PSNA Newsletter No 77 - August 16 2022
16 Heriturikōkā 2022
16 August 2022
Newsletter No 77
Kia ora koutou,
Medical Aid Appeal for Gaza - $3,500 raised so far –
we can do better yet!
Can you get family and friends to chip in and donate to this campaign?
We know the medical situation is critical, already degraded from 17 years of Israel‘s blockade Gaza needs urgent support. The money donated will be spent on the medical priorities set by Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
Dr Medhat Abbas from Gaza’s Health Ministry joined us on a PSNA national committee meeting last week and explained the crisis in terms of the reduction in power supplies, the abandoning elective surgery to deal with the victims of Israel’s attack – over 300 people needing emergency hospital care
Dr Medhat Abbas from Gaza’s Ministry of Health
As well as dealing with the hundreds of injured Palestinians from Israel’s latest attacks on Gaza the area’s health services have to cope with power outages (only 4 hours power each day), closed borders preventing medical supplies getting through and seriously degraded hospital services from 17 years of Israel’s inhumane blockade.
We are asking PSNA supporters to donate generously to this fundraising appeal which will provide practical support and relief for Palestinians fighting for freedom.
Account Name: Kia ora Gaza Trust
Account Number: 03-0211-0447718-000
Email: office@kiaoragaza.net with your deposit details so we can send you an e-receipt.
Government response to Israel’s orgy of violence against Gaza was late and failed to hold Israel to account
Our government is still looking the other way when Israel launches vicious attacks on Palestinians. Their response to the most recent orgy of violence against Palestinians launched by Israel only came after a ceasefire was announced and after Israel had killed of dozens of Palestinians. It also failed to lay the blame squarely with Israel where it belonged.
What you can do now to help with just a couple of clicks…
Copy and paste this email to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Kia ora Ms Mahuta,
n.mahuta@ministers.govt.nz
I was disappointed in the government response to the vicious, unprovoked attack on Gaza which led to the deaths of dozens of Palestinians – including many children.
While the government did acknowledge the Palestinian children killed in this latest violent attack, the tweet did not come till after a ceasefire was announced and was therefore too late to have any impact. It looked like the government was simply “going through the motions”.
Most worryingly the tweet did not identify Israel as responsible for launching this attack on an area Israel occupies in violation of international law. (A “besieged” or “blockaded” area is generally regarded as “occupied” under international law) Your silence on Israel’s culpability makes it difficult for people to understand what is going on.
There was no such delay or ambiguity when Russia invaded Ukraine. The government response was quick and forthright in its condemnation of the invasion. We want to see the same accountability for Israel which the government demands of Russia. The Israeli occupation of Palestine is the longest military occupation in modern history and the government must treat it as such.
Can you give an assurance the government will respond in a more timely and effective way in future to such Israeli aggression?
<Your name>
Stopping ethnic cleansing in Masafer Yatta
Thanks to everyone who came to our local rallies around the country in opposition to ethnic cleansing in Masafer Yatta. Meanwhile we had an excellent online rally with solidarity messages from a wide range of groups around New Zealand.
Sami Hurraini, co-founder of Youth of Sumud (“steadfastness”) who are active resisting the ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta.
Local Palestinian student Rawaa El Hanafy hosted the event with lifelong Māori activist and Principal of Te Rangi Aniwaniwa School, Hilda Halkyard-Harawira doing the mihi.
Overseas speakers were Sami Hurraini, co-founder of Youth of Sumud (“steadfastness”) (see picture above), and Manal Shqair, International advocacy officer for Stop the Wall Campaign in Colonized Palestine.
Sami talked about the importance of international solidarity and thanked the people of New Zealand for their support. The local people of Masafer Yatta are determined to resist the theft of their land and local groups here pledged their support for the struggle in Masafer Yatta and support for the wider Palestinian struggle.
Local speakers were Ahmed Saadeh – Spokesperson for Palestinians in Aotearoa Co-ordinating Committee; Fathi Hassneiah – Palestine Youth Aotearoa; Duncan Webb – Labour Member of Parliament and Chief Government Whip; John Minto – National Chair Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa; Roger Fowler – Organiser for Kia Ora Gaza; Richard Wagstaff – President of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions; Brian Turner – Methodist Church minister; Janfrie Wakim – Palestine Human Rights Campaign and Julie Webb-Pullman – Human rights activist who is working with Gaza Centre for Human Rights to gather evidence of Israeli war crimes.
Roger Fowler from Kia Ora Gaza
Roger Fowler finished the webinar with his marvellous protest anthem “We are all Palestinians”.
Fathi Hassneiah from Palestine Youth Aotearoa speaks at the Auckland rally to Defend Masafer Yatta
The Christchurch rally featured a new banner we will almost certainly need to use again…
New Plymouth activists rally for Masafer Yatta
If you haven’t already done so - 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
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
16-year-old Palestinian killed by Israeli settler fire witnesses claim here
BDS gives strength to our struggle – donate here
Israel kills three resistance fighters in Nablus – one teen in Hebron here
Twitter locks account of Palestine Chronicles Editor Dr Ramsy Baroud here
Global call to end US military “aid” and weapons sales to Israel here
West is enabling an orgy of violence against Palestinians here
Join the global call to President Biden and US congress to end all military “aid” and weapons sales to the Israeli occupation forces here
The aftermath in Gaza here
Israel heads further right with 30-40 percent of young supporting fascistic Jewish Party here
Israel’s Gaza bombing death images here
Israeli military alert after Khalil Awawdeh back to hospital here
Khalil Awawdeh in highly critical condition here
Why Israel hates the Palestinians so much here
On the train to freedom – Salah Hammourui writes from prison here
Israel’s friends struggle to justify unprovoked attack that killed 16 children here
Israel normalizing terror one dawn at a time here
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)