Media Statement Regarding the Situation in Palestine

As an organisation that is committed to furthering justice, especially against settler-colonialism, we stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We call for an immediate, sustained ceasefire.  We call for a return of civilians held hostage and those detained indefinitely on both sides.  We call for continued access to humanitarian aid into Gaza after the current four-day pause in fighting, and further, for a permanent end to the blockade by Israel over Gaza.  We call for the cessation of any and all continued violations of public international law.  We call for an end to Israeli settler-colonial violence and a return of lands that have been occupied in the West Bank.

We send our love, our thoughts, and our solidarity to Palestine and its people.  As a matter of humanity, our thoughts are also with those who have been killed on both sides.  These are lives lost and there are grieving families.  However, we will not be drawn into a false equivalence of the two sides as a matter of justice.  These are not equal sides in a war with the same access to resources and international recognition as a “state”.  Furthermore, the attacks by the armed wing of Hamas on October 7th (which we address fully below) must be seen in the context of settler-colonialism.  Therefore, while we will address questions of breaches of international law, we also take a stance as a matter of justice and in opposition to settler-colonialism.

1. As an organisation that is committed to furthering justice, especially against settler-colonialism, we stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We call for an immediate, sustained ceasefire.  We call for a return of civilians held hostage and those detained indefinitely on both sides.  We call for continued access to humanitarian aid into Gaza after the current four-day pause in fighting, and further, for a permanent end to the blockade by Israel over Gaza.  We call for the cessation of any and all continued violations of public international law.  We call for an end to Israeli settler-colonial violence and a return of lands that have been occupied in the West Bank.

2. The atrocities happening in Palestine are indefensible, and morally abhorrent.  These atrocities are the direct result of settler-colonialism of Palestine.  The deadly violence did not begin in response to the attacks on October 7th, but have continued since the Israeli occupation of historic Palestine in 1948.  The arc of the moral universe demands a response.  

3. The most recent atrocities that Palestinians are suffering have shocked the world’s conscience.  Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and blockade of necessities into Gaza has led to the deaths of more than 13,000 civilian Palestinians, over 5,000 of whom are children.  Many have died in their own homes, and others were bombed in hospitals, houses of worship, and refugee camps, which should have been places of refuge and amnesty.  According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967 (“UN Special Rapporteur”), over 1.6 million Palestinians have been displaced, 30,000 have been injured, and half of the civilian infrastructure has been destroyed.

4. Our stance is based on the principles of justice and those of international law. 

5. We turn first to justice.  The ALN stands against settler-colonialism and racism.  Colonisation itself is global in nature, and Asian communities in Aotearoa and abroad are no strangers to colonisation and its impacts.  As an organisation, we are also committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supporting tino rangatiratanga as a matter of justice.  Our solidarity comes from a recognition that justice and our collective liberation are only possible through challenging colonisation, settler-colonialism and racism, wherever it is found in the world.   

6. The ongoing land theft through settler-colonialism in Palestine and the denial of the Palestinian people’s self-determination is a grave injustice and a moral wrong.  These include the Israeli occupation since 1948, ongoing illegal annexation of historic Palestine, and now the bombardment and forced displacement of Palestinian people.  These injustices must cease.  Without justice, there can never be peace.

7. Turning to the law, we condemn breaches of international humanitarian law by Hamas on October 7th and by indiscriminate missile strikes since.  But  we also condemn breaches by Israel that occurred on October 8th, 9th, 10th and every day until the present, as well as historic breaches that predate the present crisis.  Israel’s historic and present actions likely constitute violations of public international law, in particular under the Rome Statute: genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity such as the 16-year blockade on Gaza.  In our full statement, we will canvass credible expert determinations concerning collective punishment, indiscriminate killings of civilians, as well as statements from the Israeli government.

8. Our full statement details our position in greater depth, pointing to the history of the Palestinian people and the context of Israel’s current assault.  Before we are asked, we condemn and will always condemn anti-semitism and islamophobia.  This is a prevalent and pervasive false dichotomy, whereby any support of Palestine is construed as being incompatible with and to the exclusion of being empathetic to the victims of October 7th and their families.  We further note that the Jewish people are not a monolith, and many Jewish groups around the world do not support political Zionism.

9. Furthermore, we note that criticism against the state of Israel and the Zionist political project does not equate to anti-semitism.  To equate the two would be to engage in a dangerous conflation of peoples and their governments.  Analogously, in our own experience, we reject this logic when applied to our Asian communities.  It is obvious that the policies of Asian states do not reflect on the Asian diaspora.  This conflation often motivates racism and even violence against Asian communities.  In solidarity with those who share this lived experience, we reject the conflation of states and the  peoples they purport to represent.    

10. This humanitarian crisis is a catastrophe.  Every day hundreds of Palestinians are being killed. It is illegal and unjust when children are killed, hospitals are bombed, and humanitarian aid is denied.  No one should suffer occupation.  No one should live under apartheid.  No one should die under rubble. 

11. For these reasons, we stand in solidarity with Palestine and call for a sustained ceasefire now. We call for a ceasefire of indiscriminate and disproportionate military action by Israel in Gaza.  We call for the return of civilians held hostage and those detained without trial on both sides. The blockade on Gaza by Israel must cease, as must the Israeli settler-colonial violence and a return of occupied lands in the West Bank.

12. Without justice for Palestinians, there cannot be peace.  

13. The following sources provide important context and have informed our statement: 

• UN History and Background Israel - Gaza Crisis; 

• UN Study on Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem;  

• UN article on “The Question of Palestine”; 

• UN General Assembly Resolution, “Importance of the universal realisation of the right of peoples to self-determination and of the speedy granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples for the effective guarantee and observance of human rights”  A/RES/37/43; 

• UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, “The Right of Self-Determination of the Palestinian People”;  

• United Nations, General Assembly Resolution 3236;

• Joint statement from UN independent experts on the current conflict;

• Report A/78/545, published 20 October 2023 by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967;

• Open resignation letter by Craig Mokhiber (the former Director of the New York Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)

• Report by Amnesty International on human rights in Israel and  the Occupied Palestinian Territories

• Amnesty International Research Paper on “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians”;

• Amnesty International’s Calling on the Israeli Government to Lift the Blockade on Gaza;

• Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur, delivered at the 78th Session of the General Assembly; 

• The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; and  

• Human Rights Watch regarding the capturing of hostages by Hamas.   

14. We also note the following statements from various organisations and open letters in Aotearoa’s context: 

• Statement by Asians Supporting Rangatiratanga; 

• Statement by Adhikaar Aotearoa: 

• Open letter by the Association of Social Anthropologists Aotearoa/New Zealand; 

• Open Letter by Māori Doctors in Solidarity with Palestine; 

• Statement by Aotearoa Artists 4 Ceasefire; and 

• The petition “the Māori Call for Palestine”. 

15. We invite members from our own communities (our Asian communities, our legal community as well as other groups connected to our kaupapa) to reach out to discuss what is happening to Palestine.

16. Link to full statement [pending].