PSNA Newsletter No 88 - January 31 2023
1 Hui-tanguru 2023
1 February 2023
Newsletter No 88
Kia ora koutou,
Two weeks is a long time in politics and since our last newsletter we have a new Prime Minister and a new cabinet line-up – with the Foreign Affairs portfolio being retained by Nanaia Mahuta.
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Meanwhile the situation for Palestinians has deteriorated dramatically over the same time with Israeli occupation troops carrying out another massacre in Jenin – 9 killed in one raid – followed by a Palestinian gunman killing seven Israelis near a synagogue. The cause of the violence is, as always, the racist apartheid policies of Israel’s settler colonial regime.
New Zealand must finally speak out unequivocally on the side of the oppressed and we are asking our supporters to write to the new Prime Minister…
Something important you can do now with just a few clicks…
Copy and paste this message into an email to Chris Hipkins (or write your own message!)
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Hon Chris Hipkins
Prime Minister
c.hipkins@ministers.govt.nz
Kia ora Mr Hipkins,
Urgent need to reassess New Zealand’s policy on Palestine/Israel
Congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister.
As the new Prime Minister you are in a unique position to ensure a reassessment of New Zealand policy in the Middle East – something urgently needed.
I am very worried about the escalating danger to Palestinians with the new far-right Israeli regime on what could fairly be described as a racist rampage against Palestinians.
Over recent weeks the Israeli leadership has
Overseen the killing of at least 29 Palestinians including five children in January alone after more than 170 Palestinians, including at least 30 children, were killed across the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem last year.
Announced plans to encourage Israeli to arm themselves – something which will inevitably increase the toll on Palestinian lives and livelihoods.
Begun implementing the final ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron hills
Banned the Palestinian flag in public demonstrations
Organised a deeply provocative incursion into Al Aqsa Mosque compound – (led by the supporter of anti-Palestinian terrorism and new Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir)
Announced Palestinians will never have the right to self-determination in historic Palestine (Prime Minister Netanyahu had previously said that Israeli Jews have the exclusive right to self-determination in Israel by passing the so-called Nation State Law – now this is to be applied to all of the occupied West Bank) which will effectively be annexed
All these steps are in violation of international law and numerous United Nations resolutions. They are an open challenge to a rules-based international system which we so often say is important for a small country such as New Zealand.
We have raised with the Minister of Foreign Affairs the urgent need for a rethink on New Zealand’s policy towards Israel and Palestine and PSNA National Chair John Minto wrote about this in the New Zealand Herald earlier this year here .
We urge you to work with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and cabinet to ensure this reassessment of New Zealand policy becomes a reality and that New Zealand stands with Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid rather than looking the other way when grave crimes against humanity take place in Palestine.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Ngā mihi.
(your name)
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And a very warm thank you to our supporters who regularly take the action we request in each month’s newsletter…
We know these letters and communications have an important impact for Palestine.
So thank you – and before you read on please send the letter above to Prime Minister Chris Hipkins…
Also, please consider BCCing Secretary@PSNA.nz so we can track how many emails the Prime Minister receives.
Or forward your email to me after you have sent it to the Prime Minister.
With each newsletter, the number of emails sent grows.
The more emails we send, the more traction we get.
Nga mihi
Neil (Secretary)
Brother Peter Bray’s speaking tour this month!
As reported in earlier newsletters, Brother Peter is Vice Chancellor of Bethlehem University in the occupied West Bank of Palestine and is touring New Zealand in a visit organized by the New Zealand Catholic Bishop’s Conference.
He has produced a series of three videos on life in Palestine. The series is called Greetings from Palestine and can be viewed here and here and here.
Here is the poster advertising his New Zealand meetings. Please pass on the message to family and friends – he is an excellent speaker and the meetings are not to be missed.
"Normalizing Israel- Whose Agenda?"
The first MLN webinar for 2023 will take place on 25th February 2023 at 9pm (NZ time)
These webinars are excellent. More details in the next newsletter but put the time in your diary now.
