PSNA Newsletter No 85 - December 6 2022
6 Hakihea 2022
6 December 2022
Newsletter No 85
Kia ora koutou,
A triple bypass of morals and ethics
As 2022 comes to a close Palestinians face the harsh reality of increased oppression from the most extreme right-wing government ever to be installed in the apartheid state of Israel.
Former right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is back as PM and this time he is joined by the blatant racist Itamar Ben-Gvir, a Jewish settler once convicted of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization, as Minister of National Security and Bezalel Smotrich who, as well as finance has been given extensive powers over Israeli settlements and Palestinian construction in the West Bank – an appointment which has been described as tantamount to annexing areas of the West Bank.
Most commentators politely describe the leadership of the new regime as far-right or ultranationalist but a more accurate description would be fascist.
Details of these activities is here
Throughout the men's World Cup, let's keep the attention on Palestinian rights and call out the complicity of sporting bodies and companies like FIFA and PUMA in Israeli apartheid.
Make sure the Palestinian flag is flying high. Hang it alongside the flags of teams you support and share it on social media.
Remind fans to #BoycottPUMA over its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association, which governs over and advocates to maintain teams in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land.
Even before this new government has been installed, brutal attacks by Israeli settlers and the cold-blooded killing of Palestinians, has stepped up. Reports from the occupied West Bank say the Israeli occupying forces have become more callous, more vicious and more extreme than ever.
In the last week alone 10 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces in the occupied West Bank.
The main reason for the stepped up brutality is Netanyahu’s appointment of the extreme racist Itamar Ben-Gvir as Minister of National Security. Wikipedia summarises him here:
Ben-Gvir, an extremist who had faced dozens of charges of hate speech against Arabs, was known to have a portrait in his living room of Israeli-American terrorist Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Palestinian Muslim worshipers and wounded 125 others in Hebron, in the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre.
Since the recent election which brought Ben-Gvir to prominence, Israeli troops have taunted Palestinians and Israeli peace activists with threats Ben-Gvir will “sort them out”. With this vile racist as Minister of National Security effectively giving the green light to murder Palestinians the situation is getting more tense and dangerous for Palestinians.
We all need to be vigilant and ready to take solidarity action at short notice.
In the meantime find time to rest and celebrate the good things in life with friends and family over the next few weeks. The struggle will only intensify in the New Year.
Farha – essential viewing on Netflix
Farha is a movie by Jordanian filmmaker Darin Sallam which depicts an Israeli military force murdering a Palestinian family in a village during the 1948 Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”) when over 700,000 Palestinians were driven off their land by Israeli militias. Massacres of Palestinians by the Israeli military were routine over this period and the film focuses on one such incident.
It is based on a story recounted to Sallam's mother by a friend, living as a refugee in Syria, about her experience during the Nakba in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their homeland.
The film has appeared in several film festivals and is Jordan’s entry in the 2023 Oscars. It was released on Netflix on 1 December and is available to watch in New Zealand.
As to be expected, the pro-Israel lobby are furious the truth about the Nakba, which has always been suppressed in Israel, is beginning to get a wider public audience. Media reports here and here discuss the film and the Israeli reaction.
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Something you can do now with just a few clicks…
If you have Netflix organise a showing of Farha with your family, friends and neighbours over summer. (If you don’t have Netflix – organise this with someone who does!)
The movie has been put up on YouTube. It may be taken down soon. Click here to view it.
Give the film a high IMDB rating to counter the pro-Israeli attempts to downgrade the film – see the media reports above.
Al Haq launches landmark Palestinian report “Israeli Apartheid: Tool of Zionist Settler Colonialism”
Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation based in Ramallah, West Bank. Established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the organisation has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
On 29 November 2022, Al-Haq launched its inaugural coalition report titled: ‘Israeli Apartheid: Tool of Zionist Settler Colonialism’. Together leading Palestinian civil society organisations, Al-Haq Law in the Service of Man (Al-Haq), Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer), Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights (Al Mezan), Al-Quds University ‘Community Action Center’ (CAC), the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC), the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), and the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem (CCPRJ), in this report explore Israel’s settler colonial and apartheid regime imposed on the Palestinian people.
The full report can be downloaded here
Listen – this is what apartheid sounds like…
Watch and share the Palestine BDS movement’s soundtrack to Israeli apartheid. This is what apartheid sounds like!
Click on the link above the picture for the soundtrack.
Register here - https://bit.ly/3VoFslh
Looking for a last minute Xmas gift?
How about a copy of the marvellous book by Ramzy Baroud and Ilan Pappe? This is an exceptional book which documents what liberation looks like from multiple 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!
United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people – 29 November
Events were held around the country to mark this day with three local councils agreeing to fly the Palestinian flag – New Plymouth, Hastings and Whangarei. A few of the pictures from around the country follow:
The Palestinian flag flies high on the council flagpole outside the Hastings District Council
The important conjunction of the tino rangatiratanga flag and Palestinian flags at the New Plymouth District Council links two critical indigenous struggles
Dunedin City Councillor Steve Walker wears his Palestinian T-shirt on UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people after the council declined to fly the flag!
