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Category: Asia Report

  • ‘Repair colonial violence’ and support Gaza ceasefire, say Otago academics

    Asia Pacific Report

    Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end divestment from any economic ties with Israel.

    “In order to honour commitments to decolonisation and human rights, universities must act now,” says the open letter signed by more than 165 academics.

    “As a te Tiriti-led university in Aotearoa New Zealand”, the academic staff said they were calling for the University of Otago to immediately:

    1. Endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and disclose and divest from any economic ties to the apartheid state of Israel,
    2. Condemn those universities [that] have called on police to violently remove protesters from their campuses, and
    3. Call for the protection of students’ rights to protest and assemble and endorse the aims of those protests — the immediate demand of ceasefire and longer term demands to end the apartheid, violence, and illegal occupations under which Palestinians continue to suffer.

    The full letter states:

    “Kia ora koutou,

    “As we write this letter, universities across the United States have become battlegrounds. University administrators are sanctioning and encouraging violence against students and faculty members as they protest the genocidal violence in Gaza.

    “Over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed—of those deaths, it is estimated that more than 13,000 of them have been children. Israel has destroyed all 12 universities in Gaza and targeted staff and students at those universities.

    “The recent discovery of mass graves in Gaza, the hands and feet of many victims bound, has shocked the conscience of the world.

    “In keeping with a long tradition of campus protest, students and staff are demanding their universities stop contributing to genocidal violence.

    Student bodies brutalised
    “In return, their bodies have been brutalised, their own universities endorsing their arrests. Universities should, at the very least, offer crucial spaces for protest, debate, and working through collective responses to urgent social issues. Instead, administrators have called in militarised police forces, fully decked out in anti-riot regalia to repress student protests.

    “The results have been predictable: Professors and students have been arrested en masse and physically assaulted (beaten, pepper-sprayed, shot with rubber bullets, knocked unconscious, choked, and dragged limp across university lawns, their hands cuffed behind them).

    “We at the University of Otago, an institution committed to acknowledging, confronting, and seeking to repair colonial violence, are part of a society that extends far beyond the borders of Aotearoa New Zealand.

    “Acknowledging our history, including that history within its students’ experiences and working practices, compels us as a collective to call out and condemn colonial violence as and when we see it. It is not at all surprising that many of the protests in Aotearoa New Zealand calling for a ceasefire in Gaza have been organised and led by Māori alongside Palestinian activists.

    “Most recently, the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi have come out against the genocide, with one of the rally organisers, Te Ōtane Huata, stating “Tino rangatiratanga to me isn’t only self-determination of our people, it is also collective liberation.”

    “If it is to mean anything to be a te Tiriti-led university here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we must include acknowledgment that the history of Aotearoa New Zealand has been marked by consistent and egregious violations of that very treaty, and that such violations are indelibly part of settler colonialism.

    “Violent expropriation, cultural annihilation, and suppression of resistance have been the hallmarks of this project.

    Decolonisation and human rights
    “In order to honour commitments to decolonisation and human rights, universities must act now. We thus call for the University of Otago to immediately:

    “1. Endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and disclose and divest from any economic ties to the apartheid state of Israel,
    “2. Condemn those universities who have called on police to violently remove protesters from their campuses,
    “3. Call for the protection of students’ rights to protest and assemble and endorse the aims of those protests – the immediate demand of ceasefire and longer term demands to end the apartheid, violence, and illegal occupations under which Palestinians continue to suffer.

    “In other words, the University must call for a liberated Palestinian state if it is to conceptualise itself as a university that seeks to confront its own settler-colonial foundations.

    “The above position aligns with the named values of our universities here in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is our duty that we make these demands, particularly as Palestinians have seen the systematic destruction of their universities and educational infrastructure while Palestinian students of our universities have witnessed their families and friends targeted by the Israeli government.

    “If the University of Otago wants to authentically position itself as an institution that takes seriously its role as a critic and conscience of society and acknowledges the importance of coming to grips with ongoing settler-colonial violence, it should take these demands seriously.

    “We further support the Open Letter to Vice-Chancellor Dawn Freshwater from Auckland University Staff in Solidarity with Students Protesting for Palestine.”

    In solidarity,
    Dr Peyton Bond (Teaching Fellow, Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology)
    Dr Simon Barber (Lecturer in Sociology)
    Rachel Anna Billington (PhD candidate, Politics)
    Dr Neil Vallelly (Lecturer in Sociology)
    Erin Silver (PhD candidate, Sociology)
    Professor Richard Jackson (Leading Thinker Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies)
    Dr Lynley Edmeades (Lecturer in English)
    Dr Olivier Jutel (Lecturer in Media, Film and Communication)
    Lydia Le Gros (PhD candidate & Assistant Research Fellow, Public Health)
    Dr Abbi Virens (Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Sustainability)
    Sonja Bohn (PhD candidate, Sociology)
    Joshua James (PhD Candidate, Gender Studies)
    Sophie van der Linden (Postgrad Student, Bioethics)
    Dr Fairleigh Evelyn Gilmour (Lecturer in Gender Studies, Criminology)
    Brandon Johnstone (Administrator, TEU Otago Branch Committee Member)
    Dr David Jenkins (Lecturer in Politics)
    Jordan Dougherty (Masters student, Sociology)
    Rosemary Overell (Senior Lecturer in Media, Film and Communication)
    Dr Sebastiaan Bierema – (Research Fellow, Public Health)
    Dr Sabrina Moro (Lecturer in Media, Film and Communication studies)
    Rauhina Scott-Fyfe (Māori Archivist, Hocken Collections)
    Dr Lena Tan (Senior Lecturer, International Relations & Politics)
    Cassie Withey-Rila (Assistant Research Fellow, Otago Medical School)
    Duncan Newman (Postgrad student, Management)

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • End this ‘cruel, barbaric use of force’ on Gaza – WILPF plea to NZ

    Asia Pacific Report

    The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire.

    The league’s open letter was sent to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters today as Israeli tanks took over the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt and aircraft bombarded residential homes.

    This may be the start of the long threatened assault on southern Gaza where 1.6 million people have been sheltering since the end of last year.

    The border attack comes after Israel announced it would continue its military operation in Rafah even after Hamas had accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

    WILPF works to end and prevent war, ensure that women are represented at all levels in the peace-building process, defend the human rights of women, and promote social, economic and political justice.

    The WILPF open letter also condemned the closure of the global Al Jazeera television network’s operation in Israel. It said:

    “Kia ora Prime Minister Luxon and Minister of Foreign Affairs Peters,

    “The closure of Al Jazeera media in Israel at the same time as the Israeli occupation forces initiate the long-planned invasion of southern Gaza — an act deplored by many around the world – should prompt all democratic governments to call an end to this cruel and barbaric use of force in Gaza, along with settler violence in the West Bank

    “Palestinians have been ordered to move but, as I am sure you are aware, there is no safe place to move to.

    “Thousands more Palestinians will die if the Israeli government continue their genocidal practices.

    “I call on you as the New Zealand government and representatives of us all to call Israel out and demand a permanent ceasefire.

    “New Zealand governments have spoken up in former times, at the League of Nations and at the United Nations, including against the genocide in Rwanda.

    “Government reiterated its support for a two-state solution but Israeli impunity will prevent that outcome.

    “One small state can start a trend.

    “If the government is unable or unwilling to call an end to the Israeli invasion and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, can you tell [us] the reasons, please.”

     

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Auckland Palestine rally honours Gaza journalists for freedom award

    Asia Pacific Report

    About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children.

    Marking the annual May 3 World Press Freedom Day “plus two”, the crowd also strongly applauded UNESCO’s Guillermo Cano Award being presented to the Palestinian journalists for their “courage and commitment”.

    Several speakers gave tributes to the journalists, the more than 100 Gazan news workers killed had their names read out and put on display, and cellphones were lit up due to the breeze preventing candle flames.

    Activist MC Anna Lee praised the journalists and said they set an example to the world.


    Shut the Gaza war down chants in Auckland.     Video: Café Pacific

    Journalist Dr David Robie, convenor of Pacific Media Watch, said 143 journalists had been killed, according to Al Jazeera and the Gaza Media Office, and it was mostly targeted “assassination by design”.

    He paid tribute to several individual journalists as well as the group, including Shireen Abu Akleh, shot by an Israeli sniper more than a year before the October 7 war outbreak, and Hind Khoudary, a young journalist who had inspired people around the world.

    The Guillermo Cano Prize was awarded to the Gaza journalists in Santiago, Chile, as part of World Press Freedom Day global events.

    Nasser Abu Baker, president of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) and vice-president of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), received the UNESCO prize on behalf of his colleagues in Gaza.

    Candles for the Palestinian journalists
    Candles for the Palestinian journalists – named those who have been killed. Image: Asia Pacific Report

    ‘Unique suffering, fearless reporting’
    The UN cultural agency has recognised the “unique suffering and fearless reporting” of Gaza’s journalists by awarding them the freedom prize.

    Apart from those journalists and media workers have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 7, nearly all the rest have been injured, displaced or bereaved.

    From the start of the conflict, Israel closed Gaza’s borders to international journalists, and none have been allowed free access to the enclave since.

    A thousand Gazan journalists were working at the start of the war, and more than a 100 of them have been killed.

    “As a result,” reports the IFJ, “the profession has suffered a mortality rate in excess of 10 percent — about six times higher than the mortality rate of the general population of Gaza and around three times higher than that of health professionals.

    PJS president Baker said: “Journalists in Gaza have endured a sustained attack by the Israeli army of unprecedented ferocity — but have continued to do their jobs, as witnesses to the carnage around them.

    “It is justified that they should be honoured on World Press Freedom Day.


    Naming the martyred Gaza journalists.   Video: Café Pacific

    ‘Most deadly attack on press freedom’
    “What we have seen in Gaza is surely the most sustained and deadly attack on press freedom in history. This award shows that the world has not forgotten and salutes their sacrifice for information.”

    IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “This prize is a real tribute to the commitment to information of journalists in Gaza.

    “Journalists in Gaza are starving, homeless and in mortal danger. UNESCO’s recognition of what they are still enduring is a huge and well-deserved boost.”


    Kia Ora Gaza – doctors speak out.      Video: Café Pacific

    Gaza Freedom Flotilla blocked
    Also at the rally today were Kia Ora Gaza’s organiser Roger Fowler and two of the three New Zealand doctors who travelled to Turkiye to embark on the Freedom Flotilla which was sending three ships with humanitarian aid to break the Gaza siege.

    Israel thwarted the mission for the time being by pressuring the African nation of Guinea-Bissau to withdraw the maritime flag the ships would have been sailing under.

    However, flotilla organisers are working hard to find another flag country for the ships and the doctors vowed to rejoin the mission.

    Palestinian children at today's Auckland rally
    Palestinian children at today’s Auckland rally . . . one girl is holding up an image of an old pre-war postage stamp from the country called Palestine with the legend “We are coming back”. Image: David Robie/Cafe Pacific Report

    Pacific Media Watch

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Media freedom award for the Gaza journalists who have paid a terrible price in Israel’s genocidal war

    By David Robie, convenor of Pacific Media Watch

    Along with the devastating death toll – now almost 35,000 people, hundreds of aid workers and hundreds of medical staff have been killed in the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza — journalists have also paid a terrible price.

    By far the worst of any war.

    In Vietnam, 63 journalists were killed in two decades.

    The Second World War was worse, with 67 journalists killed in seven years.

    But now in the war on Gaza, we have had 143 journalists killed in seven months.

    That’s the death toll according to Al Jazeera and the Gaza Media Office. (Western media freedom monitoring usually cite a lower figure, around the 100 plus mark, but I the higher figure is more accurate).

    And these journalists — sometimes their whole families as well – have been deliberately targeted by the Israeli “Offensive” Force – I call it “offensive” rather than what it claims to be, defensive (IDF).

    Kill off journalists
    Assassination by design. Clearly the Israeli policy has been to kill off the journalists, silence the messengers, whenever they can.

    Try to stifle the truth getting out about their war crimes, their crimes against humanity.

    But it has failed. Just like the humanity of the people of Gaza has inspired the world, so have the journalists.

    Their commitment to truth and justice and to telling the world their horrendous story has been an exemplary tale of bravery and courage in the face of unspeakable horror.

    But there has been a glimmer of hope in spite of the gloom. On Friday — on World Press Freedom Day, May 3 — UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, awarded all Palestinian journalists covering the war in Gaza the annual Guillermo Cano Award for media freedom.

    This award is named in honour of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian investigative journalist who was assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper El Espectador in Bogotá, Colombia on 17 December 1986.

    Announcing the Gaza award in the capital of Chile, Santiago, in an incredibly emotional ceremony, Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals, declared:

    “In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances.

    “As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression.”

    Ultimate price
    For those of us who watch Al Jazeera every day to keep up with developments in Palestine and around the world — and thank goodness we have had that on Freeview to balance the pathetic New Zealand media coverage — I would like to acknowledge some of their journalists who have paid the ultimate price.

    First, I would like to acknowledge the assassination of American-Palestinian Shireen Abu Akleh, who was murdered by Israeli military sniper while reporting on an army raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on 11 May 2022.

    Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
    Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh . . . killed by an Israeli sniper in 2022 with impunity. Image:

    A year later there was still no justice, and the Paris-based media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders issued a protest, saying:

    “The systematic Israeli impunity is outrageous and cannot continue.”

    Well it did, right until the war on Gaza began five months later.

    But I am citing this here and now because Shireen’s sacrifice has been a personal influence on me, and inspired me to take a closer look into Israel’s history of impunity over the killing of journalists — and just about every other crime. (It has violated 62 United Nations resolutions without consequences).

    I have this photo of her on display in my office, thanks to the Palestinian Youth Aotearoa, and she constantly reminds me of the cruelty and lies of the Israeli regime.

    Now moving to the present war, last December, Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh was wounded in an Israeli strike in which his colleague and Al Jazeera Arabic’s cameraman Samer Abudaqa was killed, while they were reporting in southern Gaza.

    Dahdouh’s wife Amna, son Mahmoud, daughter Sham and grandson Adam were previously killed in an attack in October after an Israeli air raid hit the home they were sheltering in at the Nuseirat refugee camp.

