UN Obsession continues: Will NZ lend support?

In the last week of December the United Nations General Assemby will vote on a resolution requiring Israel to be examined by the International Court of Justice. 

New Zealand abstained on the initial vote taken in November, however, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta expressed regret about that decision, tweeting:

“Aotearoa NZ regrets our necessary abstention on the recent @UN General Assembly Fourth Committee vote on ‘Israeli Practices’, but remains committed to protecting & promoting the rights of Palestinian people”. 

We wrote to the Minister on 2 December expressing our concern at the bias and imbalance of the resolution and the fact that politicisation of the ICJ will be counterproductive. Voting in favor of this resolution would contradict New Zealand’s long standing policy of balance, as well as the commitment to a negotiated settlement between the two parties. 

We argued that if the Minister is indeed “committed to protecting & promoting the rights of Palestinian people”, her ministry  should direct efforts towards protecting the human rights of Palestinians within Palestinian society. 

This includes the right to free elections, the right to freedom of press, freedom from Fatah’s incompetence and corruption, the right to freedom from hateful indoctrination and incentivisation to terror and the right to sell their own land to whomever they choose, without the risk of being beaten up or murdered. 

Sadly, we have not had a response from the Minister. However, we still hold out hope that New Zealand will do the right thing and stand against the UN’s latest attempt to delegitimise and demonise Israel. 

Click below to read the full letter.