right of young Palestinians to life and education, are asking for PSNA supporters and groups around the motu to not only sign this open letter but to promote it at rallies and events.
We are keen that at the nationwide events supporters are encouraged to ask the vast and varied kinds of educators in our whanau, communities and associated organisations to go on line and sign this Open Letter, as Educators are everywhere. (Below read more about Educators for Palestine along with the state of education under bombardment in Gaza which has been described as being ’scholastacide.’).
https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/educators-for-palestine
The open letter says:
We, the undersigned educators, call on the New Zealand government to:
Use diplomatic means to push for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to the 17-year blockade of Gaza.
Increase funding and support to agencies which run schools in Gaza, including but not limited to UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency), which runs 40% of Gaza’s schools.
Condemn the deliberate and targeted bombing of schools and education infrastructure in Gaza as an attack on Palestinian children and society.
Quit Obela Hummus in August – getting ready
Get ready for Obela action in August:
August is the month to drive Obela food products off the shelves of supermarkets in Aotearoa.
Obela is Israel’s second largest food company. It is proud of supporting the Israeli military. The company describes itself as ‘born of a Zionist Vision’ and ‘having ‘roots imbedded in the founding of the State of Israel.’
In practice, this meant the Obela food chain was established on land stolen from Palestinians when they were expelled from Palestine in 1948.
Obela processes food in Australia, in particular hummus, and sells it in our supermarkets.
The international Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment campaign has long had Obela on its list of Israeli connected products to avoid, to bring economic and social pressure on Israel to allow Palestinian rights and comply with international law.
We urgently need to increase the pressure on Israeli investments in Aotearoa – commercial, cultural, academic and government.
Its time to gear up the campaign. Our government is silent in its indifference to rules based international law.
Instead of just avoiding buying Obela, we can make sure our supermarkets stop selling it. They will, but only if there is enough protest action in enough supermarkets, around the country, and often enough.
How you go about achieving this, is up to you. But any action which makes it not worthwhile for a supermarket to continue to sell Obela, is an action in support of Palestine’s struggle for freedom.
Swim with Gaza – August 24th/25th
Yes we know it’s winter BUT….
Last year several PSNA groups joined the Swin with Gaza (in their summer – our winter!) We received this message last week to say:
We hope you can join us in this year’s Swim With Gaza.
We had a very successful Swim last year in over 40 location around the world, but this year could not be more different in Gaza.
We debated whether we should go ahead with this year’s swim. We were moved by the fact that even in these darkest of times, people in Gaza are finding joy any which way they can – dancing, singing, playing music and more.
Our Swim With Gaza this year is to keep faith with the people of Gaza, that things can and will get better and we are with them in good and bad times.
Would you be able to organise a swim in your area?
Have a look here and leave your details if you would like to join this year’s Swim With Gaza.
Paul O’Brien
Swim With Gaza
An appeal for letter-writers
Calling all or any letter to editor writers!
There are many issues coming up in our media which deserve a response – particularly when mainstream media reporting in New Zealand is deeply Euro-centric – and we are inviting interested supporters to join in a group to share experiences and encourage more responses from the solidarity movement to the often appalling reporting of the Israeli war on Gaza and its occupation in Palestine.
If you’d like to join this group please email our secretary secretary@psna.nz
Mehdi Hasan on Netanyahu
When racist, war criminal Netanyahu spoke to US lawmakers last week, Journalist Mehdi Hasan did a fact check and debunked his five biggest lies
1) NETANYAHU ON AID
What he said:
“The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza. This is utter, complete nonsense. It’s a complete fabrication. Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza. That's half a million tons of food, and that's more than 3,000 calories for every man, woman, and child in Gaza.”