    Then the veteran journalist’s eldest son, Hamza Dahdouh, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed in January by an Israeli missile attack in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

    News media reports said he was in a vehicle near al-Mawasi, an Israel-designated safe area, with journalist Mustafa Thuraya, who was also killed in the attack.

    According to reports from Al Jazeera correspondents, their vehicle was targeted as they were trying to interview civilians displaced by previous bombings.

    In February, Mohamed Yaghi, a freelance photojournalist who worked with multiple media outlets, including Al Jazeera, was also killed in an Israeli air strike in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.

    Al Jazeera’s Gaza offices in a multistoreyed building were bombed two years ago, just as many Palestinian media offices have been systematically destroyed by the Israelis in the current war.

    Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded Al Jazeera as a “terrorist channel”. Why? Because it broadcasts the truth about Israel’s genocidal war and Netanyahu threatened to ban the channel from Israel under a new law to control foreign media.

    Today, a month after that threat, Netanyahu has today followed up after his cabinet voted unanimously to order Al Jazeera to close down operations in Israel, which will curb the channel’s reporting on the daily Israeli harassment and raids on the Palestinians of the Occupied West Bank.

    And this is the country that proclaims itself to be the “only democracy” in the Middle East.

    Many of the surviving Gaza journalists are very young with limited professional experience.
    They have had to learn fast, a baptism by fire.

    I would like to round off with a quote from one of these young journalists, Hind Khoudary, a 28-year-old reporter for Al Jazeera since day one of the war, who used to sign on her social media reports for the day “I’m still alive”:

    “I am a daughter, a sister to eight brothers, and a wife.

    “Choosing to stay here is a choice to witness and report on the unbearable reality my city endures. Forced from my home, alongside countless Palestinians, we strive for the basics – clean food and water – without transportation or electricity.

    “I am not a superhero; I am shattered from the inside. The loss of relatives, friends, and colleagues weighs heavy on my soul. Israeli forces ravaged my city, reducing homes to rubble. [Thousands of] civilians still lie beneath the remnants.

    “My heart is aching, and my spirit is fragile. Since October 7, journalists have been targets; Israel seeks to stifle our voices.

    “I miss my family.

    “But surrender is not an option. I will continue to report, to breathe life into the stories of my people until my last breath. Please, do not let the world forget Palestine. We are weary, and your voice is our strength.

    “Remember our voices, remember our faces.”

    Pacific Media Watch convenor Dr David Robie delivering a speech on media freedom
    Pacific Media Watch convenor Dr David Robie delivering a speech on media freedom at the Palestinian rally at Auckland today. Image: Del Abcede/Pacific Media Watch

    This article is adapted from a media freedom speech by Pacific Media Watch convenor Dr David Robie at the Palestine rally today calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Auckland University staff appeal over Gaza protest in solidarity with students

    Asia Pacific Report

    A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine.

    They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by students over Israel’s war on Gaza, and criticised her for “minimising” the seriousness of the seven-month war that has been widely characterised as genocide.

    They have also criticised the vice-chancellor’s announcement for failing to acknowledge that “our students were planning to establish an encampment to urge the University of Auckland to divest from any entities and corporations enabling Israel’s ongoing military violence against Palestinians in Gaza, where at least 34,535 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military operations since 7 October 2023″.

    Their open letter said in full:

    “Tēnā koe Vice-Chancellor Dawn Freshwater,

    “As members of staff of the University of Auckland, we are deeply concerned by your announcement of 30 April 2024 advising students and staff of your decision to not support the establishment of an overnight encampment by students protesting in solidarity with Palestine.

    “Firstly, we are concerned that your announcement failed to acknowledge that our students were planning to establish an encampment to urge the University of Auckland to divest from any entities and corporations enabling Israel’s ongoing military violence against Palestinians in Gaza, where at least 34,535 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military operations since 7 October 2023. Importantly, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese recently found that there are ‘reasonable grounds’ to determine that this violence by Israel amounts to the commission of the crime of genocide. Rather than acknowledging this cause, your announcement disappointingly mischaracterised and minimised Israel’s violence as a ‘conflict’ and the resulting humanitarian crisis as a ‘heightened geopolitical tension.’

    “Secondly, we are concerned that in making your decision, you sought advice from the New Zealand Police rather than from your own students and staff. We believe that this approach to such an important matter falls short of the ‘values which bind us as a university community’ you mentioned in your announcement.

    “Thirdly, we are concerned that the reason you have provided for your decision is that the University of Auckland needs to avoid ‘introducing the significant risks that such encampments have brought to other university campuses.’ We believe that this reasoning erroneously places the blame for any safety risks in overseas campuses on students and staff who established peaceful encampments, rather than on university administrators who decided to seek unnecessary police intervention to break up these encampments, which has then led to the unjust arrests and detainments of students and staff.

    “Finally, we are concerned that your decision to seek the advice of the New Zealand Police and blame peaceful encampments for safety risks in other campuses suggests that you intend to call the New Zealand Police on your students and staff who decide to exercise their right to protest with a peaceful encampment on campus grounds. We believe that making such a suggestion to students and staff also falls short of the ‘values which bind us as a university community’ you mentioned in your announcement.

    “Accordingly, we urge you to reverse your decision and to offer your full support to students and staff who may choose to exercise their right to protest by establishing a peaceful encampment on campus grounds.

    “We also urge you not to discipline or penalise students and staff who may choose to participate in peaceful protests and encampments in any way, and to engage with them in good faith and in accordance with the ‘values which bind us as a university community’.

    Ngā mihi nui,

    Auckland University Staff in Solidarity with Students

    Fuimaono Dylan Asafo
    Associate Professor Rhys Jones
    Professor Papaarangi Reid
    Professor Emeritus Jane Kelsey
    Dr Suliana Mone
    Professor Emeritus David V Williams
    Professor Andrew Jull
    Associate Professor Donna Cormack
    Dr Nav Sidhu
    Associate Professor George Laking
    Mia Carroll
    Ankita Askar
    Caitlin Merriman
    Dr Rebekah Jaung
    Dr Eileen Joy
    Sione Ma’u
    Arin Hectors
    Dr Ian Hyslop
    Dr Fleur Te Aho
    Associate Professor Treasa Dunworth
    Professor Nicholas Rowe
    Dr Emalani Case
    Emmy Rākete
    Kendra Cox
    Zoe Poutu Fay
    Kenzi Yee
    Niamh Pritchard
    Associate Professor Lisa Uperesa
    Eru Kapa-Kingi
    Daniel Wilson
    Kate Jack
    Dr Karly Burch
    Sean Sturm
    Campbell Talaepa
    Professor Liz Beddoe
    Erin Jia
    Emily Sposato
    Fahizah Sahib
    Dina Sharp
    Dr Murray Olsen
    Dr Cynthia Wensley
    Sasha Rodenko
    Gabbi Courtenay
    Atama Thompson
    Professor Paula Lorgelly
    Jess Kelly
    Amelia Kendall
    Abigail Siddayao-Ramos
    Bianca Parker
    Georgia Nemaia
    Muhammad Bazaan Ghaznavi
    Erica Farrelly
    Dr Vivienne Kent
    Morgan Allen
    Carrie Rudzinski
    Thomas Gregory
    Lauren Brentnall
    Lily Chen
    Awhi Marshall
    Max Stephens
    Dr. Charlotte Toma
    Sonia Fonua
    Benjamin Kauri Doyle
    Kyrin Bhula
    Isobel Rist
    Kelly Young
    Ngahuia Harrison
    Briar Meads
    Emma Parangi
    Mai AlSharaf
    Dr Anita Mudaliar
    Dave Henricks
    Maryam Madawi
    Yeray Madroño
    Marnie Reinfelds
    Maizurah Maidin
    Nida Zuhena
    Professor Virginia Braun
    Bridget Conor
    Amani Mashal
    Anastasia Papadakis
    Ayla Hoeta Lecturer, Assistant Associate Dean Maaori
    Associate Professor Elana Curtis
    Professor Nicola Gaston
    Nina Dyer
    Renz Alinabon

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Auckland academics call out university stance over pro-Palestine protest

    RNZ News

    A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians.

    This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it supported the right of students and staff to protest peacefully and legally, it would not support an overnight encampment due to health and safety concerns.

    The university’s statement said advice from police had been taken into account, and the university would “work constructively” with the protesters to facilitate an alternative form of protest.

    “This compromise enables students and staff who wish to express their views to do so in a peaceful and lawful manner, without introducing the significant risks that such encampments have brought to other university campuses,” the statement said.

    On Wednesday, more than 100 people gathered at the university’s central city campus for the rally, with those taking part expressing a range of views toward violence between Israel and Palestinians and the war in Gaza.

    Protest organisers Students for Justice in Palestine, said the demonstration was the initial event in a long-term campaign to advocate for Palestinian rights, in “support for justice and peace”, and invited any member of the university to take part, “regardless of background or affiliation”.

    After the university’s statement against the planned encampment, the group changed the event to a campus rally, which they said would make it more accessible to a more diverse range of people.

    Open letter of concern
    However, now an open letter signed by 65 university staff and academics says they held deep concerns about the university’s stance toward the protest.

    The institution’s reaction “mischaracterised” the focus of the protest, minimised the violence in Gaza, and had not acknowledged a call for the institution to “divest from any entities and corporations enabling Israel’s ongoing military violence against Palestinians in Gaza”, the letter said.

    It condemned the university for not seeking advice about the planned protest from its own students and staff, and said the institution’s stance had implied the protesters would “introduce significant risks”.

    One of the signatories, senior law lecturer Dylan Asafo, told RNZ the University of Auckland vice-chancellor had taken poor advice.

    “The vice-chancellor is essentially blaming the violence and unrest that we’re seeing on the newest campuses [overseas] on staff and students who set up peaceful encampments there, rather than on university administrators and police forces who have broken up those peaceful encampments.”

    The academics also want confirmation protesters won’t be punished by the university.

    “We also urge you not to discipline or penalise students and staff who may choose to participate in peaceful protests and encampments in any way, and to engage with them in good faith,” the letter said.

    The university has been approached for comment.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • ICC demands end to threats against court amid Gaza war probe

    Asia Pacific Report

    The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court.

    The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement yesterday that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials must cease immediately.

    While the prosecutor’s statement did not mention Israel, it was issued after Israeli and US officials have warned of consequences against the ICC if it issues arrest warrants over Israel’s war on Gaza, reports Al Jazeera.

    “The office seeks to engage constructively with all stakeholders whenever such dialogue is consistent with its mandate under the Rome Statute to act independently and impartially,” Khan’s office said.

    “That independence and impartiality is undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the court or against court personnel should the office, in fulfillment of its mandate, make decisions about investigations or cases falling within its jurisdiction.”

    It added that the Rome Statute, which outlines the ICC’s structure and areas of jurisdiction, prohibits threats against the court and its officials.

    Arrest warrants speculation
    Over the past week, media reports have indicated that the ICC might issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over the country’s conduct in Gaza.

    The court may prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The Israeli military has killed nearly 35,000 people in Gaza and destroyed large parts of the territory since the start of the war on October 7.

    News of possible ICC charges against Israeli officials led to an intense pushback by the country and its allies in the United States.

    On Tuesday, Netanyahu released a video message rebuking the court.

    “Israel expects the leaders of the free world to stand firmly against the ICC outrageous assault on Israel’s inherent right of self-defence,” he said.

    “We expect them to use all the means at their disposal to stop this dangerous move.”

    The court has been investigating possible Israeli abuses in the occupied Palestinian territory since 2021. Khan has said his team is investigating alleged war crimes in the ongoing war in Gaza.

    In October, Khan said the court had jurisdiction over any potential war crimes committed by Hamas fighters in Israel and by Israeli forces in Gaza.

    Student protests spread to NZ
    Meanwhile, more than 2200 students have been arrested in the United States as protests against the war on Gaza and calling for divestment from Israel have spread to more than 30 universities in spite of police crackdowns, and have also emerged in Australia, Canada, France, United Kingdom — and now New Zealand in the Pacific.

    RNZ News reports that more than 100 students gathered on Auckland University’s city campus to protest against the war.

    The rally was originally planned as an encampment, but the university said any overnight stand would not be allowed.

    Tents had been set up within the crowd, but protest organisers said the event would be a rally.

    Academic staff have appealed over the administration’s decision against the encampment.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Fiji’s media freedom ranking jumps, Papua New Guinea’s plummets

    By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews

    Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs.

    Fiji’s improvement in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index was in contrast to the global trend for erosion of media independence — manifested in the Pacific by Papua New Guinea’s evolving plans for a media law and its prime minister’s threat to retaliate against journalists.

    The Paris-based advocacy group, also known as Reporters sans frontières (RSF), said yesterday — World Press Freedom Day — there had been a “worrying decline” globally in respect for media autonomy and an increase in pressure from states and other political actors.

    “States and other political forces are playing a decreasing role in protecting press freedom. This disempowerment sometimes goes hand in hand with more hostile actions that undermine the role of journalists,” said RSF’s editorial director Anne Bocandé.

    The international community, RSF said, also has shown a “clear lack of political will” to enforce principles of protection of journalists.

    At least 22 Palestinian journalists — 143 journalists in total, according to Al Jazeera — have been killed in the course of their work by Israel’s military during its war in Gaza since October, it said.

    Meanwhile authoritarian governments in Asia, the most populous continent, are “throttling journalism,” the group said, citing the examples of Vietnam, Myanmar, China, North Korea and Afghanistan.

    Only four Pacific countries in Index
    The index covers 180 countries but it reports on only four of two dozen Pacific island nations and territories.

    Excluded Pacific island countries include those with no independent media, such as Nauru, and others with a diversity of media organizations such as Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

    RSF told BenarNews that while it currently does not have the capacity, it hopes to increase the number of Pacific island countries it reports on and to forge relationships with more Pacific media organizations.

    The chief executive of Vanuatu Broadcasting & Television Corporation [VBTC], Francis Herman, said he would welcome Vanuatu’s inclusion.

