One person is killed in Palestine every 12 minutes. The Government says it will decide in September whether to recognise Palestine as a state.

Te Pāti Māori Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says that is moral cowardice.

“Recognition cannot wait, and it must be accompanied with action. Without sanctions, without consequences, and with no intention of holding Israel accountable for genocide, the recognition of statehood is hollow” Ngarewa-Packer.

“While the government chooses to wait and follow a ‘process’, tamariki are deliberately being starved, and slaughtered while lining up for food.”

“There is nothing complex about genocide. There is nothing complex about apartheid. The longer Luxon hides behind ‘complexity’, the more tamariki are buried” added Te Pāti Māori Co-leader, Rawiri Waititi.

Te Pāti Māori has consistently called for:

• The immediate and full recognition of the State of Palestine.
• An end to Israel’s illegal occupation.
• An embargo on all trade in-and-out of Israel.
• Cutting diplomatic ties with Israel and any nations aiding in their war crimes.
• The expulsion of the Israeli ambassador.
• Enforcement of the International Court of Justice ruling against Israel.

“We’re watching in real time the dispossession, displacement, and destruction of an entire people” said Waititi.

“If the government truly stands for human rights, they must act now, not in a month, not after another thousand lives are lost, but today” concluded Ngarewa-Packer.

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