Solidarity With Will Alexander

Peace Action Wellington expresses our profound appreciation of the work of Will Alexander to end New Zealand’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza with his decision to stage a hunger strike.

We stand in absolute solidarity with Will. His actions are testament to the deep feeling across Aotearoa NZ about the situation in Palestine. That feeling has not abated after nine months of horror from Gaza City in the north to Khan Younis to Rafah in the south. The feeling has only grown stronger as Israel’s genocidal activity has intensified and the death count of Palestinian civilians rises.

We endorse Will’s three demands:

1. End the deployment of New Zealand troops as part of the US-led “Operation Prosperity Guardian”: the NZDF deployed six soldiers to target Houthi positions in Yemen so the US can bomb them. The Houthi (also known as Ansar Allah) have vowed to target any shipping supporting Israel through the Red Sea; to stop arms shipments to Israel, and to pressure the US and Israel to stop the genocide. The NZDF deployment is due to end in June. This deployment must not be extended.

2. Maintain, and double the NZ contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA): In 2022, the government of NZ committed $3 million to UNRWA, effectively giving $1 million per year. This commitment is due to end in June 2024. New Zealand has been a dedicated donor to UNRWA since 1951. Winston Peters has not yet made a decision about continued funding. UNRWA funding must be continued and the dollar value doubled to a minimum of $2 million per year. A UN agency says that rebuilding Gaza will cost an estimated $30bn to $40bn and require an effort on a scale unseen since the second world war

3. End Rakon’s export of crystal oscillators used in Joint Direct Action Munitions (JDAM). Auckland-based Rakon has exported crystal oscillators to US weapons giant Rockwell Collins for inclusion in the JDAM - a kit that attaches to an existing munition to make it targetable (e.g. “smart weapon”). Amnesty International reported in December 2024 that people in Gaza were murdered by US made JDAMS. These bombs were made in 2018 - so could easily have been supplied at an earlier stage by Rakon. We have no reason to believe that Rakon’s exports to US weapons companies have ceased. Rakon must publicly disclose all sales to weapons manufacturers, and provide verifiable assurances that it no longer exports its products for use in weapons.

Peace Action Wellington will continue work with our allies to achieve Will’s demands, to end all New Zealand involvement in the genocide in Gaza, and to end the occupation of all Palestinian land.

FREE PALESTINE.

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