    “I think it is important that Vanuatu is included. There are challenges around media freedom, the track record in the past is of threats to media freedom,” he told BenarNews at a Pacific broadcasters conference in Brisbane.

    “We are relatively free but that doesn’t mean everything is all well.”

    EW4A2566.JPG
    Chinese state TV interviews Solomon Islands’ Chief Electoral Officer Jasper Anisi in Honiara on Apr. 18, 2024 following a general election. Image: Benar News

    Fiji’s position in the index improved to 44th in 2024 from 89th the previous year, reflecting the seachange for its media after strongman leader Voreqe Bainimarama lost power in a 2022 election.

    Fiji’s attacks in press freedom
    “After 16 years of repeated attacks on press freedom under Frank Bainimarama, pressure on the media has eased since Sitiveni Rabuka replaced him as prime minister in 2022,” said RSF.

    Fiji's new ranking in the RSF World Press Freedom Index 2024
    Fiji’s new ranking in the RSF World Press Freedom Index 2024 . . . a jump of 45 places to 44th after the Pacific country scrapped the draconian media law last year. Image: RSF screenshot APR

    Fiji Broadcasting Corporation said the reform had allowed its journalists to do stories they previously shied away from.

    “Self-censorship out of fear for the possible consequences was the biggest issue in holding power to account,” FBC said in a statement provided to BenarNews on behalf of its newsroom.

    “The 16 years under the media decree meant many experienced journalists left the profession and a generation of journalists couldn’t practice in a free and transparent media environment.

    “Already we’re seeing positive change but it’s going to take some time to rebuild the skills and confidence to report without fear or favor.”

    The win for press freedom in the Pacific comes at a time when China’s government, ranked at 172nd on the index and which tolerates media only as a compliant mouthpiece, is vying against the United States, ranked at 55th, for influence in the region.

    State-controlled or influenced media has a prominent role in many Pacific island countries, partly due to small populations, economies of scale and cultural norms that emphasize deference to authority and tradition.

    Small town populations
    Nations such as Tuvalu and Nauru only have populations of a small town.

    000_347P34A (1).jpg
    Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape shows the inside of his jacket, which is lined with old photographs of himself, during an interview in Sydney on December 11, 2023. PNG’s ranking in a global press freedom index has plummeted during his prime ministership. Image: David Gray/AFP/BenarNews

    The press freedom ranking of Papua New Guinea, the most populous Pacific island country, deteriorated to 91st place from 59th last year.

    The government last year said it planned to regulate news organisations and released a draft media policy that envisaged newsrooms as tools to support the economically-struggling country’s development objectives.

    Prime Minister James Marape has frequently criticised Papua New Guinea’s media for reporting on the country’s problems such as tribal conflicts. He has said that journalists were creating a bad perception of his government and he would look to hold them accountable.

    Belinda Kora, secretary of the PNG Media Council, said the proposed media development law is now in its fifth draft, but concerns about it representing a threat to a free press have not been allayed.

    “The newsrooms that we’ve been able to talk to, especially the members of the council, all 16 of them, are unhappy,” she told BenarNews at a Pacific broadcasters’ conference in Brisbane.

    They see “there are some clauses and some pointers in this policy that point to restricting media, to lifting the cost of licenses for broadcasting organisations,” she said.

    RSF commended Samoa ranked 22nd as a regional leader in press freedom. The Polynesian country is the only Pacific island nation in the top 25 for the second year running, and Tonga is 45th.

    Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Used with the permission of BenarNews.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ slumps to 19th as RSF says press freedom threatened by global decline

    Pacific Media Watch

    New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3.

    This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its usual place in the top 10.

    However, New Zealand is still the Asia-Pacific region’s leader in a part of the world that is ranked as the second “most difficult” with half of the world’s 10 “most dangerous” countries included — Myanmar (171st), North Korea (172nd), China (173rd), Vietnam (175th) and Afghanistan (178th).

    New Zealand is 20 places above Australia, which is ranked 39th.

    However, NZ is closely followed in the Index by one of the world’s newer nations, Timor-Leste (20th) — among the top 10 last year — and Samoa (22nd).

    Fiji was 44th, one place above Tonga, and Papua New Guinea had dropped to 91st. Other Pacific countries were not listed in the survey which is based on performance through 2023.

    Scandinavian countries again fill four of the world’s top countries for press freedom.

    No Asia-Pacific nation in top 15
    No country in the Asia-Pacific region is among the Index’s top 15 this year. In 2023, two journalists were murdered in the Philippines (134th), which continues to be one of the region’s most dangerous countries for media professionals.

    In the survey’s overview, the RSF researchers said press freedom around the world was being “threatened by the very people who should be its guarantors — political authorities”.

    This finding was based on the fact that, of the five indicators used to compile the ranking, it is the ‘political indicator’ that has fallen the most , registering a global average fall of 7.6 points.


    Covering the war from Gaza.    Video: RSF

    “As more than half the world’s population goes to the polls in 2024, RSF is warning of a
    worrying trend revealed by the Index — a decline in the political indicator, one of five indicators detailed,” said editorial director Anne Bocandé.

    “States and other political forces are playing a decreasing role in protecting press freedom. This disempowerment sometimes goes hand in hand with more hostile actions that undermine the role of journalists, or even instrumentalise the media through campaigns of harassment or disinformation.

    “Journalism worthy of that name is, on the contrary, a necessary condition for any democratic system and the exercise of political freedoms.”

    Record violations in Gaza
    At the international level, says the Index report, this year is notable for a “clear lack of political will on the part of the international community” to enforce the principles of protection of journalists, especially UN Security Council Resolution 2222 in 2015.

    “The war in Gaza has been marked by a record number of violations against journalists and media since October 2023. More than 100 Palestinian reporters have been killed by the Israeli Defence Forces, including at least 22 in the course of their work.”

    UNESCO yesterday awarded its Guillermo Cano world press freedom prize to all Palestinian journalists covering the war in Gaza.

    “In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances,” said Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals.

    “As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression.”

    Occupied and under constant Israeli bombardment, Palestine is ranked 157th out of 180
    countries and territories surveyed in the overall Index, but it is ranked among the last 10 with regard to security for journalists.

    Israel is also ranked low at 101st.

    Criticism of NZ
    Although the Index overview gives no detailed explanation on the decline in New Zealand’s Index ranking, it nevertheless says that the country had “retained its role as a press freedom model”.

    However, last December RSF condemned Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters in the rightwing coalition government for his “repeated verbal attacks on the media” and called on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to reaffirm his government’s support for press freedom.

    “Just after taking office . . . Peters declared in an interview that he was ‘at war’ with the media. A statement that he accompanied on several occasions with accusations of corruption among media professional,” said RSF in its public statement.

    “He also portrayed a journalism support fund set up by the previous [Labour] administration as a ’55 million dollar bribe’. The politician also questioned the independence of the public broadcasters Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

    “These verbal attacks would be a cause of concern for the sector if used to support a policy of restricting the right to information.”

    Cédric Alviani, RSF’s Asia-Pacific bureau director, also noted at the time: “By making irresponsible comments about journalists in a context of growing mistrust of the New Zealand public towards the media, Deputy Prime Minister Peters is sending out a worrying signal about the newly-appointed government’s attitude towards the press.

    “We call on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to reaffirm his government’s support for press freedom and to ensure that all members of his cabinet follow the same line.”

    Pacific Media Watch compiled this summary from the RSF World Press Freedom Index.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • OPM’s Bomanak accuses UN of failing to uphold decolonisation role over West Papua

    Asia Pacific Report

    A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963.

    In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM (Free Papua Organisation) leader Jeffrey P Bomanak has also claimed that this was the “beginning of genocide” that could only have happened through the failure of the global body to “legally uphold its decolonisation responsibilities in accordance with the UN Charter”.

    Bomanak says in the letter dated yesterday that the UN failed to confront the “relentless barbarity of the Indonesian invasion force and expose the lie of the fraudulent 1969 gun-barrel ‘Act of No Choice’”.

    The open letter follows one released on the eve of Anzac Day last month which strongly criticised the role of Australia and the United States, accusing both countries of “betrayal” in Papuan aspirations for independence.

    According to RNZ News today, an Australian statement in response to the earlier OPM letter said the federal government “unreservedly recognises Indonesia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over the Papua provinces”.

    The White House has not responded.

    The OPM says it has compiled a “prima facie pictorial ‘integration’ history” of Indonesia’s actions in integrating the Pacific region into an Asian nation. It plans to present this evidence of “six decades of crimes against humanity” to Secretary-General Guterres and new Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

    The open letter states:

    May 1, 2024

    Dear Secretary-General Guterres,

    I am addressing you in an open letter which I will be releasing to media and governments because I have previously brought to your attention the history of the illegal annexation of West Papua on May 1st, 1963, and the role of your office in the fraudulent UN referendum in 1969, called an Act of Free Choice and I have never received a reply.

    Part of the opening page of the five-page OPM open letter to the United Nations
    Part of the opening page of the five-page OPM open letter to the United Nations. Image” Screenshot APR

    After six decades of OPM letters and Papuan appeals to the UN Secretariat, I am providing the transparency and accountability of an “open letter”, so that historians of the future can
    investigate the moral and ethical credibility of the UN Secretariat.

    May 1st is a day of mourning for Papuans. A day of grief over the illegal annexation of our ancestral Melanesian homeland by a violent occupation force from Southeast Asia.

    Indonesia’s annexation of Western New Guinea (Irian Jaya/West Papua) on May 1, 1963, is
    commemorated in Indonesia’s Parliament as a day of integration. The photos on these pages on these pages show a different story. The reality these photos portray is, in fact, one of the longest ongoing acts of genocide since the end of the Second World War.

    An invasion and an illegal annexation not unlike Nazi Germany’s annexation in 1938 of
    its neighbouring country, Austria. The difference for Papuans is that the UN and the USA were co-conspirators in preventing our right to determine a future that was our right to have under the UN decolonisation process: independence and nation-state sovereignty.

    A very chilling contradiction — the Allies we fought alongside, nursed back to life, and died with during WWII had joined forces with a mass-murderer not unlike Hitler — the Indonesian president Suharto (see Photo collage #2: Axis of Evil).

    Some scholars have called the May 1, 1963 annexation “Indonesia’s Anschluss”. Suharto and the conspirators goal of colonial invasion and conquest had been achieved through
    the illegal annexation of my people’s ancestral homeland, my homeland.

    General and president-in-waiting Suharto signed a contract in 1967 with American mining giant Freeport, another company associated with David Rockefeller, two years before we were to determine our future through the aforementioned gun-barrel UN referendum project-managed by a brutal occupation force. Our future had already been determined by Suharto, David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, and Suharto’s friend, UN secretary-General U Thant. U Thant had succeeded Dag Hammarskjöld who had been assassinated for his controversial view that human rights and freedom were absolutely universal and should not be subjected to the criminal whims of either tyrants like Suharto or a resource industry with views on human rights and freedom that resembled Suharto’s.

    I do not need to give you a blow-by-blow history for your edification — you already know the entire history and the victim tally — 350,000 adults and 150,000 children and babies. And rising. You are, after all, a man of some principle — Portugal’s former prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, as well as a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party. And presiding as Portuguese prime minster during the final years of Fretilin’s war of liberation in East Timor, a former Portuguese colony invaded by Indonesia in 1975 with anywhere up to 250,000 victims of genocide. Please explain to me the difference between the Indonesia’s
    invasion and “integration” of East Timor and Indonesia’s invasion and “integration” of my homeland, Western New Guinea (West Papua).

    Apart from the oil in the Timor Gap and the gold and copper all over my homeland — the wealth of someone else’s resources promoting the “integration” policies pictured over these pages.

    As a member of a socialist party, you might be attending May Day ceremonies today. I will be counselling victims and the families of loved ones who have been “integrated” today. Yes, the freedom-loving Papuans are holding rallies to protest the annexation of our homeland . . .  to protest the failure — your failure — to apply justice and to end this nightmare.

    The cost of the UN-approved annexation to Papuans in pain and suffering: massacres, torture, systemic rape by TNI and Polri, mutilation and dismemberment as a signature of your barbarity. Relentless barbarity causing six decades of physical and cultural genocide, ethnocide, infanticide, and wave after wave of ethnic cleansing.

    The cost to Papuans in the theft and plunder of our natural resources: genocide by starvation and famine.

    The cost to Papuans from the foreign resource industry plundering our natural resources: the devastation of pristine environments, whole ecosystems poisoned by the resource industry’s chemical toxicity, called tailings, released into rivers thereby destroying whole riverine catchments along with food sources from fishing and farming — catchment rivers and nearby farming lands contaminated by Freeport, and other’s. A failure to apply any international standards for risk management to prevent the associated birth defects
    in villages now living in contaminated catchments.

    That we would choose to become part of any nation so brutal defies credibility. That the UN approved integration should have been impossible based on the evidence of the ever-increasing numbers of defence and security forces landing in West Papua and undertaking military campaigns that include ever-increasing victims and internally displaced Papuans, the bombing of central highland villages a current example? Such courage! Why are foreign
    media not allowed into my people’s homeland?

    Secretary-General Guterres, future historians will judge the efficacy of the United Nations. The integrity. West Papua will feature as a part the UN Secretariat’s legacy. To this endeavour, as the leader of Organisasi Papua Merdeka, I ask, and demand that you comply with your obligations under article 85 part 2 and sundry articles of your Charter of United Nations which requires that you inform the Trusteeship Council about your General Assembly resolution 1752, with which you are subjugating our people and homelands of West New Guinea which we call West Papua.

    The agreement which your resolution 1752 is authorising, begins with the words “The Republic of Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, having in mind the interests and welfare of the people of the territory of West New Guinea (West Irian)”

    Your agreement is clearly a trusteeship agreement written according to your rules of Chapter XII of your Charter of the United Nations.

    The West Papuan people have always opposed your use of United Nations military to make our people’s human rights subject to the whim of your two administrators, UNTEA and from 1st May 1963 the Republic of Indonesia that is your current administrator.

