PSNA Newsletter No 184 - 16 April 2025

16 Paenga-whāwhā 2025
16 April 2025

Newsletter No 184

Items in this newsletter

1.       Nationwide rallies/marches/vigils this week

2.       What you can do now with just a few clicks

3.       Webinar with Robbie Barkan

4.       The Doctor’s Wife – how to organize a local screening

5.       May Day Concert for Palestine in Palmerston North

6.       Quotes for the Week

7.       FIFA covers for racism and apartheid

8.       Watch the withdrawn BBC documentary

9.       Just six National MPs needed to pass Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Bill

10.   Keep spreading the message about the Genocide Hotline!

11.   Important lessons in helping to build the Palestine solidarity movement

12.   Important stories from last week

13.   Merchandise for sale

14.   SodaStream stickers available


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 25 events around the Motu this week.

North Island

Hokianga

No event this weekend 

 

Kerikeri - Rally

First Saturday of the Month

 

Whangarei

No event this week

 

Auckland – Stand for Palestine

Monday – Friday

3:00 – 4:00 pm at the US Consulate - 23 Customs Street East

4:00 – 5:00 pm at Te Komititanga Britomart Square

 

Auckland – Picket – German Consulate

Wednesday 16 April

12:00 mid-day

188 Quay Street, Auckland Central

 

Tāmaki Makaurau - 10km Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimages

These 10km pilgrimages (3 hours) will continue to take place once a week until Thursday 17th April, the day before Good Friday.

Next one is

Thursday 17th April @ 3:45pm. (earlier time because daylight savings has ended)

Starting Location: Outside Onehunga Library, Onehunga 

Ending Location: Auckland International Airport arrivals gate

See here for further details

 

Waiheke – Market Stall – hosted by Stand With Palestine Waiheke!

Every Saturday

8:00 am – 1:00 pm

Ostend Market, Waiheke Island

 

Auckland – Banners around Tamaki Makaurau

Every Saturday

This week

10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Join the team – text John on 021 899 659

 

Auckland – Gathering for Palestine

Saturday 19 March

2:00 pm

Te Komititanga - Britomart Square, Tamaki Makaurau

 

Thames – Vigil to Stop the war on Children

(Hosted by The Basket – Social and Environmental Justice - Hauraki)

First Saturday of the month.

 

Tauranga – Flag Waving - Palestinian Prisoner Day

Thursday 17 April

3.30-5.30 pm

Tauranga Bridge Marina, SH 2 Mt Maunganui

 

Hamilton – Flag Waving for Palestine

Saturday 19 April

1:00 pm

Flynn Park, Cnr Wairere Drive & Naylor, Hamilton

 

Raglan - Easter Weekend Silent Vigil Whaingaroa (Raglan)

Saturday 19th April

11:00 am

Meeting at Community center to walk down Bow Street

 

Cambridge - Rally for Palestine

Every Saturday

11:00 am

Cambridge Town Hall

 

Rotorua – Rally for Palestine

Every Thursday

4:30 pm

National MP Todd McClay’s Office - Cnr Amohau and Ranolf St lights, Rotorua

 

Napier - Rally for Palestine

Saturday 19 April

11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Marine Parade Soundshell Roundabout

 

Hastings – Rally for Palestine

Sunday 20 April

1:30 – 3:00 pm

Hastings Town Clock – Hastings CBD

 

Palmerston North - Rally

Every Sunday

2:00 am

The Square, Palmerston North

 

New Plymouth – Flags on the Bridge

Please note, Flags on the bridge have moved to Saturdays.

 

New Plymouth – Flags on the bridge

Note – Flags on the bridge will be on Saturdays except for a Rally on first Saturday of the month.

