Latest news with #PSNA
Scoop
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Yousef M. Aljamal Visit To Aotearoa New Zealand
PSNA is delighted to announce the visit to Aotearoa New Zealand by Palestinian journalist and author Yousef Aljamal. Yousef will address public meetings across the country as well as talking with faith communities, trade union representatives and media organisations. Yousef will be here from 16 to 30 June and will have public events in Whangarei, Waitangi, Ngāmotu/New Plymouth, Whanganui, Tauranga-Moana, Thames, Ōtautahi/Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. 'This is an opportunity for New Zealanders to hear directly from a key Palestinian journalist and author at a time when Palestinian voices are almost totally absent from our mainstream media' says PSNA Co-national Chair Maher Nazzal. 'For 18 months our media has been flooded with Israeli narratives, Israeli explanations, Israeli justifications and Israeli spokespeople. Israeli propaganda points are relentlessly covered while Palestinians – as the victims of 77 years of brutal oppression, ethnic cleansing and apartheid polices – have been rendered all but invisible'. If they are shown, it is a incoherent victims of overwhelming suffering. They rarely have the opportunity for their humanity to shine. 'New Zealanders need to hear from Yousef Aljamal and our mainstream media has a responsibility to report his visit and what he has to say' 'Palestinians face the most horrendous conditions imaginable with the genocidal attacks on Gaza; the blockade on food, water, fuel and medical supplies to 2 million people; the pogroms against Palestinian towns and villages in the Occupied West Bank; complicit silence from Western governments, New Zealand included, and western media indifference' Yousef's biographical details: Yousef is a Palestinian journalist and author. He holds an MA degree from the Department of International and Strategic Studies at the University of Malaya in Malaysia. He was awarded his PhD from the Middle East Institute at Sakarya University in Turkey. In addition to his research interests in diaspora, security, and indigenous studies, Yousef Aljamal has been involved on a number of book projects including translations of books on Palestinian prisoners, among them Dreaming of Freedom: Palestinian Child Prisoners Speak (2016), and a collection of stories about the shared struggle of Palestinian and Irish Hunger Strikers. Most recently he edited If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose by the recently assassinated Refaat Alareer. Yousef Aljamal has published a number of journal articles on topics that include Palestinians in the diaspora, travel restrictions imposed on Palestinians, and struggles for liberation. He is also the Gaza Coordinator of the American Friends Service Committee. Yousef has visited Aotearoa New Zealand before and is familiar with our political landscape.
Scoop
a day ago
- Politics
- Scoop
US Starts New Horror Show For Israel
The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa is calling out for New Zealanders to condemn the US bombing of Iran. PSNA Co-Chair, Maher Nazzal, says he hopes, but does not expect, that the New Zealand government will be critical of the US for its war escalation. 'Israel has once again hoodwinked the United States into fighting Israel's wars. 'Israel's Prime Minister has declared Iran to be on the point of producing nuclear weapons since the 1990s. It's all part of his big plan for expulsion of Palestinians from Palestine to create a Greater Israel, and regime change for the entire region.' 'Israel knows Arab and European countries will fall in behind these plans and in many cases actually help implement them.' 'It is a dreadful day for the Palestinians. Netanyahu's forces will be turned back onto them in Gaza and the West Bank.' 'It is just as dreadful day for the whole Middle East. Trump has tried to add Iran to the disasters of US foreign policy in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. The US simply doesn't care how many people will die.'
Scoop
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Expel The Israeli Ambassador Now
PSNA is calling on the government to immediately expel the Israeli ambassador from New Zealand. PSNA Co-Chair, John Minto says Israel's strikes on Iran are 'unprovoked, unilateral and a massive threat to humanity everywhere.' 'This is such a dangerous action, that diplomatic weasel words about Israel are not acceptable. Israel is an out-of-control rogue state playing with the future of humanity. We must send it the strongest possible message.' 'Israel's using its often repeated lies and misinformation to attempt to justify it's unconscionable violence and aggression.' Minto points to Iran's right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. 'Even US intelligence officials have made is clear very recently that Iran is NOT on the way to produce a nuclear weapon.' 'And neither is Iran committed to the 'annihilation' of Israel. Iran does not support Israel as a racist, apartheid state and wants to see liberation for Palestine. In this, Iran has, along with the overwhelming majority of countries in the world, called for an end to Israel's military occupation of Palestine, the end of its apartheid policies directed against Palestinians and the return of Palestinian refugees.' New Zealand has the same policies. Minto says our government must shoulder some of the blame for Israel feeling it can safely launch attacks on Iran. 'Appeasement of this apartheid state, as our government and other western countries have done over 20 months, has led Israel to believe it can get away within mass murder forced expulsions and managed starvation in Gaza, so that whatever it does it will be never be held to account' 'Only sanctions count – and just the first one must be the expulsion of the Israel ambassador with only giving him enough time to pack his bags.