    We refer to your organisation’s last official record about West Papua which still suffers your ongoing unjust administration managed by UNTEA and Indonesia:

    Because you also used article 81 and Chapter XII of your Charter to seize control of our homelands when you created your General Assembly resolution 1752, the Netherlands was excused by article 73(e), “to transmit regularly to the Secretary-General for information purposes, subject to such limitation as security and constitutional considerations may require, statistical and other information of a technical nature relating to economic, social, and educational conditions in the territories for which they are respectively responsible other than those territories to which Chapters XII and XIII apply”, from transmitting further reports about our people and the extrajudicial killings that your new administrators began using to silence our demands for our liberty and independence.

    We therefore demand your Trusteeship Council begin its unfinished duty of preparing your United Nations reports as articles 85 part 2, 87 and 88 of your Charter requires.

    West Papua is entitled to independence, and article 76 requires you assist. It is illegal for Indonesia to invade us and to impede our independence, and to subsequently subject us to six decades of every classification for crimes against humanity listed by the International Criminal Court.

    We know this trusteeship agreement was first proposed by the American lawyer John Henderson in 1959, and was discussed with Indonesian officials in 1961 six months before the death of your Dag Hammarskjöld. We think it is shameful that you then elected Indonesia’s friend U Thant as Secretary-General, and we demand that you permit the Secretariat to perform its proper duty of revealing your current annexation of West Papua (Resolution 1752) to your Trusteeship Council.

    I look forward to your reply.

    Yours sincerely,

    Jeffrey P Bomanak
    Chairman-Commander OPM
    Markas Victoria, May 1, 2024

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • 27 years in captivity – free Marwan Barghouti, ‘Palestine’s Mandela’

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Eugene Doyle

    He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him.

    That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that we are spoon-fed every day.

    Marwan Barghouti — known to many as “the Palestinian Mandela” — has spent more time in captivity than Nelson Mandela did.

    Barghouti, the “terrorist”, rotting in jail. Barghouti, the indomitable leader who has not given up on peace. Barghouti, loved by ordinary people as “a man of the street”. Barghouti, supporter of the Oslo Accords.

    Barghouti, the 15-year-old youth leader standing beside Yasser Arafat. Barghouti, once a member of Parliament and Fatah secretary-general. Barghouti, leader of Tanzim, a PLO military wing, choosing militancy after the betrayal of the Oslo promise by the Americans and Israelis became fully clear.

    Barghouti, a leader of the intifada that restored hope to a broken people. Barghouti, the scholar and thinker. Barghouti, the political strategist and unifier.

    Marwan Barghouti is also that most powerful thing: a living symbol of an oppressed people. Why do so few in the West even know his name? He declared:

    “Resistance is a holy right for the Palestinian people to face the Israeli occupation.

    “Nobody should forget that the Palestinian people negotiated for 10 years and accepted difficult and humiliating agreements, and in the end didn’t get anything except authority over the people, and no authority over land, or sovereignty.”

    Prison a defining part of Palestinian national consciousness
    Researcher-writer Emad Moussa says imprisonment has become a defining part of the Palestinian national consciousness. In a 2021 article for The New Arab, he says that Marwan Barghouti proves you can imprison the Palestinians but not their struggle.

    It’s not hard to understand why imprisonment is a central part of Palestinian consciousness.

    Norman Finkelstein describes October 7 as more like a slave revolt than a terrorist attack.

    Fellow Jewish scholar Masha Gessen likens Gaza to a Nazi-era Jewish ghetto.

    In fact, all 7.5 million Palestinians are prisoners of the Zionist state. They are all prisoners of the history imposed on them by the powerful white nations of the West. Between 1967 and 2015 over 850,000 Palestinians had been detained by the Israelis.

    According to the Israeli human rights group B’tselem more than 8000 Palestinians are held by the Israelis. Many are held in secret Israeli Defence Force (IDF) facilities and there have been verified cases of torture, sexual abuse and limb amputations due to prolonged shackling.

    Many children are also held in grim captivity.

    Denies the charges
    Barghouti, returned to jail in 2002, and was convicted by an Israeli court on five counts of murder in 2004. He denies the charges and does not recognise the court.

    Like many who see all non-violent avenues to peace shut off, Barghouti watched the Israelis relentlessly steal more and more Palestinian land and Palestinian homes, build hundreds of illegal settlements in defiance of international law and strangle his people with draconian controls — all while America and the powerful Western countries turned a blind eye.

    “How would you feel if on every hill in territory that belongs to you a new settlement would spring up? I reached a simple conclusion. You, Israel, don’t want to end the occupation and you don’t want to stop the settlements — so the only way to convince you is by force.”

    Lawyer and activist Fadwa Barghouti, Marwan’s wife, says: “Marwan’s goal has always been ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories.

    “Marwan Barghouti believes in politics. He’s a political and national leader loved by his people.

    “He fought for peace with bravery and spent time on the Palestinian street advocating for peace. But he also believes in international law, which gives the occupied people the right to fight for their independence and freedom.”

    Israeli journalist Gideon Levy at Haaretz agrees: “Marwan was not born to kill . . .  because he is not a violent person, but Israel pushed him and the entire Palestinian people.”

    ‘The ultimate leader’
    Alon Liel, formerly Israel’s most senior diplomat, proposed freeing Barghouti because he is “the ultimate leader of the Palestinian people,” and “he is the only one who can extricate us from the quagmire we are in.”

    He is not alone in this view. Jerome Karabel, professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, details Netanyahu’s support for Hamas (for example, facilitating money via Qatar to Hamas) as a way to neutralise the threat posed by pro-peace, pro-two-state figures like Barghouti to the Zionists’ own single Jewish supremacist state solution.

    “In this context, the popular and charismatic Barghouti has posed a unique threat to Israel and its persistent claim that it had no plausible interlocutor with whom to negotiate,” Karabel says.

    Was Barghouti involved in terror attacks? Quite possibly.

    He rejects such a label: “My crime is not “terrorism” — a term apparently only used to describe the deaths of Israeli civilians but never the deaths of Palestinians. My crime is that I insist on my freedom, freedom for my children, freedom for the entire Palestinian people.

    “And if indeed that is a crime, I proudly plead guilty.”

    The standard he is held to — five life sentences — bears no comparison with the impunity that Israelis enjoy — settlers who kill Palestinians are often rewarded with stolen land, through to political leaders greenlighting mass killings, even genocide, with the support of the US and the white Western countries.

    Abandon the myth
    “Israelis must abandon the myth that it is possible to have peace and occupation at the same time; that peaceful coexistence is possible between slave and master.

    “The lack of Israeli security is born of the lack of Palestinian freedom. Israel will have security only after the end of occupation, not before.”

    Beaten and abused in captivity, now being shunted from prison to prison and held in solitary confinement, Barghouti’s name only grows in stature as the US-Israeli violence against his people becomes clearer and clearer to a hitherto uncaring world.

    According to a March 2024 poll conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, “In presidential elections against current president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh, Barghouti wins the majority of those participating in the elections.”

    It is the strange fate of the Palestinian people that most of their leaders — those that haven’t already been murdered — are either in Israeli jails, hiding from Israeli death squads or living in exile.

    One of the most incredible — and for Westerners virtually unknown — political moments in the Israel-Palestinian conflict was the creation of The Prisoners’ Document in 2006 – a break-through in negotiations, led by Barghouti, between the fractious factions that divide the Palestinian polity.

    In 18 points, the document calls for the unification of Palestinian factions and a revival of the PLO as the representative organisation of Palestine. It calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the 1967 borders, the right of return, and the release of prisoners.

    Freedom fighter and the options
    “The Palestinian Mandela” is a useful shorthand and there is some merit to the comparison. Nelson Mandela visited Gaza in 1999 and raised his voice to condemn racist, apartheid Israel.

    The freedom fighter who was jailed for terrorism in his own country made clear what options lay before the Palestinian people. He told his audience, which included Yasser Arafat:

    “Choose peace rather than confrontation, except in cases where we cannot move forward. Then, if the only alternative is violence, we will use violence.”

    “I was called a terrorist yesterday,” Mandela once said, “but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists.”

    Barghouti said: “Once Israel and the rest of the world understand this fundamental truth, the way forward becomes clear: End the occupation, allow the Palestinians to live in freedom and let the independent and equal neighbours of Israel and Palestine negotiate a peaceful future with close economic and cultural ties.”

    The Mandela comparison has its limits. Ahmed Abu Artema, one of the organisers of the Great Marches of Return in 2018 and 2019 in which thousands of peaceful Palestinian protesters were shot and hundreds killed by Israeli snipers, replied when asked, ‘Where is the Palestinian Mandela?’: “The simple answer to that is that the Israelis have killed many Mandelas.”

    Marwa Fatafta, a policy director at Access Now also dismisses the need for a Palestinian Mandela: “I don’t subscribe to the mythology. I don’t think Palestinians need a ‘saviour’ or one man to run the show. This Mandela idea dismisses the fact that Israel has one goal and one goal only: to establish an ethno-nationalist Jewish state — and that stands in complete contradiction with the idea of co-existence, peace and justice.

    Building from ground up
    “What we need on the Palestinian side is to build a movement from the ground up,” Fatafta said in 2022.

    That said, Barghouti has an immense standing in the Palestinian community and, in a slightly kinder, saner world, could play a significant role.

    In the racist narrative of Israel and the West, the only hostages are those held by Hamas. It’s time to free the Palestinian hostages, starting with Marwan Barghouti — the longest-suffering of thousands of hostages. All of the hostages should be freed — including the remaining 100 held by Hamas.

    To riff on The Specials 1984 song ‘Free Nelson Mandela’:

    “27 years in captivity

    “His body abused but his mind is still free

    “Are you so blind that you cannot see?

    “Free Marwan Barghouti, I’m begging you”

    Republished from Eugene Doyle’s website Solidarity with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pacific state of Hawai’i first in US to pass dual Gaza ceasefire resolutions

    Asia Pacific Report

    The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now.

    In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 vote, and now the House has passed it on a 48–3 vote last Friday.

    However, although the lawmakers are the first to pass a ceasefire resolution, reports have quoted the state legislature’s Public Access Room as saying it “does not have the force and effect of law”.

    Nor does it need a signature from the governor.

    According to the resolution, the lawmakers are pushing for President Joe Biden’s administration to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

    The Hawai’i lawmakers are also demanding that the administration “facilitate the de-escalation of hostilities to end the current violence, promptly send and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including fuel, food, water, and medical supplies, and begin negotiations for lasting peace.”

    President Biden has previously called for a ceasefire in Gaza, but there did not appear to be a contingency plan should negotiations seeking a ceasefire fail, according to The Washington Post.

    Since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, more than 34,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip by strikes from Israel, and 77,143 have been wounded.

    The Hawai'i vote for Gaza round two
    The Hawai’i vote for Gaza round two . . . the House of Representatives voted for a ceasefire 48-3 last Friday. Hawaii News Now screenshot APR

    US overthrew Hawai’ian kingdom
    Tensions in the region go to at least the Nakba in 1948 when an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their land and illegal Israeli settlements began.

    Given Hawai’i’s history of American businessmen overthrowing the indigenous Hawai’ian kingdom with the support of US military forces in 1893, pro-Palestinian advocates have pointed out that Hawai’i has a key connection to the conflict in Gaza.

    Fatima Abed, founder of Rise for Palestine, is both Palestinian and Puerto Rican, and has a family member who is based in Gaza.

    She told The Huffington Post: “People in Hawai’i, especially Native Hawai’ians, are determined on this issue because it’s very jarring to know that our tax dollars are going to fund the genocide of another colonised people while, here at home, our government budgets aren’t covering the basic needs of the people.”

    Abed said that the island of Lahaina and its people had not been sufficiently cared for after the wildfires last August.

    “Native Hawai’ians across the state have been underserved for decades. The people of Hawai’i see that money being sent overseas to hurt people instead of helping here, and it makes no sense.

    “From the river to the sea, all of our people will be free.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Palestine protesters stage Gaza ‘die-in’ as leaders call for step up in boycotts

    Asia Pacific Report

    A score of Palestine solidarity protesters draped themselves in white shrouds with mock blood in a sombre “die-in” demonstration at Te Komitanga Square — the heart of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city — today as speakers urged people to take a stronger boycott against Israeli products.

    The rally by hundreds of protesters marked Israel’s killing of more than 34,000 Palestinians — mostly women and children — and wounding more than 77,000 in its genocidal war on Gaza.

    The war has lasted 205 days so far with no let-up in the deadly assault on the besieged enclave and protesters staged 35 events around New Zealand this week as global demonstrations continue to grow.

    Opposition MPs took part in the rally, including Labour’s Shanan Halbert and Green Party’s Steve Abel and Ricardo Menéndez March.

    Activist and educator Maryam Perreira called on Palestine supporters to step up their boycott and divestments pressure — “it’s working, sanctions brought down apartheid South Africa and this will bring down the Israeli genocidal regime”.


    “Food not bombs for Gaza”.    Video: Café Pacific

    She said the courage and commitment of the Palestinian resistance had become an inspiration to the world.

    Send Israeli ambassador home
    Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) secretary Neil Scott called for sanctions action by the New Zealand government.

    He urged Palestine supporters to call on the government to:

    • Send the Israeli ambassador home, and
    • End the working holiday visa for 200 Israelis who come to New Zealand to rest and relax “after committing genocide in Gaza”.

    Scott called on New Zealanders to email Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford to take action.

    “Try just one email and see how it goes. Then another on another topic. Then another. That’s how I started a while ago,” Scott said.

    “We need a tide of emails to get them to understand that Kiwis don’t want the Israeli ambassador here.

    “Neither do we want the young Israelis committing genocide today and to walk among us tomorrow.”

    More than 13,000 people have signed a petition calling for the closure of the Israeli embassy in Welington.


    “They can’t demonise an entire nation.”  Video: Café Pacific

    Superfund divestment
    Scott said divestment pressure also worked – it is one of the driving forces for student protests at some 70 universities across the US over the past week with police arresting hundreds.

    He spoke about the NZ government’s Superfund which has investments all over the world.

    “A few years ago, they invested in Israeli banks which were investing in the building of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestine Territories. They were involved in investing and enabling crimes against humanity,” Scott said.

    “Our efforts got the NZ Superfund to divest from those banks in 2021.”


