Members of Global Sumud Aotearoa Delegation come to
Wellington this week to challenge the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Winston Peters, over Government inaction following
the abduction and mistreatment of New Zealand citizens by
the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF/IDF) in both 2025 and in
May 2026.
Unlike Australia, France, Spain, Malaysia,
Türkiye and other countries, New Zealand and its Israel
First Foreign Minister Winston Peters have failed to launch
a government investigation into the mistreatment of New
Zealand citizens.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP),
under instruction from Australian Foreign Minister Penny
Wong, have now launched an investigation into rape and
torture by Israeli forces on Australian citizens who were
detained in international waters.
“Knowing we were
coming to Wellington, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent
us an email yesterday asking us to provide information on
what happened to our activists,” Rana Hamida of Global
Sumud Aotearoa said. “The message was that they would put
this to the Israelis – in other words: they will leave it
to Israel to be both the criminal and the judge. That’s
not good enough. Malaysia, for example, is taking Israel to
the International Court of Justice over the kidnapping and
violence dished out to their citizens.”
Returning
Sumud member Hāhona Ormsby, who endured multiple beatings
by the Israelis after being seized in international waters
and taken to Israel, says, “Calling in the Israeli
ambassador and slapping him with a wet bus ticket over tea
and scones does not count as meaningful action.”
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
The
government has treated people like Ormsby as a “threat”
whilst doing nothing to hold Israel to account.
“I
had two detectives come and interview me this week to assess
if I was a “threat”. Imagine that? I joined the Sumud
flotilla armed with nothing other than aroha and I – a New
Zealand citizen – get treated as the problem! But some
Israeli soldier fresh from killing women, children, and
babies in Gaza and Lebanon knows they can holiday in New
Zealand no questions asked. Hey, Winston, are you Israel
First or New Zealand First?” Hāhona Ormsby
asked.
Global Sumud Aotearoa is demanding that the New
Zealand government launch its own non-Israeli-led
investigation. New Zealand should coordinate with the other
governments who have already launched inquiries into the
attack on their citizens.
A first step would be for
the government to formally interview our returning
activists. Second, the government should liaise with the
Turkish authorities who sent planes to Israel to bring over
400 detained Sumud activists to safety in Istanbul. It
should be noted New Zealand provided absolutely no support
whatsoever to their citizens.
All the Sumud people who
were flown out of Israel, including the New Zealand
citizens, were given medical examinations and forensic
interviews in Türkiye. Some, including Hāhona Ormsby and
fellow Kiwi Mousa Taher, received hospital treatment for
their injuries. MFAT requesting medical records from
Türkiye would be a useful place to start.
Below is a
detailed response to Israeli propaganda that ludicrously
suggested that the black eyes, broken noses and ribs
inflicted on citizens from over 40 countries was an
elaborate hoax. The photo of the damaged face of New Zealand
citizen Julien Blondel, beaten by Israelis in an attack in
international waters on April 29, should have triggered
immediate action by the government. The Israelis, realising
that New Zealand and other Western governments stood with
them, not their own citizens, increased the level of
violence in their June attack on over 50 vessels.
New
Zealand First should mean standing up for our citizens not
providing cover for Israeli crimes. New Zealand should also
stand up for the suffering people of Palestine and Lebanon
and demand that the United Nations Charter and the Genocide
Convention be upheld and enforced.
Read Global Sumud
Aotearoa’s Detailed
refutation of false Israeli claims
Answers to
Israel, Questions for Winston
Peters
