PSNA Newsletter No 63 - January 25 2022
25 Kohitātea 2022
25 January 2022
Newsletter No 63
Kia ora Palestinian Human Rights supporters
Ethnic cleansing, war crimes and human rights abuses in government agricultural event
We have been deeply concerned to learn of an online event next month called Israel and New Zealand: Embracing Agri-technologies through partnership, organized by Agritech New Zealand, at which the Chief Science Advisor to the Ministry of Primary Industries, John Roche, is scheduled to speak.
We have issued a media release describing this a “a celebration of ethnic cleansing, war crimes and human rights abuses”.
“Our government and farming groups should be demanding Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their land instead of helping Israel profit from this stolen land”.
Something you can do now with just a couple of clicks…
Send an email to Minister of Primary Industries, Damien O’Connor, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, calling for Aotearoa New Zealand to withdraw from this event. You can write your own letter or copy and paste this letter to Damien O’Connor at d.oconnor@ministers.govt.nz and n.mahuta@ministers.govt.nz
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Nanaia Mahuta
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Damien O’Connor
Minister of Agriculture
Kia ora Ms Mahuta and Mr O’Connor,
Aotearoa New Zealand must withdraw from celebration of ethnic cleaning, war crimes and human rights abuses
We have been deeply concerned to learn of an online event on 16/16 February called Israel and New Zealand: Embracing Agri-technologies through partnership, at which the Chief Science Advisor to the Ministry of Primary Industries, John Roche, is scheduled to speak.
This is an outrage.
Israel is a racist, apartheid state and Aotearoa New Zealand should not be co-operating with an Israeli agriculture sector based on:
· Abuse of International law. (eg Illegal Jewish-only settlements built on occupied Palestinian land)
· War crimes (eg Illegal settlement building on occupied Palestinian land is a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court)
· Violation of United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. (eg UNGA 194, UNSC 242. UNSC 2334)
· Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land and the blatant refusal to allow refugees to return to their land (UNGA 194)
· Frequent racist attacks by Israeli settlers, backed by the Israeli Defence Force, on Palestinian farmers (eg here, here, here and here
· Seizure of water supplies and blatant theft of water from Palestinian farmers. (eg here and here)
· Destruction of Palestinian crops and olive groves (eg here, here, and here)
· Instances of draining sewage onto Palestinian land and crops (eg here and here)
· Indiscriminate aerial spraying of Palestinian farmland along the border with Gaza. (eg here, here, here, and here)
Groups like Agritech New Zealand and the Aotearoa New Zealand government should be supporting the Palestinian struggle just as New Zealanders supported the international struggle against apartheid South Africa.
We request the Ministry of Primary Industries withdraw from this online event and decline to take part in similar future events till everyone living in historic Palestine has equal rights.
Please respond urgently.
(Your name)
Solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah!
(Another solidarity action you can take with just a few clicks)
Israel is continuing its policies of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from East Jerusalem with the demolition of the Salhiyeh family home in Sheikh Jarrah.
The demolished Salhiyeh family home in East Jerusalem
This Friday, 28 January, show your solidarity with Palestinians living in East Jerusalem by either:
· taking a photo of yourself with the hashtags #SheikhJarrah and #SaveSheikhJarrah
· making a short video of yourself (up to 40s) expressing support for Sheikh Jarrah (use information from the newslink above for background information)
and post your picture or video onto the PSNA Facebook page post here
Fat Freddy’s Drop pull out of Sydney Festival
Fat Freddy’s Drop
Thanks to everyone who sent messages to Fat Freddy’s Drop from our last newsletter asking them to withdraw from the Sydney Festival which was sponsored by the Israeli government.
Fat Freddy’s Drop did withdraw but cited pandemic problems rather than the calls to boycott the festival. They declined to comment publicly. This was disappointing because over 40 other artists and performers pulled out of the Festival for principled reasons in a huge show of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Here are some of the stories to emerge from this hugely successful Sydney Festival boycott campaign:
· The PSNA initial request to Fat Freddy’s Drop is here
· The NZ Herald report is here
· Fat Freddy’s Drop withdrawal was reported here
· Reporting of the successful boycott campaign by Mondoweiss is here, from Electronic Intifada is here and from John Menadue is here
· Support for the boycott from Jewish voices is here
PSNA extends its warm congratulations to the Sydney Festival campaign organising committee which spearheaded the boycott.
