Christchurch council votes for symbolic boycott of companies linked to Israeli settlements

Christchurch has become the first New Zealand city council to stop doing business with organizations involved in Israeli settlement construction in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The largely symbolic decision came after an impassioned deputation from John Minto, president of the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa, who called on the council to take a stand against companies found by the UN Human Rights Council to be complicit in the construction and maintenance of these settlements.

The council’s vote in support of the policy was met with applause from the public.

Minto called the decision an important step toward aligning with international law and supporting Palestinian rights.

“With regard to the adoption by the Council of policies consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2334, that resolution was co-sponsored by the Government of New Zealand back in 2016,” Minto said, referring to the resolution’s assertion that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories “are not had legal effect and constituted a flagrant violation of international law.”

He said the resolution calls for a distinction to be made between the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967, using a database of settlement companies compiled to assist governments.

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

“The current government of Aotearoa New Zealand supports UN Security Council Resolution 2334, as do all opposition parties. This is the common position of our politicians,” he said.

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

He said the government had stepped up repression of Palestinians and made clear it refused to negotiate peace or the creation of a Palestinian state.

Instead, the government has prioritized expanding settlements, with more than 5,000 additional homes announced in June 2023. “Palestinians are being driven from their lands by gangs of Israeli settlers, emboldened by the genocidal rhetoric of Israeli leaders,” Minto said.

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

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

University of Canterbury lecturer Josephine Varghese said “the number of deaths is 44,000, of which at least 15,000 are children. Boycotting goods and services that support and benefit colonization and apartheid is a long-standing peaceful means of protest used by freedom fighters around the world, not only by black South Africans against apartheid, but also in India’s struggle for independence. In the light of Gandhi.

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

“We made headlines for all the wrong reasons on March 15, 2019, and today could be our opportunity to make global headlines. all over the world for the right reasons,” Varghese said.