PSNA launches judicial review of Superfund investments in companies supporting illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Earlier this week lawyers acting on behalf of Palestinian New Zealanders and the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa filed papers in the Auckland High Court for a judicial review challenging the decision of the NZ Superfund to keep investing in companies the United Nations has identified as supporting illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
We are arguing that the NZ Superfund should be taking notice of international institutions such as the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
The Superfund has taken some small steps in the past to divest from five Israeli banks and Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems for example but has steadfastly refused to develop policy in line with international law and New Zealand’s international obligations.
No date has been set for the hearing but we will keep you posted through future newsletters.
Last weekend PSNA National Chair John Minto attended two rallies in Hawkes Bay – Napier and Hastings – and also spoke at a fundraising dinner for Palestine at the Taradale Town Hall (pictured)
Minto describes it as a fantastic weekend of solidarity in action for Palestine. He says it was “a real pleasure to be asked to come and share this weekend in the area I grew up in”.
Keep spreading the message about the Genocide Hotline!
Remember possible action for local groups
For groups affiliated to PSNA we suggest the following actions could be taken at any time in support of this campaign
Asking your local backpacker accommodation to display the poster and draw it to the attention of any Israeli soldiers here on “rest and recreation” from the genocide.
Pasting the hotline poster (use the version in this newsletter which includes a contact email) around the vicinity of backpacker venues in your local area. This is already happening in some areas.
Hand out flyers to people in the vicinity of your local backpackers
Contact us on the hotline if you come across Israeli soldiers
If the events are not listed yet, please check back later.
There are more than 25 events around the Motu this week.
North Island Kerikeri – Rally
First Saturday of the month
Whangarei – Rally
Friday 21st February
4:30 to 6:00 pm
Hospital shops, Maunu Rd, Te Mai
In support of Gaza hospitals, health workers and patients
Auckland – Stand for Palestine
Monday – Friday
3:00 – 4:00 pm at the US Consulate – 23 Customs Street East
4:00 – 5:00 pm at Te Komititanga Britomart Square
Auckland Picket
Wednesday 19 February
12:00 mid-day
US Consulate – 23 Customs Street East, Auckland Central
Waiheke – Market Stall – hosted by Stand With Palestine Waiheke!
Every Saturday
8:00 am – 1:00 pm
Ostend Market, Waiheke Island
Auckland – Banners around Tamaki Makaurau
Every Saturday
This week
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Carrington Road overbridge in Point Chevalier
Auckland – Gathering for Palestine
Saturday 22 February
2:00 pm
Te Komititanga – Britomart Square, Tamaki Makaurau
Thames – Vigil to Stop the war on Children
(Hosted by The Basket – Social and Environmental Justice – Hauraki)
First Saturday of the month
Tauranga
No event this week
Hamilton – Flag Waving for Palestine
Saturday 15 February
1:00 pm
Flynn Park, Cnr Wairere Drive & Naylor, Hamilton
Hamilton – Stall at the Malaysian cultural day event
Saturday 15 February
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Claudelands event center, Hamilton
Raglan
No Event week
Cambridge – Rally for Palestine
Every Saturday
11:00 am
Cambridge Town Hall
Rotorua – Rally for Palestine
Every Thursday
4:30 pm
National MP Todd McClays Office – Cnr Amohau and Ranolf St lights, Rotorua
Napier – Rally for Palestine
Saturday 22 February
11:30 am
Marine Parade Soundshell Roundabout
Hastings – Rally for Palestine
Sunday 23 February
1:00 pm
Hastings Town Clock – Hastings CBD
Palmerston North – Rally
No event this Sunday
New Plymouth – Flags at the Council
Friday 21 February
No Flags this week
New Plymouth
No Rally this Saturday
Whanganui – Rally for Palestine
Saturday 22 February
11:00 am
Riverside Market, Whanganui
Carterton – Gathering for Gaza
Every Tuesday
12:00 midday
Memorial Square.
Martinborough – Vigil for Palestine
First Wednesday of the month
11:00 am
The square at the top of Kitchener St, Martinborough
Masterton – Gathering for Gaza
Every Sunday
9:30 am
Town Hall Lawn, Masterton
Featherston – Gathering for Gaza
Every Saturday
11:00 am
The Squircle (opposite the op shop).
