PSNA Newsletter No 31 - September 15, 2020
15 September 2020
Newsletter No 31
Kia ora PSNA Supporter
Wellington supporters were out on the steps of parliament at midday on Wednesday 2 September – the final sitting day of parliament. We had a small protest in very cold, wet conditions but with good spirits. As you can see from the photo – flags fly well in the Wellington wind!
It was great to see Kirsten from Hamilton (thanks Kirsten!) and three people from Hawkes Bay, including Nadina Hohaia whom many of you will know from the “Aotearoa Standing with Palestine Facebook page”. It was great to have two people from the Council of Trade Unions attending as well. Myself, Julie Webb-Pullman (New Zealand journalist and human rights worker from Gaza), Don Carson and Fr Gerard Burns spoke. We didn’t stay as long as planned because of the cold weather but we were a very visible and vocal protest. Three Moslem women from Egypt came along and are keen to encourage others from the Moslem community to also get involved.
We had apologies from Labour MP Duncan Webb who was in Christchurch and also apologies from Green MP Golriz Ghahraman who is not doing any Level 2 events as she is immune-compromised.
You can see a short video of the event here - https://youtu.be/PyR5V0bjQYE
Complaint of racism against Dr David Cumin
Dr David Cumin of the Israel Insitute of New Zealand
PSNA has lodged a complaint of anti-Palestinian racism and anti-Arab racism against Senior Lecturer at Auckland University’s School of Medicine Dr David Cumin. The letter we sent speaks for itself:
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Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
4 September 2020
Professor Dawn Freshwater
Vice Chancellor
Auckland University
vice-chancellor@auckland.ac.nz
Kia ora Ms Freshwater,
Complaint of anti-Palestinian and Anti-Arab racism against University of Auckland Senior Lecturer Dr David Cumin
We are writing to ask the University of Auckland to investigate this complaint of anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism by Senior Lecturer in the University’s School of Medicine, Dr David Cumin.
Dr Cumin was speaking at a debate on “Different perspectives of Israel” held at Auckland University on Thursday 3 October last year. During the debate Dr Cumin attempted to defend Israeli brutality against unarmed Palestinian protestors in the Great March of Return protests by saying Palestinians engaged in
“…violent riots on the border with Israel to which they bring children to use as human shields. The quote of Israel’s first woman Prime Minister sums the situation up beautifully. Golda Meir said: “there can only be peace when the Arabs start to love their children more than they hate us””
Video of Dr Cumin delivering these comments is here.
In our view this is a particularly vile statement of anti-Palestinian racism and a repugnant slur on all Arabs.
An important way to identify racism is to reverse the ethnicities in a statement and then evaluate it again. If another employee made the same statements in relation to Jews they would quite rightly be condemned as despicable anti-semitism and the employee would be sacked. Similarly if these statements were made in relation to Maori, Pasifika or European peoples they would likewise be condemned as deeply racist and the staff member sacked.
We request this matter be investigated by Auckland University and disciplinary action taken.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Nā,
John Minto
National Chair
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
0220850161
johnminto@orcon.net.nz
cc:
Professor Cindy Kiro – Pro Vice-Chancellor (Māori)
Associate Professor Toeolesulusulu Damon Salesa – Pro Vice-Chancellor (Pacific)
Trudie McNaughton – Pro Vice-Chancellor (Equity)
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“Black Palestine” Seminar – well worth the watch
Here is the link to the “Black Palestine” seminar – a marvellous two hour watch. It has two Palestinian speakers and two Aboriginal speakers talking about the shared experience of dispossession, state-based discrimination and racism and how to counter it. On the Palestinian side the importance of BDS is emphasised.
The seminar was organised by BDS Australia and held online on August 29. It is now available on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/7XdFUhOfHNc
Omar Barghouti
The Palestinian and Australian speakers on the seminar are:
Omar Barghouti - Palestinian writer, activist and founding member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement
Amy Mcquire - Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist and academic
Dr Randa Abdulfattah - Palestinian academic, author and former lawyer
Professor Tony Birch - Indigenous Australian author, academic and activist
Hiba Farra - moderator - Palestinian lawyer and activist
Hilmi Dabbagh - convenor and co- founder of BDS Australia
We hope to organise something similar for New Zealand soon, linking the Palestinian and Maori struggles for indigenous rights.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
Mazin Qumsiyeh is a Palestinian scientist and author and the director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History. We invited him to tour New Zealand this year before the pandemic struck.
Hopefully he will be able to come eventually…
He has written a short insightful piece here which is well worth the read.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
38th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila Massacre – online seminar
This should be an important event remembering the massacres of Palestinians carried out by Lebanese fascists with the active connivance of Israel who sealed the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps while their fascist allies massacred hundreds of Palestinian refugees.