Saturday 19 and 26 April

1:00 pm

Paynters Ave Bridge, New Plymouth

 

Whanganui - Rally for Palestine

Saturday 19 April

11:00 am

Riverside Market, Whanganui

 

Martinborough – Vigil for Palestine

Every Wednesday

11:00 am

Memorial gate - Martinborough Square, at the end of SH53

 

Masterton - Gathering for Gaza

Every Sunday

9:30 am

Town Hall Lawn, Masterton

 

Wellington – Flags on the Bridge

(hosted by the Falastin Tea Collective)

Every Friday

7:15 – 8:15 am

Hill Street bridge Overbridge, Wellington

 

Wellington – Rally at Wellington Hospital

(hosted by Aotearoa Healthcare workers for Palestine)

First Friday of the month

 

Wellington – Rally

(hosted by the Falastin Tea Collective)

Saturday 19 April

1:00 pm

Lambton Quay and Hunter St corner

Check out https://www.instagram.com/falastin_tea_collective for further details

 

South Island

Nelson

Saturday 19 April

Yet to be advised. Please go here and check for a Nelson event

 

Blenheim - Rally for Palestine

Every Saturday

11:00 am

Blenheim Railway Station

 

Picton – Rally for Palestine

Every Saturday

1:00 – 2:00 pm

Picton Foreshore

 

Christchurch – Flags for Palestine

Every Friday

4:00 pm

Bridge of Remembrance, Cashel Street, Christchurch

 

Christchurch – Rally for Palestine

Saturday 19 April

1:00 pm

Bridge of Remembrance

 

Dunedin - Rozana Bazaar - Cash Market

Thursday 17 April

5:00 – 9:00 pm

50 Prince Albert Road, St Kilda

 

Dunedin – Rally

Moved to once a month

No Rally this weekend

 

Invercargill – Rally for Palestine

Every Sunday

1:00 pm

Wachner Place, Invercargill 


What can you do now with just a few clicks…

1.       Come along and support your local Palestine solidarity protests – see list above!

2.       Contact chair@PSNA.nz if you can help organise a PSNA delegation to your local National MP (see item 8 from the newsletter index at start of newsletter)

3.       Sign the open letter to the government here https://www.psna.nz/letter-to-winston-peters

4.       Select some BDS memes about FIFA (international football federation) to share on your social media pages (See item 6 from the newsletter agenda at start of newsletter)


Webinar with Robbie Barkan


The Doctor’s Wife – how to organize a local screening

Among the many excellent documentaries which are being screened by the Palestine solidarity movement around New Zealand is an absolute gem of a film by local filmmaker Paula Jones and associate director Tamara Azizian.

The film is “The Doctor’s Wife” and follows the decades long work of Dr Alan Kerr, a surgeon from New Zealand, and his wife Hazel in the hospitals of Palestine.

We would encourage everyone around the country to organise local screenings of the film – even with family and friends in your living room – and raise funds for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)

All details of organising a local film screening are on the website here: https://whitioraproductions.com/the-doctors-wife


May Day Concert for Palestine in Palmerston North

If you are anywhere near Palmerston North on 3 May - this is the place to be - it will be fantastic - all proceeds from the evening will go to PSNA for Palestine solidarity campaigning.


Quotes for the Week

“I have determined that the activities and presence of these aliens in the United States 

would have potentially serious foreign policy consequences [based on information provided by DHS/ICE/HSI] antisemitic protests and disruptive activities.”

—Marco Rubio; US Secretary of State 

“I would like to quote what you said last time that there's nothing that's more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness. Clearly, what we witnessed today, neither of these principles [was] present today or in this whole process. This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court – 1,000 miles away from my family. I just hope that the urgency that you deemed fit for me [is] afforded to the hundreds of others who have been here without hearing for months.”

—Mahmoud Khalil; Palestinian Legal Resident of the United States 


FIFA covers for racism and apartheid

FIFA has a long, awful history of providing cover for Israeli racism and apartheid and recently, Israel was elected to the Executive Committee of European football (UEFA)
Below are links to social media posts from the BDS Movement our posts, with UEFA spelling out Underwriting Ethnic cleansing, Forced displacement, Apartheid (and genocide). Please share on your social media pages. 


More shocking quotes this week

“[We were ordered to] deliberately, methodically, and systematically annihilate whatever was within the designated perimeter, including entire residential neighborhoods, public buildings, educational institutions, mosques, and cemeteries, with very few exceptions."

—Breaking The Silence; Israeli Soldier Testimonials (of those who took part in the creation of Rafah as a buffer zone.)

"We're killing [men], we're killing their wives, their children, their cats, their dogs. We're destroying their houses and pissing on their graves."

—Israeli Soldier; Speaking of the Destruction of Rafah.