The full range of webinars from 2022 can be found at the MLN website here
New Zealand support for statement against Israel’s punitive policies
After two awful votes at the United Nations last year where New Zealand abstained rather than vote with Palestine, it was good to see our government giving positive support to a statement expressing deep concern at the Israeli regime’s attacks on Palestinians after Palestinians were successful in having the United Nations General Assembly send the question of Israel’s long-term occupation to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion.
How to reduce racism online
One of our supporters sent us this link which looks at ways to reduce racism online.
It’s also a good time to remind ourselves of PSNA’s own social media guidelines here:
PSNA Social Media Guidelines
Social media is an unregulated space where there are many opportunities to get clear pro-Palestinian messages out to a wider audience than through traditional mainstream media. We need as many voices as we can muster speaking out on all social media platforms. Our goal is to amplify the Palestinian side of the issue which has previously been lost in a sea of pro-Israeli lies which has so often dominated media reporting. However, there are potential dangers to avoid. Keep these guidelines in mind when you engage with social media:
When we encounter pro-Israeli trolls on social media we should attack their views rather than attack them personally – stick to the issues and avoid being side-tracked. Be assertive but stay on track.
Remember the real target is the wider social media audience. We won’t convince individual pro-Israeli trolls to support the Palestinian struggle but those reading and watching an exchange are our real audience. We must keep them as the real target for our social media activism.
Calling out racism in all its forms, such as white supremacy, Islamophobia or anti-Semitism builds consistency with the messages of support for Palestinian rights and places into context the fundamental racist premise on which the state of Israel is founded.
If racist comments of any kind are made on our social media sites these will be removed as soon as they are seen. We will also remove comments which are offensive or dehumanising because although not racist, such comments don’t help the building of solidarity with Palestinians and can encourage more of the same types of unhelpful comments.
People in leadership or spokesperson roles within PSNA and its affiliates should be especially careful in social media interactions because as we become more effective in advocating for Palestine we will face more vitriolic, personal attacks from elements of the extremist pro-Israeli lobby who will look for ways to undermine our kaupapa by undermining us.
Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open…
Protesting the Israeli Ambassador
The Israeli ambassador Ran Yaakoby is active around the country promoting positive messages about Israel’s apartheid system against Palestinians.
We are keen to be there whenever he speaks to protest and call out Israel’s racist apartheid policies.
If you find out any speaking engagements Ran Yaakoby has please let us know by texting 027 4 APARTHEID (0274272784) or email apartheid-israel@psna.nz
Ran Yaakoby - Israel's ambassador to Aotearoa New Zealand
Back in the 1980s the New Zealand Anti-Apartheid movement launched a campaign to close the South Africa consulate in Wellington. A critical part of this campaign was to target the South African Consul General with public protest whenever he turned up to promote apartheid. The campaign was successful with the government forcing the closure of the consul-general’s information service (its propaganda wing) In a fit of pique the South African government then closed its consulate entirely – a victory in the campaign to isolate South Africa’s apartheid regime.
In 2023 the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa is launching a similar campaign to close apartheid Israel’s embassy in Wellington. We need our supporters everywhere to help by letting us know whenever Ran Yaakoby is to speak and we will be there to protest. Help to spread the poster above among family, friends and work colleagues.
If you see him on the street give him a piece of your mind.
We will not stand by while the racist Israeli government continues its brutal oppression of Palestinians.
Join the campaign to close the racist Israeli embassy!
Important stories from the Web
CodePink Petition to sign: Tell the State Department relation with Israel don’t help Palestinians here
Israel is preparing a bill to annex the Jordan Valley here
Israel to take punitive steps against Palestinians after deadly attacks here
Netanyahu attacks Israeli democracy here
Al Haq issues landmark report on Israeli apartheid as a toll of Zionist settler colonialism here
B’Tselem reports on Masafer Yatta here
Reminder: Dates for Palestine Solidarity in 2023
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
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)