A city council in Aotearoa NZ has become the first in the country to pass a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) motion against Israel.
艑tautahi Christchurch city council voted on October 23 to cease doing business with companies building and maintaining illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) and local activists led the campaign for the council to align its procurement policy with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2334.
The motion passed by a two-thirds majority, with 10 councillors voting for it, two voting against it, and three abstaining.
The public gallery was packed with supporters displaying a large 鈥淪top the Genocide鈥 banner.
PSNA National Chair John Minto said in a statement: 鈥淲e are delighted the council has taken a stand against Israel鈥檚 ongoing theft of Palestinian land.
鈥淚t has been the failure of western governments to hold Israel to account which means Israel has a 76-year history of oppression and brutal abuse of Palestinians.
鈥淭oday Israel is running riot across the Middle East because it has never been held to account for 76 years of flagrant breaches of international law.
鈥淭he motion passed by Christchurch City today helps to end Israeli impunity for war crimes. Building settlements on occupied land belonging to others is a war crime under international law.
鈥淭he motion is a small but significant step in sanctioning Israel. Many more steps must follow鈥.
艑tautahi Christchurch is Aotearoa鈥檚 third largest city, and was the scene of a terror attack in March 2019, in which Australian, Brenton Tarrant, killed 51 Muslims praying in local mosques.
Prior to the vote, Minto and University of Canterbury lecturer Josephine Varghese spoke in favour of the resolution. Varghese highlighted the significance of the terror attacks, saying: 鈥淪ix Palestinians were among the 51 killed in Christchurch鈥檚 March attacks 鈥 On March 15 2019 we made headlines for all the wrong reasons, and today could be an opportunity where we make headlines globally for the right reasons.鈥
The NZ Jewish Council鈥檚 Ben Kepes spoke in opposition to the motion. During his speech, he claimed that Israel is 鈥渢he only democracy in the region鈥 that has 鈥渁 free press鈥 and is 鈥渙ne of the few countries in the region that protects the rights of the LGBTQ+ community鈥, prompting frequent bouts of laughter from the gallery.
Following the result, the Labour party鈥檚 associate foreign affairs spokesperson Phil Twyford : 鈥淚t is great that Christchurch is the first council in New Zealand to take up this cause. We hope others will follow this example.
鈥淐hristchurch City鈥檚 decision is in line with the recent International Court of Justice ruling on the illegal settlements, which said the international community should not 鈥榓id or assist鈥 the settlements鈥.
UNSC Resolution 2334 was co-sponsored by Aotearoa when it was passed by the UN Security Council in 2016.聽 The resolution states that Israeli settlements in the OPT have "no legal validity" and constitute a violation of international law.
Minto highlighted the National government鈥檚 inaction in enforcing a resolution the country helped to implement: 鈥淚t would be nice to think the government would pick up resolution 2334 and show leadership in sanctioning Israel rather than leaving it to local bodies鈥.