Palestinians say a United Nations General Assembly vote on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories is a step in the right direction and time to uphold international law - to sanction Israel and recognise Palestinian statehood.
At the UN General Assembly, 124 countries voted for a resolution to end Israel’s illegal occupation in the Palestinian territories within 12 months.
This endorses the International Court of Justice ruling on July 19, which deemed Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal (the Gaza Strip, the West Bank including East Jerusalem).
Half of the 14 countries to vote against the resolution were from the Pacific region - the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Tuvalu.
From the Five Eyes group (the anglosphere intelligence alliance), New Zealand was the only country to vote in favour of the resolution. Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia abstained, and the United States voted against the resolution.
‘One of the worse tragedies in our modern age’
Te Ao Māori News spoke to New Zealand Palestinian, Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab and British-Palestinian Laura Agel.
Recently Israel’s embassy in Wellington told Checkpoint (RNZ) in a statement that Israel was defending its citizens from Hamas and the focus should be on dismantling terrorism and releasing hostages.
Mitchell-Kouttab said the vote came at a time when it had become obvious the occupation must end due to the sheer volume of indiscriminate attacks and deaths of civilians, especially in Gaza where half the population were children and about two babies a day have been killed in Israeli attacks.
Agel said 41,000 people had been killed, many children, and there were people starving and dying of disease, with almost the entire population displaced from their homes.
“It’s one of the worse tragedies we’ve seen in our modern age,” Mitchell-Kouttab said.
Agel is a member of Justice for Palestine and she said they welcomed the support for the UN resolution.
The attacks in Lebanon
On Wednesday, pagers used by hundreds of Hezbollah members exploded nearly simultaneously in parts of Lebanon and Syria, AP News reported.
Twelve people were killed including two children, and many wounded, creating chaos as Lebanese hospitals filled up.
Then on Thursday Hezbollah hand-held radios (walkie talkies) detonated, killed 20 people, with thousands injured. The Lebanese hospital system has been left paralysed, with uncertainty over how many more detonations can be expected.
An American official said Israel was responsible and the US was briefed on the operation beforehand. Israel was said to have targeted Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Islamist political party and paramilitary group. However the detonations ended up killing civilians as they went off in homes, grocery stores and cafes.
Mitchell-Kouttab’s family live in Lebanon and she said people didn’t understand how big the destruction was. The devices that have gone off span an enormous area of Lebanon.
“There is a strong understanding that this has been carried out by Israel and they have struck indiscriminately.”
Mitchell-Kouttab said under international law countries were not allowed to harm civilians and if it was done to achieve a military objective it couldn’t be excessive.
Mitchell-Kouttab said the attacks were state terrorism.
Mitchell-Kouttab fears Israel’s attack was to provoke Hezbollah to retaliate, which would bring in Iran and the US and would cause an “all-out war”, and would justify mass bombing as was done in Gaza.
Reuters reported on Friday, Israel warplanes unleashed their most intense strikes on southern Lebanon in nearly a year. Israel’s military said it struck rocket launchers that were set to be fired toward Israel.
12 months is unrealistic, Peters says
Winston Peters said there were problems with the UN resolution, including it being unrealistic to end within 12 months.
In response, Mitchell-Kouttab said “My question immediately to him was: ‘Do you think one year is a realistic ask for Palestinians living in the most horrific and horrendous situation where they could be dead by the next morning?’ Why is it that he has not considered the more important?”
Agel said there needed to be an immediate ceasefire and Israel needed to end its occupation immediately as she said it was well-documented that the oppression of Palestinians had gone on for decades and this didn’t start on October 7.
Peters said they would apply travel bans to those who have violated international laws.
Mitchell-Kouttab said there was an element of evasion in sanctioning individuals without acknowledging they weren’t acting alone but with the support and help of the Israeli state and army.
She said considering the resolutions and advisories the government should sanction the state of Israel, which was continuing to build and expand the illegal settlements, arming and protecting the settlers.
The lack of consistency
Mitchell-Kouttab said they had international law on their side but the problem was that international law was upheld inconsistently.
