PSNA Newsletter No 74 - July 05 2022
5 Hōngongoi 2022
5 July 2022
Newsletter No 74
Kia ora koutou,
URGENT CALL TO ACTION
Israel has begun its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Masafer Yatta – an area with eight Palestinian villages and over 1000 residents.
This is Israel’s largest ethnic cleansing operation against Palestinians since 1967.
It is part of Israel’s colonial project – to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land in favour of Jewish settlers.
There is a big international campaign underway to fight racism and apartheid in Israel and to
Defend Masafer Yatta
Here is the latest update from on the ground.
For a week, Israeli soldiers along with their guns, bulldozers, military jeeps, tanks and helicopters have been invading Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta. This is part of the live-fire military training that started on June 21, 2022 and will last for two more weeks.
The Israeli army’s military training is being carried out in the villages of Jinba, Al-Markez and Al-Majaz. The three villages are among the eight located in what Israel classifies as Firing Zone 918. On May 4, 2022, Israel’s Supreme Court issued a decision to ethnically cleanse Palestinians living in the eight villages, who number over 1000 people.
According to local residents, the military training has badly affected their daily lives. Residents of the villages are no longer able to graze their herds as the military training is being carried out on their grazing land. Movement of people inside and outside the villages is highly restricted as the Israeli army has set up military tents between Palestinian homes.
We are part of this international campaign. We are joining hands with people around the world to defeat Israeli racism and oppression in Masafer Yatta.
Here are two things you can do now with just a few clicks…
Ms Ardern and Ms Mahuta
1. Email this letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta
j.ardern@ministers.govt.nz
n.mahuta@ministers.govt.nz
and copy in your local Member of Parliament which you can find here
Kia ora Ms Ardern kōrua ko Ms Mahuta,
Demand Israel End the Ethnic Cleansing of Masafer Yatta
I am urging you to speak out and condemn Israel’s ethnic cleansing operation against Palestinians in Masafer Yatta.
This is the largest ethnic cleansing by Israel for more than 50 years.
In the last days in Masafer Yatta the Israeli military has terrorized the population with 'military exercises', invading the lands, preparing for the final expulsion!
Aotearoa New Zealand has not before spoken strongly against Israel’s racist, apartheid policies towards Palestinians. The time is NOW.
Palestinians do not need sympathy after the expulsions. They need solidarity NOW.
Show courage and pride in standing up for human rights and make everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand proud!
Please respond without delay.
<your name>
2. Post this poster on social media with this link
Masafer Yatta Solidarity in Ōtautahi, Christchurch
Palestine Solidarity Ōtautahi are organising a rally and march in solidarity with Masafer Yatta. It is on Saturday 6 August, 12noon at the Bridge of Remembrance in Cashel Street.
Christchurch supporters mark this on your calendar now!
More details for action in other centres in the next newsletter!
Flying the Palestinian flag - a small but welcome change at Foreign Affairs
After receiving heavy criticism for their advice to City Councils that flying the Palestinian flag on council buildings during this year’s Nakba Day (15 May) would give offence to the Israeli Embassy, Foreign Affairs have had a change of heart.
Instead of recommending against a council flying the flag they will now simply “provide New Zealand’s International policy settings” to councils.
This is a small but welcome change. Councils will be able to make their own decisions and take into account the sensitivities of Palestinian New Zealanders, not just the risk of giving offence to the embassy of a racist, apartheid regime.
By way of background Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa wrote to all councils earlier this year requesting they fly the Palestinian flag on Nakba* (Arabic for “catastrophe”). Wellington City Councillor Tamatha Paul organised for the Michael Fowler Centre to be lit up in Palestinian colours (because the council had no flagpole!) but this was abandoned when MFAT advice was received.
Justice for Palestine activists in Wellington then projected the flag onto the side of Te Papa in response to the council decision.
The one council which did fly the Palestinian flag was New Plymouth District Council – and the sky did not fall in (see picture below)
* Nakba Day remembers the campaign of ethnic cleansing of over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and villages by Israeli militias in 1948. Dozens of massacres took place as more than 500 villages were emptied in an Israeli military offensive titled Plan Dalet.
