• Friday 17 May – No Picket this week
• Saturday 18/19 May – National Hui – This year in Tamaki Makaurau Auckland
• Sunday 19 May @ 2:00 pm – Banners over Bridges (after national hui)
• Monday 20 May @ 5:45 pm – PSNA Tamaki Makaurau – Meeting
• Friday 24 May – Picket – Venue to be decided.

Scroll down for more details of each of the events

Also

Scroll down for the Boycott Target of Obela and how to complain to supermarkets.

To view PSNA events around Aotearoa:

• Go to the PSNA Homepage – www.PSNA.nz
• Scroll down to the button “For a list of events Nationwide, please click here – Check back often for updates”
• Click the button
• Check back on Friday for any moves, adds or changes

Again, there are more than 20 events/rallies around the country over this week.

The meeting is our most important organising event for the year and the most important national meeting in many years. Check out the DRAFT agenda below. We are always keen for an injection of new people, new ideas and new energy!

Saturday 18 May
8.30am Tea/coffee and registration

9.00am Karakia and Mihi:
Introductions (John Minto)

9.10am Keynote Speaker Mazin Qumsiyeh from the Centre for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University.

10.10am Brief reports from PSNA National Chair John Minto and PSNA National Secretary/Treasurer Neil Scott

10.30am Organising during the genocide and beyond (Chair Ava Mulla) discussing the strengths and weaknesses of our organisation in response to the genocide in Gaza

• Local experiences around the country – the good the bad and the ugly! (everyone)

Creating a graphical timeline of the movement’s mahi in the last 7 months
(This is a session where we roll out a large sheet of paper, and get each area from North to South to reflect the work they have been doing on the paper. The purpose of this session is to get everyone to think about what they have been doing, noting down or creatively expressing their contribution, what has worked, and what hasn’t including at national level. This will then provide us all with a collective picture of the movements footprint on this whenua, rather than just what is happening in our localities. Organisers can then speak to the meeting of their region’s work as everyone listens)

11.30am MORNING TEA

11.45am Setting the scene for us in Aotearoa New Zealand going forward (panel discussion with Chair Sophi Reinholt TBC)

• Working/organising/co-ordinating with Palestinians and Palestinian groups (input from Palestinians Ahmed Saadeh, Yasser Abdulaal, Layan Khalil, Ahmed Saadeh, Maher Nazal, Billy Hania, Abdalla Gouda, Randa Abassi, Rand Hazou, Mayer Mustafa etc TBC)
• Welcoming the influx of new people into solidarity with Palestine (Orlando Bright TBC)
• What values should underpin the work of PSNA? (Bianca to introduce draft)
• Improving public understanding of the Palestinian struggle (Janfrie Wakim TBC)
• The movement – opportunities and challenges (Brandon Johnstone TBC)

12.45pm Proposals for changes needed in PSNA structure and leadership – Neil Scott will introduce a discussion to be continued on Sunday morning with decisions and elections to take place)

1.15pm LUNCH – provided at the conference venue

2.15pm Workshops 1 – Networking with other groups (please choose one)

• Working with Māori organisations (Te Otāne Huata TBC)
• Religious groups – Christian, Islamic, Jewish etc (Kathleen Rushton/Steve Liddle/Ahmed Saadeh/Billy Hania/Rand Hazou TBC)
• Trade Unions (Anna Lee, Mike Treen (TBC)
• Student organisations (Layan Khalil TBC)

3.30pm Plenary – report back from Workshop 1

3.45pm Workshops 2 – Strategies for local organising for BDS (Please choose one)

• Campaigning on our six BDS targets (Obela humus, Ahava beauty products, Sodastream, BP and Caltex, HP, McDonalds) – strategies and tactics Kathleen Cole, New Plymouth and Warren Brewer, Hawkes Bay, Julie Jones, Nelson)
• Improving our work and reach on social media (Brandon Johnstone TBC)
• Using UNSC2334 at local body level (Following the successful campaign to get ECAN to incorporate this into their procurement policy) (John Minto/Orlando Bright TBC)

4.30pm AFTERNOON TEA

4.45pm Plenary – report back from Workshop 2

5.30pm Reports

• Reports from Kia Ora Gaza doctors returning from Gaza (doctors! TBC)
• Update on progress with Freedom Flotilla to Gaza (Roger Fowler TBC)
• Report back from First Global Anti-Apartheid Conference for Palestine (Layan Khalil and John Minto)

6.00pm DINNER at conference venue

Sunday 19 May

9.00am Understanding the struggle against colonisation in Palestine and its links to anti-colonial struggles in Aotearoa, Australia, West Papua, Western Sahara etc. A panel discussion led by Palestinians.

