About 50 people stood outside Shane Reti's Whangārei office yesterday to protest against the Government's decision not to recognise a Palestinian state. Photo / Brodie Stone
About 50 people stood outside Shane Reti's Whangārei office yesterday to protest against the Government's decision not to recognise a Palestinian state. Photo / Brodie Stone
The Government’s announcement on Saturday that it would not yet recognise a Palestinian state sparked a protest in Whangārei.
About 50 people gathered outside Whangārei MP Dr Shane Reti’s office yesterday after Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York last Saturday.
In his speech, Peters argued that Palestine did not meet the criteria for a state because it did not have control over its population or territory. He said recognition should be affirmed when “conditions offer greater prospects for peace and negotiation than at present”.
Peters acknowledged the “good intentions” of the countries that had formally recognised Palestine, but warned that recognition could prove counter-productive.
Protesters outside Reti’s office wore keffiyeh - the traditional Arab headdress typically worn by men - and waved Palestinian flags.
Peters told the Northern Advocate that he stood by the entirety of his speech.
Palestine Solidarity Network member Shaun Davison said New Zealand’s refusal to join other countries in their recognition of the state of Palestine was “deeply shameful”.
Fellow network member Jenny Hammond agreed Saturday had been a “day of deep shame” for New Zealand.
Palestine Solidarity Network members Jenny Hammond and Tim Howard both spoke to the attendees in front of National MP Shane Reti's Whangārei office on Wednesday. Photo / Palestine Solidarity Network
“This Government has just rewarded the Israeli Government for their two years of genocide.”
Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders and other international organisations, including the UN and Amnesty International, have labelled the situation in Gaza a “genocide”, calling for immediate global action.
He repeated the Government’s view that New Zealand supported a two-state solution and Palestinian self-determination.
He said it believed that recognition of Palestinian statehood was a matter of when, not if, but also that now was not the right time because Hamas, which remained in control in Gaza, could misuse recognition as propaganda.
“New Zealand has condemned Israel’s response to Hamas’ October 7 attack that led to this current conflict as grossly disproportionate.”
The Government had called for an immediate ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages, unhindered humanitarian aid to Gaza, and had announced a contribution of $10 million to Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, he said.
A former Doctors Without Borders volunteer at the protest said she had been in Gaza in 2019 and had seen how difficult conditions were back then.
A protest was organised outside Shane Reti's Whangārei office after the Government announced it would not yet recognise Palestinian statehood.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
