We wait for a new government to take shape but Gaza’s desperate humanitarian needs cannot wait. Justice for Palestine and Alternative Jewish Voices have written urgently to our MFAT interlocutors, including this call for an accounting of our actions to date:
The New Zealand Government – consistent with its role as the caretaker government – must act now to provide meaningful humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. This cannot wait.
Every non-urgent question can await the appointment of a new Minister for Foreign Affairs, but a hungry child cannot wait. A hospital whose fuel supplies are virtually exhausted cannot wait. UNRWA’s shelters, packed beyond any imaginable capacity, cannot wait. A traumatised, battered and trapped populace cannot wait.
What is Aotearoa doing to get the crossings opened? Who are we calling?
Which life-saving supplies have we dispatched? Have we ensured that sufficient fuel accompanies every shipment, because no supplies can be distributed without fuel for the delivery trucks?
Our questions are not rhetorical because a Palestinian life is neither rhetoric nor symbol.
Gazans are dying from the world’s inaction and we call for a public accounting of our country’s actions to ensure the basis needs of Gazans are being met, and ultimately to save their lives.
Alternative Jewish Voices of Aotearoa and Justice for Palestine
October 19, 2023
Sh'ma Koleinu - Alternative Jewish Voices (NZ) 