PSNA Newsletter No 60 - November 23, 2021
23 Whiringa-ā-rangi 2021
23 November 2021
Newsletter No 60
Kia ora Palestine Human Rights Supporter
Welcome to the newsletter. We hope you are all coping in these difficult times. Keep as safe as possible and look out for others who are struggling.
We are coming to the end of our busiest year yet and we are waiting to hear back from the government on several important issues we (and you our supporters) have raised with them in recent months.
More details in the next newsletter hopefully.
Israel’s outrageous attack on Palestinian human rights organisations
Thanks to everyone who wrote to our Labour MPs last month urging the government to speak out about this latest example of racist, human-rights-abusing behaviour from Israel’s apartheid regime. This issue remains a live hot topic of political debate across the world. Action from western nations, including Aotearoa New Zealand, is essential to protect and defend human rights for Palestinians.
Meanwhile the UN, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Palestinian NGO Network, and others protested this illegal decision. Here are just some video samples of what these great organizations do that Israeli apartheid deems dangerous (watch and be inspired) work):
Something you can do right now to support Palestinian human rights…
Go to the google drive folder here and select a picture to share online to condemn Israel’s attacks on Palestinian human rights organisations (We have selected the poster above from that google drive folder)
Apartheid – wrong for South Africans, wrong for Palestinians!
Our final meeting on this tour was held last weekend online. It was a fantastic event, chaired by Hilda Halkyard-Harawira and with talks from a wide range of people involved in the anti-apartheid protests from the 1980s. South African activist Mark Fredericks spoke about the impact of the tour protests in South Africa; Marx Jones, who flour-bombed the third test in Auckland, spoke about the Palestinian struggle; Chris McBride from the Wellington Media Collective reflected on the role of art in every protest movement; Tigilau Ness from the Polynesian Panthers and Hone Harawira from Patu Squad also spoke. Tigi sang the magnificent anthem “We are all Palestinians” and Don McGlashan gave a marvellous rendition of one of his signature songs “Dominion Road”.
PSNA National Chair, John Minto, gave a presentation on colonisation which he described as “Colonisation for Dummies”. He explained two of the key features of colonisation as “land and racism”. If one group of people is to come and force another off their land then they have to believe they are superior or more deserving – in other words they always have racist attitudes.
Here is what colonisation looked like in South Africa: After the abolition of apartheid in 1994, equal rights for everyone means segregated “homeland” areas have been abolished.
Here is what colonisation looks like in Aotearoa New Zealand: Aotearoa New Zealand has taken a new path of partnership with Māori and is moving away – albeit slowly – from colonisation. The Waitangi Tribunal is a key part of this process
Here is what colonisation looks like in Palestine today: Israel has turned what could have been a viable Palestinian state into a block of Swiss cheese through building 300 illegal settlements and outposts on Palestinian land – every day the racist, apartheid regime of Israel steals more Palestinian land.
No Tech for apartheid! NSO Group and Candiru
An international campaign is underway to expose and isolate Israeli companies NSO (which produces Pegasus software) and Candiru. NSO Group has been selling its Pegasus software to a range of vile regimes to use in campaigns against dissidents and human rights activists. Even the US government says NSO Group “poses a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States”
We have taken this up with the Aotearoa New Zealand government and written to the Ministers of Police, Defence, Security and Intelligence to seek assurances none of them are using any of this software. Here is the letter to government minister Andrew Little – we will keep you posted on the response we get.
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
18 November 2021
Andrew Little
Minister for National Security and Intelligence
Parliament Buildings
Wellington
a.little@ministers.govt.nz
Kia ora Mr Little,
Are Aotearoa New Zealand security and intelligence agencies involved with Israeli firms NSO or Candiru?
I’m writing to seek an assurance the New Zealand security and intelligence agencies are not using any software, services or contracts of any kind which have direct or indirect links to Israel-based companies NSO Group or Candiru.
Both companies have been identified as complicit in providing services to regimes for use in targeting human rights activists and organisations. NSO was called out by the United Nations earlier this year while Candiru has been linked, in the last few days, to attacks which target critics of autocratic regimes.