What he didn’t say:
Netanyahu didn’t mention how the world’s leading aid agencies – Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, UNICEF – all reject his rosy image of the aid situation in Gaza and all accuse Israel of blocking aid into Gaza. He didn’t mention that, in April, Oxfam reported that “people in northern Gaza have been forced to survive on an average of 245 calories a day – less than a can of fava beans – since January,” or that the organization also found that “the total food deliveries allowed into Gaza for the entire 2.2 million population – since last October – amounted to an average of just 41 per cent of the daily calories needed per person.”
He didn’t mention how some aid trucks that were destined for Gaza have been blocked by right-wing Israeli protesters; those protesters are on tape “throwing food packages onto the road and ripping bags of grain open.” He didn’t mention how many aid trucks do pass into Gaza, yes, but then get fired upon by Israeli forces. He didn’t mention the Israeli air strikes on a convoy of World Central Kitchen (WCK) trucks, in which seven food aid workers were targeted "systematically, car by car,” according to celebrity chef and WCK founder José Andrés. He didn’t mention the “Flour Massacre,” in which more than 100 Palestinians were killed after “shots were fired within close range of crowds that had gathered for food,” according to a CNN investigation.
2. NETANYAHU ON CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
What he said:
“John Spencer is head of urban warfare studies at West Point. He studied every major urban conflict… Israel, he said, has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history – and beyond what international law requires. That’s why, despite all the lies you've heard, the war in Gaza has one of the lowest ratios of combatants-to-noncombatants casualties in the history of urban warfare.”
What he didn’t say:
What Netanyahu didn’t mention is that the Israeli military conveniently defines almost every adult male it kills in Gaza as a combatant – as one soldier told the Israeli publication +972: “Every man [in Gaza] between the ages of 16 and 50 is suspected of being a terrorist.” The soldier added: “It’s permissible to shoot everyone, a young girl, an old woman.”
What Netanyahu didn’t mention is what Israeli newspaper Haaretz has extensively reported on: that there are “kill zones” inside of Gaza where any Palestinian “who crosses into them is shot.” Per Haaretz: “The Israeli army says 9,000 terrorists have been killed since the Gaza war began. Defense officials and soldiers, however, tell Haaretz that these are often civilians whose only crime was to cross an invisible line drawn by the IDF.”
Netanyahu quoted John Spencer, a pro-Israeli U.S. academic, but he didn’t quote U.S. military historian Robert Pape, who has called Gaza “one of the most intense civilian punishment campaigns in history.” He didn’t quote former UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Andrew Gilmour, who has said we are witnessing “probably the highest kill rate of any military killing anybody since the Rwandan genocide of 1994.” He didn’t quote U.S. Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay, who has argued that “even if we accept the IDF’s claim that 12,000 of the roughly 29,000 Gazans reported dead by February 20 were enemy fighters, that would still mean that for every 100 Israeli air strikes, the IDF killed an average of 54 civilians. In the U.S. campaign in Raqqa, the American military caused an estimated 1.7 civilian deaths per 100 strikes.”
3. NETANYAHU ON RAFAH
What he said:
“Remember what so many people said? If Israel goes into Rafah, there'll be thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, of civilians killed. Well, last week, I went into Rafah. I visited our troops as they finished fighting Hamas’ remaining terrorist battalions. I asked the commander there, ‘How many terrorists did you take out in Rafah?’ He gave me an exact number: ‘1,203.’ I asked him how many civilians were killed. He said, ‘Prime Minister, practically, none – with the exception of a single incident, where shrapnel from a bomb hit a Hamas weapons depot, and unintentionally killed two dozen people, the answer is: practically none.’”
What he didn’t say:
“Practically none”? Netanyahu didn’t mention the Israeli bomb that, per Amnesty International, “struck the four-storey home of the Abu Radwan family in the Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in West Rafah, killing nine members of the family – six children, two women and one man” on April 19. He didn’t mention the Israeli strike that “destroyed the Abdelal family home in the al-Jneinah neighbourhood in eastern Rafah, killing 20 family members”. He didn’t mention the “at least 29 Palestinians… killed in two separate Israeli attacks on displacement camps in Rafah” in late May, as CNN reported at the time.