Registration details for the seminar are on the poster. Or click here - bit.ly/34LMo4r
Update of our social media guidelines
Earlier this year PSNA developed guidelines for our supporters using social media to build the solidarity campaign for Palestine. This week our national committee added another point (see the fourth bullet point in our undated guidelines below) It is an attempt to keep the discussion on our social media pages positive and forward-looking. Any feedback would be welcomed to secretary@PSNA.nz
Here are our updated guidelines ( https://www.psna.nz/policies ):
PSNA guidelines for social media
Social media is an unregulated space where there are many opportunities to get clear pro-Palestinian messages out to a wider audience than through traditional mainstream media. We need as many voices as we can muster speaking out on all social media platforms. Our goal is to amplify the Palestinian side of the issue which has previously been lost in a sea of pro-Israeli lies which has so often dominated media reporting. However, there are potential dangers to avoid. Keep these guidelines in mind when you engage with social media:
When we encounter pro-Israeli trolls on social media we should attack their views rather than attack them personally – stick to the issues and avoid being side-tracked. Be assertive but stay on track.
Remember the real target is the wider social media audience. We won’t convince individual pro-Israeli trolls to support the Palestinian struggle but those reading and watching an exchange are our real audience. We must keep them as the real target for our social media activism.
Calling out racism in all its forms, such as white supremacy, Islamophobia or anti-Semitism builds consistency with the messages of support for Palestinian rights and places into context the fundamental racist premise on which the state of Israel is founded.
If racist comments of any kind are made on our social media sites these will be removed as soon as they are seen. We will also remove comments which are offensive or dehumanising because although not racist, such comments don’t help the building of solidarity with Palestinians and can encourage more of the same types of unhelpful comments.
People in leadership or spokesperson roles within PSNA and its affiliates should be especially careful in social media interactions because as we become more effective in advocating for Palestine we will face more vitriolic, personal attacks from elements of the extremist pro-Israeli lobby who will look for ways to undermine our kaupapa by undermining us.
Election pledges for all parliamentary candidates
These are being sent out this week to all candidates from all political parties standing for election. Nominations close this Thursday 18 September and we hope
to hear from candidates shortly afterwards.
Keep watching this space!
Boycott Hewlett-Packard! Don’t buy HP!
PSNA will be joining the international campaign against Hewlett-Packard in a more strategic way in the future but in the meantime BDS Australia has taken on this campaign and have some excellent material we should read to get up to speed with it. Here are two important links to look at in the meantime:
The online HP campaign page is here: https://bdsaustralia.net.au/campaigns/dont-buy-hp-products/
And the online petition is here: https://bdsaustralia.good.do/boycotthp/individualpledge/
Dances with Death - Tuma Hazou
“In this book I recount my many 'brushes with death' reporting on hostilities in the turbulent Middle East. The on-going conflicts and upheavals in the region have their roots in the infamous 1917 British Balfour Declaration committing Britain to set up in Palestine a national state for the Jews, ignoring the Muslim and Christian majority population.
The book ends with an overview of the prevailing dire consequences of the 1967 June War.
Addendums to the book add further substance to the personal traumatic narrative and related historical facts”
Books can be ordered directly from the author at gandthazou@gmail.com
Still Lives – Marilyn Garson
Canadian-Kiwi Marilyn writes of her experiences working in GAZA under the Israeli blockade from 2011 to 2015. This is a book which brings to life the horrific brutality of the 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza which left over 300 killed – including over 500 children. Marilyn documented her experiences as she worked through this horror. It is a MUST READ.
You can purchase this from your local bookshop or order your eBook here or order a physical copy at www.marilyngarson.com
New Merchandise
T shirt Free Palestine End Israeli Occupation medium size only $22
Kaffiyeh 110 x 110 $44 + postage
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 Networt
Account number: 38-9015-0849542-00
Or Pay Pal account: admin@palestinesolidaritynz.net
We are happy to provide a receipt upon request (however, we are not a registered charity so this is not tax-deductible)
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 monthly Rallies - In Auckland at 2.00 pm on the first Saturday of every month. Please consider doing the same in your community. 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)
Regional Branches and Affiliates
Regional
Bay of Islands PSNA Bay of Islands (Email)
Whangarei PSNA Whangarei (Facebook)
Auckland PSNA 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 PSNA Palmerston North (Email)
New Plymouth PSNA New Plymouth (Email)
Wellington PSNA Wellington (Email)
Nelson Te Tau Ihu (Nelson) Palestine (Facebook)
Christchurch PSNA Christchurch (Facebook)
Dunedin Dunedin for Justice in Palestine (Facebook)
Invercargill PSNA Invercargill (Email)