We know the New Zealand government has said it takes human rights seriously and therefore we look forward to receiving an assurance the New Zealand Security and intelligence agencies have no relationship of any kind, either directly or indirectly, with either NSO Group or Candiru.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Nā,
John Minto
National Chair
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
In the meantime here is a quick update on developments internationally:
Last week US authorities put NSO Group on an "entity list", stating they have “reasonable cause to believe, based on specific and articulated facts, that the entity has been involved, or is involved, or poses a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States”: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/03/nso-group-pegasus-spyware-us-blacklist
Following this the CEO-designate of the company has quit as well: https://www.reuters.com/technology/new-ceo-nso-spyware-firm-quits-citing-us-blacklist-israeli-media-say-2021-11-11/
Front Line Defenders has uncovered the use of Pegasus against 6 Palestinian human rights defenders, confirmed by Citizen Lab and Amnesty International: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/statement-report/statement-targeting-palestinian-hrds-pegasus
Major civil society organizations including Access Now and Human Rights Watch have reiterated their call on states to impose immediate moratorium on the use and sale of spyware technology (until safeguards are in place), in light of the above revelation: https://www.accessnow.org/human-rights-statement-pegasus-against-palestinians/
Edward Snowden interview https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/19/edward-snowden-calls-spyware-trade-ban-pegasus-revelations
UN experts call for moratorium on sale of ‘life threatening’ surveillance tech https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27379&LangID=E
Israel’s war on Palestinian children
According to international advocacy organisation Sumofus, there are now 85 Palestinian children are being held in prison without trial. Here is a report from Sumofus last week:
“Thirteen-year-old Muhammad Shadi Sa'adi was leaving a friend’s funeral when undercover police kidnapped, blindfolded, beat him, then threw him in prison.
Right now 85 Palestinian children and youth, just like Muhammad, are being held for crimes they didn't commit.
It’s all part of a deliberate Israeli campaign to terrorize Palestinian families. These children’s parents know the only way to bring their children home is to hire legal counsel to fight these bogus charges in court, but they don't have the funds to cover the costs. So they've asked for our help.
If enough of us chip in, we can work alongside Palestinian youth organization Baladna to urgently hire lawyers to free kids like Muhammad who’ve been locked up. Can you donate just a small amount to help set these kids free, and continue the fight for justice for Palestine?
The trauma is unimaginable. First, Muhammad watched his friend be murdered by police. Then, he was attacked on the street, blindfolded, and pushed into a car. For three hours they kept him blindfolded, shouting death threats and holding him at gunpoint.
The 85 other children in jail are all citizens of Israel, but are subjected to an entirely different legal system because they are Palestinian. This is what Apartheid Israel means: over 60 laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens alone.
Sadly, this is nothing new. Israel has been putting Palestinian children and youth in jail for 70 years, but since mass protests erupted across Palestine months ago, more and more children are paying a brutal price.
But now there’s a way we can fight back against this unjust system.
Israel knows that legal costs are expensive and that these families can’t afford the lawyers needed to get their children out of jail. That’s why these terrified families desperately need our help.
More information:
Video shows Israeli troops detaining Palestinian children. Associated Press. 11 March 2021.
‘Terrorising a generation’: Israel arresting Palestinian children. Al Jazeera. 28 May 2021.
United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Monday 29 November, 7.30pm to 9pm, online – see poster below – The link to the event is here.
Online via Zoom on Sunday 7 November 2021.
BDS boycott call for Miss Universe contest in Israel
The 2021 Miss Universe “contest” is to held in Israel in December. In a welcome move, the South African government has withdrawn support for Miss South Africa to take part and this has been welcomed by Palestinian human rights activists in South Africa.
At time of writing it appears there is no Miss Aotearoa New Zealand entrant for the event as our local pageant was cancelled due to the pandemic.
In an official statement this week South Africa's Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Cde Nathi Mthethwa, explained that:
“If anything, by withdrawing, Miss South Africa’s reputation and overall standing will be far more advanced in South Africa and internationally in comparison to a once off event [in Israel] that can prove disastrous to her future and public standing as a young, black woman...our first preference was to try and find each other so as to issue a joint media statement. This has regrettably been unsuccessful, hence the decision now to publicly distance [the South African] Government and the people of South Africa from Miss SA pageant organiser’s stance on this matter." [Find below the full and complete statement by South Africa's Department of Sports, Arts & Culture or click here].
The People’s Patriarch
“In the 26-minute film “The People’s Patriarch,” Michel Sabbah, the first Palestinian in 500 years to serve as the Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem, obliterates all illusion that Israel has any intention of ever letting up on the Palestinians and granting them statehood—or that the United States cares”
The film was made before the ‘Unity intifada” of 2021. More background to the film is here and the link to the film is above.
Stories from the Web
1. Today I visited our stolen home here
2. 100 Musicians and Authors sign statement against Israeli attack on Palestinian human rights organisations here
3. Banning human rights groups – South Africa and Israel compared here
4. Who will be Israel’s F W de Klerk? here
5. Open letter to Sally Rooney from Gaza here
6. Will the UN heed its rapporteurs’ warning on Israeli settlement war crimes? here
7. Support the Palestinian chess tournament in Shatila refugee camp here
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)