PSNA Newsletter No 165 - December 4 2024
4 Hakihea 2024
4 December 2024
Newsletter No 165
Aotearoa Rally for Palestine! Next Wednesday!
Meet us on the 11th of December in Pōneke! We will start at 11am at Queens Wharf, near the main entrance of TSB Arena, and march to Parliament. The rally at parliament will incude a petition from earlier this year being presented to Green Party reps for consideration by parliament.
It’s a tricky time of year for most but we encourage you to think whether will may be able to be there.
As we did for the last national rally PSNA will help with petrol, ferry tickets and accommodation at the Top 10 Holiday park in Petone for those needing to stay overnight. Send a note to secretary@PSNA.nz for more information.
Stop Nelson City Council supporting companies doing business in illegal Israeli settlements
The Nelson Council meeting to vote on this issue is Tomorrow Thursday 5 December.
The Action Stations Petition is here
People around Aotearoa can sign this petition.
Two things you can do this week to support Palestine with just a few clicks…
Share the poster for the Aotearoa rally for Palestine on your social media pages. The poster is at the start of this newsletter.
If you have no already done so – Get the new BDS app here for your phone
Keep your ear to the ground
Pass on to us any news you have of government MPs at public events so we can hold them to account. Send messages to Secretary@PSNA.nz
Nationwide rallies/marches/MP protests/vigils 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
Or events are on the PSNA Facebook events page here
There are more than 30 events around the Motu this week.
North Island
Opononi - Gathering for Palestine
Sunday 8 December
No Rally this week
Kerikeri - Rally
Saturday 7 December
9:00 – 11:00 am
Kerikeri roundabout, State highway 10
Whangarei – Rally
Saturday 7 December
No Rally this weekend
Waiheke – Market Stall – hosted by Stand With Palestine Waiheke!
Every Saturday
8:00 am – 1:00 pm
Ostend Market, Waiheke Island
Auckland – Picket the US Consulate
Wednesday 4 December
12:00 noon
Customs Street East
Auckland – Banners around Tamaki Makaurau
Every Saturday
10:00 am – 1:00 pm (then off to the Auckland Rally)
East Tamaki Road overbridge in Otara. Near 123 East Tamaki Road
Text John on 021 899 659 for more details
Auckland – Rally for Palestine and Te Tiriti
Saturday 7 December
2:00 pm
Te Komititanga - Britomart Square, Tamaki Makaurau
Auckland -
Thames – Vigil to Stop the war on Children
(Hosted by The Basket – Social and Environmental Justice - Hauraki)
Saturday 7 December
10:00 am
Thames Market, 700 Pollen Street, Thames
Tauranga - Flags
Sunday 8 December
1:00 pm
SH 2 Bethlehem, by the BP service station
Whakatane
Rallies are starting to be organised
Watch this space
Hamilton – Flag Waving for Palestine
Saturday 7 December
1:00 pm
Flynn Park, Cnr Wairere Drive & Naylor, Hamilton
Hamilton – Picnic for Palestine
Saturday 7 December
12:30 pm
Innis Common, Hamilton Lakes
Raglan - Flag waving and Palestinian merchandise
Sunday 8 December
9:00 am onwards
Raglan Creative Market, Raglan
Cambridge - Rally for Palestine
Every Saturday
11:00 am
Cambridge Town Hall
Rotorua – Rally for Palestine
Every Thursday
4:30 pm
National MP Todd McClays Office - Cnr Amohau and Ranolf St lights, Rotorua
Gisborne - Farmers Market - Vigil to Stop the war on Children
Every Saturday
9:30 – 11:30 am
Gisborne Farmers Market
Napier - Rally for Palestine
Saturday 7 December
11:30 am
Marine Parade Soundshell Roundabout
Hastings – Rally for Palestine
Sunday 8 December
1:00 pm
Hastings Town Clock – Hastings CBD
Palmerston North - Rally
Sunday November 8
2:00 pm
The Square, Palmerston North
New Plymouth – Flags on the Bridge
Friday 6 December
4:30 pm
Paynters Ave Bridge, New Plymouth
New Plymouth – Picnic for Palestine
Saturday 7 December
1:00 PM
Please bring a plate to share and your own cutlery
The Landing, 1 Ariki Street, New Plymouth
Whanganui - Rally for Palestine
Saturday 7 December
11:00 am
Riverside Market, Whanganui
Carterton – Gathering for Gaza
Every Tuesday
12:00 midday
Memorial Square.