Then there is his suggestion that the dozens and dozens of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, who were killed in a horrific fire in the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp in Rafah on May 26, were killed not by the pair of 250-pound bombs dropped on them by the Israel air force but by “shrapnel from a bomb” that ignited a nearby “Hamas weapons depot.” The New York Times carried out an extensive investigation of this Israeli claim, saying it had “reviewed dozens of videos and has been unable to find any that suggest a significant secondary explosion.”
4. NETANYAHU ON THE HOSTAGES
What he said:
“Israel has already brought home 135 of these hostages, including seven who were freed in daring rescue operations… Many hostages’ families are also here with us today.”
What he didn’t say:
Netanyahu didn’t mention how more than 100 hostages were released not “in daring rescue operations” but via a ceasefire deal with Hamas – which he is refusing to do again. He didn’t mention that his “daring rescue” mission killed almost 300 Palestinians, and injured hundreds more, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. He didn’t mention that Israel itself has, unwittingly, killed multiple hostages in Gaza. He didn’t mention that the former spokesperson for the hostages’ families has said there was a deal on the table in October to release all the hostages, but Netanyahu rejected it. He didn’t mention how many of the families of the hostages have been furious with him for several months now and have been protesting against him in the streets of Israel. He didn’t mention how, outside of where he was delivering his speech in the Capitol, at least six family members of Israeli hostages were arrested while demonstrating against him, including the “brother of a current hostage and daughter of a murdered one.”
5. NETANYAHU ON THE PROTESTERS
What he said:
“For all we know, Iran is funding the anti-Israel protests that are going on right now, outside this building. Not that many, but they're there. And throughout this city. Well, I have a message for these protesters. When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting, and funding you, you have officially become Iran's useful idiots.”
What he didn’t say:
There is zero evidence, none, nada, for this nonsensical and offensive claim. Were the hundreds of Jewish antiwar protesters who were arrested at the Capitol the day before Netanyahu’s speech all paid by the Iranian government to be there? Are you kidding me? Are the majority of ordinary Americans who tell pollster after pollster that they favor a ceasefire in Gaza, and an end to the fighting, also “Iran’s useful idiots”?
This was the dumbest, most dishonest, most desperate claim of Netanyahu’s entire speech to Congress.
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Meanwhile Jewish activists protest the racist war criminal in congress building
Crochet for Palestine fundraiser
Email here to get details of the raffle crochetforpalestine@gmail.com @crochet_for_palestine
“NO OTHER LAND” and “TO A LAND UNKNOWN” – two Palestinian films showing at the New Zealand International Film Festival
NO OTHER LAND
Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
"Produced by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, this is a film poised to meet a world changed by events that have unfolded since it wrapped production in October 2023. No Other Land documents a Palestinian village and its residents as they struggle against forced displacement. The West Bank’s Masafer Yatta faces mass evictions at hands of Israeli authorities. Yet this is as much a story of its own co-directors’ asymmetrical relationship, as it is an account of events in Masafer Yatta. The result is a masterful exploration of 21st century apartheid and colonisation." — Nadia Abu-Shanab