The team in Whangarei take action
The Auckland City Council declined to fly the Palestinian flag so local activists raised the flag on Auckland’s Queen Street beneath the council flagpole on the old Town Hall building.
Palestinian Youth Aotearoa
United Nations International day of Solidarity event at Parliament - December 6th
This event was hosted by Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman with MP's from the Green Party and Labour parties in attendance.
Representatives from a number of countries also honoured this day in the New Zealand parliament.
Palestinian Youth Aotearoa have uploaded a video of the even which can be found here
Please scroll through until the even starts.
The speech by the Palestinian Ambassador to New Zealand and Australia is interesting starting at 38 minutes in.
And the speech from Golriz starting at 47 minutes in needs to be listened to.
Israeli brutality on display in the occupied Palestinian city of Hebron
Last week Israeli soldiers were filmed beating Israeli activists who were supporting Palestinian human rights in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
When the film became public the soldiers were disciplined. AND THEN - the Israeli citizen who was assaulted by the soldier was placed under house arrest and Issa Amro, the person who filmed the incident, was summoned to the police station and arrested. Here he was beaten and kept in miserable conditions. He was released on Wednesday on a 1500 NIS ($440) bond while soldiers raided and vandalized his family home.
We had been preparing a fundraising campaign for Giving Tuesday to raise money for camera equipment – and to replace items stolen by Israeli settlers – and for other community projects. Instead, we had to focus on securing the freedom of human rights defender Issa Amro.
You can find out more at the Friends of Hebron here and you can make a donation to support Issa and other projects in Hebron here
Free the Holy Land Five!
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is one of the Palestinian civil society groups working to support Palestinian political prisoners. This campaign is to free the three remaining Holy Land Foundation 5 prisoners in the United States: Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu Baker and Mufid Abdelqader.
Samidoun says:
24 November 2022 marks 14 years since the Holy Land Foundation 5, five Palestinian community leaders, were convicted and imprisoned for providing charity — food and medicine — to orphans and widows in Palestine. Today, three of the five remain imprisoned, some with exceptionally long sentences. After the first jury hearing their case reached a mistrial, the second trial was an exceptional miscarriage of justice, in which the Holy Land 5 were convicted on the basis of anti-Palestinian propaganda, including the anonymous testimony of Israeli intelligence agents.
It is time to act. These three men remain behind bars, locked away from their communities and loving families, and we demand their freedom, alongside the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners. Like the prisoners of the Black Liberation Movement, Leonard Peltier, Alex Saab and others, the Holy Land 5 are political prisoners of U.S. imperialism.
More information about the campaign is here
Br Peter Bray’s visit in January February 2023 is being finalised
Details of Brother Peter Bray’s visit to Aotearoa New Zealand in January/February are still being finalised – we hope to have full details in our next newsletter. (Brother Peter is Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University in the occupied West Bank of Palestine)
In the meantime he is producing a series of three videos on life in Palestine. The first two are available here:
The first video is titled Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Place; Palestinians in the Holy Land, and can be viewed here.
The second video, ready today, is titled The Challenges of Ordinary People in Palestine and can be viewed here.
Palestine Solidarity Conference in Australia
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) invites you to join our 2023 Solidarity Conference!
For three days, we will be holding various workshops centred on the following:
* Palestinian narratives, demands and non-negotiables
* Building skillsets to better organise in AUS and NZ, and
* Planning for an International Day of Action for the 75th Nakba
Pricing:
Online: $20 AUD
In-person: $50 - 150 AUD
Register today to get updates on workshops that will be made available!
APAN Palestine Solidarity Conference, 2023 - building collective resistance
Cost AUS $50 to $150. Register here.
Important stories from the Web
One Israeli killed and dozens injured in two bombings hours after Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager here
Jerusalem’s last decade of revolt here
World Cup tensions for Israeli journalists here
Three martyrs in 24 hours here
Student in Jenin killed by Israeli occupation forces on his way to school here
Palestine activists launch campaign to free Holy-land Five members here
Dr Salman Abu Sitta speaks on “A Palestinian address to Balfour in honour of truth, memory and justice” here
One year organizing tech workers against Israeli apartheid here
IDF suspends soldiers for beating and taunting left-wing activists in Hebron here
Tantura movie on the Nakba here
Israel’s interior minister orders Palestinian lawyer to be deported to France here
Israeli forces have killed 8 Palestinians in the last three days here
Palestinian executed at point blank range by Israeli border police here
Israeli journalists at the Football World Cup here
2022 one of the deadliest years for Palestinians here
Oppose Marvel studios and their plan to make a film with and Israeli Mossad agent superhero here
Iilan Pappe on Israel’s new government 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
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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)