95bFM Christchurch City Council votes to impose sanctions on Israel
Interview by Joel Armstrong, adapted by Esther O’Donnell
National Chair of the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa, John Minto, welcomes Christchurch City Council’s decision to impose sanctions on Israeli goods and services, the first council in the country to do so.
On the 23rd of October, Christchurch City Council voted in favour of sanctioning Israel, following Israel’s war on Gaza; a first for a New Zealand Council.
This comes after the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa approached Christchurch City Council, urging the council to stop purchasing Israeli goods and services.
The council’s staff report found the council did not have any business with companies identified by the United Nations Human Rights Council as assisting Israel in developing or maintaining settlements on illegally occupied Palestinian land, however, the policy is still significant, as it will prevent future trade from occurring.
National Chair of the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa, John Minto, told 95bFM’s The Wire, that this move is a step in the right direction, and that Christchurch City Council is “taking the lead”.
“It's so important that New Zealand stands up with other countries around the world [in] condemning what Israel is doing, and is prepared to take action.”
“It’s the action which counts.”
Minto also emphasises the importance of getting the Government on board too, urging them to follow the Christchurch City Council and impose sanctions at a national level.
“[The Government] should be banning the import of any products that are made in these illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land … our government has so far refused to do any of those things, and we're saying that Christchurch City Council has taken one of those steps, so the ball is [now] in the government's court.”
A vocal minority opposed these sanctions, such as the New Zealand Jewish Council, who, during the submissions process, encouraged the council to reject the motion to sanction Israel.
However, Minto says the Jewish Council does not represent the views of the majority of New Zealanders.
“Just recently, New Zealanders expressed very clear preference for the government to take sanctions against Israel when the Justice for Palestine Wellington organised the public opinion survey along those lines. [The Talbot-Mills poll, commissioned by Justice for Palestine, showed that forty-two per cent of respondents supported sanctioning Israel]”
“The Jewish Council's presentation was simply designed to try and muddy the waters and to claim that somehow Christchurch City, taking this action, had elements of anti-Semitism in it. And of course, it doesn't … We’re delighted the council voted in a way that rejected [these] arguments outright.”
Minto is hopeful that other councils across the motu will eventually follow Christchurch City Council’s lead.
“Our local councils are purchasing goods and services every day, and we're simply saying to them, that's fine, but don't purchase goods and services from companies that are involved in illegal Israeli settlements.”
“It's a very simple thing we're asking councils to do and something which applies to them as much as it applies to the government.”
