PSNA Newsletter No 50 - July 6, 2021
6 July 2021
Newsletter No 50
Kia ora PSNA Supporter
The 40th anniversary of the 1981 Springbok Tour is very close now and we need your help to publicise it…
Something you can do right now – with just a few clicks…
Please help circulate these two posters on social media. The first is the poster for the national tour which has details of the main meetings and the second one is the poster for the day in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) - a special part of the 1981 Springbok tour protests.
1) The national PSNA poster:
2) The local Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) poster for the whole day.
Launch of Palestine Youth Aotearoa
A large crown turned out at the Fickling Centre in Mt Albert last Sunday to launch Palestinian Youth Aotearoa.
Trolls and Shills are paid by Israel to tell lies and spread misinformation
If you were wondering what the word shill means here it is:
Shill: “an accomplice of a confidence trickster or swindler who poses as a genuine customer to entice or encourage others”
It’s an accurate description for the tens of thousands of Israelis who are paid to spread lies about Palestine and Palestinians and to attack anyone calling for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) action to require Israel to abide by international law and United Nations resolutions.
We’ve all seen these shills and trolls on social media and the good thing is it shows the growing desperation in Israel to try to defend its racism, apartheid and brutality against Palestinians. The colonial, settler state is under greater pressure than ever as its narrative is falling apart across the globe.
As usual Israel is fighting back with lies and false smears of anti-semitism. Here is a story giving an up-to-date account of their activities.
Censorship at Scientific American
And here is more about Israel’s attempts to stifle the voices of Palestinians. The story is headed “Scientific American retracted pro-Palestine article without any actual errors”.
A Palestinian child, wounded by Israeli air strikes, is treated in Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Read about it in this article from The Intercept.
And yet more Israeli attempts to stifle criticism of its policies…
And here is a third example of Israeli attempts at censorship – in this case it failed.
It’s a message to the Twitter account of BDS Australia.
On the positive side of the beautiful game
Here is a photo of the Palestina Football Team in Chile who have replaced the number 1 on their shirts with a map of historic Palestine!
Israel arrests Palestinian rights lawyer after anti-Abbas protest
Abuse of human rights comes second nature to the Israeli regime as they try to stifle opposition to Israeli policies as well as defend the Palestinian Authority which does Israel’s security work in the occupied Palestinian Territories.
Israel stalls Palestinian elections
There is a desperate need for Palestinian elections - the last election was in 2006 when Hamas was elected to power in Gaza while a coalition of Palestinian groups were elected in the West Bank.
Elections were announced earlier this year and were due to be held from late May. However Israel is refusing to allow Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem – 150,000 Palestinian voters – to vote so the elections are on hold.
Israel is worried Palestinian voters will elect new leaders and a strong new direction rather than the old Palestinian Authority figures Israel knows it can manipulate. The US and the EU refuse to intervene because they too want a compliant Palestinian leadership rather than a new positive direction.
No response yet from Andrew Little
We are waiting for a response from the Minister for the Response to the 2015 Terror Attack, Andrew Little, as to why Juliet Moses, apologist for anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism, was allowed to speak at a counter-terrorism hui in Christchurch. Moses’ her nasty comments trying to link Palestinian solidarity protests with terrorism sparked a walkout. We will keep you posted on this.
Over $9,000 raised so far in our appeal for the Gaza Centre for Human Rights whose offices were targeted and destroyed by Israel
We have now collected over NZ$9,000 for this appeal. The money has been warmly welcomed and has been received in Gaza. The Centre is getting itself back on its feet again in its role of collecting evidence for war crimes prosecutions from the latest Israeli outrages.
Donations are still welcome.
Account name: PALESTINE SOLIDARITY NETWORK
Account number: 38-9015-0849542-02 (Please put GCHR in the reference)
Ambulances Appeal for Gaza – please donate if you can
After the savage 11-day heavy bombardment of Gaza, the killing of 256 Palestinians, including 66 children there is a desperate need for medical supplies to Gaza. Kia Ora Gaza are co-ordinating the fundraising here in New Zealand. They have raised over NZ$30,000 so far.
Please donate now with a direct payment to their bank account: Kia Ora Gaza Trust, 03-0211-0447718-000, Westpac Bank. Afterwards, email office@kiaoragaza.net with your deposit details so they can send you an e-receipt.
More details are here on the Kia Ora Gaza website
Close the Israeli Embassy
Remember our campaign to close the Israeli embassy in Wellington.
1) Sign the petition to close the Israeli embassy. The petition is on-line here and is in English and Arabic or use the QR code here.
2) Share the petition on social media – the FB event link is here.
Solidarity with Palestine by Artists, Cultural Workers and Scholars of Aotearoa New Zealand
Remember to please help circulate this statement of solidarity with Palestine. It is aimed particularly at Artists, Cultural Workers and Scholars.
They can read and sign on to the statement at this link.
This has been organised by Dr Rand T Hazou, Senior Lecturer in Theatre, School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University
Stories from the Web
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 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)