    “BDS – more action call.”    Video: Café Pacific

    He called on people with KiwiSaver fund accounts to check them out for investments in “Israeli companies who are in any way involved in the occupation”.

    “We’re now calling for everyone to boycott Israeli products — or those companies which are complicit in Israeli crimes against humanity or the illegal occupation, land theft, ethnic cleansing, apartheid and now genocide.”

    Scott cited the boycott target list of the global BDS movement — Ahava (“Dead Sea mineral skin care products”), BP and Caltex, Hewlett-Packard, McDonalds, Obela Hummus and SodaStream.

    “The key is for all of us to take action today. Remember — boycott, divest, sanction.”

    Palestinian flags in Auckland's Te Komititanga Square
    Palestinian flags in Auckland’s Te Komititanga Square today. Image: APR

    Meanwhile, 1News reports that three New Zealand doctors planning to sail with an independent flotilla carrying aid to Gaza have had their mission “scuppered at the last minute”. They blame Israel for the delay.

    The doctors — Dr Ali Al-Kenani, Dr Wasfi Shahin and Dr Faiez Idais — left for Istanbul 10 days ago where they joined other international volunteers in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, said 1News.

    Organisers of the humanitarian aid mission said the boats were set to sail under the flag of the West African nation of Guineau Bisseau but said the country had withdrawn permission to use its flag under pressure from Israel.

    A Gaza "die-in body" in Te Komititanga Square
    A Gaza “die-in body” in Te Komititanga Square today. Image: APR

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Biden hails ‘press freedom, democracy’ but ignores Gaza media death toll of 142

    Pacific Media Watch

    US President Joe Biden has spoken at the annual White House Correspondents’ dinner in Washington in spite of protests over alleged “complicity” of media about Israel’s war on Gaza, offering a toast to “press freedom and democracy” but ignoring the death toll of Palestinian journalists.

    Demonstrators targeted the Washington Hilton hotel which hosted the dinner, denouncing the Biden administration’s handling of the war and urging guests — especially media — to boycott the event.

    Media freedom watchdogs have cited varying death toll figures for Palestinian journalists killed since October 7 although Al Jazeera network news today reported 142 dead — more than double the number of journalists killed in each of the Second World War and the Vietnam War.

    “It’s astonishing. We’ve never seen a White House correspondents’ dinner like this,” reported Al Jazeera’s Washington correspondent Shihab Rattansi.

    “The President is here to speak while being warmly applauded by the national US press core.

    “But these VIPs are all dressed up in the evening finery, and they have to run the gauntlet of hundreds of protesters out here who are shouting, ‘Shame on you’.

    “‘Shame on you’ for breaking bread when there are [142] journalists dead as a result of, as far as they say, Biden’s complicity in their murder.”

    Code Pink flag protest
    Members of the feminist organisation Code Pink dropped a huge Palestinian flag from a top floor window of the Washington Hilton hotel.

    The group said members involved in the action managed “to get out quickly and without arrest”.

    The protesters were gathered outside the hotel to express solidarity with the dozens of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza.

    Protest outside Washington Hilton Hotel
    The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR

    More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend.

    “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and uphold journalistic integrity,” said the letter from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.

    “It is unacceptable to stay silent out of fear or professional concern while journalists in Gaza continue to be detained, tortured, and killed for doing our jobs.”

    ‘It hurts our souls’
    Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary was one of the signatories of the letter calling for the boycott.

    She spoke to the network from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, saying she did not “have the words” to describe what she had been going through.

    “This isn’t something that has been ending. It has been continuous every single day for more than 200 days.

    “We have been killed, displaced and homeless, and we’re not only reporting on this, but we’re also living it with every single detail.

    Gaza journalist Hind Khoudary . . . Palestinian
    Gaza journalist Hind Khoudary . . . Palestinian press plea to boycott the White House dinner. Image: @Hind_Gaza

    “We’re living this war in all aspects of life. We have not seen our families as journalists. We have not been able to eat well. We have been dehydrated.

    “We have been reporting in one of the harshest conditions any reporter can go through despite losing a lot of colleagues, and it hurts our souls and our hearts every single day.

    “We have been constantly targeted by the Israeli air strikes and shelling.

    “All of these daily things we have been living as journalists are overwhelming [and] exhausting, but we still continue because there have been at least 100 Palestinian journalists whom I personally know that have been killed since October 7.

    “If they were here today with us, they would be reporting, and they would be raising the voice of the voiceless Palestinians.”

    Protesters pose as Palestinian media casualties in Gaza
    Protesters pose as Palestinian media casualties in Gaza surrounded by blue press protective jackets. The death toll of Gaza journalists since October 7 is 142. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Pacific Media Watch.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • US student Palestine protests against Israel’s war on Gaza inspire global action

    Asia Pacific Report

    From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps.

    And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in the 1960s and 1980s.

    But authorities have cracked down at some institutions against the peaceful demonstrations with at least 550 being arrested in the US, reports Al Jazeera.

    Clashes between students and police officers have been reported across the US during intensifying university protests with encampments in at at least 20 institutions.

    Ali Harb, a Washington-based commentator on US foreign policy, Arab-American issues, civil rights and politics, says the Gaza-focused campus protest movement “highlights a generational divide over Israel” in the US.

    Young people are willing to challenge politicians and college administrators across the country, he says.

    “The opinion gap — with younger Americans generally more supportive of Palestinians than the generations that came before them — poses a risk to 81-year-old Democratic President Joe Biden’s re-election chances,” says Harb.

    “It could also threaten the bipartisan backing that Israel enjoys in Washington.”

    Divestment from Israel
    What started as the Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University, where students camped inside campus to push their institute to divest from companies linked to Israel, has since spread to campuses in California, Texas and other states.

    The students are protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza, where Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 34,000 people and its blockade has caused starvation.

    Students have been demonstrating worldwide in support of Gaza since the outbreak of the war on October 7.

    Following the Columbia encampments, the protests have further spread to universities from France to Australia. Here is a summary:

    In Paris, France, Sorbonne University students have taken to the streets. Additionally, the Palestine Committee from Sciences Po, is organising a protest where students set up about 10 tents on Wednesday. Despite a police crackdown, the protesters regathered on Thursday.

    In Australia, students from the University of Sydney set up pro-Palestine encampments on Tuesday, and they were continuing to protest yesterday. Also, University of Melbourne students have pitched tents on the south lawn of their main campus.

    In Rome, Italy, students from Sapienza University organised demonstrations, sit-ins and hunger strikes on April 17 and April 18.

    Investigating Israeli ties
    In the United Kingdom, students from the University of Warwick’s group Warwick Stands With Palestine have occupied the campus piazza. In Leicester, a protest broke out on Monday in which students from the University of Leicester Palestine Society also participated.

    Last month, students from the University of Leeds occupied a campus building in protest against the university’s involvement with Israel.

    Hicham, a student protesting at Sciences Po, which is also called the Paris Institute of Political Studies, told Al Jazeera, “We have a few demands but one of them is to start investigating all of the ties they [Sciences Po] have with the state of Israel, which [are] academic and financial”.

    The students are calling on the French government to provide more help to the Palestinians.

    Safeguard Gaza universities plea
    Meanwhile, nearly 30 Palestinian academics in the UK have called for “swift” action to safeguard universities in Gaza.

    The statement, whose signatories include Ghassan Abu Sittah, who has worked at al-Shifa and Alhi Arab hospitals in Gaza during the war, urged “friends and colleagues to take immediate steps to defend the integrity of Palestinian universities in occupied Palestine against the current plans and measures seeking to destroy them”.

    It added: “Having turned the universities of Gaza into detention centres before demolishing them, forcibly rendering Palestinian scholars, scientists, researchers and students homeless once again, Israel’s campaign of scholasticide has turned its attention to eliminating future independent Palestinian educational life in Gaza.”

    The academics also said they demand the institutions created by Palestinians in the face of “immense challenges” are not destroyed “but instead are rebuilt”.

    “They serve as a symbol of resilience and hope for the Palestinian people as a whole.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Israel delays Gaza Freedom Flotilla departure with bureaucratic ‘block’

    Asia Pacific Report

    The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza.

    All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave.

    However, organisers received word of an “administrative roadblock” initiated by Israel in an attempt to prevent the departure.

    Israel is reportedly pressuring the Republic of Guinea Bissau to withdraw its flag from the flotilla’s lead ship — Akdeniz (“Mediterranean”).

    This triggered a request for an additional inspection, this one by the flag state, that delayed yesterday’s planned departure.

    “This is another example of Israel obstructing the delivery of life-saving aid to the people in Gaza who face a deliberately created famine,” said a Freedom Flotilla statement.

    “How many more children will die of malnutrition and dehydration because of this delay and an ongoing siege which must be broken?”

    Israeli tactics
    This is not the first time that Israel has used such tactics to stop Freedom Flotilla ships from sailing.

    “We have overcome them before and are diligently working to overcome this latest attempt,” said the flotilla statement.

    “Our vessels have already passed all required inspections and we are confident that the Akdeniz will pass this inspection provided there is no political interference.

    “We expect this to be no more than a few days delay. Israel will not break our resolve to reach the people of Gaza.”


    ‘Freedom flotilla’ defying Israel’s Gaza blockade.       Video: Al Jazeera

    Al Jazeera reports that lawyers, aid workers and activists are on board the ship in preparation for efforts by the flotilla to break the Israeli air, land and sea blockade of Gaza.

    About 100 media people are on board as well, hoping to provide a more global eye on what is happening in Gaza.

    Chief Mandla Mandela, the grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela, is part of the flotilla that plans to soon set off for Gaza.

    “For us South Africans, the Palestinian issue has always been close and dear to our hearts,” Mandela said, noting that this grandfather had also said, “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people.”

    Published in collaboration with Kia Ora Gaza.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Palestine protesters challenge TVNZ over Israeli ambassador’s ‘propaganda’

    Pacific Media Watch

    Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

    About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side gate entrance for media workers for about an hour.

    The protest climaxed a week of critical responses from commentators and critics of TVNZ’s Q&A senior reporter/presenter Jack Tame’s 45-minute interview with Israel ambassador Ran Yaakoby last Sunday which Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) secretary Neil Scott described as “a platform for propaganda to excuse the genocide happening in Gaza over the last six months”.

    Waving Palestine flags and placards declaring “Bias”, “silence is complicity — free Palestine,” and “Balanced journalism — my ass,” the protesters chanted “Jack Tame, you cannot hide – you’re complicit with genocide.”

    Protester Joseph with a Palestine flag outside the entrance to TVNZ's headquarters today
    Protester Joseph with a Palestine flag outside the entrance to TVNZ’s headquarters today. Image: APR

    Chalked on the pavement and on the walls were slogans such as “Jack ‘Shame’ helped kill MSM”, “TVNZ stop platforming genocide and Zionism”, “TVNZ genocide apologists” and “137 journalists killed” in reference to the mainly Palestinian journalists targeted by Israeli military forces.

    Across the street, a wall slogan said: “TVNZ (Q&A) broadcast Israeli lies about Gaza”. Other slogans condemned the lack of Palestinian voices in TVNZ coverage – there are about 288 Palestinian people in New Zealand, according to the 2018 Census.

    Ironically, TVNZ tonight screened a rare Palestinian story — a heart-rending report about the tragic death in Gaza of a baby girl, Sabreen Joudeh, “Patience” in Arabic, who had been saved from her dying mother’s womb after an Israeli air strike on their family home.

    The TVNZ report interviewed the related Gouda family in Auckland hours before Abdallah Gouda, a doctor, flew out to Turkiye to join a humanitarian aid flotilla leaving for Gaza.


    PSNA’s Neil Scott criticises TVNZ coverage of Gaza.   Video: Café Pacific

    Criticism of ‘complicity’?
    “Jack Tame, you’re a professional,” yelled PSNA secretary Scott through a loud hailer addressing TVNZ. “You know what would be set up, you have to know.

    “But you allowed it to happen!”

    “I don’t get you Jack, stupid or complicit? Complicit or stupid? One of the two.”

    Critics are understood to be filing complaints about the alleged “one-sidedness” of the programme citing many specific criticisms.

    “We’re here today because of Jack Tame’s Q&A report for TVNZ,” said Scott. Among some of his complaints were Tame:

    • interviewing Ambassador Yaakoby at the Israeli Embassy in Wellington instead of at a TVNZ studio with the New Zealand flag being showed alongside the Israeli flag. “Tying the two countries together – a professional would have had the New Zealand flag removed.”
    • Not providing context around the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel at the start of the interview – “more than 75 years of repression since 750,000 Palestinians were expelled as refugees from their homeland in the 1948 Nakba.”
    • Asking a series of questions that the Israeli ambassador “avoided, changed, or outright lied” in his response.
    • Not following up with the questions as needed.
    • Avoiding the questions that “would have placed the issue of the Israeli attack on Gaza” in context.
    A protester holds a "Silence is complicity" placard outside TVNZ
    A protester holds a “Silence is complicity” placard outside TVNZ in Auckland today. Image: APR

    Platform for propaganda
    “Essentially, Tame gave Israel a platform for propaganda to excuse the genocide happening in Gaza over the last six months,” said Scott.

    Among the contextual questions that Scott claimed Tame should have questioned Ambassador Yaakoby on were the envoy’s unchallenged claim that “1400 people had been butchered” by Hamas fighters.

    In fact, the documented figure is 1139 — 695 civilians, including 36 children, and 373 security force members, according to a France 24 report citing official sources.

    “The ambassador didn’t mention that more than 350 Israeli soldiers were among those killed — at their military posts,” Scott said.

    “Many of the others were aged between 18 and 40 and in the military reserves.”

    Also, no mention was made of the controversial Hannibal Directive which reportedly led to the Israeli military killing many of its own countrymen and women captives as the resistance fighters retreated back to Gaza.


    The controversial Q&A interview with Israeli Ambassador Ran Yaakoby. Video: TVNZ

    Among other responses to TVNZ’s Q&A this week, Palestine solidarity advocate and PSNA chair John Minto declared in an open letter to TVNZ published by The Daily Blog that the programme “breached all the standards of decent journalism. In other words it was offensive, discriminatory, inaccurate and grossly unfair.”

