New Zealand must boycott the US embassy opening in Jerusalem

The Palestine Solidarity Network is calling on the New Zealand government to ‘stay well away’ from the formal opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem today.

Spokesperson Janfrie Wakim says Israel is desperate to see the international community break ranks and participate in the opening ceremony.

“In recent times, New Zealand has shown its naivety on this vitally important issue. We should not be sucked in, but send a clear message to Israel that we do not condone Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.”

“Israel bullied New Zealand into some undisclosed form of apology for co-sponsoring UN Security Council Resolution 2334 in December 2016. The resolution was nothing but a re-iteration of long standing New Zealand and international consensus policy, which is simply that Israel must relinquish territory it occupies to enable a Palestinian state to come into being.”

“Then last year our Governor General was hoodwinked into believing the total myth that her participation in the Israeli government organised 100th anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba in southern Palestine was New Zealand fighting against Turkey for the creation of Israel in 1918.”

“Participating with the US and Israel at the opening of the only foreign legation in Jerusalem would reinforce the view that New Zealand doesn’t care about international law and the well-established rights of the Palestinians people. Rather it shows that New Zealand prefers to stand with the aggressor and occupier”.

May 15, 1948, is commemorated by the Palestinians as al-Nakba, or ‘the Catastrophe,’ as the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland even before the state of Israel was declared in May 1948.

Over a century ago, 2 November, 1917 the Balfour Declaration was issued by the British government to establish a national homeland for

the Jews in Palestine. It was a promise made by those who did not own the land and a response to anti-Semitism in Europe.

This promise was achieved, along with the help of the other colonial states on May 14, 1948 by forcing Palestinians out of their homes and into exile after the United Nations partitioned Palestine in November 1947. From that time, until an armistice was signed on Jan. 1, 1949, Jewish militias and terrorist groups committed at least 33 massacres, killed 13,000 Palestinian, forced 750,000 – more than half the Palestinian population -- into exile and permanent refugee status, and depopulated and destroyed more than 500 villages.

The Nakba continues today as a result of Israeli occupation policies that are intent on forcing more and more Palestinians to leave Palestine. Contrary to what former Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion reflected “the old will die and the young will forget” Palestinians do remember and are more than ever determined to battle on for justice and freedom. For the past seven decades, Palestinians have been subjected to countless injustices and an ongoing cycle of destruction, displacement and dispossession.

This grave historical injustice that continues as this week the USA officially relocates its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, violating the most basic requisites of justice and legality.

With uncritical support and funding from the USA , Israel has been given a free hand to persist in the total annexation and isolation of Palestinian Jerusalem and pursue the flagrant historical, political, cultural, demographic, and geographic transformation of the occupied city, erasing its Palestinian presence and identity. Today, more than six million Palestinian refugees live in exile. Palestinian refugees have suffered for far too long, and the onus is on all members of the international community to recognize their plight and bring Israel to comply with international law and conventions, including the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948), the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

Note also:

Nakba rallies to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinian people will be held in Auckland May 19 2pm Aotea Square and Hamilton 1.30pm

Gaza-born Palestinian author Ramzy Baroud will be visiting New Zealand/Aotearoa as part of a world tour to launch his new book: “The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story”.

AUCKLAND: FRIDAY 18 MAY

9:35am: Listen to 95bFM radio for Mikey Havoc’s live studio interview with Ramzy Baroud

10:30am book signing event at UBIQ Auckland University Bookshop, 2 Alfred Street, Student Commons (off Princes Street, City.)

AUCKLAND: SATURDAY 19 MAY

9am: Kim Hill will interview Ramzy on her ‘Saturday’ programme live on RNZ radio.

2pm: Ramzy will speak at the Nakba Rally, Aotea Square, Queen St, CBD.

AUCKLAND: SUNDAY 20 MAY

Free public talk: 7pm Freemans Bay Community Hall, 52 Hepburn St, Auckland.

HAMILTON: MONDAY 21 MAY

Free public talk: 7pm: Wintec, Room A2.05, City Campus, Hamilton.

Access via Gate 3 or Gate 2 on Tristram Street. Free parking.

WELLINGTON: TUESDAY 22 MAY

Book signing from 12pm to 1pm: Vic Books, Easterfield Building, 1 Kelburn Parade, Wellington 6012. enquiries@vicbooks.co.nz

WELLINGTON: TUESDAY 22 MAY

Evening event: 6pm Free Public talk: St Andrews on the Terrace, 30 The Terrace, Wellington City 6011. (Wellington event book sales by Vic Books)

CHRISTCHURCH: WEDS 23 MAY

Free public talk: 7pm Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral, 234 Hereford St, Christchurch 8011

DUNEDIN: THURSDAY 24 MAY

Free public talk: 5:15pm Burns 2 Lecture theatre, Ground Floor Arts Building, Albany Street, University of Otago.

ends

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