The International Court of Justice has described Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories as racial segregation and apartheid.
Now New Zealand groups have demanded that the government here takes action over the ruling.
The court said the UN Security Council, the General Assembly and all states had an obligation not to recognise the occupation as legal and not to support or aid its maintenance.
The coalition government has been firm in its position on sanctions against North Korea and Russia due to breaches of international law and UN resolutions.
But Te Pati Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the government needed to live up to these precedents.
“No more complicity. The world is watching,” she said.
‘Violation of international law’
On July 19 the court ruled Israel had no sovereignty over Palestinian land and that violent land dispossession, use of resources, discriminatory policies, annexation and enforced control, were all declared violations of international law.
“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” court president Nawaf Salam said.
The court said the occupation had to end and called for reparations to Palestinians who had lost land and property since 1967.
“New Zealand, which co-sponsored the UN resolution in 2016, should lead the way on this,” Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa national chair John Minto said.
“We need to put our money where our mouth is – especially since the current far-right Israeli government has said its “top priority” is to push ahead with more illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.”
But Ngarewa-Packer said the government’s silence so far “speaks volumes”.
Call for sanctions
“The New Zealand government has run out of excuses. Aotearoa cannot continue to ignore the humanity of Palestinians.”
She said last week Prime Minister Chris Luxon neglected the opportunity “to take a stand against genocide” when meeting with President Joe Biden and instead was strengthening ties with the US, which heavily supported Israel.
She urged the government to do all it could to enforce the court ruling through sanctioning trade in and out of illegal Israeli settlements and cut diplomatic ties “with those committing and aiding war crimes,” and also to recognise Palestinian statehood.
July 22 RNZ reported $60m of New Zealanders’ money is invested in weapons used in Gaza.
Minto said the government should also direct Superfund, ACC and Kiwisaver funds to divest from companies identified by the United Nations Human Rights Council as complicit in building and maintaining these settlements.