Decision on observer status at IHRA is a step backwards
The government decision to take on observer status at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is a step backwards in the fight against anti-semitism and the struggle for Palestinian human rights.
The IHRA is a partisan, political organisation working hard to deflect criticism of Israel’s racist policies towards Palestinians with false smears of anti-semitism.
For example the IHRA has adopted its own definition of anti-semitism which claims calling Israel an apartheid state (as every major international human rights group such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch does) or calling for sanctions against Israel is anti-semitic.
The New Zealand Jewish Council and the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand have already adopted this bogus IHRA definition which they used in a so-called “survey of anti-semitism” earlier this year to make the absurd claims that describing Israel as an apartheid state or calling for sanctions against Israel were anti-semitic.
Palestinian civil society organisations called for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) in 2005 to build international pressure to require Israel to abide by international law and United Nations resolutions. BDS was an important part of the fight against apartheid in South Africa and is also an important strategy in the fight against apartheid in Israel.
The three aims of BDS are to end Israel’s military occupation, end its apartheid policies towards Palestinians and allow Palestinian refugees to return to the land and homes from which they were ethnically cleansed by Israel in 1948.
This legitimate and successful BDS strategy is fiercely opposed by Israel which is weaponizing the Holocaust against Palestinian demands for human rights.
Needless to say, Palestinians had no role in the Holocaust whose cause was European anti-semitism.
By joining the IHRA Aotearoa New Zealand is undermining the fight against anti-semitism and racism of all kinds.
The government has caved in to relentless bullying and threats of false smears of anti-semitism from the pro-Israel lobby.
Joining the IHRA is a weak, cowardly decision.
Remember PSNA National Meeting – 8/9 October in Christchurch
Our national meeting will be on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th October in Christchurch at WEA – 59 Gloucester Street, Central Christchurch. The meeting itself will go from Saturday morning till Sunday lunchtime.
We are keen to have a great turnout from around the whole country, please make sure cost is not a barrier to any region or centre being represented – we are happy to pay airfares etc to make sure this can happen. All we ask is that people book as early as possible to keep the airfare cost down. Just book your fares and send the receipt to Neil and we will get it paid pronto.
We will be able to provide billets for people coming in from outside Christchurch for both the Friday and Saturday nights. Bronwen will co-ordinate these requests so just email her at bronwensummers@gmail.com
Looking forward to seeing you all in springtime in the Garden City!
Our Vision for Liberation
This is an outstanding book which documents what liberation looks like from Palestinian viewpoints.
A book review by Christchurch-based Lois Griffiths is here
It is presented by outstanding Palestinian author and activist Ramzy Baroud (who toured Aotearoa New Zealand several years back) and renowned Israeli historian Ilan Pappe. It is a not-to-be-missed publication!
We have purchased 50 copies for PSNA supporters and we are selling these at $35 per copy to cover our costs. To get your copy simply deposit $35 in our bank account here:
Account name: PALESTINE SOLIDARITY NETWORK
Account number: 38-9015-0849542-00
And then email secretary@PSNA.nz with your address and we will get your copy in the mail! Looking forward to hearing from you!
Reminder: Dates for Palestine Solidarity in 2022
Israel apartheid week has been added to the dates for likely local and national Palestine solidarity activity this year.
28 Mar – 4 Apr Israel Apartheid Week
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 Nakba 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)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
16-18 Sep 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres
28 Sep Second Intifada - 28 Sept 2000 – 8 Feb 2005
8/9 October PSNA National Meeting in Christchurch
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
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 PSN Bay of Islands (Email)
Whangarei PSN Whangarei (Facebook)
Auckland PSN 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 PSN Palmerston North (Email)
New Plymouth PSN Taranaki (Facebook)
Wellington PSN Wellington (Email)
Nelson Te Tau Ihu (Nelson) Palestine (Facebook)
Christchurch PSN Christchurch (Facebook)
Dunedin Dunedin for Justice in Palestine (Facebook)
Invercargill PSNA Invercargill (Email)