PSNA Newsletter No 41 - March 9, 2021
9 March 2021
Newsletter No 41
Kia ora PSNA Supporter
Put down the brickbat – we have a bouquet for the New Zealand Superfund!
Last week the New Zealand Superfund announced it had withdrawn its investments from five Israeli banks because of their complicity in the building of illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
This is a marvellous decision and a tribute to the hard work from Palestine solidarity activists who have been pressuring the Superfund over this issue.
We want you to say thanks to the Superfund! You can write your own note or you can cut and paste this email to the Superfund via their Head of Communications Catherine Etheredge.
Matt Whineray
Chief Executive Officer
New Zealand Superfund
c/o cetheredge@nzsuperfund.co.nz
Kia ora Mr Whineray,
Congratulations on the principled decision by the New Zealand Superfund to withdraw investments from five Israeli banks complicit in funding illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.
This decision has been welcomed by Palestinians because it spells out clearly there are consequences for Israeli companies complicit in grave breaches of Palestinian human rights.
Thank you for this important moral and ethical decision.
I encourage you to also look more closely at the investments New Zealand Superfund has in the 112 companies identified by the United Nations Human Rights Council as being complicit in illegal settlement building and maintenance on Palestinian land.
It is important the New Zealand Superfund also withdraws investments from these companies.
I look forward to hearing from you on this.
Nga mihi mahana.
<Your name>
International reaction and coverage to the Superfund decision
This is an important story here in New Zealand and has been reported here and here for example but has also been widely reported around the world in the Electronic Intifada here and the Palestine Chronicle here
“GAZA” – new film on release in New Zealand this week!
This marvellous new film is being released across New Zealand this week – from 11 March. Details of local screenings can be found at https://gaza.film/screenings and the film trailer is here.
From the publicity material:
“Gaza takes us to a unique place beyond the reach of television news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters, offering us a cinematic and enriching portrait of a people attempting to lead meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict”
Imprisoning a Generation parliamentary film screening
As we reported in the last newsletter Wellington Palestine have arranged a screening of the award-winning film “Imprisoning a Generation” at parliament. The screening is on Wednesday 24th March at 5.30pm in the Beehive theatrette at Parliament Buildings and is hosted by Green MP Golriz Ghahraman.
Wellington Palestine are concerned the venue, which seats 120, will be unable to hold all those wanting to attend so have requested we do not invite our local MPs beyond those they have already invited.
It should be a great evening and we will report on it after the event.
PSNA National Meeting – 27/28 March in Auckland – please note the change of venue!
More details have been worked out for this first post-Covid face-to-face PSNA national meeting to be held on 27/28 March. The main details are:
Saturday 27 March and Sunday 28 March,
Grey Lynn Library Hall,
474 Great North Road, Auckland.
As we reported in the last newsletter, 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 (a special highlight of the meeting!), Film screening of the marvellous movie “Gaza Fights for Freedom” and a Dabka Dance group. We will also have Palestinians joining us on-line from Palestine.
Haneen Zoabi
One of these speakers will be Palestinian Israeli Haneen Zoabi who has been a determined fighter for Palestinian rights and was a former MP in the Israeli parliament – the Knesset.
Sunday Morning:
Review of our strategy, elections for national committee and a political panel of New Zealand MPs and former Australian Labour Party minister Bob Carr – on zoom from Australia
We encourage as many people to come as possible to what will be a marvellous get together.
We are continuing to monitor the situation in Auckland closely and we will need to reschedule if Auckland is not at Covid Level One for the national meeting.
However, remember if the worst happens you won’t lose any money from booked tickets that have to be cancelled – the flight credit will be able to be used for at least 12 months.
Registration:
Please register as early as you can with our National Secretary Neil Scott at Secretary@PSNA.nz so we know numbers for catering purposes and if you are from out of Auckland please let Neil know if you require a billet so these can be arranged as early as possible.
Remember 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.
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
We are including this item in the newsletter once more (it was covered in the previous newsletter) because we have had feedback to say how important it is for supporters of Palestinian human rights to push back against anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism.
At this link you can read about the deep-seated anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism within the New Zealand Jewish Council.
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.
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)
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 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)