Wellington – Flags on the Bridge
(hosted by the Falastin Tea Collective)
Every Friday
7:15 – 8:15 am
Hill Street bridge Overbridge, Wellington
Wellington – Rally
(hosted by the Falastin Tea Collective)
Moving to Third Saturday of the month. Next Rally Saturday 15 March
Check out https://www.instagram.com/falastin_tea_collective for details
Wellington – National Hui
Saturday 22 February – 9:00 – 5:00 and then shared meal
Sunday 23 February – 9:00 – 3:00 pm
Registrations closed
South Island Nelson – Samah Sabawi
Friday 21 Feb
3-4 pm Coffee & Korero with Samah, Elma Turner Library
6pm Evening at Trafalgar St Hall
7.30 pm Book signing + conversation
Nelson
No Rally this weekend
Blenheim – Rally for Palestine
Saturday 22 February
11:00 am
Blenheim Railway Station
Picton – Rally for Palestine
Every Saturday
1:00 – 2:00 pm
Picton Foreshore
Christchurch – Samah Sabawi at the Library
With acclaimed NZ poet Tusiata Avia
Thursday 20 February
2:30 – 4:00 pm
Tūranga central library 2.30 to 4pm
Christchurch – Samah Sabawi Public Meeting
Thursday 20 February
7:00 pm Public Meeting
Transitional Cathedral (Scorpio Books will have a stall)
Christchurch – Flags for Palestine
Friday 21 February
4:00 pm
Bridge of Remembrance, Cashel Street, Christchurch
Christchurch – Rally for Palestine
Saturday 22 February
1:00 pm
Bridge of Remembrance, Cashel Street, Christchurch
Dunedin – Rally
Moved to once a month
No Rally this weekend
Dunedin – Seminar: Palestine: Justice, Peace & Art
Wednesday 19 February
12:00 noon
University of Otago, Richardson Building, Room 6N4
Dunedin – Samah Sabawi – Book discussion
And the pathway to Palestinian liberation, justice and peace
Wednesday 19 February
6:00 pm,
Yours Café, 43 Moray Place, Dunedin
Dunedin – Fundraiser Gig for UNRWA
Resistance v2 – Fundraiser Gig for UNRWA
Saturday 22 February
4:30pm onwards
Yours Cafe – 43 Moray Place
Invercargill – Rally for Palestine
No rally this weekend
On Wednesday night, protesters disrupted the red carpet Hollywood premiere of the movie, and the livestream was cancelled, with mainstream Hollywood media covering the protest.
Watch the powerful new short video on Marvel and Disney’s complicity in genocide on Instagram and X!
BDS is also calling on audiences to boycott Disney’s Snow White movie, Disney+ subscriptions, and Marvel merchandise.
Gal Gadot, depicting the Evil Queen in Snow White, has organized screenings of an Israeli military propaganda movie that attempts to justify Israel’s genocide.
Our movement has shown that even the largest entertainment corporations like Disney are susceptible to grassroots pressure when they harm Palestinians.
Given the urgent need for accountability amid the rise of the global far-right, let’s make sure Marvel and Disney hear us loud and clear: we won’t stand for whitewashing Israel’s genocide and apartheid!
Sign the petition, and watch and share the video on Instagram and X.
Palestine Justice Movement Sydney and Free Palestine Melbourne are collaborating on hosting a webinar with Mouin Rabbani, a Palestinian analyst and commentator and a former Principal Political Affairs Officer with the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria and Special Advisor on Israel- Palestine with the International Crisis Group.
Beyond the Ceasefire: Reconstructing Gaza After Genocide – Al Shabaka webinar
Wednesday, February 26th, 2025 | 11am ET / 6pm Palestine Time
The ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile as Israeli calls to resume the genocidal assault persist. Even if it holds, Gaza faces a new phase of uncertainty. In addition to killing tens of thousands of Palestinians over the last year and a half, Israel has destroyed much of Gaza in a deliberate attempt to render the land uninhabitable and “thin out” the population. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continues to breathe life into Israel’s ethnic cleansing fantasies with repeated threats of a US takeover and transformation of Gaza into a luxury beachfront metropolis. Despite the threats, Palestinians in Gaza remain steadfast in their commitment to stay and rebuild their land.
What will it take to reconstruct Gaza, both physically and politically? What role will external actors play in facilitating or obstructing this effort? Can meaningful reconstruction happen under continued siege and occupation? In this policy lab, Dena Qaddumi and Jehad Abusalim join host Tariq Kenney-Shawa to discuss what the ceasefire in Gaza means for Palestinians and the state of the physical and political landscape that determines what comes next. Register here.
“Achieving lasting and just peace is impossible without the Palestinian people obtaining their legitimate rights in accordance with international resolutions, as has been previously clarified to both the former and current US administrations. The whole ship is going in the wrong direction now”.
–Ali. Shihabi; Saudi Commentator, close to Royal Court ____________
“[Netanyahu is a] Zionist and the son of a Zionist . . . who inherited extremism in his genes. Occupation does not have a good face or an ugly face. It has only one face and it is Benjamin Netanyahu.”
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