Thousands march in New Zealand in support of Palestinians

Auckland activists have taken part in a march along Queen Street to condemn Israeli brutality against Palestinians.
 

Nakba Day, which means catastrophe in Arabic, remembers the 1948 event when there was a mass ethnic cleansing of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land by Israeli militias.

In Auckland, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa chairman John Minto said about 2000 people took part.

The turnout was “huge”, he said.

“It just means there’s a big shift happening in New Zealand which is fantastic.”

Minto said it was important to get to the root of the problem which lay with Israeli policies that denied human rights to Palestinians – and had done for 70 years.

Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman took part in the march, saying the amount of people in attendance made for a slow walk up to Aotea Square.

“There were a lot of Palenstinian families and other supporters, there was a lot of little kids.

“I ended my speech acknowledging them and the ongoing life force of Palestinians because we keep hearing about the number of children who have been killed over the past few days.”
 

During the marches, Minto said activists would be demanding that the government speak out against Israel’s racism and apartheid policies towards Palestinians.

“Despite our size and location, New Zealand played an important role in the fight against apartheid in South Africa,” Minto said.