PSNA Newsletter No 75 - July 19 2022
19 Hōngongoi 2022
19 July 2022
Newsletter No 75
Kia ora koutou,
Another urgent call to action for Masafer Yatta
Palestinian boy Ayoub sits by his demolished home in Al-Fakheet village in Masafer Yatta
As we reported in our last newsletter Israel has begun its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Masafer Yatta – an area with eight Palestinian villages under immediate threat 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.
Thank you to everyone who wrote to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from our last newsletter – we know this crisis is on the government’s radar.
Three things you can do now to help defend Masafer Yatta
1) Join the PSNA on-line rally in support of Masafer Yatta. This will include Sami Hurraini, co-founder of Youth of Sumud (“steadfastness”) speaking directly from occupied Palestine. Details of other speakers will be in our next newsletter.
The online rally is on Saturday 6th August, 7pm (NZ time) at this zoom link or pwd=RkRUMUR2OStJa2xENEVNNVdrRzZvdz09
Put the date and time in your diary NOW.
2) Send a brief message of support to the people of Masafer Yatta. These messages will be translated into Arabic and forwarded to the people under threat of ethnic cleansing. Email your message of support to manal@stopthewall.org
3) Send a note to your local Member of Parliament inviting them on the zoom call and asking them to send a message of support to the people of Masafer Yatta.
Write your own message or you could send this message:
Subject - "Ethnic Cleansing in Masfer Yatta - occupied Palestine"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
<MP name>
Use this template Firstname.lastname@parliament.govt.nz or go here to find your MP’s email address.
Kia ora <MP name>
Israel has begun ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Masafer Yatta in occupied Palestine. This is the largest ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in over 50 years. It is a grave violation of international law and United Nations resolutions.
Aotearoa New Zealand has a responsibility to take action NOW in support of these people who are living under the longest military occupation in modern human history.
As my political representative I am asking you to
Send a message of support to the people of Masafer Yatta at this email address manal@stopthewall.org
Join the online rally in support of Masafer Yatta on Saturday 6th August at 7pm. The zoom link is here https://zoom.us/j/8176053789
Request the Minister of Foreign Affairs speak out now and demand Israel stop this theft of Palestinian land.
Please respond as soon as possible.
<your name>
Local rallies to defend Masafer Yatta
Auckland: Saturday 6 August, 2pm, Aotea Square. Facebook event here
New Plymouth: Saturday 6 August, 12 noon, Puke Ariki landing. Facebook event here
Napier: Saturday 30 July, 11am at intersection Tennyson Street and Marine Parade, Napier. Facebook event here
Nelson: Saturday 6 August at the Nelson Market, 10am to 12 noon. Facebook event here
Christchurch: Saturday 6 August, 12 noon, Bridge of Remembrance, Cashel Street. Facebook event here
More background on Masafer Yatta
PSNA National Chair John Minto wrote in a New Zealand Herald article last week about the common theme of colonisation in Aotearoa and Palestine. The article is behind a paywall but we have put it on our website at this link.
JCB and Volvo bulldozers demolish homes in Masafer Yatta here
Hyundai and Hitachi bulldozers demolish two Palestinian homes in Om Qussa village in Masafer Yatta here
Israeli live-fire military training in Masafer Yatta here
Ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta reveals Israel’s new annexation strategy in Palestine here
Biden’s visit to Israel, the occupied Palestinian Territories and Saudi Arabia
Israeli human rights group B’Tselem put up billboards to give Biden a clear message…
There were low expectations for US President Biden’s visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank. Biden did nothing to change that expectation. Here are a few articles which discuss his visit:
Biden is in Israel for the campaign money, not US interests, here
Biden’s words make war with Iran more likely here
Zionists not welcome – Palestinians reject Biden’s Bethlehem visit here
Repeating the colonial mistakes of the past here
Strong support for Israel is no longer good politics in Michigan here
Biden’s moment of truth about Palestine here
Israeli brutality against Palestinian children
This tweet from Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer speaks for itself.
Rejecting bogus claims of terrorism
Meanwhile nine European Union countries have rejected Israel’s bogus claims that six Palestinian civil society organisations are terrorist groups. It is Israel which runs terror campaigns against Palestinians – these six groups are simply effective in speaking out about Palestinian Human rights. This is “terrorism” in Israel’s eyes.
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
If you don’t need a billet please email Bronwen anyway to let her know you are coming. This will make the organisation of lunch easier.
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!
Important stories from the Web
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)