PSNA says the ‘complexity’ excuse for cabinet inaction on Palestine this morning is a cowards’ way out for the government to avoid even the most tepid policy to oppose Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Prime Minister, Chris Luxon, said this morning that cabinet today would not be making decisions on recognition of Palestine for Foreign Minister, Winston Peters to take to the United Nations General Assembly next week.

Luxon said recognition of Palestine was ‘complex’ and government decisions were still weeks away.

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa Co-chair, John Minto, says the government recognised Palestine at the United Nations in 1947.

“It’s taken nearly 80 years to work out ways to make that real and it still can’t do it.”

“Peters needed very clear and strong instructions to take to the UN, where he could have joined the calls for the growing list of sanctions to be imposed on Israel.”

“In just over two days last week, Israel demolished fifty of the tallest residential tower blocks in Gaza City. That’s a rate of destruction of more than one every hour and thousands more people made homeless.”

“There’s nothing about defending borders, or implementing a strategy of getting hostages released in all of this barbarous onslaught by Israel. It’s self-declared ethnic cleansing.”

“At the same time, Israel has tried to kill the Hamas negotiations team by bombing them in Qatar. New Zealand has declared that the issues can only be resolved through negotiations, but has said not one word of complaint that Israel is murdering the negotiators.”

Minto says there is a yawning gap between the government’s policy towards Russia and that towards Israel.

“Winston Peters has just implemented its thirty-second sanction measure against Russia.”

“That does not seem to be complex.”

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