New Zealand has seen popular support for pro-Palestine protests since the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza [Getty]
Councillors in the city of Auckland, New Zealand, have voted in favour of an investigation into supporting sanctions against Israel over war crimes, the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) reported in a statement on Tuesday.
Auckland Council’s Policy, Planning and Development committee voted 14 to 2 in favour of the motion, which will require staff to produce a report on sanctioning firms identified by the UN Human Rights Council as being complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.
“Israel has been stealing Palestinian land and moving Israeli settlers onto the land in defiance of international law,” said PSNA Co-Chair Maher Nazzal.
“The local Palestinian community and our supporters sincerely thank the Auckland councillors who today have voted for steps to refuse to procure goods or services from any of the companies involved in building and maintaining these settlements.”
Councillor Julie Fairy, who tabled the motion, described the move as a “small step towards a practical move Auckland Council can take to show that it does not support the illegal occupation, in line with United Nations Security Council resolution 2334 (UNSC2334)”, which she highlighted was co-sponsored by New Zealand in 2016.
“Tens of thousands of Aucklanders turned out last year to march in solidarity with the people of Palestine and the least we can do is check that we are not spending Aucklanders’ money, public money, in ways that cause harm and exacerbate war crimes,” Fairey wrote on Facebook.
Fairey also hit back at the councillors who opposed the motion, including one colleague who said the local lawmakers should “stick to our knitting”.
“The response from one colleague in the debate was to say that we shouldn’t pass the resolutions I put up because we should “stick to our knitting” – what council procures is how we source the wool and needles to do the knitting to deliver so many things for Aucklanders; we must make sure the wool and the needles do not have blood on them.”
Fairey explained that council staff will now audit a list of businesses used by the council by comparing it to the UN’s list of firms complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation. The staffers will then produce a report detailing any vendors found to be on the UN’s list, what services they provide for the council, and possible next steps.
