Q: What can New Zealanders do to help the Palestinian struggle? A: Change your Kiwisaver provider

By
John Minto
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31
702

As the ceasefire in the Middle East holds, Israeli state forces have begun mass arrests of Palestinian citizens of Israel involved in peaceful solidarity actions in support of Palestinians in Gaza, occupied Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Needless to say no effort is being made to track and arrest the hundreds of Jewish Israelis who chanted “Death to Arabs” through many cities across Israel during its heavy bombardment of Gaza.

We have been asked numerous times – what can New Zealanders do to help the Palestinian struggle?

One thing New Zealanders can do is to change their Kiwisaver provider.

Over the past year PSNA has contacted all 29 registered Kiwisaver providers to ask if they have any investments in the 112 companies identified by the United Nations Human Rights Council as complicit in the construction and maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.

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The Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are illegal under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The UNHRC media release and link to the full report are here.

Investments in any of these 112 companies are investments in companies complicit in grave breaches of international law.

Six Kiwisaver companies have informed us they have no investments in any of these 112 companies.

PSNA is beginning a campaign to ask New Zealanders to shift their Kiwisaver funds to one of these six providers.

The other 25 companies cannot give the assurances we have sought and some have been quite rude about it. If any of them change their policies and abandon investment in these companies then we will add their names to the list.

 

31 COMMENTS

  1. …”The other 25 companies cannot give the assurances we have sought and some have been quite rude about it. If any of them change their policies and abandon investment in these companies then we will add their names to the list”..

    ————–

    Great stuff again !

    I’ll go with the Anglicans !

  3. Conclusions of the Report of the National Lawyers Guild Delegation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel.
    In light of the overwhelming evidence of Israel’s use of U.S. foreign assistance to violate human rights, the delegation concludes as follows:
    (1) The Israeli military and police have consistently used excessive force against the Palestinian population leading to a large number of Palestinian casualties and permanent injuries as well as extensive and unnecessary property damage. Such excessive military actions violate international law including, but not
    limited to, Articles 2.3 and 2.4 of the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 9 of the Law Enforcement Principles. In addition, many of these actions violate Israel’s internal Open Fire Regulations.
    (2) The Israeli military and police have inflicted indiscriminate attacks on the Palestinian civilian population as a form of collective punishment in violation of Article 50 of the Hague Regulations and Articles 33 and 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
    (3) The Israeli government has used closure, isolation of communities, demolition of homes, and destruction of agricultural property as a form of collective punishment in violation of Article 50 of the Hague Regulations and Articles 33 and 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
    (4) Most of the weapons Israel has used and is using in these acts of aggression were manufactured in the
    United States, jointly developed by Israel and the United States, or financed by the United States.
    (5) The use of United States military assistance in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories against the Palestinian civilian population has not promoted the purposes and policies of the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (“AECA”).
    (6) The excessive and indiscriminate force of the IDF and the Israeli police is not necessary to Israel’s legitimate self defense” or “internal security” and thus violates Israel’s 1952 mutual defense agreement with the United States and the AECA.
    (7) Israel has demonstrated a “consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights” which has been well documented by numerous non-governmental organizations. Under these circumstances continued United States funding of military arms and training to Israel is unlawful under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (“FAA”).
    (8) Palestinian citizens of Israel face systemic discrimination with respect to economic, social and cultural rights including, but not limited to, the right to housing, unrestricted movement, equal employment, quality public education, proportional access to government resources, and property rights.
    http://www.nlginternational.org/report/2001_Palestine_del_report.pdf

  4. Outrage at Israel Fueling Global BDS Movement.
    BDS has had a significant impact on Israel. The BDS campaign played a major role in the 46 percent decrease in foreign direct investment in Israel in 2014, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Individuals and entities who have answered the call for divestment include George Soros, TIAA-CREF public sector pension fund, Bill Gates Foundation, Norwegian bank Nordea and Dutch pension giant PGGM.

    Many churches, including the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA and several Quaker meetings have divested from companies targeted by the BDS movement. Veolia, the French multinational utility company, withdrew from Israel, resulting in billions of dollars in lost contracts. Major international trade union federations in South Africa, Europe, Latin America, India, Canada and the United States endorse BDS.

    There is substantial opposition in the United States to Israel’s occupation. In a 2018 poll, 40 percent of Americans overall and 56 percent of Democrats supported the imposition of sanctions or even more serious penalties on Israel to end the occupation.
    https://consortiumnews.com/2021/05/26/outrage-at-israel-fueling-global-bds-movement/

  6. These are the children WE have killed
    The children of Gaza killed this time around, photos of each

    Why do I say “We”?

    They were killed by our silence.
    They were killed by our failure to speak out about these atrocities.
    They were killed by our tacit support, by our indirect financial support of the murderers.
    They were killed by weaponry made in the US!
    They were killed by weaponry made in Canada.
    They were killed by our support of those countries, without ever raising a voice in protest.

    The killing of children will continue as long as “good” people remain silent.
    Just as the ongoing cruel imprisonment is continuing right now, of those over there who dare to protest.
    What mindless, callous, selfish, sadistic savages we all have become.

  8. ‘Inescapable Hell’: Euro-Med Releases Report Documenting Israel’s Violations in Gaza

    A new report documenting several violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israel during its recent military attack on the Gaza Strip from May 10-21 was released today by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

    The report concluded that the International Criminal Court (ICC) must hold the Israeli leaders and soldiers accountable and not allow them to enjoy impunity.

    Titled “inescapable hell”, the report examined the Israeli army’s violations during its recent military attack on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

    The report was based on field research and documentation by Euro-Med Monitor’s team during and in the aftermath of the military attack, where dozens of field interviews and serious violations were documented.

    Statistics support the report, which presents day-by-day documentation of the Israeli attack, including violations such as mass killings and premeditated killings by deliberately targeting citizen gatherings and vehicles.

    The Israeli forces also targeted children, women (including pregnant women), people with disabilities, paramedics, medical facilities, and media and educational institutions.
    Read more here

  9. “The forced displacement of the protected Palestinian population and the presence and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank… represent flagrant violations of international law.” —Irish parliamentary motion

    Ireland Condemns Israel’s actions: “Israel is acting illegally!”

    The [Irish] Government has backed a Sinn Féin motion describing the building of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories as de facto annexation.

    Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said during a Dáil debate on the motion that “we need to be honest with what is happening on the ground and call it out” as “de facto annexation”.

    He added that Ireland is the first EU country to state this and it could be a message to the global community.

    The Minister echoed the comments of Sinn Féin foreign affairs spokesman John Brady who said “we are baldly stating that Israel is acting illegally under international law”. Read more at this link

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