Justice For Palestine Welcomes Legal Challenge To Govt Approval Of BlackSky Spy Satellite Launches From NZ – Justice for Palestine
Justice for Palestine welcomes proceedings filed today challenging decisions by National Ministers for Space, Hon Judith Collins and Hon Chris Penk, allowing BlackSky spy satellites to be launched from New Zealand. The judicial review argues Collins and Penk approved the launches despite the risk the spy satellites are supplying Israel’s military with targeting data for use in Gaza.
“This is a landmark case because it shines a light on actions here in New Zealand that are potentially contributing to the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” said Justice for Palestine spokesperson, Kate Stone.
“All too often over the last three years we have heard Government Ministers claiming there is little meaningful action New Zealand can take to respond to Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. This legal challenge exposes that where Ministers had the power to ensure New Zealand is complying with its obligations under the Genocide Convention and other international legal obligation, they have failed to do so.”
“People across Aotearoa New Zealand, from all walks of life have been out in the streets, meeting with their MPs, signing petitions, doing whatever they can to call on our leaders to take a principled stand on our behalf to uphold the basic human rights of Palestinians and uphold international law,” said Stone.
“We have consistently been failed by the Government: from refusing to recognise the State of Palestine at the UN, to failing to implement comprehensive sanctions on the illegal Israeli occupation, like we did with Russia. They have put our reputation as a moral actor on the international stage at risk. Now, it seems they have also opened us up to being complicit in the war crimes being committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.”
“It’s clear how the Government’s actions have been received in the court of public opinion. It’s time that they are held to account in a court of law,” concluded Stone.
About the case
The claim, brought under the Outer Space and High-altitude Activities Act 2017, argues Collins and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment knew, when they approved BlackSky’s satellite launches in late 2023, that its satellites had previously been used by Israel — and failed to consider New Zealand’s obligations under the Genocide Convention and broader international human rights law.
Rocket Lab, the New Zealand-founded space company, is BlackSky’s primary launch provider and launched a BlackSky satellite from Māhia in March. In April, new Space Minister Chris Penk approved a further 26 BlackSky launches, which the plaintiffs are seeking to stop.
The three plaintiffs are Yasser Abdulaal, a Christchurch electrical engineer whose extended family has suffered repeated Israeli air strikes in Gaza; Maher Nazzal, an Auckland IT professional; and Dr Timoti Te Moke (Ngāti Rangitihi, Tapuika and Tonga) a doctor at Middlemore and Auckland Hospitals. The case is backed by the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA).
Haazen says: “The UN’s Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel has found Israel to have committed genocide in Gaza. Many scholars, such as Omar Bartov, and international organisations such as Amnesty International and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, have also found Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.”
“In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found it plausible that Israel’s military operations in Gaza risked irreparable harm to Palestinians’ rights under the Genocide Convention, putting all states on notice of their duty to act to prevent genocide. New Zealand is obliged to live up to that duty.”