A Palestinian voice in the mainstream media
Tameem Shaltoni
It was good to see a Palestinian narrative in Aotearoa New Zealand’s mainstream media last week. Normally it is pro-Israeli voices which dominate media coverage of the Middle East with Palestinian New Zealanders effectively shut out of any reportage or discussion.
Tameem Shaltoni has told the powerful and moving story of his family’s experience during the 1948 Nakba. The link is here.
Tameem’s story is a dramatic reinforcement to the archival material released last week in which Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion declared Israel’s intent to “wipe out” Palestinian villages during the 1948 Nakba while another Minister said he could 'forgive instances of rape' by Israeli forces although he disapproved of the stealing of jewellery from Palestinian women! More details are here.
NOTE: These Israeli government comments were meant to be kept classified but were accidently released after a technical glitch.
Football for Freedom raises money for Gazan football clubs.
The Tamaki Makaurau Palestinian community celebrates
Football for Freedom’s annual soccer tournament was held in Auckland last weekend to raise funds for the Al-Ahli Football Club in Gaza, Palestine. It was a huge success – here are a few pics from the event.
Wellington event to remember Archbishop Desmond Tutu
A memorial event for South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu is being organized at St Peters Church (cnr of Willis and Ghuznee Streets) Wellington on Tuesday 15 February (date TBC) 5.30pm – 7.30pm. PSNA National Chair John Minto will be one of the speakers. We will have confirmed details in our next newsletter but Wellington supporters should keep this date free in the meantime. It will be great to see you there.
PSNA National Chair meeting Tutu in South Africa in 2009
Hisham Abu Hawash ends 140-day hunger strike after Israel agrees to his release
Hisham Abu Hawash on Day 138 of his hunger strike
In our last newsletter we reported on Hisham Abu Hawash and his 140 plus days of hunger strike against his “administrative detention” (detention without trial) by Israel. Hisham ended his hunger strike when Israel finally agreed to his release. More details are here.
PSNA makes solidarity donation to legal costs for Palestinian activists in the UK
Earlier this week the PNSA National Committee made a solidarity donation of $200 to Palestine Action in the UK. We have reported in previous newsletters on the inspiring and effective campaign they are waging against the huge Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems Limited which has factories in the UK.
The Palestine Action website is here and their latest court success has been reported here.
Dates for Palestine Solidarity in 2022
The following are the dates for likely local and national Palestine solidarity activity this year. They will be able to be found on the PSNA Calendar here in the near future.
30 Mar Land Day Palestine
5 Apr Palestinian Childs Day
9 Apr Deir Yassin massacre - Irgun Terrorism - 107-120 Palestinian men, women and children massacred
17 Apr Palestinian Prisoners Day
11 May World Kufiya Day
15 May Nakba Day – marking the mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Palestine in 1948
5 Jun Naksa Day - Start of 1967 War - Land Grab – Invasion of Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza, Egypt and Syria - 5 June 1967 – 10 June 1967
20 Jun Attack on Gaza - 6–21 May 2021 (2 weeks and 1 day)
28 Sep Second Intifada - 28 Sept 2000 – 8 Feb 2005
2 Nov Balfour Declaration
29 Nov United Nations - International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
8 Dec "First Intifada - 8 Dec 1987 – 13 Sept 1993
Important stories from the Web
Second court victory in campaign to drive Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems Limited, from the UK here
Police tear down Palestinian home in Sheikh Jarrah here
Israel’s genocidal intent against Palestinians is confirmed here
Israel’s first Prime Minister Ben Gurion declared Israel’s intent to “wipe out” Palestinian villages during the Nakba here
What Gabrial Boric’s victory in Chile will mean for Palestine here
Major US foundations donate $105 million to Islamophobic groups here
Israel’s war of attrition against Palestinian children 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)