Martinborough – Vigil for Palestine
Every Wednesday
11:00 am
The square at the top of Kitchener St, Martinborough
Masterton - Gathering for Gaza
Every Sunday
9:30 am
Town Hall Lawn, Masterton
Featherston – Gathering for Gaza
Every Saturday
11:00 am
The Squircle (opposite the op shop).
Wellington – Flags on the Bridge
(hosted by the Falastin Tea Collective)
Every Friday
7:15 – 8:15 am
Hill Street bridge Overbridge, Wellington
Wellington – Vigil for Palestine
(hosted by Aotearoa Healthcare Workers for Palestine)
Every Friday
6:00 pm
In front of Wellington Hospital, 49 Riddiford Street, Newtown, Wellington
Wellington – Rally
(hosted by the Falastin Tea Collective)
Saturday 7 December
1:00 pm
Under the Photoplasam sculpture on corner of Hunter St and Lambton Quay
Wellington – National Rally for Palestine
Wednesday 11 December
11:00 am - Queens Wharf start– Rally start and march to Parliament
12:00 Noon - Rally on Parliament steps
South Island
Nelson – Rally for Palestine
Saturday 7 December
10:30 am
Paru Paru Rd (alongside Squash Club)
Blenheim - Rally for Palestine
Saturday 7 December
11:00 am
Blenheim Railway Station
Christchurch - Flag Waving for Palestine
Friday 6 December
4:00 – 6:00 pm
Bridge of Remembrance, Cashel Street, Christchurch
Christchurch – Market Fundraiser for Palestine
Saturday 7 December
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Bromley Community Center, Christchurch
Timaru
No Rally this weekend
Dunedin
Saturday 7 December
No Rally this weekend
Next Rally December 14
Queenstown – Palestinian Picnic
Saturday 7 December
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Earnslaw Park, Queenstown
Invercargill - Rally for Palestine
Sunday 8 December
1:00 pm
Queens park , Invercargill
What’s after Obela? – Sodastream
While we campaign for a boycott of all Israeli products and services, we also organise targeted campaigns focusing on particular products as we did with Obela Hummus.
The next target will be Sodastream which is also an international BDS target – particularly because it operates in an industrial estate created from ethnically cleansed Palestinian land.
Don’t buy Sodastream this Christmas.
Make the switch, and stand on the right side of history
Last few days to tell ASB – I won’t Bank with Apartheid
PSNA supporter Tayyaba Khan writes on “Don’t bank on apartheid”
I know we are all feeling the overwhelm and fatigue in activism especially after 421 days of witnessing a live genocide, and the tank feels like it is almost empty. However, when I feel that way, I remind myself this is not a choice Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank have and it keeps me going.
In the last month Justice for Palestine (J4P) has been running a campaign called, "Don't Bank on Apartheid." The campaign has been supported by almost 2000 ASB customers calling for ASB to divest from Motorola. You can read all about it on the J4P website. I have been an ASB customer since I was 12, and it was my very first bank as a child of hardworking immigrants. When I got my first bank account, it was a big deal. My mother had not had a bank account till she moved to New Zealand. Which as a child back then meant I had achieved a level of privilege and financial independence I knew many didn't have or it would take them a lot longer.
Coming from such a background and knowing such deep inequities exist meant I am more committed to ensuring my money and actions don't cause harm. I am a firm believer there is much in our individual and collective power to make a difference for someone else. That is what the 'Don't Bank on Apartheid' campaign is.
If you are an ASB customer, it will take you less than 5 minutes to make a switch. The message you give to ASB though, is that we want them to be making decisions that are true to our principles of human rights for all. After all, ASB was our first savings bank established to serve our communities in 1847.
Lets remind ASB of their original purpose and commitment to all of us. If you haven't switched, make that switch. For more information on the step by step process please visit: www.justiceforpalestine.nz
It’s official – Boycotts work!
PSNA has signed this urgent appeal for pressure to get seeds into Gaza
Better late than never!
It took nearly two weeks but finally Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says New Zealand will arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant if they set foot in New Zealand.
Ōtepoti/Dunedin tackles Obela (before the win!) and Sodastream!
