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Wellingtonians Rally In Solidarity With Gaza’s Palestinians

Wellington Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will be joining people around New Zealand this Saturday 24th November to stand in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and express our outrage at the continuing murder of civilians and the silent complicity of our own government. The rally will begin at midday at the Bucket Fountain, Cuba Mall.

From there, SJP will march to Wellington’s Civic Square where we will stage a ‘die-in’. We will also chalk the names and ages of those killed in Gaza since Operation Pillar of Defense began, to remind passers-by that Palestinians are human beings – not mere statistics.

SJP spokesperson Marika Pratley says, ‘Those being ripped apart in Gaza by Israel’s so-called ‘Pillar of Defense’ are mothers and sisters, fathers and brothers, they are children learning to read and babies learning to walk.’

Today is the seventh day of Israel’s most violent attack on Gaza since Operation Cast Lead in December 2008–January 2009. The total Palestinian death toll has reached 141 and the number of injured has surpassed 900. Israeli air strikes have destroyed two media buildings, crushed countless homes, mangled part of a soccer stadium and killed several families. The number of Israelis killed by rockets from Gaza remains at five, including one Israeli soldier.

‘Israeli leaders have shown no compassion for Palestinians in Gaza. Defence Force Major Gilad Sharon called for the IDF to “flatten entire neighbourhoods in Gaza” and Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, suggested that Israel did not go far enough during Cast Lead,’ Pratley continues.

Gaza is a tiny coastal patch of land that has essentially become ‘the world’s largest open-air prison’. It has been under Israeli-imposed blockade since 2007, after Hamas were elected to government.

‘Most of Gaza’s Palestinian residents are from refugee families who were ethnically cleansed by Israel’s army when Israel was established in 1948. Any meaningful peace between Israel and Palestinians has to include provisions for Palestinian refugees’ right of return.’ Pratley concludes.

SJP is proud to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in the 1948 territories and in the diaspora. We support the Palestinian-led campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel.

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ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>