France, UK Preparing To Recognise Palestinian State, NZ Must Join Them
Justice for Palestine welcomes the news that France and the United Kingdom are planning on recognising the State of Palestine at the UN conference on the two-state solution on 17 June. We urge the New Zealand government to follow suit.
'The Minister said New Zealand recognising Palestine was 'a matter of when, not if'. The time has come to join not only France and the UK, but 147 out of 193 UN member states that recognise the State of Palestine,' says Kate Stone, Justice for Palestine co-convenor.
The UN conference hosted by France and Saudi Arabia will occur against the backdrop not only of the war in Gaza, but also against Israel's increasingly brazen moves to expand its illegal settlements on Palestinian land. Israeli Ministers have recently declared Israel will establish 22 new illegal settlements and 'legalise' existing informal settlements or outposts with the express purpose of preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In 2016 when New Zealand was on the UN Security Council we co-sponsored a resolution which reaffirmed that the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories was illegal and 'a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace' (UNSC 2334).
'Israel is and has for decades been flagrantly violating international law with impunity and standing in the way of any just solution in Palestine. New Zealand, alongside France, the UK and others, must stand up against Israel, and stand up for the rights of Palestinians to self-determination,' say Kate Stone.
'This is also about standing up against might over right, and standing up for the international rules based order, which we all benefit from through the protection of our rights,'
'What's more the people support New Zealand recognising Palestine. Polling we conducted in September 2024 showed that of those that had a view two-thirds supported recognition of Palestine.'
The time for moral clarity and decisive action is now. After 77 years of dispossession, suffering, and systemic injustice at the hands of Israeli apartheid, the Palestinian people deserve action, not further delay. New Zealand must not remain silent in the face of what the international community is increasingly recognising as a campaign of ethnic cleansing both in Gaza and in the wider Occupied Territories. We must act.
Justice for Palestine calls on the New Zealand Government to:
Recognise the State of Palestine, as the basis for equal negotiations for a just peace that respects Palestinians' right to self-determination and to return to their homeland
Impose sanctions on Israel, until it complies with international law
Create a special emergency visa for Gazans with family in Aotearoa
Continue and increase aid funding to UNRWA
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