Pro-Palestine protesters dragged out of Parliament Public Gallery after heckling, dropping leaflets on MPs

Pro-Palestine protesters interrupted Question Time at Parliament. Photo / NZ Herald

Security guards have dragged pro-Palestine protesters from Parliament’s public gallery after they rained papers down on MPs in the House and heckled them during Question Time.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins had just begun questioning Prime Minister Christopher Luxon when protesters stood from their seats in the public gallery and yelled “free Palestine”.

New Zealand has decided to not recognise Palestine’s statehood amid years of ongoing conflict in Gaza that has devastated the region.

The Government feared such recognition would embolden terrorist group Hamas, justify Israel’s illegal land acquisition in Palestinian territory and be used for political propaganda.

One protester yelled: “For two years, this Government refused to take its obligations to the genocide convention, they have refused to take action against Israel’s genocide.”

More protesters stood up and heckled and dropped leaflets over the heads of MPs sitting in the chamber below them.

Those leaflets read: “Your silence condemns you ... when you do nothing about a genocide, the people will hold you accountable.”

Pro-Palestine protesters interrupt Question Time at Parliament. Photo / NZ Herald

A number of security guards rushed into the public gallery to assist with removing the protesters.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee initially watched the ordeal in silence before brushing it off as “a little bit of poetry”.

He said: “To our friends in the gallery, that was an impromptu performance, a little bit of poetry and lots of performative art.”

Leaflets dropped at MPs at Parliament during Question Time by pro-Palestine protesters. Photo / NZ Herald

At least one protester was dragged across the seats of the gallery as they continued to yell.

Initially, the security guards all went briefly to one side of the gallery, leaving protesters on the other to continue chanting.

The protest, which lasted at least two minutes, followed another protest on the steps of Parliament this afternoon.

There was a larger-than-usual presence of security and police in the gallery for the remainder of Question Time. They were lined up against the walls behind each section of seats.

In an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Palestine did not meet the criteria of a state as it did not have control over its population or territory, a position that closely aligned with the likes of Singapore and Japan.

However, New Zealand’s stance differed from formal ally Australia and the United Kingdom and Canada, which formally recognised Palestine in September.

All three Opposition parties strongly condemned the decision, claiming it showed Luxon’s cowardice and was a stain on New Zealand’s reputation as a voice for peace.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins slammed the decision as “morally reprehensible”, saying it was “out of synch with our friends around the world”.