Scoop
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
'Look Busy – The People Are Angry' In The Face Of Genocide – Government Brings Shame On Us All
Press Release – Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa The government's decision to sanction Israeli cabinet ministers is a cynical diversionary gesture, according to the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa. New Zealand has joined the UK, Australia, Canada, and Norway in banning the entry of Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. PSNA Co-Chair, Maher Nazzal, says the just announced move is simply to placate New Zealanders angry at the government's complicity with the mass killing of Palestinians and deliberate starvation of Occupied Gaza. 'The New Zealand government statement was quite explicit that the sanctions were 'not designed to sanction the wider Israeli government' of which Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are ministers.' 'The New Zealand government's official statement is laying the blame for Israeli barbarity on just two ministers. Our government is pretending that they alone are responsible for the military violence in the Gaza Strip, and Israel's annexation of Palestinian land, expanding settlements, and forced displacement.' 'All these war crimes are supported and stated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. These measures are all being carried out by the Israeli government. These two ministers are quite rabid, but they are not just freelancers or 'bad apples'.' 'Netanyahu himself is wanted for trial on war crimes charges, so why does he escape the travel ban?' Nazzal says Ben-Gvir and Smotrich would never plan to come to New Zealand anyway. 'The last time such an individual visited in 2006 the Auckland District Court issued a warrant for his arrest to face war crime charges.' (That was Israeli General Moshe Ya'alon – the 'Butcher of Qana'. The warrant was quashed by the then Attorney-General Michael Cullen) 'Even if the government sanctioned the entire Israeli cabinet, it would be meaningless.' 'Israel has made Gaza hell on earth for Palestinians, and is making it worse by the hour. We should be cutting trade ties – including military technology, which might be finding its way to Israel, or sending up satellites from Mahia used by Israel to spy on Gaza. 'New Zealand has bilateral agreements with Israel over science and movie-making. They should stop.' 'The government needs to ban Israeli soldiers coming here for genocide holidays, instead of Winston Peters going out of his way to welcome them.' 'And it goes without saying that the Israeli ambassador should be booted out.' Nazzal says the forced starvation in Gaza has reached a crisis point. 'The choice for the international community is stark. Let tens of thousands starve to death in the next few weeks, or impose a no-fly zone over Gaza and provide military protection for UNRWA aid convoys.' 'In that context, by limiting the travel options for two Israeli politicians our government feels like it's conveying a message of 'Look busy – New Zealanders are angry, we must be seen to be doing something, but really, we don't care.'
Scoop
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
'Look Busy – The People Are Angry' In The Face Of Genocide – Government Brings Shame On Us All
The government's decision to sanction Israeli cabinet ministers is a cynical diversionary gesture, according to the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa. New Zealand has joined the UK, Australia, Canada, and Norway in banning the entry of Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. PSNA Co-Chair, Maher Nazzal, says the just announced move is simply to placate New Zealanders angry at the government's complicity with the mass killing of Palestinians and deliberate starvation of Occupied Gaza. 'The New Zealand government statement was quite explicit that the sanctions were 'not designed to sanction the wider Israeli government' of which Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are ministers.' 'The New Zealand government's official statement is laying the blame for Israeli barbarity on just two ministers. Our government is pretending that they alone are responsible for the military violence in the Gaza Strip, and Israel's annexation of Palestinian land, expanding settlements, and forced displacement.' 'All these war crimes are supported and stated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. These measures are all being carried out by the Israeli government. These two ministers are quite rabid, but they are not just freelancers or 'bad apples'.' 'Netanyahu himself is wanted for trial on war crimes charges, so why does he escape the travel ban?' Nazzal says Ben-Gvir and Smotrich would never plan to come to New Zealand anyway. 'The last time such an individual visited in 2006 the Auckland District Court issued a warrant for his arrest to face war crime charges.' (That was Israeli General Moshe Ya'alon – the 'Butcher of Qana'. The warrant was quashed by the then Attorney-General Michael Cullen) 'Even if the government sanctioned the entire Israeli cabinet, it would be meaningless.' 'Israel has made Gaza hell on earth for Palestinians, and is making it worse by the hour. We should be cutting trade ties – including military technology, which might be finding its way to Israel, or sending up satellites from Mahia used by Israel to spy on Gaza. 'New Zealand has bilateral agreements with Israel over science and movie-making. They should stop.' 'The government needs to ban Israeli soldiers coming here for genocide holidays, instead of Winston Peters going out of his way to welcome them.' 'And it goes without saying that the Israeli ambassador should be booted out.' Nazzal says the forced starvation in Gaza has reached a crisis point. 'The choice for the international community is stark. Let tens of thousands starve to death in the next few weeks, or impose a no-fly zone over Gaza and provide military protection for UNRWA aid convoys.' 'In that context, by limiting the travel options for two Israeli politicians our government feels like it's conveying a message of 'Look busy – New Zealanders are angry, we must be seen to be doing something, but really, we don't care.'