    A protester holding up a "Bias" placard outside TVNZ
    A protester holding up a “Bias” placard outside TVNZ in Auckland today. Image: APR

    ‘Unchallenged lies’
    “It wasn’t journalism – it was 45-minutes of uninterrupted and unchallenged Israeli lies, misinformation and previously-debunked propaganda. It was outrageous. It was despicable,” Minto wrote.

    “The country which for six months has conducted genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza was given free rein to pour streams of the most vile fabrications and misinformation against Palestinians directly into the homes of New Zealanders. And without a murmur of protest from Jack Tame.

    “Even the most egregious lies such as the ‘beheaded babies’ myth were allowed to be broadcast without challenge despite this Israeli propaganda having been discredited months ago.

    “The interview showed utter contempt for Palestine and Palestinians as well as New Zealanders who were assailed with this stream of racist deceits and falsehoods with Q&A as the conduit.”

    Among a stream of social media comments, one person remarked “On John Tame’s YouTube channel it gained a lot of comments fairly quickly . . .

    “These comments were encouraging as at least 95 percent were denouncing the interview . . . with a lot of them debunking the endless stream of blatant lies and atrocity propaganda that poured out of the Israeli ambassador’s mouth.

    “Most of the posters were obviously from our country and it was a great example of how Israel’s actions have shattered its reputation with their propaganda fooling hardly anyone anymore.

    “It’s a bit like a little child with chocolate all over their face denying they ate the chocolate . . . except in Israel’s case it’s civilian blood all over their face . . .

    “Anyway, when I revisited the thread the comments had been purged and deleted.”

    On the Q&A YouTube channel, @ZaraLomas commented: “The fact that Q&A are deleting critical comments speaks volumes about their integrity (or lack thereof), and their faith in this shocking piece of ‘journalism’.

    Television New Zealand
    Television New Zealand . . . under fire over its coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza. Image: APR

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Controversial Azerbaijan deal sparks fresh row in New Caledonia

    ANALYSIS: By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

    The signing of a controversial memorandum of cooperation between New Caledonia’s Congress and the National Assembly of Azerbaijan has fuelled more tension — and demands from anti-independence parties that the deal be scrapped altogether.

    The memorandum was signed on New Caledonia’s part by one pro-independence member of the Congress, Omayra Naisseline, on behalf of Congress Chair Roch Wamytan, and by Azerbaijan’s Milli Mejtis, the National Assembly Chair Sahibé Gafarova.

    It was presented as paving the way for “interparliamentary cooperation and strengthening friendly ties between the peoples of Azerbaijan and New Caledonia”.

    Speaking to Azeri media after the signing, Naisseline officially thanked the Bakou Initiative Group, the non-aligned movement, for their “support to the struggle of the Kanak people”.

    She said the agreement would cover such topics as “youth, culture, economics, environment and politics”.

    During the official signing of the document on April 18, Azerbaijan’s flag was placed on a desk near the Kanak flag which represents New Caledonia’s pro-independence movement.

    Pro-France parties were up in arms upon learning of the signing leading to Congress Chairman and pro-independence leader Wamytan held a media conference on Tuesday.

    Against French colonialism
    Wamytan told local media that since he could not  travel in person, he had asked Naisseline to sign the agreement on his behalf while she was travelling to Azerbaijan to attend a conference upon the invitation of the Bakou Initiative Group.

    The “Bakou Initiative Group Against French Colonialism” was set up in July 2023, on the margins of a meeting of the non-aligned movement held at the time in the Azerbaijan capital.

    New Caledonia’s Congress Chair Roch Wamytan speaking
    New Caledonia’s Congress Chair Roch Wamytan speaking at a press conference this week in Nouméa. Image: RRB

    Wamytan said the travel expenses were taken care of by the host country, and that Naisseline travelled there in her capacity as FLNKS representative.

    But referring to New Caledonia’s current tense negotiations on its political future status and a French move to modify voters eligibility at New Caledonia’s local polls, Wamytan also said on Tuesday that “we need to find external backing since (French) President Macron is no longer impartial”.

    “Azerbaijan has shown it has the capacity to help the (pro-independence) FLNKS, and those countries that help us can take initiatives vis-à-vis France, and this is what we need so that our voice can be heard,” he said, referring to New Caledonia’s indigenous Kanak people’s right to self-determination.

    Both Wamytan and Naisseline belong to the Union Calédonienne (UC), a major component of the pro-independence front FLNKS.

    Other FLNKS components such as the PALIKA (Kanak Liberation Party) and the UPM (Union of Melanesian Parties) have yet to comment on the fresh controversy.

    ‘Inappropriate’ and ‘shameful’
    This has since prompted an open row between pro-France parties within the Congress, who are denouncing the move as “inappropriate” and “shameful”.

    Les Loyalistes Congress caucus head Françoise Suvé told local media: “For Omayra Naisseline to go there and claim that she is representing the people of New Caledonia and its Congress is just unacceptable.”

    Pro-France Calédonie Ensemble MP, Philippe Dunoyer said this was shameful.

    “There is a confusion, an instrumentalisation and behind all this, a political will.

    “If the FLNKS wants to travel there, it has the right to do so, but not the Congress.”

    Azerbaijian’s National Assembly Chair Sahiba Gafarova (left) and pro-independence Congress member Omayra Naisseline signed a memorandum of cooperation in Bakou – Photo Bakou Initiative Group
    Signing up . . . Azerbaijian’s National Assembly Chair Sahiba Gafarova (left) and pro-independence Congress member Omayra Naisseline signing a memorandum of cooperation in Bakou. Image: Bakou Initiative Group

    It is also understood that Nicolas Metzdorf, another pro-French MP who is New Caledonia’s representative at the French National Assembly, officially wrote last week to French Foreign Affairs Minister Sébastien Séjourné, asking France to provide a “strong diplomatic response” in reaction to “Azerbaijan’s flagrant interference”.

    Relations between Paris and Bakou have been particularly tense over the past months.

    In December 2023, a journalist from that country was denied entry and later deported on her arrival at Nouméa-La Tontouta international airport.

    She claimed to be there to cover the French-hosted South Pacific defence ministers’ meeting in Nouméa, where hard-line members of the FLNKS were also holding protest marches against alleged French “re-militarisation” in New Caledonia.

    In a joint release on Tuesday, pro-France parties Les Loyalistes and Rassemblement said New Caledonia’s Congress (including their MPs) were at no stage informed or consulted on this memorandum.

    They said Naisseline had never been given the Congress’s endorsement to sign such a document on behalf of the Congress.

    “In keeping with the Nouméa Accord which you signed (in 1998), local political institutions do not have powers in terms of international relations outside the Pacific region,”, the release added.

    ‘Shared powers’
    Under the current Nouméa framework Accord (1998), which has been initiating a process of gradual transfer of powers from France to New Caledonia, the notion of “shared powers” applies to “international and regional relations”.

    “International relations remain the responsibility of the [French] state, which will) take New Caledonia’s specific interests into account in international relations conducted by France and will associate [New Caledonia] to the discussions,” it says.

    “New Caledonia may have representations in Pacific countries (and may) enter into agreements with these countries within its areas of responsibility.”

    The pro-France parties also claim in the same document that the document signed with Azerbaijan “solely serves the aims of the pro-independence movement which is now becoming an instrument of Bakou regime’s will to destabilise France”.

    “New Caledonia’s Congress cannot be seen as a partisan instrument serving foreign powers confronting France.”

    They are calling for a Congress extraordinary sitting so that the accord with Azerbaijan can be declared “null and void”.

    They also denounced the signing with “a country that is guilty of horrible crimes against its own population”.

    Meanwhile, they have officially lodged a legal complaint for possible “misuse of public funds” associated with the trip to Azerbaijan.

    The French High Commissioner in New Caledonia, Louis Le Franc, has indicated he would also challenge the legality of such a document.

    Wamytan told media on Tuesday he would not nullify the pact with Azerbaijan “unless a court ruling compels [him] to do so”.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Nelson Mandela’s grandson joins Gaza flotilla, slams ‘genocide complicit’ leaders

    Asia Pacific Report

    Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza.

    Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine.

    When he met with flotilla participants yesterday, including the Kia Ora Gaza team from Aotearoa New Zealand, he said: “It was not only our efforts in South Africa that defeated the apartheid regime, but it was also efforts in every corner of the world through international solidarity of the anti-apartheid campaign.”


    Chief Mandla Mandela talks to the Freedom Flotilla.   Video: Freedom Flotilla/Palestine Human Rights

    Mandela said that while his grandfather was incarcerated for life imprisonment on Robben Island, he drew “immense inspiration” from the Palestinian struggle.

    He added that Palestine “was the greatest moral issue of our time, yet many governments choose to remain silent and look away”.

    “Many have been complicit in the genocide, the ethnic cleansing, the war crimes, and crimes against humanity that have been meted out on a daily basis against our Palestinian brothers and sisters — not just the 7th of October, but for the past 76 years.”

    — Chief Mandla Mandela

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • 200 journalists ‘targeted’ over their environment reporting, warns RSF

    Pacific Media Watch

    Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders.

    According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were working on stories linked to the environment.

    Twenty four were murdered in Latin America and Asia — including the Pacific, which makes these two regions the most dangerous ones for environmental reporters.

    From restrictions on access to information and gag suits to physical attacks, the work of environmental journalists and their safety are increasingly threatened.

    RSF has denounced the obstacles to the right to information about ecological and climate issues and calls on all countries to recognise the vital nature of the work of environmental journalists, and to guarantee their safety.

    Nearly half of the journalists killed in India in the past 10 years — 13 of 28 — were working on environmental stories that often also involved corruption and organised crime, especially the so-called “sand mafia,” which illegally excavates millions of tons of this precious resource for the construction industry.

    Amazon deforestation
    Journalists covering the challenges of deforestation in the Amazon are also constantly subjected to threats and harassment that prevent them from working freely.

    The scale of the problem was highlighted in 2022 by the murder of Dom Phillips, a British reporter specialised in environmental issues.

    “Regarding the environmental and climate challenges we face, the freedom to cover these issues is essential,” said RSF’s editorial director Anne Bocandé.

    “RSF’s staff battles tirelessly to prevent economic and political interests from obstructing the right to information. Your generosity makes this fight possible.”

    Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • From Gallipoli to Gaza: remembering the Anzacs not as a ‘coming of age’ tale but as a lesson for the future

    ANALYSIS: By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato

    When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity.

    The battle of Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire, the story goes, was where the young nation passed its first test of courage and determination.

    The question of why New Zealand soldiers ended up on Turkish beaches in April 1915 is typically not part of these commemorations. Rather, our collective memories begin with the moment of the early morning landing.

    Consider, for example, the timing of the Anzac Day dawn service, or the Museum of New Zealand-Te Papa Tongarewa’s exhibition, Gallipoli: The Scale of Our War, which plunges visitors straight into the action.

    This selective retelling of history is necessary for the “coming of age” narrative to work. It helps conceal that Britain was pursuing its own colonial ambitions against the Ottomans, and that New Zealand took part in World War I as “a member of the British club”, as historian Ian McGibbon puts it, loyally devoted to the imperial cause.

    Against the background of the recent horrors and escalating tensions in the Middle East, however, it seems more important than ever to make these silences speak in our commemorations of Gallipoli.

    Dawn service at Auckland War Memorial Cenotaph
    Where collective memory begins . . . dawn service at the Auckland War Memorial Museum cenotaph. Image: Getty Images

    Britain’s colonial interests
    While the causes of World War I are complex and multifaceted, historians have extensively documented that Britain had long seen parts of the decaying Ottoman Empire as prey for colonial expansion.

    Already, in the late 1800s, Britain had taken control of Cyprus and Egypt.

    Turkey’s Middle Eastern possessions were of interest to the government in London because they provided not only a land route to the colony in India, but also rich oil reserves.

    Hence, when the Ottoman Empire signed an alliance with Germany — mainly to guard against Russian territorial aspirations – and somewhat reluctantly entered World War I, the British did not lament this as a diplomatic defeat.

    “The decrepit Ottoman Empire was more useful to them as a victim than as a dependent ally,” as the late historian Michael Howard explained.

    The day after Britain declared war on the Ottomans on November 5, 1914, British troops attacked Basra (in today’s southern Iraq) to secure nearby oil facilities.

    In the following months, the Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia won a number of easy victories, which fuelled the belief the Turkish military was weak. This in turn led Britain to devise a plan to launch a direct strike on Constantinople, the Ottoman capital.

    First, however, they had to clear the Gallipoli peninsula of enemy defences. And who better suited to this task than the first convoy of Anzac troops, just a short distance away in Egypt after passing through the Suez Canal?

    Australian, British, New Zealand and Indian soldiers on camels in Palestine during World War I.
    Australian, British, New Zealand and Indian cameliers in Palestine during World War I.

    Palestine: a complex tangle of pledges
    As is well known, war planners in London had underestimated the enemy’s military strength. The battle of Gallipoli ended in a Turkish victory over Britain and its allies.

    Nevertheless, fortunes eventually turned against the Ottoman Empire.

    Although a whole century has gone by, British diplomatic efforts and secret agreements that were meant to accelerate the collapse of the Ottoman Empire still shape the Middle East today.

    Most significantly, it is the violent conflict over Palestine that can be traced back to colonial power dealings during World War I. The crux of the problem is that Britain affirmed three irreconcilable wartime commitments in relation to Palestine.

    First, in the hope of initiating an Arab revolt against Ottoman rule, the British made promises to Sharif Husayn, the emir of Mecca, about the creation of an independent Arab kingdom.

    Second, in the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Ottomans’ Arab lands into British and French spheres of interest, Palestine was designated for international administration.

    Third, in the Balfour Declaration of November 1917, the British government pledged support for a “Jewish national home” in Palestine — a move motivated by a mixture of realpolitik and Biblical romanticism.

    In the end, it was the third commitment that turned out to be the most enduring.

    Lord Balfour inspecting troops at York Cathedral during World War I.
    Lord Balfour inspecting troops at York Cathedral during World War I. Image: Getty Images

    How should we remember Gallipoli?
    Amid this complex history, we must not forget the thousands of New Zealand soldiers who died in World War I — men who had either volunteered, expecting a quick and heroic war, or served as draftees.

