Christchurch has become the first city council in New Zealand to stop doing business with organisations involved in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

The largely symbolic decision came after a passionate deputation by John Minto, president of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, who urged the council to take a stand against companies identified by the United Nations Human Rights Council as complicit in the construction and maintenance of these settlements.

The council’s vote to support the policy was met with cheers from the public gallery.

Minto described the decision as a significant step towards aligning with international law and supporting Palestinian rights.

“In relation to the council adopting a policy lined up with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, this resolution was co-sponsored by the New Zealand government back in 2016,” Minto said, referencing the resolution’s assertion that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories “had no legal validity and constituted a flagrant violation under international law.”

He said the resolution called for a distinction to be made between the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967, with a database of companies involved in settlement activities compiled to assist governments.

Minto said that the policy had bipartisan support within New Zealand’s political landscape.

“The current Aotearoa New Zealand government supports this UN Security Council Resolution 2334, as do all opposition parties. It’s a unified stance from our politicians,” he said.

He described a dire picture of the current situation, citing Israel’s recent election of what he called its “most extreme ethno-nationalist government ever” in December 2022.

He said the government had escalated the repression of Palestinians and made clear its refusal to negotiate for peace or the formation of a Palestinian state.

Instead, the government prioritised expanding settlements, with more than 5,000 additional houses announced in June 2023. “Palestinians are being driven off their land by Israeli settler gangs emboldened by the genocidal rhetoric of Israeli leaders,” Minto said.

Minto linked the expansion of settlements to the broader conflict, arguing that the ongoing occupation and the failure of Western governments to hold Israel accountable contributed to the eruption of violence on October 7 last year.

He accused Israel of war crimes, including “genocide, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, wholesale killing of civilians, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.”

 

University of Canterbury lecturer Josephine Varghese said “the figure of deaths is at 44,000 of which at least 15,000 are children. Boycotting products and services which support and benefit from colonisation and apartheid is the long standing peaceful means of protest adopted by freedom fighters across the world, not only by black South Africans against apartheid, but also in the Indian independent struggle By the lights of Gandhi.

“This is a rare opportunity for us to follow in the footsteps of these greats and make a historic move, not only for Christchurch City, but also for Aotearoa, New Zealand.

“On March 15, 2019, we made headlines for all the wrong reasons, and today could be an opportunity where we make headlines global. globally for the right reasons” Varghese said.