10.00pm Palestine and the media – and future media training sessions – Don Carson

10.30am Looking after ourselves and each other for the long term – Bex Silver (TBC)

10.45am Confirming our statement of PSNA values and continuing the discussion from the previous day on PSNA structure and leadership positions

11.15am Election of National Chair, National Secretary and confirmation of new structure to be developed. (Chair Janfrie Wakim)

12.00 noon FINISH

2pm – Palestine solidarity rally – Banners on Bridges – Newton Road

Bring your Palestinian flags and energy as we raise our banners over the motorway at Newton Road.

Parking can be found on the roads to the north of the overbridge.

Details

• Sunday May 19
• 2:00 pm
• Newton Road

Next week it is our planning meetign as we review the Nationbal Hui and set our plans for the coming two weeks.

Please note the time has changed to: 5:45 pm (allowing time for people to come from work but not have to wait around until the meeting starts at a later time)

• Monday 20 may
• 5:45 pm
• Western Springs Garden Community Hall
• 956 Great North Road, Western Springs, Auckland

Mark the date in your calendar now. More details in coming newsletters.

Remember our big six BDS targets for Aotearoa New Zealand?

• Obela Hummus
• Ahava skin care products
• Sodastream
• HP (Hewlett-Packard)
• BP and Caltex
• McDonalds

Find more details here.

Editor’s picks

• Israel undoubtedly committing genocide says Holocaust scholar Amos Goldberg here
• Norway accuses West of double standards here
• 27 years in captivity – free Palestine’s Mandela here
• International community must support ICC’s work here
• Ben Gvir calls for soldiers to “kill” not arrest Palestinians who surrender in Gaza here
• US campus protests and the establishment’s automatic suppression here
• Media under attack in Gaza here
• Netanyahu’s war crimes and the ICC here
• KFC shuts down dozens of Malaysia branches amid boycotts over Gaza here
• Why hasn’t the US called for an investigation into mass graves in Gaza here
• UN chief calls for independent probe into Gaza mass graves here
• The US/Israel plan for Gaza here
• US working to prevent arrest warrant for Netanyahu here
• Majority of Rafah’s 600,000 children face injury, illness, malnutrition, trauma, disabilities says UN here
• Palestinian journalists covering Gaza awarded 2024 UNESCO Press Freedom Prize here
• Which is worse, Israel’s lies about Gaza or its western backers who repeat those lies? here
• Trinidad and Tobaga recognise the state of Palestine here

• Israel planning a ring of checkpoints to prevent men from fleeing Rafah
  here
• Why we need human rights now more than ever
  here
• A student protest guide to keeping safer on the streets here and here
• Republican Senators Threaten the ICC Prosecutor over Possible Israel Arrest Warrants here
• Israel begins evacuating part of Rafah ahead of threatened assault here
• US finds five Israeli military units guilty of Gross human rights violations here
• Intense summer heat increases fatalities, displaced people’s suffering here
• Israel’s war on Gaza causes over $3 billion in transport losses here
• What role do US tech giants play in powering Israeli war crimes here
• Google fired me for standing against tech complicity in Gaza genocide – but justice cannot be stopped here
• Why scapegoating UNRWA must stop here
• The real purpose of Israel’s occupation of Palestine here
• The Albanese government needs to come clean on its support for Israeli war crimes here
• Investigation must be opened into Israeli potential use of banned thermal weapons which cause victims’ bodies to melt or evaporate here
• Cable News Viewers Have a Skewed Attitude Toward Gaza War, Survey Finds here
• How Israel relies on foreign fighters to carry out its war crimes here
• Israeli finance minister calls for “utter destruction” of Gaza’s Rafah and end to truce talks here
• Netanyahu says Israel will invade Rafah as Gaza ceasefire talks continue here
• Video shows pro-Israeli counter protester shout “kill the Jews” to provoke police intervention at Gaza campus protests here
• UK’s deputy foreign secretary queries legality of Israel’s Rafah offensive here
• ICJ allows Nicaragua case against Germany to proceed here
• Estimated 10,000 Palestinians buried under rubble civil defence says here
• How an “anti-semitic hoax” drowned the discovery of mass graves in Gaza here
• Dozens of journalism professors urge NYT to revise October 7th sexual violence report here
• How Germany sacrificed its democracy for the sake of Israel here
• Gaza healthcare workers suffering with mental health amid war here
• The Australian Jew dubbed traitor for speaking out against the war in Gaza here
• It is indifference which is killing Palestinians here
• The bloody history defending western civilisation here
• Bernie Sanders responds to Netanyahu here
• We need an exodus from Zionism here (Naomi Klein)
• Rules of the game here
• Australian Council of Trade Unions statement on Haza here
• Ireland’s solidarity with Palestine here
• Over 10,000 women killed in Gaza says UN agency here
• Only path to peace: Minister backs two-state solution here
• ‘Dead on arrival’: Doctors back from Gaza describe horrific hospital scenes, decimated health system here
• Right wing pro Israel agitators threaten free speech on campus here
• Gaza is the greatest test liberalism has faced since 1945 – and it is failing here
• Four Palestinian female journalists detained in Israeli jails here
• ICC demands end to threats against court amid Gaza war probe here
• Legal experts debunk Israeli, US claims challenging ICC jurisdiction here
• Why would Israel and its allies fear the ICC here