Auckland
Thursday 8 August 10AM The Civic
Saturday 17 August 1:15PM The Civic
Wellington
Thursday 8 August 2:15PM Roxy Cinema
Saturday 10 August 1:15PM Embassy Theatre
Christchurch
Sunday 18 August 10:00AM Lumiere Cinemas (Bardot)
Friday 30 August 4:15PM Lumiere Cinemas (Bernhardt)
Saturday 31 August 3:30PM Lumiere Cinemas (Bernhardt)
Dunedin
Sunday 25 August 10:45AM Regent Theatre
Hamilton
Monday 26 August 6:15PM LIDO Cinemas
Sunday 1 September 1:00PM LIDO Cinemas
Tauranga
Monday 19 August 6:00PM Luxe Cinemas Tauranga
Thursday 22 August 2:15PM Luxe Cinemas Tauranga
New Plymouth
Monday 2 September 4:15PM Len Lye Centre
Wednesday 4 September 6:15PM Len Lye Centre
Napier
Tuesday 27 August 7:45PM MTG Century Theatre
Nelson
Thursday 15 August 2:00PM State Cinemas
Thursday 22 August 6:15PM State Cinemas
Masterton
Friday 23 August 2:00PM Regent 3 Cinemas
Monday 26 August 6:00PM Regent 3 Cinemas
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Directed by Mahdi Fleifel
Rated M
"This urgent, vibrant and incredibly topical debut feature follows two refugee cousins from Palestine stranded in Athens as they strive to hustle and scam their way to a new life in Germany. With his first narrative feature To a Land Unknown, Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel delivers a rough and gripping update on Midnight Cowboy, centered on a chiaroscuro portrait of survival at the margins of society. His characters’ parable powerfully captures the plight of Palestinians. Thanks to its true-to-life approach, its vigorous mise en scène and and its terrific performances, To a Land Unknown is one of the year’s must-see debuts." — Paolo Bertolin
Auckland
Saturday 10 August 6:15PM Hollywood Avondale
Wellington
Friday 2 August 6:15PM Roxy Cinema
Tuesday 6 August 3:45PM Embassy Cinema
August 3rd: a national and global day in support of Gaza and Palestinian prisoners
Statement issued by the preparatory committee of the Global Day of support of Gaza and Detainees
Our demands to the world’s free people:
Impose immediate military embargo on Israel, including importing, exporting and transfer of weapons and military equipment that have dual use, and stop all forms of military cooperation (training, joint research, investments, etc.) • Impose legal sanctions on Israel, including diplomatic, financial and economic sanctions.
End all forms of complicity with Israel's illegal Israeli military occupation and the most brutal genocide, where the main cause is the colonial apartheid regime ongoing since 76 years.
Reactivate the UN's special committee against apartheid to help end the apartheid regime in Israel and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Suspend Israel's membership in the UN and withdraw its privileges and membership rights, as what was done with South Africa in the phase of apartheid.
Suspend Israel's participation in the Olympics, FIFA and all international and regional forums.
The European Union shall suspend the Schengen Agreement, which benefits the militias of terrorist settlers, in addition to security, military and political leaders who participated in the genocide and killing and torturing detainees.
Looking out for government MPs
“Pitiful in the face of genocide” – yes that’s our government. It still hasn’t even reached first base in responding to the industrial scale slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. First base would be to condemn Israel and call for an immediate permanent ceasefire.
We need to challenge government MPs in National, New Zealand First and Act.
If you come across information with details of where any of these MPs will be for speaking or have meeting engagements, then please contact us urgently so we can organise to protest and challenge them.
Email apartheid-Israel@PSNA.nz or text 027 4 APARTHEID or 027427278.