    However, we need to have a public discussion about whether it is still appropriate for our commemorations to skip over the question of why these men fought in Europe and the Mediterranean.

    Facing up to this question not only makes us aware of our responsibilities towards the Middle East problem, but it can also serve as a lesson for the future — not to blindly follow great powers into their military adventures.The Conversation

    Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Sydney University students set up Gaza solidarity camp as war marks 200 days

    Asia Pacific Report

    Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States.

    The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of infrastructure haunted Gaza with Israel’s war on the besieged Palestinian coastal enclave passing the 200 days milestone.

    Nearly 85 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced and more than 14,500 children killed in the attack, which critics have dubbed a war of vengeance.

    In Sydney, according to the university’s student newspaper, Honi Soit, the camp was established on the campus when tents were pitched “emblazoned with graffiti reading ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘from the river to the sea’”.

    Students form several Australian universities were in attendance for the launch of the encampment, which was inaugurated with a student activist “speak out” on the subject of the war on Gaza and the demand for USyd management to drop any ties to the state of Israel.

    According to the student newspaper: “Many chants that were used on US campuses in the past week were repeated at the encampment tonight like “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” followed by “Albanese/Sydney Uni you will see, Palestine will be free”.

    Pro-Palestinian protests are gaining momentum at colleges and universities across the United States with street protests outside campuses as police have cracked down on the demonstrators.

    Students at New York University, Columbia, Harvard and Yale are among those standing in solidarity with Palestinians and demanding an end to the war on Gaza.

    Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey, reporting from New York, said student demonstrators from New York University (NYU) gathered for hours in a park just off the campus to protest against the genocide.

    The protest moved to the park following the mass arrest of 133 students and academic staff who had participated in a protest on the NYU campus the night before.

    “As news spread of their arrests, so have demonstrations around the country — at other colleges and universities,” Saloomey said.

    Columbia announced that it was introducing online classes for the the rest of the year to cope with the protests.

    Watch Saloomey’s AJ report:


    Columbia protests: Chants of ‘Azaadi’.               Video: Al Jazeera

    The Al Jazeera Explainers team have put together a comprehensive report detailing the numbers that highlight the unprecedented level of violence unleashed by Israel on Gaza in the 200 days of war.

    The massive infrastructure damage caused by the Israeli war on Gaza
    The massive infrastructure damage caused by the Israeli war on Gaza . . . . making the strip “unlivable”.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • OPM leader’s open letter condemns Australia’s ‘treachery’ over Papua

    Asia Pacific Report

    The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence.

    The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day 2024.

    Praising the courage and determination of Papuans against the Japanese Imperial Forces in World War Two, Bomanak said: “There were no colonial borders in this war — we served Allied Pacific Theatre campaigns across the entire island of New Guinea.

    “Our island! From Sorong to Samurai!”

    Bomanak’s open letter, addressed to Prime Minister Albanese and President Biden, declared:

    “If you cannot stand by those who stood by you, then your idea of ‘loyalty’ and ‘remembrance’ being something special is a myth, a fairy tale.

    “There is nothing special in treachery. Six decades of treachery following the Republic of Indonesia’s invasion and fraudulent annexation, always knowing that we were being massacred, tortured, and raped. Our resources, your intention all along.

    “When the Japanese Imperial Forces came to our island, you chose our homes to be your defensive line. We fed and nursed you. We formed the Papuan Infantry Brigade. We became your Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.

    “We even fought alongside you and shared the pain and suffering of hardship and loss.

    “There were no colonial borders in this war — we served Allied Pacific Theatre campaigns across the entire island of New Guinea. Our island! From Sorong to Samurai!

    OPM leader Jeffrey Bomanak
    OPM leader Jeffrey Bomanak . . . his open letter condemns Australia and the US leadership for preventing decolonisation of West Papua. Image: OPM

    “Your war became our war. Your graves, our graves. The photos [in the open letter] are from the Australian War Memorial. The part of the legend always ringing true — my people — Papuans! – with your WWII defence forces.

    “My message is to you, not ANZAC veterans. We salute the ANZACs. Your unprincipled greed divided our island. Exploitation, no matter what the cost.

    “West Papua is filled with Indonesia’s barbarity and the blood and guts of 500,000 Papuans — men, women, and children. Torture, slaughter, and rape of my people in our ancestral homes led by your betrayal.

    “In 1969, to help prevent our decolonisation, you placed two of our leaders on Manus Island instead of allowing them to reach the United Nations in New York — an act of shameless appeasement as a criminal accomplice to a mass-murderer (Suharto) that would have made Hideki Tojo proud.

    “RAAF Hercules transported 600 TNI [Indonesian military] to slaughter us on Biak Island in 1998. Australian and US subsidies, weapons and munitions to RI, provide logistics for slaughter and bombing of our highland villages. Still happening!

    “You were silent about the 1998 roll of film depicting victims of the Biak Island massacre, and you destroyed this roll of film in March 2014 after the revelations from the Biak Massacre Citizens Tribunal were aired on the ABC’s 7:30 Report. (Grateful for the integrity of Edmund McWilliams, Political Counselor at the US Embassy in Jakarta, for his testimony.)

    “Every single act and action of your betrayal contravenes Commonwealth and US Criminal Codes and violates the UN Charter, the Genocide Act, and the Torture Convention. The price of this cowardly servitude to assassins, rapists, torturers, and war criminals — from war criminal Suharto to war criminal Prabowo [current President of Indonesia] — complicity and collusion in genocide, ethnocide, infanticide, and wave after wave of ethnic cleansing.

    “Friends, we will not forget you? You threw us into the gutter! As Australian and American leaders, your remembrance day is a commemoration of a tradition of loyalty and sacrifice that you have failed to honour.”

    The OPM chairman and commander Bomanak concluded his open letter with the independence slogan “Papua Merdeka!” — Papua freedom.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Murray Horton: Get tough on Israel – we’ve done it before over spies

    COMMENTARY: By Murray Horton

    New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before.

    When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.”

    No, it arrested, prosecuted, convicted, imprisoned and deported the Israeli agents, plus made them pay a big sum of damages. And it refused to restore normal diplomatic relations with Israel until Israel apologised to NZ. Which Israel did.

    Today’s government needs to treat Israel the same way it treats other aggressors, like Russia, with the likes of sanctions.

    And the government needs to designate Zionism as an inherently racist, terrorist ideology.

    Everyone knows that the Gaza War would stop in five minutes if the US stopped arming Israel to the teeth and allowing it to commit genocide with impunity.

    Israel is the mass murderer; the US is the enabler of mass murder.

    New Zealand is part of the US Empire. The most useful thing we could do is to sever our ties to that empire, something we bravely started in the 1980s with the nuclear-free policy. Also, do these things:

    • Develop a genuinely independent foreign policy;
    • Get out of US wars, like the one in the Red Sea and Yemen;
    • Get out of the Five Eyes spy alliance;
    • Close the Waihopai spy base and the GCSB, the NZ agency which runs it;
    • Kick out Rocket Lab, NZ’s newest American military base;
    • Stop the process of getting entangled with NATO; and
    • Stay out of AUKUS, which is simply building an alliance to fight a war with China.

    I never thought I’d find myself on the same side of an issue as Don Brash and Richard Prebble but even they have strongly opposed AUKUS.

    Zionism is the enemy of the Palestinian people.

    US imperialism is the enemy of the Palestinian people and the New Zealand people.

    Murray Horton is secretary/organiser of the Anti-Bases Campaign (ABC) and gave this speech last Saturday to a Palestinian solidarity rally at the Bridge of Remembrance, Christchurch.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Malcolm Evans: A new low in NZ media’s record of bias over Palestine

    COMMENTARY: By Malcolm Evans

    Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is carefully managed to always reflect a pro-Israel bias.

    Forget the humanity of 120,000 dead and wounded Palestinians and countless others facing famine and disease sheltering in tents or what’s left of destroyed buildings, even internationally recognised terms and phrases such as “genocide,” “occupied territory,” “ethnic cleansing” and even “refugee camps” are discouraged, along with “slaughter”, “massacre” and “carnage”.

    Though such language restrictions are claimed to be in the interests of “fairness”, an earlier investigation showed that between October 7 and November 14, The Times used the word “massacre” 53 times when it referred to Israelis being killed by Palestinians and only once in reference to Palestinians being killed by Israel.

    By that date, thousands of Palestinians had perished, the vast majority of whom were women and children, and most of them were killed inside their own homes, in hospitals, schools or United Nations shelters.

    This carefully managed use of words is deliberate and insidious and, as Jack Tame’s interview with Israel’s ambassador on last Sunday’s Q&A programme showed, even our most experienced media people are not immune to its effects.

    From his introduction, “establishing” that the genocide taking place in Gaza had its genesis in the October 7 attack by Hamas, and not in the Nakba of 1948, Jack Tame and TVNZ facilitated an almost hour-long presentation of pro-Israel propaganda, justifying its atrocities.

    For its appalling lack of balance, including Tame’s obsequious allowance and nodding agreement with the Israeli ambassador’s thoroughly discredited claims of Hamas atrocities; “beheadings” “necrophilia” and for describing Israelis’ as being “butchered” (five times he used the word) while Palestinians were merely “killed”, this was a new low in our media’s record of bias when it comes to the presentation of the facts about the Palestine/Israel conflict.

    In the very week that we prepare to remember the horrific sacrifices made in previous wars and even as Israel‘s genocidal slaughter of Palestinians brings us closer to World War Three than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis, that TVNZ should have, pre-recorded and so had time to edit, such a disgraceful presentation is simply appalling — and heads should roll.

    Republished from The Daily Blog with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • NZ’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters ‘defers’ recognition of Palestine

    By Russell Palmer, RNZ News digital political journalist

    New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters is putting off recognition of Palestine as a state, despite opposition Labour’s formal request that he make the move.

    Peters said diplomatic recognition of Palestine was a matter of “when not if”, but doing so now could impede progress towards a two-state solution — and the focus should be on aid for civilians.

    Labour’s foreign affairs spokesperson David Parker had written to Peters, calling for New Zealand to take “meaningful action” by recognising Palestine as a state.

    He noted this did not mean a recognition of Hamas, “which is one political party in the Palestinian territories”.

    “There can be no lasting peace without Palestinian statehood,” Parker wrote, pointing to 139 of the 193 member states of the United Nations having already recognised it.

    “Recognition signals this. It doesn’t matter that the state is yet to be fully established, with agreed borders. Many states and much of the Western world recognised Israel well before it was established as a state. Similarly with Kosovo.”

    Labour Party MP David Parker
    Labour’s foreign affairs spokesperson David Parker . . . Image: RNZ/Angus Dreaver

    Parker said New Zealand should do this by inviting the Palestinian Authority to send an ambassador to present their credentials to New Zealand, a role which could be performed by the Head of the General Delegation of Palestine based in Canberra Izzat Abdulhadi.

    ‘Immediate ceasefire’ needed
    Peters, however, said the “immediate and urgent need is for an immediate ceasefire and the provision of aid to help alleviate the desperate plight of an innocent civilian population”.

    “The government supports the establishment of a Palestinian state and has done so for decades. We must see momentum towards this goal and it’s a matter of ‘when not if’ we see Palestinian statehood,” he wrote.

    However, he said they could not afford to take focus away from the current crisis.

    “Bluntly asserting statehood unilaterally at this point, however well intentioned, would do nothing to alleviate the current plight of the Palestinian people. Indeed, it might impede progress.

    “We would need to be sure that any change in our current settings would contribute credibly to a serious diplomatic push to achieve a two-state solution. We do not believe we are currently at that point.

    “We are realistic that achieving this will require serious negotiations, including over the territory and political authority of a future Palestinian state. Statehood is neither a prerequisite for renewed negotiations, nor is it a guarantee they will progress faster.

    “It is important for any Palestinian state that it does not contain elements that threaten Israel’s security, and that the Palestinian Authority can govern effectively. That is why we have said an organisation like Hamas — which commits terrorism — cannot be part of future governance in Palestine.”

    Case for recognition
    Parker had laid out his case for recognition, saying Israel had ignored two resolutions of the UN General Assembly backed by an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations, including “its closest ally, the United States, which has repeatedly said the loss of civilian life in Gaza is an unacceptable price to pay for Israel’s pursuit of Hamas”.

    “The international community, including New Zealand, should not stand by and watch Israel breach international law and ignore entreaties without taking meaningful action,” he wrote.

    “The absence of progress for many years, and the current war, make the status quo ever more untenable.

    “The occupying Israeli government forces cannot legitimately continue to deprive Palestinians of basic rights to govern themselves.

    “We believe it is time now for New Zealand to reinforce our opposition to the war and our support for a lasting peace including Palestinian independence.”

    Parker said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s recent statements also contemplating recognition was coincidental, and Labour had already decided to make the proposal to Peters.

    He accepted it was unlikely Peters would be able to give an immediate response, other than to say no.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    • Asia Pacific Report says that in the UN Security Council vote last week, only the US voted against Palestine becoming a full member of the United Nations by using its veto. But an overwhelming majority of 12 nations out of the 15 voted in favour of admission, including three of the permanent members (China, France and Russia). Only the fifth permanent member, UK, and Switzerland abstained.
    • Palestine currently has had permanent observer status since 2012.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Activists defy Israel with Gaza-bound ‘freedom’ flotilla and humanitarian aid

    By Salwa Amor in Istanbul

    Palestine solidarity activists are preparing a flotilla to deliver urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, vowing to break Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory on board the Akdeniz, a seven-deck passenger ship.

    Currently docked in Istanbul, the ship will carry 800 people from more than 30 nations, from Indonesia to the US state of Hawai’i, and is expected to transport 5500 tonnes of aid to Gaza once it sets sail from Turkey in the coming days.

    On Friday, reports in Israel media suggested the Israeli authorities are preparing to intercept it. The activists joining the Akdeniz will be mindful of a previous fatal attempt by a vessel of comparable size to set sail from Turkey to Gaza.

