Palestine Solidarity supporters will protest New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ “the real state of the nation” public meeting in Ōtautahi/Christchurch this Sunday from 1pm at the Christchurch Town Hall (the NZ First meeting for Peters begins at 2pm).

While New Zealanders call for sanctions on Israel for genocide, Mr Peters continues to look the other way.

As we said in a media release yesterday Mr Peters has repeatedly failed to:

· Express any concern for the Palestinians killed by Israel since Israel ended the ceasefire (at least 436 killed – including 183 children as well as nearly 200 during the ‘ceasefire’)

· Condemn Israel for this industrial-scale carnage, which the International Court of Justice found more than a year ago to be a case of ‘plausible genocide’.

· Condemn Israel for ending the ceasefire (It was Israel alone which refused to begin negotiations on stage two of the ceasefire agreement which was to lead to a permanent Israeli ceasefire and withdrawal from all of Gaza)

· Condemn Israel for its blockade on food, water, fuel, electricity, and medical supplies getting into Gaza – a war crime by any measure of humanity

“Mr Peters talks about the ‘incomprehensible human suffering over the past year and half’ but there is no mystery about this suffering” John Minto says.

“It stems from a brutal miliary occupation declared illegal last year by the International Court of Justice.”

“Mr. Peters pretends this is a conflict between two equal sides. But there is no balance when one side is carrying out mass slaughter and the other is fighting for survival.”

Mr Peters seems to think he is being clever in not condemning Israel as a way of avoiding offending the US but New Zealanders want and expect more from our government. We want principled action which will gain the respect of countries the world over rather than cowardly appeasement.

The protest will be calling on the government to “Sanction Israel for Genocide!”

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