Important stories this week
Editor’s Pick’s
US Health Workers Back From Gaza Calculate Death Toll at 92,000 — at a minimum – epidemics and famine are raging across Gaza, they said, and at least 37,000 have already died of starvation here
How Israel plans to whitewash its war crimes in Gaza here
Palestinian leader says Netanyahu’s claim about civilization is ‘degradation seen in killing of 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza’ here
Security Council, General Assembly must immediately compel Israel to cease its widespread military assaults on shelter centres here
Leaked UN report: Israeli war has killed 366 UN staff and family members as Netanyahu prepares to address Congress here
Israel-Lebanon tensions intensify after deadly Majdal Shams rocket strike here
Other Stories
Netanyahu defends Gaza war conduct, slams protesters as ‘Iran’s useful idiots’ here
129 Palestinians killed in Israeli onslaught in Khan Yunis since Monday, authorities say here
Khan Yunis witnesses one of its bloodiest days yet as Israel’s crime of genocide continues to unfold here
Israel kills 11 Palestinians in 24 hours in the West Bank here
Israel destroys all basic conditions for life in northern Gaza, targets residents, forcing another round of displacement here
Attempts by pro-Israel countries and organisations to question ICC jurisdiction risk undermining justice, entrenching impunity here
What it’s like for Palestinian women living through the Gaza genocide here
We Volunteered at a Gaza Hospital. What We Saw Was Unspeakable here
Trauma, children and the volunteers trying to help here
Israel's largest land grab since Oslo sparks fears of annexation here
Jews protesting against Netanyahu at the U.S. Capitol here
Wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress here
The US-Israeli Regime of Despair here
Testimonies from Palestinian parents of children starved to death by Israeli authorities hereOrwell revisited. The Government playing word games with weapons to Israel here
ICJ 'apartheid' findings over illegal Israel settlements put Australia's foreign policy at the brink - Michael West here
The Politics of Water Under Occupation: Israel in Palestine here
The Oct. 8 War: Lebanon’s Southern Front here
Join me in demanding the United Nations suspend Israel here (Code Pink campaign)
Canada strikes Jewish National Fund’s charitable status hereBCC coverage of the attack on a football pitch in the Golan Heights has been intentionally misleading here
The Elders call for bold action by world leaders to end Israel’s unlawful occupation here
NBC reports on the medicide (destruction of medical services) in Gaza here
The ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
A reader tells us this book can be obtained on electronic copy at no cost here Printed copies are available from The Nile, $26.10 + shipping from here.
There is also a 15-page article from Ilan Pappe based on the book and that is available here
Remember BDS for Aotearoa New Zealand
Remember our big six BDS targets for Aotearoa New Zealand?
Obela Hummus
Ahava skin care products
Sodastream
HP (Hewlett-Packard)
BP and Caltex
McDonalds
Watch out for this man promoting racism and apartheid
Here he is – the Israeli ambassador – watch out for him around Aotearoa New Zealand – if you hear of any planned appearances or speaking engagements please contact us urgently: Email apartheid-Israel@PSNA.nz or text 027 4 APARTHEID or 027427278.
Israeli ambassador Ran Yaakoby
Reminder: Dates for Palestine Solidarity during the year
Israel apartheid week has been added to the dates for likely local and national Palestine solidarity activity this year.
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)
In Occupied Palestine daily newsletter – an invitation to subscribe from Leslie Bravery
Because of mainstream news media complicity, daily headlines and commentary only occasionally ever mention the relentless Israeli violence in Palestine, not even the frequent air strikes!
However, daily news and statistics regarding the violence Palestinians are forced to live under are regularly reported on in the “In Occupied Palestine daily newsletter”, sourced and compiled for easy reading and correlation chiefly from the Palestinian Monitoring Group's daily situation reports.
The In Occupied Palestine daily newsletter continues to be circulated, by email, worldwide to subscribers only, as it has been over the last two decades.
Please contact lesliebravery@icloud.com if you also wish to become a subscriber.
Merchandise for sale
We have Merchandise you can buy including T-shirts from our website.
Go here - https://www.psna.nz/shop
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
PSNA Groups
PSNA National Committee
Website: www.PSNA.nz
Chair - John Minto: Chair@PSNA.nz
Secretary - Neil Scott: Secretary@PSNA.nz
Regional Groups
Bay of Islands PSN Bay of Islands (Email)
Whangarei PSN Whangarei (Facebook)
Auckland PSN Auckland – Tamaki Makaurau (Website)
Hamilton Palestine Human Rights Campaign Waikato (Facebook)
Tauranga Tauranga Moana 4 Palestine (Facebook)
Napier/Hastings Aotearoa Standing with Palestine (Facebook)
Palmerston North PSN Palmerston North (Email)
New Plymouth PSN Taranaki (Facebook)
Wellington PSN Wellington (Email)
Nelson Te Tau Ihu (Nelson) Palestine (Facebook)
Christchurch PSN Christchurch (Facebook)
Dunedin Dunedin for Justice in Palestine (Facebook)
Invercargill PSNA Invercargill (Email)