    The Mavi Marmara was a Turkish aid ship, part of a flotilla attempting to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip in May 2010. Israeli commandos intercepted the flotilla in international waters, boarded the Mavi Marmara and killed nine Turkish activists, injuring several others.

    The incident sparked international condemnation and strained relations between Turkey and Israel.

    The acquisition of the Akdeniz was made possible through the support of four million donors worldwide.

    Organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a coalition of 12 countries including Turkey — and New Zealand through Kia Ora Gaza — in partnership with İnsani Yardım Vakfı (IHH), the mission aims to break the deadly siege that has severely impacted the lives of the people of Gaza for years amid Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians since October 7.

    Pro-Palestinian activist and human rights lawyer Huwaida Arraf, who was on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, announced she would also join the flotilla.

    “While we recognise Israel’s potential for intercepting the mission, we hope for a peaceful outcome. If they choose to attack, those on board are prepared to engage in nonviolent resistance,” she told reporters.

    Redemption and hope
    Former US diplomat and retired US Army Colonel Ann Wright is one of the primary organisers of the FFC. In 2003, she resigned from the US government in protest against the Iraq War.

    Speaking to The New Arab, Wright said the mission of the flotilla was to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza’s starved population.

    “When you witness genocide, you can’t stand back. I’m 77, but even if I were 100, I’d still be on this ship,” said Wright.

    Wright and her fellow activists are also determined to shine a spotlight on the dire humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, bringing international human rights observers to the territory to witness the unfolding genocide.

    “Our message to the people of Gaza is that we love you and are trying desperately to stop this genocide . . . To the Israeli people, I say you have a responsibility to stop your government’s genocide of Palestinians,” she said.

    “I know the propaganda that comes from governments at war, having been a former US diplomat. But what’s happening in Gaza is genocide, and when you see what your government has done, you’ll be horrified.

    “But now, I am older, and as I watch what is happening to the people of Gaza, I am appalled. It is not only the children, although that is what hits me the most.

    ‘Object to the US’
    “But now, it is the time to object to what my country, the US is doing. This is what conscientious objection is about. I am putting my body, my money, my time, my everything on the line to say, ‘I object to what my country is doing, we should not be doing this’.

    An activist called Michael said: “I want to stand up for those people in the US who agree with what I am doing and represent my country on this journey.”

    Michael said he drew courage from the people of Gaza.

    “The people of Palestine have lived under occupation for so long that it impresses me how a people like that can still have that courage and continue to stand for what they believe is right. I am guided by the bravery and courage of the people of Gaza in particular but all of Palestinians.”

    On board the Akdenix
    On board the Akdenix . . . preparing for the humanitarian aid voyage to Gaza. Image: Salwa Amor/The New Arab

    Solidarity without borders
    Argentinian surgeon Dr Carlos Tortta, a member of Doctors Without Borders, will also be on the ship.

    “In all those places I saw a lot of pain but in no place I found such an amount of people killed and wounded and suffering like in Gaza when I worked in Al Shifa hospital in 2009,” he told The New Arab.

    “When people ask me why I am going, the answer is why not? We are health workers, so it is natural to want to be with those injured,” he added.

    Lee Patten, a 63-year-old former merchant navy officer from Liverpool, told The New Arab he felt compelled to join the voyage.

    “When I see those poor children, I cannot simply turn away and leave them with no one to care for them,” he said.

    The harrowing images emanating from Gaza have left an indelible mark on Lee.

    “The sight of defenceless, innocent children is deeply distressing. It’s unfathomable to comprehend that such suffering is deliberate,” Lee explained.

    Gaza ‘a stark warning’
    “There seems to be a prevailing notion that what is happening in Gaza is confined to Palestinians and could never happen to Europeans. It’s astounding. Gaza serves as a stark warning to us all.”

    As the onslaught continues with Israeli strikes devastating Gaza’s infrastructure, some participants on the boat say they are not going solely to help people but are determined to initiate the rebuilding process after the war.

    Among them are several architects who have joined the mission to help in rebuilding Gaza.

    Dilara Karasakiz, a 28-year-old Turkish architect among the almost 300 Turkish citizens participating, said she was taking this perilous journey for this very reason.

    “I am going on this journey to help rebuild Gaza. We will rebuild everything Israel has destroyed.

    “Gazans deserve a good standard of life, and we’re asking for their suffering to end and for them to be free. I’m not afraid because this ship is just a symbol of humanity.

    “Why would I be afraid? I hope we’ll arrive in Gaza and bring some hope.”

    Salwa Amor is an independent documentary maker. Most recently she was one of the producers of the award-winning BBC Panorama Children of Syria two-part series. This article was first published by The New Arab.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Australian author leads silent protest over ‘blood debt’ owed to Papuans

    Asia Pacific Report

    An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces.

    “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in his open letter marking the debt protest — “unless that promise is made by the Australian government.”

    After the successes of Australian and US troops against the Japanese in New Guinea, the Allies continued the advance through what was then Dutch New Guinea then on to the Philippines.

    The first landing was at Hollandia (now Jayapura) in April 1944, which involved the Australian navy and air force.

    Aubrey said in his letter:

    “The Australian government’s WWII remembrance oath to Papuan and Timorese allies by the RAAF in flyers dropped over East Timor and the island of New Guinea — ‘FRIENDS, WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU!’ — is in reality one of history’s most heinous bastard acts in war
    and diplomacy.

    “Betrayal is the reality of this blood debt and includes consecutive Australian governments’ treachery and culpability as a criminal accomplice and accessory to six decades of the Indonesian government’s crimes against humanity.

    “Barbarity that shames us! Genocide, ethnocide, infanticide, and relentless ethnic cleansing.

    Aubrey, spokesperson for Genocide Rebellion and the Free West Papua International Coalition, said that he and supporters were commemorating the Second World War “Papuan sacrifice for us” — Australian and American servicemen and women — four days before ANZAC Day without inviting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese or any government minister [and] without inviting US President Biden.

    “To have them with us on this special solemn occasion, while honouring the fact that many of us — children and grandchildren – would not be here if it were not for Papuan courage, loyalty, and sacrifice so steadfastly given to our forebears, would be dishonourable.

    ‘Heartless complicity’
    “We condemn outright their heartless complicity and premeditated exploitation of Papuans in their time of peril. A blood debt not honoured by a single Australian government or US administration!

    Author Jim Aubrey
    Author Jim Aubrey salutes the Morning Star flag of West Papuan independence earlier today . . . “A blood debt not honoured by a single Australian government or US administration.” Image: Genocide Rebellion

    “Lest We Forget . . .  six decades of providing the Republic of Indonesia with an environment of impunity for crimes against humanity — 500,000 victims in Western New Guinea, 250,000 in East Timor [now Timor-Leste after the 1999 liberation].

    “Future historians will teach their undergraduates that Australian governments did forget! That Australian governments also contravened Commonwealth and State criminal codes by helping the Indonesian government prevent the legal decolonisation of Western New Guinea and achieve their subsequent unlawful annexation; and by concealing and destroying evidence of the 1998 Biak Island Massacre.

    “It is not only a matter of honour and truth, it’s personal. I have only just discovered that my father and my uncle were Australian servicemen in the Pacific Theatre campaigns across New Guinea.

    “Honourable Australians and Americans, however, only need to know our duty of care and our international obligations cannot be compromised for political and economic plunder. The victims of crimes against humanity deserve the support and the protection they are by law, by right, and decency entitled to.

    “Pacific Island nations look to the East for a relationship of integrity in their international affairs. Who can blame them with Australian governments track record of treachery, dishonour, and their demeaning elitism and history in the genocide of indigenous peoples.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Have New Zealanders really been ‘misled’ about AUKUS, or is involvement now a foregone conclusion?

    ANALYSIS: By Marco de Jong, Auckland University of Technology and Robert G. Patman, University of Otago

    When former prime minister Helen Clark spoke out against New Zealand potentially compromising its independent foreign policy by joining pillar two of the AUKUS security pact, Foreign Minister Winston Peters responded bluntly:

    On what could she have possibly based that statement? […] And I’m saying to people, including Helen Clark, please don’t mislead New Zealanders with your suspicions without any facts – let us find out what we’re talking about.

    Pillar one of AUKUS involves the delivery of nuclear submarines to Australia, making New Zealand membership impossible under its nuclear-free policy.

    But pillar two envisages the development of advanced military technology in areas such as artificial intelligence, hypersonic missiles and cyber warfare. By some reckonings, New Zealand could benefit from joining at that level.

    Peters denies the National-led coalition government has committed to joining pillar two. He says exploratory talks with AUKUS members are “to find out all the facts, all the aspects of what we’re talking about and then as a country to make a decision.”

    But while the previous Labour government expressed a willingness to explore pillar two membership, the current government appears to view it as integral to its broader foreign policy objective of aligning New Zealand more closely with “traditional partners”.

    Official enthusiasm
    During his visit to Washington earlier this month, Peters said New Zealand and the Biden administration had pledged “to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests” in a strategic environment “considerably more challenging now than even a decade ago”.

    In particular, he and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed there were “powerful reasons” for New Zealand to engage practically with arrangements like AUKUS “as and when all parties deem it appropriate”.

    Declassified documents reveal the official enthusiasm behind such statements and the tightly-curated public messaging it has produced.

    A series of joint-agency briefings provided to the New Zealand government characterise AUKUS pillar two as a “non-nuclear” technology-sharing partnership that would elevate New Zealand’s longstanding cooperation with traditional partners and bring opportunities for the aerospace and tech sectors.

    But any assessment of New Zealand’s strategic interests must be clear-eyed and not clouded by partial truths or wishful thinking.

    NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
    Traditional allies . . . NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters meets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for talks in Washington on April 11. Image: Getty Images/The Conversation

    Beyond great power rivalry
    First, the current government inherited strong bilateral relations with traditional security partners Australia, the US and UK, as well as a consistent and cooperative relationship with China.

    Second, while the contemporary global security environment poses threats to New Zealand’s interests, these challenges extend beyond great power rivalry between the US and China.

    The multilateral system, on which New Zealand relies, is paralysed by the weakening of institutions such as the UN Security Council, Russian expansionism in Ukraine and a growing array of problems which do not respect borders.

    Those include climate change, pandemics and wealth inequality — problems that cannot be fixed unilaterally by great powers.

    Third, it is evident New Zealand sometimes disagrees with its traditional partners over respect for international law.

    In 2003, for example, New Zealand broke ranks with the US (and the UK and Australia) over the invasion of Iraq. More recently, it was the only member of the Five Eyes network to vote in the UN General Assembly for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza.

    Role of the US
    In a robust speech to the UN General Assembly on April 7, Peters said the world must halt the “utter catastrophe” in Gaza.

    He said the use of the veto — which New Zealand had always opposed — prevented the Security Council from fulfilling its primary function of maintaining global peace and security.

    However, the government has been unwilling to publicly admit a crucial point: it was a traditional ally — the US — whose Security Council veto and unconditional support of Israel have led to systematic and plausibly genocidal violations of international law in Gaza, and a strategic windfall for rival states China, Russia and Iran.

    Rather than being a consistent voice for justice and de-escalation, the New Zealand government has joined the US in countering Houthi rebels, which have been targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

    A done deal?
    The world has become a more complex and conflicted place for New Zealand. But it would be naive to believe the US has played no part in this and that salvation lies in aligning with AUKUS, which lacks a coherent strategy for addressing multifaceted challenges.

    There are alternatives to pillar two of AUKUS more consistent with a principled, independent foreign policy, centred in the Pacific, and which deserve to be seriously considered.

    On balance, New Zealand involvement in pillar two of AUKUS would represent a seismic shift in the country’s geopolitical stance. The current government seems bullish about this prospect, which has fuelled concerns membership may be almost a done deal.

    If true, it would be the government facing questions about transparency.The Conversation

    Marco de Jong, lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology and Robert G. Patman, professor of international relations, University of Otago. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Solomon Islands political chess begins with Manasseh Sogavare re-elected in East Choiseul

    By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara

    Solomon Islands’ incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has been re-elected in the East Choiseul constituency.

    It is the opening move in the political chess match to form the country’s next government.

    Returning officer Christopher Makoni made the declaration late last night after a day of counting, according to the national broadcaster SIBC.

    Counting continues today in provincial centres across the country.

    Solomon Islands chief electoral officer Jasper Anisi told RNZ Pacific on Tuesday all systems go
    Solomon Islands chief electoral officer Jasper Anisi told RNZ Pacific on Tuesday all elections materials have been distributed and the country is ready to go to the polls. Image: RNZ Pacific/Koroi Hawkins

    So far at least four members of Sogavare’s former cabinet have been re-elected.

    But it is still early days as the first upset of the election also took place overnight, with George Tema unseating Silas Tausinga in the West New Georgia-Vona Vona constituency.

    According to the Electoral Commission’s political party breakdown of the election results received so far, Sogavare’s Our Party was leading with 34 percent of votes counted on Saturday morning, followed by former opposition leader Matthew Wale’s Solomon Islands Democratic Party which had 26 percent.

    Independent election candidates rounded out the top three with 23.4 percent of the votes counted so far. There was then a sharp drop-off to the fourth-placed People’s First Party on 8 percent.

    Once all 50 members of Parliament have been officially elected, they will be whisked back from the provinces to the capital, Honiara, where lobbying camps are already being set up in hotels.

    One political party leader and election candidate, whose result has yet to be declared, told RNZ Pacific the first of those camps would be at the Honiara Hotel, and that coalition talks were already underway.

    Fewer women MPs
    There are also likely to be less women in Parliament after another incumbent woman MP, Lillian Maefai, was ousted by Franklyn Derek Wasi in the East Makira Constituency.

    Two other incumbent women MPs, Lanelle Tananganda and Ethel Vokia, did not re-contest their seats in this election, making way instead for their husbands — who had formerly lost the seats because of corruption convictions — to stand.

    That left Freda Soria Comua, as the last of the four women MPs in the former parliament, still with a chance to make it back into the house.

    There are 20 women among the 334 candidates contesting this election.

    It is very rare for women to be elected in Solomon Islands’ male-dominated political sphere. Three out of the four women in the last parliament came into the house as proxies for their husbands.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.