Winston Peters On the Wrong Side in the Middle East

GPJA is deeply disappointed that the New Zealand government is rushing to re-open diplomatic relations with Israel and allowing it to again establish an Embassy in Wellington while the Palestinian people continue to be brutally oppressed under Israeli military occupation of their country.

We believe the government should continue the suspension of diplomatic relations with Israel until it can also recognise a viable, sovereign Palestinian state.

We say this for several self evident reasons –

Israel is working not for a viable, sovereign Palestinian state but for a weak, geographically (and economically) strangled Palestine. This is a recipe for on-going disaster in the Middle East and around the world.

New Zealand claims its position on Israel/Palestine is even-handed. This is not true.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has welcomed Israel’s announcement that it intends to reopen its Embassy but New Zealand has refused to develop diplomatic links with the Palestinian National Authority as a government in waiting.

New Zealand has also refused to back Palestinian calls for an international peace-keeping force to be sent to Palestine to oversee a peaceful transition to a viable Palestinian state.

New Zealanders have a tradition of standing alongside the underdog and against thugs and brutal bullies. It’s time our Foreign Minister brought new respect for this tradition and rejected an Israeli Embassy in Wellington.

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