She said there hadn’t been practical steps to ending the illegal occupation since the International Criminal Court ruling in July compared to the various sanctions against Russia for the war in Ukraine, which took priority in the 75th NATO summit in July.
“When you talk about Palestine and Israel, it’s got to be more than tweets and statements. It actually needs to be action,” she said.
Mitchell-Kouttab said she wasn’t an expert but this inconsistency could be what it considers to be important or tactical for its foreign policy.
“If New Zealand’s foreign policy wants to run behind Five Eyes and the coattails of the US, then what it’s doing makes sense. But if it’s going to be independent, it needs to protect its people.”
She said she didn’t understand why New Zealand was in Yemen. Although NZ defence officials have said their staff in the operation had nothing to do with Gaza, she believes it had everything to do with Gaza and the explanations and lack of transparency didn’t cut it for many people.
“New Zealand needs to ensure it’s not putting itself in harm’s way by aligning itself with countries that are all out for war and that will inevitably drag New Zealand into a situation where it’s people don’t want to be,” she said.
“We don’t want war, we don’t want our sons and daughters being sent to war. We’re supposed to be a peaceful nation that is promoting peace, we’ve had a history with that.”
Action NZ needs to take
Mitchell-Kouttab said the government has called for a ceasefire but hasn’t applied any pressure to enforce it.
“The fact Winston Peters has acknowledged Israel’s illegal occupation in Palestine is a barrier towards peace is a really good step in the right direction and I think we need to now go further,” Agel said.
“Now we want our elected officials to recognise Palestinian statehood and to impose sanctions on Israel immediately.”
Mitchell-Kouttab said sanctions could be across economic, diplomatic, political, and military ties with Israel. The government could suspend trade cooperation agreements, ban companies involved in production, trade or marketing of settlement goods. She said there were many different sanctions the government should put in place but as of yet there had been none.
In August Labour called on the government to move against the procurement of new goods or services produced from the illegally occupied Palestinian territories on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.
Mitchell-Kouttab and Agel believe sanctions should go beyond occupied territories.
Agel said sanctioning Israel would send a strong message which was needed. She also said NZ should take steps others had and expel the ambassador for Israel in Aotearoa to show it was not complicit in genocide.
She said Peters had an opportunity to show leadership next week when he speaks at the Security Council and he could make a really clear statement about New Zealand’s recognition of Palestine and the importance of sanctioning Israel.
“We know that words aren’t enough. We know that Israel has not backed down from its bombardment of Gaza, despite international pressure, which is why we really need to take strong action and impose sanctions on Israel,” Agel said.
Talbot Mills Research Poll
Talbot Mills Research completed has run a public poll commissioned by Justice for Palestine, which showed strong support for Palestinian statehood and sanctions in Israel.
It showed 40% support for recognising Palestine as a state, with 19% opposed and 41% unsure.
Some 42% supported sanctioning Israel, with 29% opposed and 30% unsure.
The poll showed a greater support from those under 30. Of those, 51% were in support of Palestinian statehood and 49% were for sanctions to Israel for actions in Gaza.
Agel said the support from younger people showed the direction of travel for public opinion. She said younger people were more informed and there had been a shift away from believing the issue was “too complicated”.
“Young people aren’t afraid to stand up for human rights and they’re unapologetic in their opinion and know it isn’t “anti-Semetic” to do that because there has been solidarity from our Jewish brothers and sisters,” Agel said.
Hope amid struggle
Despite everything, Mitchell-Kouttab said she still had hope.
She said they’ve seen bigger marches and demonstrations than there were for Iraq. She said the “Free Palestine” movement had become a cause for the everyday man and woman. The aspirations for freedom and independence was not just about establishing a Palestinian state but for the freedom and independence for all.
“And more importantly to safeguard our children, because if children can be killed so disgustingly and indiscriminately by a so-called democratic first world country, then we’re heading down a really dangerous and dark future for the world.”
Mitchell-Kouttab said everyday people could boycott buying Israeli products, to hold the elected officials accountable by writing letters and speaking to MPs, and educating themselves on what’s happening.
“It’s really important to know we’re not alone. 124 countries voting makes up a massive amount of countries and it demonstrated the overwhelming support of Palestinians and and having our freedom and our justice,” she said.