The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa is asking MPs
from National, ACT and NZ First to individually speak out to
condemn Israel for ditching the Gaza ceasefire agreement it
signed in January.
PSNA Co-Chair, John Minto says an
anaemic tweet from Foreign Minister Winston Peters this
morning, continues to express a totally hollow concern,
because it carefully avoids blaming Israel for any of what
Peters calls ‘incomprehensible human suffering’ in
Gaza.
Peters tweeted;
“New Zealand is
deeply concerned about renewed fighting in Gaza. A permanent
end to the fighting needs to be found. New Zealand has
consistently called for a ceasefire and de-escalation of
tensions in the region. This is critical for ending the
incomprehensible human suffering over the past year and a
half. New Zealand calls on both sides to reinstate the
ceasefire and fully implement the terms of the
deal”
Minto says this statement is an
insult to the victims of Israel’s massacres as
the minister has failed to:
- Express any
concern for the Palestinians killed by Israel since Israel
ended the ceasefire (at least 436 killed – including 183
children as well as nearly 200 during the
‘ceasefire’) - Condemn Israel for this
industrial-scale carnage, which the International Court of
Justice found more than a year ago to be a case of
‘plausible genocide’. - Condemn Israel for ending
the ceasefire (It was Israel alone which refused to begin
negotiations on stage two of the ceasefire agreement which
was to lead to a permanent Israeli ceasefire and withdrawal
from all of Gaza. - Condemn Israel for its blockade on
food, water, fuel, electricity, and medical supplies getting
into Gaza – a war crime by any measure of
humanity
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“Mr Peters talks about
the ‘incomprehensible human suffering over the past year
and half’ but there is no mystery about this suffering”
John Minto says.“It stems from a brutal miliary
occupation declared illegal last year by the International
Court of Justice.”
“Mr. Peters
pretends this is a conflict between two equal sides. But
there is no balance when one side is carrying out mass
slaughter and the other is fighting for
survival.”
“In 2014 the then Prime Minister John
Key called-in the Israeli ambassador as a diplomatic rebuke.
But this government has said and done nothing about any
attack by Israel on any Palestinians in Gaza or the West
Bank, nor the attacks or invasions of four other countries,
in the past year and a half.”
“New Zealanders want
sanctions on Israel for genocide but Mr Peters refuses
to say anything, let alone impose any form of sanction at
all. That is appeasement,” Minto says.
“If the
Foreign Minister can’t, then there must be at least some
MPs in the government coalition who have the conscience
necessary to raise their
voices.”
