{"id":1615203,"date":"2024-04-17T10:41:15","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T10:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/?p=99907"},"modified":"2024-04-17T10:41:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T10:41:15","slug":"nz-called-on-to-demand-israel-ends-inhumane-blockade-and-give-aid-flotilla-safe-passage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/04\/17\/nz-called-on-to-demand-israel-ends-inhumane-blockade-and-give-aid-flotilla-safe-passage\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ called on to demand Israel ends \u2018inhumane blockade\u2019, and give aid flotilla safe passage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kiaoragaza.wordpress.com\/\"><em>Asia Pacific Report<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Three Palestinian solidarity groups have joined the humanitarian aid charity Kia Ora Gaza in calling on New Zealand&#8217;s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters to demand that Israeli authorities &#8220;end their inhumane blockade&#8221; of Gaza and allow the international Freedom Flotilla &#8220;safe and unhindered passage&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>A team of three doctors has been selected to join the flotilla to provide humanitarian medical aid when it sails soon to the besieged Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n<p>They will be joined by hundreds of prominent civilians, human rights advocates and medics from around the world, plus international media people.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2024\/04\/04\/three-nz-arab-doctors-joining-kia-ora-gaza-humanitarian-aid-mission\/\"><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong> Three NZ Arab doctors joining Kia Ora Gaza humanitarian aid mission<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/kiaoragaza.wordpress.com\/2024\/04\/04\/international-civilian-aid-flotilla-to-break-the-siege-of-gaza\/\">International civilian aid flotilla to break the siege of Gaza<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2024\/04\/04\/nz-doctors-of-arab-descent-prepare-to-head-to-gaza\/\">Simon Mercep\u2019s video report on <em>1News<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/?s=Kia+Ora+Gaza\">Other Kia Ora Gaza reports<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The volunteer doctors are Dr Wasfy Shahin and Dr Faiez Idais to be led by Dr Adnan Ali.<\/p>\n<p>An open letter, signed by Kia Ora Gaza&#8217;s Roger Fowler; John Minto, national chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA); Janfrie Wakim, spokesperson of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign (PHRC); and Maher Nazzal, co-founder of Palestinians in Aotearoa Co-ordinating Committee (PACC), has also called for permanent ceasefire.<\/p>\n<p>The open letter stated:<\/p>\n<p><em>Dear [Foreign Minister Winston Peters] and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon,<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We call on the NZ government to demand the Israeli authorities end their inhumane blockade and siege and allow the international Freedom Flotilla safe and unhindered passage to their destination &#8212; Gaza\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We are pleased to announce that a team of three New Zealand doctors have been selected to join the international Freedom Flotilla which is due to sail for Gaza very soon.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Our Kiwi team of volunteer doctors are Dr Wasfy Shahin and Dr Faiez Idais to be led by Dr Adnan Ali.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_99916\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-99916\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-99916\" src=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Freedom-Flotilla-KG-680tall--277x300.png\" alt=\"The Freedom Flotilla sailing again\" width=\"300\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Freedom-Flotilla-KG-680tall--277x300.png 277w, https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Freedom-Flotilla-KG-680tall--388x420.png 388w, https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Freedom-Flotilla-KG-680tall-.png 680w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-99916\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Freedom Flotilla sailing again . . . <a href=\"https:\/\/casebook.icrc.org\/case-study\/israel-blockade-gaza-and-flotilla-incident\">9 people were killed in the 2014 Israeli attack on the flotilla<\/a>. Image: Kia Ora Gaza<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>They will be joined by hundreds of prominent civilians, human rights advocates and medics from around the world, plus international media personnel on this peaceful non-governmental, civil-society mission to challenge the illegal and inhumane 17-year Israeli naval blockade and siege of Gaza and to deliver urgently needed humanitarian and medical aid and services.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p><em>The team of Kiwi doctors are ready to join the Freedom Flotilla to bring humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Our NZ medical team\u2019s participation in this important humanitarian mission has been facilitated by Kia Ora Gaza and supported by many hundreds of fellow New Zealanders. We expect our government to resolutely uphold their safety and wellbeing.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This mission seeks to bring a message of hope and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for peace and justice and to highlight demands to end Israel\u2019s illegal siege and deprivation of Gaza, the bombing, and the occupation.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>As with previous international humanitarian flotillas to Gaza, the current mission poses no threat whatsoever to Israel. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>However, in light of the urgent need for aid, Israel\u2019s non-compliance of ICJ orders, and their <a href=\"https:\/\/casebook.icrc.org\/case-study\/israel-blockade-gaza-and-flotilla-incident\">illegal interception and seizure of previous Gaza-bound<\/a> boats in international waters, we call on the NZ government to urgently demand the Israeli (and US) authorities lift the siege, implement a permanent ceasefire and allow the Freedom Flotilla safe and unhindered passage to reach their destination and deliver humanitarian and medical aid.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Yours sincerely,<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Roger Fowler QSM<br \/>\n<\/em><em>Chair, Kia Ora Gaza<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>John Minto<br \/>\n<\/em><em>National Chair<br \/>\n<\/em><em>Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Janfrie Wakim<br \/>\n<\/em><em>Spokesperson<br \/>\n<\/em><em>Palestine Human Rights Campaign<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Maher Nazzal<br \/>\n<\/em><em>Co-founder<br \/>\nPalestinians in Aotearoa Co-ordinating Committee (PACC)<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/asiapacificreport.nz\/2024\/04\/17\/nz-called-on-to-demand-israel-ends-inhumane-blockade-and-give-aid-flotilla-safe-passage\/\">Asia Pacific Report<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Asia Pacific Report Three Palestinian solidarity groups have joined the humanitarian aid charity Kia Ora Gaza in calling on New Zealand\u2019s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters to demand that Israeli authorities \u201cend their inhumane blockade\u201d of Gaza and allow the international Freedom Flotilla \u201csafe and unhindered passage\u201d. A team of three<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":400,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[789,605,20115,432,433,5,77768,23580,74952,77079,365,6,11844,7,12806,41160,10,255,41646,12,473,14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/400"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1615203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1615333,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1615203\/revisions\/1615333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1615203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1615203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1615203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}