Israel apartheid week has been added to the dates for likely local and national Palestine solidarity activity this year.

15 – 22 March Israel Apartheid Week
30 Mar Land Day Palestine
5 Apr Palestinian Childs Day
9 Apr Deir Yassin massacre – Irgun Terrorism – 107-120
Palestinian men, women and children massacred
17 Apr Palestinian Prisoners Day
11 May World Kufiya Day
15 May Nakba Day – marking the mass ethnic cleansing of
Palestinians from Palestine in 1948
5 Jun Naksa Day – Start of 1967 War – Land Grab – Invasion of
Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza, Egypt and Syria – 5 June 1967
– 10 June 1967
20 Jun Attack on Gaza – 6–21 May 2021 (2 weeks and 1 day)
16-18 Sept 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres
28 Sept Second Intifada – 28 Sept 2000 – 8 Feb 2005
2 Nov Balfour Declaration
29 Nov United Nations – International Day of Solidarity with the
Palestinian People
8 Dec "First Intifada – 8 Dec 1987 – 13 Sept 1993

We will need some serious money to make our campaign as effective as possible. For example, we will need somewhere in the vicinity of $25,000 to bring speakers to New Zealand over the next year and organise large public meetings to help spread the message.

You can help. Are you able to donate a cup of coffee a month to the campaign? In other words, can you afford to make an automatic payment of $5 per month to support the Palestinian struggle? (If you can afford more that would be great!)

Our account details are:
Account name: Palestine Solidarity Network
Account number: 38-9015-0849542-00

We are happy to provide a receipt upon request (however, we are not a registered charity so this is not tax-deductible)

Because of mainstream news media complicity, daily headlines and commentary only occasionally ever mention the relentless Israeli violence in Palestine, not even the frequent air strikes!

However, daily news and statistics regarding the violence Palestinians are forced to live under are regularly reported on in the “In Occupied Palestine daily newsletter”, sourced and compiled for easy reading and correlation chiefly from the Palestinian Monitoring Group’s daily situation reports.

The In Occupied Palestine daily newsletter continues to be circulated, by email, worldwide to subscribers only, as it has been over the last two decades.

Please contact Leslie if you also wish to become a subscriber.

• Forward this Newsletter – If you know people who may be interested in this movement, please forward this Newsletter to them. They can sign up themselves by emailing Secretary
• Join in local activities in your area monthly Rallies – In Auckland, we hold a monthly Protest at Aotea Square at 2.00 pm on the first Saturday of every month. Please consider doing the same in your community. Contact Secretary if you would like to know where and how to get Flags and Banners
• Help set up a Students for Justice in Palestine group on your campus
• Tell Your MP your opinions on Divestment and Sanctions of Israel
• Write Letters to Newspapers – Call Talkback Radio
• Keep in touch with the campaign on social media
  • Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa website: www.PSNA.nz
  • Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa Facebook page
  • Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa email: Secretary@PSNA.nz
• The Palestine Human Rights Campaign produces the In Occupied Palestine newsletter. It is a regular daily newsletter on the daily situation in Palestine, compiled by Leslie Bravery and emailed to subscribers. If you would also like to become a subscriber please contact Leslie at "sumud1 @ outlook. com" (Remove the spaces to use an an email address) for further information.
• Keep Updated on our Facebook pages and websites (listed below)
• Human rights for Uyghur refugees – In line with our support for human rights for the people of Palestine we have added our name to the petition in support of human rights for Uyghur refugees so they can be included in the government’s refugee quota. PSNA members who wish to also sign this petition can do so here – https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/open-letter-let-s-show-compassion-to-the-uyghur-community

• Facebook – Main
• Facebook – Events
• Instagram

Our mailing address is:
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa44-46 Lorne St
Auckland, Auckland 1010 New Zealand

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