Getting signs up in the far north – experiences to share
Signs are going up across the far north to keep Palestine high on the public agenda. Here is a report with some tips for others around the motu:
“We made signage with any old material we could find. Time will tell which will last the longest. Corflute from estate agents is the easiest to handle but we also use metal sheeting and plywood. Make sure it is fixed well to keep motorists safe. Heavy duty zip ties as a bare minimum.
We had group painting sessions.
Doug built a scaffolding on the back of a trailer so we were able to get up really high to hopefully deter any vandalism but we do not recommend this. There are plenty of easy accessible places to put up signage. We focused our efforts on the roundabouts entering our towns and on the highway. We used mostly lamp posts but also median barriers as well as building our own stands”
Here are some pics from the Far North. We’d love to have pics from around the country for future newsletters…
Tautoko Gaza in music
TAUTOKO GAZA
Tautoko Gaza - Aotearoa Artists in Solidarity with Palestine
You can listen and buy the album at the link above - all funds go to Medical Aid for Palestine!
Give this album the big push it deserves!
A great Xmas present.
Cactus pear for my beloved – new book by Samah Sabawi
Don't forget to grab a copy of my new book Cactus Pear for My Beloved: A family story from Gaza
https://www.penguin.com.au/books/cactus-pear-for-my-beloved-9781761344978
Important stories this week
A Palestinian girl lost her family after her house was bombed by Israeli air attacks. Image: Alamy/ Mohammed Zaanoun.
Editor’s Pick’s
UNRWA pauses aid through key Gaza crossing as hunger stalks Palestinians here
Ben-Gvir bans call for prayer by mosques for 'disturbing' Israelis here
Israel 'deliberately kills' Gaza chef who fed the displaced here
How Israel is aiding armed gangs in Gaza to sow societal collapse here
I am starving in Gaza and I don’t believe the world can’t do anything here
After Lebanon ceasefire, Netanyahu is running out of cards to play here
Lebanon's "Ceasefire" Deal With Israel, and What It Means for Gaza here
Middle East wars will soon spread from Gaza to the Euphrates here
Other Stories
UNRWA pauses aid through key Gaza crossing as hunger stalks Palestinians here
Save the Children aid worker killed by Israeli strike in Khan Younis here
4 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike in West Bank here
Two killed in Lebanon, several injured as Israel continues breaching ceasefire here
Eight reasons Marco Rubio would be a disastrous Secretary of State here
“A prelude to the end of humanity” here
How coverage of the Amsterdam soccer violence exposed the media’s ‘antisemitism’ fiction here
Biden Approves New $680 Million Arms Sale to Israel, Despite Lebanon Ceasefire here
Remembrance Day: The US and UK war machine never stopped killing here
‘Most Severe Bombardment since WWII’ | Horrific Massacre in Beit Lahia here
Israel army killed 100 Palestinians in northern Gaza in past 24 hours: Civil Defence here
Palestinians in north Gaza describe 'real life horror movie' here
Australian police: Watermelons are ‘anti-Semitic’ here
Anti-Palestinian discrimination in NSW public schools here
Renewed crackdown on free speech aims to overwhelm US student protests here
Oxford Union declares Israel an 'apartheid state responsible for genocide' here
Dutch Advocate General to Top Court: Uphold Export Ban on F-35 Jet Parts to Israel here
UK's David Lammy blasted for saying 'there are no journalists in Gaza' here
Zionism: An existential threat to Judaism here
Australia and the ICC arrest warrants here
If Tel Aviv was reduced to rubble like Gaza, the world would stop the war immediately here
Orban and Netanyahu: the transnational Right’s pervasive Islamophobia here
Amazon Black Friday boycotted over company’s links to Israel here
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth to divest from the company’s major gas fields off the coast of occupied Palestinian land here
War on Gaza: Israeli bombing kills World Central Kitchen workers and aid-seekers here
In besieged Beit Lahiya, rubble and decomposing corpses line the streets here
Trump is America’s Nero here
UN halts aid shipments through Gaza’s main crossing here
Israeli troops are systematically using Palestinian children and families as human shields during the siege of Jabalia refugee camp here
The ICC warrants: Palestinian skepticism and the glimpse of justice here
The ICC Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu Is Also an Indictment of US Policy and Complicity 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
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)