PSNA Newsletter No 39 - February 16, 2021
16 February 2021
Newsletter No 39
Kia ora
We asked the government to stop buying weapons from a crooked Israeli company but almost four months on and no response from the minister’s office.
Come on minister, sort it out!
Minister of Defence Peeni Henare
We need your help!
For almost four months new Minister of Defence Peeni Henare’s office has stalled replying to our request they stop purchasing military equipment from Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems Limited – a notorious international lawbreaker which “battle-tests” its weapons on Palestinians. Four separate requests and reminders have been sent from PSNA but nothing in response.
We need you to help us get the right response from the Minister.
Please copy and paste this email to the minister now.
Peeni Henare
Minister of Defence
p.henare@ministers.govt.nz
cc secretary@PSNA.nz
(date)
Kia ora Mr Henare,
Stop the double standards in government
Please respond urgently to my request the government cease all purchases from notorious Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems Limited.
Elbit Systems helped build Israel’s “apartheid wall” which was declared illegal under international law by the International Court of Justice in 2003.
The New Zealand Superfund and ACC have withdrawn investments from Elbit Systems because of this but in a spectacular double standard the Defence Force has continued buying weapons from this crooked company which “battle-tests” them on Palestinians. This must stop.
For almost four months your office has failed to respond to numerous requests for action on this. I request you respond without further delay.
Regards,
(your name)
When you email the minister please CC it to secretary@PSNA.nz
You can read more about this double standard in a blog by PSNA National Chair John Minto here.
Exposing the deep-seated racism at the heart of the New Zealand Jewish Council
New Zealand Jewish Council spokesperson Juliet Moses and the Israel Institute spokesperson Dr David Cumin
This month PSNA exposed the deep-seated anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism within the New Zealand Jewish Council.
We have asked the Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Paul Hunt, to speak out against the anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism from Dr Cumin which, astonishingly, was defended by the New Zealand Jewish Council.
PSNA National Meeting – 27/28 March in Auckland – please note the change of venue!
Our first post-Covid face-to-face national meeting in Auckland on the weekend of 27/28 March. It will be held at the Grey Lynn Library Hall on Great North Road – adjacent to St Joseph’s Catholic Church. It’s a lovely venue and larger than the previous one which will enable us to arrange lunch and dinner on site without shifting to another venue.
Grey Lynn Library hall - 474 Great North Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland
We are delighted to say we will have a Palestinian meal provided by the Palestinian community in Auckland – this will be a special highlight for the national meeting.
Details of the agenda are still being worked through but it is shaping up like this:
Annette Sykes
Saturday Morning:
Keynote speaker Annette Sykes, pictured above. Annette is a Maori human rights lawyer at the heart of indigenous struggles here. She is an inspirational speaker who will talk about the connections between indigenous struggles here and in Palestine.
This will be followed by workshops on improving our local organising, BDS campaigning, linking the Springbok tour protests (40th anniversary this year!) to apartheid in Palestine/Israel, activism on social media etc
Saturday Afternoon:
Workshops on organising in our local networks through religious groups, unions, student groups etc
Updates on the ICC decision to investigate war crimes by Israel; the latest flotilla to Gaza; Covid 19 in Palestine and working alongside the Palestinian community of New Zealand.
Saturday Evening:
Palestinian meal, Film screening of the marvellous movie “Gaza Fights for Freedom” and a Dabka Dance group
Sunday Morning:
Review of our strategy, elections for national committee and a political panel involving MPs
As we said in the last newsletter we hope all centres around the country will be able to be represented at the meeting and we are happy to help with travel expenses for petrol and flights as is necessary. Please don’t let the cost be a barrier to coming! Book your travel now to keep the cost down. Auckland supporters will be providing billeted accommodation.
It’s going to be an important, fascinating and stimulating event. We are looking forward to meeting up with you all. Please email secretary@PSNA.nz to register for catering purposes.
New Book details the long hard path to the ICC
French Surgeon Christophe Oberlin
French surgeon Christophe Oberlin has written a book on the difficult path to get Israeli war crimes investigated by the ICC (International Criminal Court).
The English translation is now available online here:
New Zealander Julie Webb-Pullman, who has been involved in collecting evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, will speak briefly about the book at the national PSNA meeting in Auckland on 27/28 March. We will have more details in a future newsletter.
There is more information about the book in this article from Middle East Monitor.
An interesting meeting on zoom coming up in early March
It will be on the zoom link below from 9.30pm (NZ time) on Thursday 4 March.
Resources on the internet
Gill Baillie has sent us this link to a series of excellent resources she has helped produce from her experiences in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to give school students a better understanding of life in occupied Palestine. If you have contact with any social studies or history teachers please pass on the link to them.
Important stories from the net
German artists facing censorship for supporting Palestinian human rights
Palestine human rights groups delighted at the ICC decision to investigate Israeli war crimes
World Federation of Trade Unions supports for the release of all Palestinian child prisoners
British academics and Israeli citizens reject their government’s imposition of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism
There is no right to a state
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
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
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)
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 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)