The Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa is promoting a "genocide hotline" to report any sightings of Israeli soldiers holidaying in New Zealand. Photo / Facebook
The Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa is promoting a "genocide hotline" to report any sightings of Israeli soldiers holidaying in New Zealand. Photo / Facebook
Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) national chairman John Minto has launched a campaign for the public to report sightings of Israeli soldiers in New Zealand.
A police spokesperson said they became aware of the message soon after it was posted online, and since then police have received a small number of reports from members of the public.
“We would also like to remind people that if they see social media content that concerns them, they can report it directly to the social media platform, even if they’ve made a report to police.”
Minto said the hotline was part of “holding Israel to account for genocide” and accused the Government of complicity “in the most horrendous war crimes of the 21st century”.
“There’s no place in NZ for rest and recreation for perpetrators of genocide,” he said in a post online.
He later said in a statement: “We wouldn’t allow Russian soldiers to come here for rest and recreation from the invasion of Ukraine so why would we accept soldiers from the genocidal, apartheid state of Israel?”
Te Amokapua Chief Human Rights Commissioner Dr Stephen Rainbow said the commission had received more than 90 complaints about the hotline, and called for the immediate end of its promotion.
“The promotion may not be unlawful, however, the chief commissioner sees it as potentially harmful to Israeli and Jewish people in Aotearoa New Zealand,” Rainbow said.
Te Amokapua Chief Human Rights Commissioner Dr Stephen Rainbow has called for an immediate end to the promotion by the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa. Photo / Facebook
“Israeli and Jewish people have as much right as everyone else in New Zealand to be safe, secure, and free from harassment ... This sort of action has the risk of a ripple effect which may cause harm in the community.”
Kaihautū Whakawhanaungatanga-ā-Iwi Race Relations Commissioner Melissa Derby said the Royal Commission report into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain (places of worship) called on all people in New Zealand to support social cohesion. “That means not allowing racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hateful bigotry to flourish”, she said.
Discussion about the hotline comes as the world marks Holocaust Memorial Day and the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau, where one million died at the site between 1940 and 1945, including 100,000 non-Jews.
The New Zealand Jewish Council (NZJC) has called out the hotline, labelling the move “the latest in a series of disturbing anti-Semitic rhetoric”.
“John Minto and his organisation, the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa, have crossed a line in calling to hunt down Israeli soldiers and reservists in New Zealand,” said an NZJC spokesperson.
Minto told the Herald the hotline is not aimed at the Israeli population as a whole.
“We’re very careful and clear that this is not about Israelis, it is aimed at Israeli soldiers holidaying in New Zealand so they know they are not welcome here, and they understand that New Zealand society does not support their actions,” he said.
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