Earlier today, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said his cabinet would not decide on whether to formally recognise Palestine as a state for some weeks to come. Luxon’s announcement drew criticism from advocacy groups, labelling his position as weak and cowardly.
Luxon claimed the issue was ‘complex’ and New Zealanders should not expect a decision until well after his foreign minister Winston Peters has spoken on the matter at the United Nations in New York.
Advocacy group, Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), immediately issued a statement headlined: Genocide is not ‘complex’, it’s a ‘cowards’ way out’.
It the statement, PSNA co-spokesperson John Minto said the ‘complexity’ excuse for cabinet inaction on Palestine this morning is “a cowards’ way out for the government to avoid even the most tepid policy to oppose Israeli genocide in Gaza”.
John Minto, said the New Zealand Government recognised Palestine at the United Nations in 1947.
“It’s taken nearly 80 years to work out ways to make that real and it still can’t do it.
“(Winston) Peters needed very clear and strong instructions to take to the UN, where he could have joined the calls for the growing list of sanctions to be imposed on Israel,” John Minto said.
He added: “In just over two days last week, Israel demolished fifty of the tallest residential tower blocks in Gaza City. That’s a rate of destruction of more than one every hour and thousands more people made homeless.
“There’s nothing about defending borders, or implementing a strategy of getting hostages released in all of this barbarous onslaught by Israel. It’s self-declared ethnic cleansing.”
Minto said the Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, must face up to Israel’s blatant violations of international laws and conventions.
“At the same time, Israel has tried to kill the Hamas negotiations team by bombing them in Qatar. New Zealand has declared that the issues can only be resolved through negotiations, but has said not one word of complaint that Israel is murdering the negotiators.”
He said there is a “yawning gap” between the government’s policy towards Russia and that towards Israel.
“Winston Peters has just implemented its thirty-second sanction measure against Russia. That does not seem to be complex,” John Minto said.