Watch the withdrawn BBC documentary


Just Six Government MPs Needed To Pass “Unlawful Occupation Of Palestine” Sanctions Bill

As we reported last week the Green Party bill calling for sanctions on Israel has gained support from Te Pāti Māori and Labour and needs support from just six government MPs for it to pass when introduced into parliament. The details are here.

PSNA is organising deputations from local constituents to every National MP across the country. If you live in a National Party electorate and are happy to be on a deputation to encourage them to support the Sanctions Bill then please email chair@PSNA.nz  


Keeping up a high profile for Palestine in Te Whanganui a Tara/Wellington


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


Important lessons in helping to build the Palestine solidarity movement


Important stories from last week

Editor’s picks

  • Government should back Sanctions Bill – John Hobbs – here

  • Israel is about to empty Gaza – the greatest crime of this century here

  • Hamas succeeded in exposing the true face of the empire here

  • Israel is About to Empty Gaza here

  • Jason Hickel who brings it all together in a six-minute video on Why a Liberated Palestine Threatens Global Capitalism here

  • Hamas Launches Unprecedented Legal Case in Britain, Demanding the Government Remove its Terror Designation here

  • The Waikato doctor caring for Palestinians in Gaza here

Other stories

  • Baptist Church condemns appalling Israeli Palm Sunday attack on hospital here

  • Israel destroys only a quarter of Gaza’s tunnels in 18 months of deadly war here

  • Israel deliberately targeting journalists in Gaza says Australian author after latest killings here

  • The greater Israel’s crimes the quitter the BBC here

  • When apartheid met Zionism – the case for NZ recognising Palestine as a state here

  • 100 children killed or wounded every day since Gaza ceasefire broken here

  • With hasbara failing Israel placed Hossam Shabat on a kill list here

  • Zionist Federation launches Federal Court complaint against journalist Mary Kostakidis here

  • Israeli Policies and Settler Violence Are Driving Palestinians from the Jordan Valley here

  • Trumps hypocrisy – peacemaker in Ukraine, genocide enabler in Gaza here

  • Chief Human Rights Commissioner apologises to Muslim community here

  • Health workers call for NZ government to join global demands for ambulance massacre inquiry here

  • UN: 36 recent Israeli strikes on Gaza killed only women, children here

  • Dutch gov’t complicit in Israeli war crimes; export of military dogs must be halted, investigated here

  • US demands impossible from Iran here

  • Grassroots Resistance Builds Against Israeli Occupation of Southern Syria here

  • The dark depths of Israeli ambitions for Gaza here

  • The graver Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, the quieter the BBC grows here

  • Israeli brutality surpasses all recent forms of terrorism here

  • Israel Ramps Up Assault on Gaza To Seize ‘Extensive Territory’ and ‘Divide’ the Strip here

  • UN extends Francesca Albanese’s mandate despite pro-Israel pushback here

  • Palestinian teenager died after being starved in Israeli custody here

  • UN says 100 children killed or injured in Gaza every day since war resumed here

  • 600,000 children in Gaza face paralysis as Israel blocks vaccines here

  • UN chief calls Trump, Netanyahu plans to relocate Gazans 'against international law' here

  • Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia expelled from Rwanda genocide conference here

  • Palestinians mourn journalist burned alive in Israeli strike on Gaza tent here

  • Israel’s Systematic Destruction of Life Essentials in Gaza Has Forced Palestinians into a Hunt for Survival here

  • 4,500 amputations including 800 children, 540 women in Gaza here

  • “The Target is Unmistakable”: The Shooting of Gaza’s Children here

  • Macron says France could recognize Palestinian state in June here

  • Trump Faces Palestine here

  • The Gaza War Without Israeli… and Palestinian Objectives here

  • Trump Sends Israel 20,000 Rifles Withheld by Biden Over Settler Violence here

  • Trump can end the battle in the Red Sea by forcing Netanyahu to stop Israel’s genocidal war here

  • Tell Microsoft: stop providing support to the Israeli military. Sign the petition here


Merchandise for sale

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 ($10) and other items plus postage.

See more on the PSNA website here.

Email Merchandise@PSNA.nz with your order.


What happens when SodaStream products are consistently stickered

If you’d like some stickers for sodastream email your name and address to Merchandise@PSNA.nz and we will send them to you.


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)


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.


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)