Hundreds joined a Hawke's Bay-led protest against a UN resolution outside Parliament yesterday.
Two busloads of Hawke's Bay residents travelled to Wellington to protest the United Nations Security Council adopting Resolution 2334 on Christmas Eve, which demands "Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem".
New Zealand co-sponsored the resolution, with Senegal and Malaysia, which said the settlements violated international law and undermined a two-state solution in Israel's conflict with Palestine.
More than 70 people from Hawke's Bay churches left Hastings early yesterday, in protest of the resolution they say outlaws "the rights of the Jewish People to live on their own historical homeland in the Land of Israel".
Led by Flaxmere Christian Fellowship pastor Nigel Woodley the group - who were joined by swarms of other protesters - spent about an hour outside Parliament, hoisting placards reading "Israel, please forgive us", and "the land of Israel belongs to Israel".