Solidarity rally in Auckland calls for boycott of Zionist products

The rally was followed by a march along Lincoln Road, calling for a boycott of Israeli products and companies complicit in the genocide in Gaza.

Participants carried signs reading:

“Don’t buy Israeli goods, boycott apartheid, boycott Israel,”

“Gaza under attack, don’t buy from McDonald’s,”

“Boycott and sanction Israel, take action against the occupation… Rocket Lab profits from genocide and destruction,”

“Freedom for Palestine,”

“We are one, Freedom for Palestine,”

“We all stand for Palestine,”

“Freedom for Gaza now,” and

“Stop the brutality.”

The demonstrators chanted slogans such as:

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,”

“One: we are the people, two: we won’t stop, three: we’re returning soon, six: Israel is a terrorist state,”

“I’m coming back, back to my land, to Jaffa, to Gaza, to Jerusalem, to Haifa, I swear I’m coming back,”

“Sanctions now,”

“There’s only one solution, revolution,” and

“Liberation, liberation, intifada, intifada.”

Speakers at the rally, including former minister and opposition Labor MP Phil Twyford, and Neil Scott, the Secretary-General of the New Zealand Palestine Solidarity Network, emphasized the importance of boycotting Israeli products and companies complicit in the genocide against Palestinians, such as Rocket Lab. They also urged the New Zealand government to impose sanctions on Israel for its war crimes and violations of international law.

The stage also hosted speeches by Sudanese New Zealand activists Fatima Sanousi and Raghda Hassan, who spoke about the massacres currently taking place in Sudan at the hands of the Rapid Support Forces, which they accused of committing war crimes and genocide in the Darfur region “with funding from the United Arab Emirates, which profits billions from Sudanese gold,” as they stated.

Sanousi and Hassan called on the New Zealand government to withdraw from “the free trade agreement it recently signed with the UAE, otherwise it will be complicit in the war crimes being funded in Sudan.”

Alongside the speeches, the demonstration included a fundraising campaign for victims in Gaza through the sale of Palestinian flags of various sizes, vests, medals, and stickers expressing solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Maher Nazzal, co-chair of the New Zealand Palestine Solidarity Network, said that “today’s demonstration is part of the activities we have been organizing weekly for over two years to stand with Palestine and condemn the genocide committed by Israel.”

Meanwhile, Labor MP Phil Twyford, who previously held several ministerial portfolios, including immigration, transport, economic development, urban affairs, and housing, noted that “the Palestine solidarity movement is growing stronger day by day, supported by a majority of New Zealanders and all opposition parties.”

He added, “The main demand now is to impose trade and economic sanctions on Israel for its repeated violations of international law, including the crime of genocide in Gaza and the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestinian land.”