As many of our supporters know, Justice for Palestine were in the news in May when the Mayor of Wellington City, Andy Foster, overruled a re
As many of our supporters know, Justice for Palestine were in the news in May when the Mayor of Wellington City, Andy Foster, overruled a request from Councillor Tamatha Paul, that the Michael Fowler Centre be lit in the colours of the Palestinian flag. The request came from Councillor Paul on the occasion of Nakba Day, the date in the Palestinian calendar – May 15th – commemorating the violent expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and villages by Zionist militias in 1948.
Justice for Palestine invited Councillor Paul to a cultural event to mark the Nakba. In response, she proposed that Wellington City Council make a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people, as they had when the Michael Fowler Centre was lit in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag. But Mayor Foster refused.
The Mayor was acting on the advice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) who recommended against the light display since “such an act could be construed as an act of state recognition” and “is likely to evoke criticism from the Israeli Embassy, and a fairly diverse group of supporters of the state of Israel”. An MFAT official later acknowledged the Ministry should not make recommendations to council’s but limit advice to “providing New Zealand’s international policy settings on an issue”.
Mayor Foster and MFAT managed to turn an innocent attempt at displaying solidarity with an oppressed people into a serious political controversy on the front page of a national newspaper and on international Palestinian news media.
