David Robie also blogs at Café Pacific
From our Asia Pacific Report:
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick called on New Zealand government MPs today to support her Member’s Bill to sanction Israel over its “crazy slaughter” of Palestinians in Gaza.
Speaking at a large pro-Palestinian solidarity rally in the heart of New Zealand’s largest city Auckland, she said Aotearoa New Zealand could no longer “remain a bystander to the slaughter of innocent people in Gaza”.
In the fifth day since Israel broke the two-month-old ceasefire and refused to begin negotiations on phase two of the truce — which was supposed to lead to a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the besieged enclave and an exchange of hostages — health officials reported that the death toll had risen above 630, mostly children and women.
- READ MORE: Israel attacks southern Lebanon, kills 130 in two days in Gaza
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- Other Gaza genocide reports
- Video clips and other images
Five children were killed in a major overnight air attack on Gaza City and at least eight members of the family remained trapped under the rubble as Israeli attacks continued in the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Confirmed casualty figures in Gaza since October 7, 2023, now stand at 49,747 with 113,213 wounded, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
For more than two weeks, Israel has sealed off border crossings and barred food, humanitarian aid, water and electricity and today it blew up the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the only medical institution in Gaza able to provide cancer treatment.
“The research has said it from libraries, libraries and libraries. And what is it doing in Gaza?” said Swarbrick.
‘Ethnic cleansing . . . on livestream’
“It is ethnic cleansing. It is apartheid. It is genocide. And we have that delivered to us by livestream to each one of us every single day on our cellphones,” she said.
“That is crazy. It is crazy to wake up every single day to that.”
Swarbrick said Aotearoa New Zealand must act now to sanction Israel for its crimes — “just like we did with Russia for its illegal action in Ukraine.”
She said that with the Green Party, Te Pāti Māori and Labour’s committed support, they now needed just six of the 68 government MPs to “pass my Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill into law”.
“There’s no more time for talk. If we stand for human rights and peace and justice, our Parliament must act,” she said.
In September, Aotearoa had joined 123 UN member states to support a resolution calling for sanctions against those responsible for Israel’s “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in relation to settler violence”.
“Our government has since done nothing to fulfil that commitment. Our Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill starts that very basic process.
“No party leader or whip can stop a Member of Parliament exercising their democratic right to vote how they know they need to on this Bill,” she said to resounding cheers.
‘No hiding behind party lines’
“There is no more hiding behind party lines. All 123 Members of Parliament are each individually, personally responsible.”
Several Palestinian women spoke of the terror with the new wave of Israeli bombings and of their families’ personal connections with the suffering in Gaza, saying it was vitally important to “hear our stories”. Some spoke of the New Zealand government’s “cowardice” for not speaking out in opposition like many other countries.
About 1000 people took part in the protest in a part of Britomart’s Te Komititanga Square in a section now popularly known as “Palestine Corner”.
Amid a sea of banners and Palestinian flags there were placards declaring “Stop the genocide”, “Jews for tangata whenua from Aotearoa to Palestine”, “Hands off West Bank End the occupation” , “The people united will never be defeated”, “Decolonise your mind, stand with Palestine,” “Genocide — made in USA”, and “Toitū Te Tiriti Free Palestine”.
The ceasefire-breaking Israeli attacks on Gaza have shocked the world and led to three UN General Assembly debates this week on the Middle East.
France, Germany and Britain are among the latest countries to condemn Israel for breaching the ceasefire — describing it as a “dramatic step backwards”, and France has told the UN that it is opposed to any form of annexation by Israel of any Palestinian territory.
Meanwhile, Sultan Barakat, a professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera in an interview that the more atrocities Israel committed in Gaza, the more young Palestinian men and women would join Hamas.
“So it’s not going to disappear any time soon,” he said.
With Israel killing more than 630 people in five days and cutting off all aid to the Strip for weeks, there was no trust on the part of Hamas to restart the ceasefire, Professor Barakat said.
It’s not ” crazy ” It’s planned, deliberate and merciless to get rid of Palestinians from land that Israehell wants. Most shocking Israehell is supported 100% by a Zionist captured state the U$$. What colour kippah is Trump waring today at home out of sight? ” In the 1950s, Fred Trump, the president’s late father, donated the plot of land where the Beach Haven Jewish Center was built in Brooklyn and contributed towards its construction. He affectionately referred to Rabbi Israel Wagner, who approached the elder Trump for help, as “My Rabbi.” “
Too true, everything is somewhat going to plan.
Unfortunately, its not just limited to Gaza. The West Bank of Palestine is being hammered too. Yemen is under US and Israeli attack, Lebanon has been weakened and Syria is being carved up by Israel, Turkey and the US, on top of millions of Syrians facing eminent slaughter at the hands of the US, Israeli, Turkey backed, trained and armed HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham), Al-Qaeda/ISIS, renamed….
The horror is only getting worse. We can well n truly kick to the curb, any notion of Rumpy being a so-called peace president!
Apartheid Israel is supported by New Zealand governments because its apparently the only democracy in the M.E. Its democracy differs from most because Palestinians in the military occupied areas don’t have freedom of movement and aren’t allowed to walk on the same streets as Jews drive vehicles with different colored number plates also subjected to militarily tactics not civil law. Support for the Greens bill is imperative to morally stand for justice and democracy a value that NZ hold dear to our heart and soul
Free Palestine
Wow. Hamas supporters are getting bold.
Wow, supporters of genocidal thieving feral maniacs haven’t changed at all. They are still apparently deaf and blind when it comes to the actual facts.
It’s surprising Swarbrick doesn’t concentrate on something that will get her party bigger numbers. Championing minority causes doesn’t help your average voter.
It’s the greens MO Ennius
Trans issues they will die on that hill for the 0.4% trannies
Let them be, they have their core blind rusted on support of about 8%, seems they are happy to just stay around that level and be activists outside govt.
Because in Govt they have proved they are useless.
I’m right, I think you are. Let them spend time on people in a foreign country who won’t vote them in. Very odd.
Good point – easier to complain outside of govt instead of having to produce results inside govt.
Or you could complain outside of government like the current coalition and turn out to be totally f’ing useless, for 98% of NZers, when you are in.
You and Chloe fully support these Gaza protests, yes?
Anus, billions across the globe have marched against the genocidal state how is that a minority cause??
Billions??
oh yes, at least 18 billion!
Her Mexican body guard is waiting to take over.
On this one, Chlöe Swarbrick is absolutely right.
I agree. It is crazy. Consequences for these actions are necessary as it is murder and it is illegal. Using war to defend such actions against civilians is unjustifiable. And yet again we have this courageous Green Party MP willing to take a stand on such an important issue.
One thing about Trump- he said he’s not bothering with other five eyes members’ countries because they’re weak and pathetic and want their nappies changed every five minutes so he’s on the same page there. As we all know, the paragon spying surveillance software which was heisted from the makers of the paradigm software and renamed paragon will be glitching like any program does and maybe even an artificial intelligence can detect foul play. Chloe is right, to wake up or go to sleep knowing that beautiful humans are in terrible trouble and no one is helping, or all those who would help are dead, is beyond the pale. I can’t see Luxflakes sanctioning anything bar tacky butterscotch or bad headgear but not shopping from amazon would be a great start. Not paying for music by anyone except Roger Waters would be a no-brainer as well. All those outfits training their AIs on crappy crime and horror material should be disconnected pronto- no disrespect to the authors but as we also all know, they were not consulted or asked.
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