'March for Humanity' - Free Palestine

On Saturday, 13 September, more than 20,000 people marched in solidarity with Palestine from Aotea Square all the way down to Victoria Park. As the frontlines of the march began to arrive at Victoria Park, protest organisers proudly announced, "some people haven't even left Aotea Square yet!"

Severe weather conditions compelled protest organisers to amend the march route at the last minute, with the march initially bound for the Auckland Harbour Bridge. However, far from making people's conviction waver, the march for Palestine recorded its largest numbers yet—an extraordinary culmination of Palestinian resistance on Aotearoa's streets since late 2023.

The march was organised by Aotearoa for Palestine, a Palestinian and tangata whenua group supporting "the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice, and dignity in their own land". Their message was loud and clear: boycott, divest, and sanction Israel. Immediate ceasefire on the Gaza strip was imperative.

At the heart of the protest, various representatives from allied groups and networks of the Palestinian freedom movement spoke about their personal motivations for taking part in the march. As I listened along, I was fortunate enough to transcribe some of their speeches below (cont.)

Up until now, the NZ Government refuses to take any substantive action against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. To exert political pressure on our local representatives and to demand their compliance, sign the petition calling for sanctions on Israel here:

https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/nz-government-sanction-israel-now

At the time of writing this article, the petition has collected 11,900+ signatures of 15,000. If you couldn't attend the march and would like to show your support, this is your opportunity to stand up for Palestine.

Palestine Solidarity Aotearoa Network also organises weekly Saturday rallies at Britomart Square from 2:00pm (except the second Saturday of the month where it relocates to a suburban location). The 'March for Humanity' marked 100 weeks of ongoing domestic protest against the genocide in Gaza.

The following section recounts some of speeches delivered at the march, attesting to the solidarity of marginalised communities across Aotearoa.

While the excerpts are incomplete, it is our hope that their words inspire you to partake in the Palestinian resistance today. We endeavour to give express credit to the speakers if they reached out to us, we apologise in advance for these omissions.

In solidarity with tangata whenua

Māori activist

"Indigenous struggle, and big picture-wise, the rest of humanity, through our shared humanity, all of us are linked with the struggle against colonialism, imperialism and the failing system of oligarchs and corporate capitalism.

Who do you think is getting rich out of war? It's the oligarchs. The corrupt governance system is ultimately what holds humanity back. And we need everyone to unite in solidarity to push for a progressive future for our mokopuna, for our future generations.

New Zealand is a colonial and settler state that witnessed the mass dispossession of Māori. Māori land was stolen, firstly by violence with the land wars, and then by the mighty pen, then land confiscation, the Public Works Act and dodgy perpetual lease laws. For example, a million acres of Waikato whenua, our land, was confiscated...

Fighting for our whenua and against oppression is no different from what Palestinians and their resistance have been doing since 1948 against an illegal colonising, ethnic cleansing occupier.

Finally, what's more, international law is on the side of the Palestinian resistance against an illegal occupying force. We witnessed the same attempts of erasure of our history, language, culture, cultural practices, and identity. Post World War One, there was the loss of te reo Māori, loss of matauranga, our knowledge systems, the bombing of our pa in Waikato... the killing of civilians, women...

If we apply this to Palestine, the displacement of Palestinians, stealing land, erasure of most of the infrastructure in Gaza, bombing their homes, hospitals, schools, universities and archives, killing everything, committing both genocide and forced starvation.

We see in the burning of the olive trees the attempt by the Zionist entity to destroy the Palestinian connection to their land, their natural world, and their connection to the Mediterranean Sea.

There are 11,000 hostages held by the illegal Israeli regime. Those are the true hostages held illegally, also under international law. Our struggle for justice, freedom, and self-determination is intertwined. We will never be silent until Palestine is free, free, free...

And just another note, please, for those whanau who are not Palestinian, who do not know much about our Muslim whanau, please: people to people. Come and meet them. Come and know their history. Come and know what these wonderful keffiyehs mean. It means liberation, resistance. It is something they're very proud to wear. It has their symbols of the fishnet, of their connection to the sea, to the Moana, to the olive groves, to the trees, to the roots, to the ancient trade routes... please get to know them. Please get to know all our people, all the people around here, the shared humanity of our struggle and our aroha goes out to you."

In solidarity with Jewish allies

Jewish student advocacy group for Palestine, Co-founder

"I grew up in occupied Palestine in Tel Aviv, and I immigrated to Aotearoa. The lies, brainwashing, fear and racism I was raised on, it's nothing short of a shonda, a disgrace. We committed the Nakba against the Palestinian people in 1948, expelling 750,000 people from their homes and lands. And that number continues today. For almost 80 years, the violence grew around the world. Violence grew; the world's silence grew.

Now there is a genocide, a genocide committed by the victims of genocide. We've learned nothing–it's shameful, disgraceful.

I have always known the consequences of war. My grandfather died fighting in the Six-Day War in the Golan Heights. He was 33 years old, and my mother was only five. He died in vain. He died committing a war crime in a campaign of conquering land from Syria, scorching the earth and expelling its inhabitants. And for what? For his daughter to grow up without a father, for his granddaughters to inherit a world even more dangerous than when he left it. Shame.

Jewish culture and religion are beautiful and thousands of years old. Our culture is about community, mixed roots, doing good deeds, learning, questioning, and vibrant debates. For millennia, we lived in eternal diversity. Among others, we lived all over the world, from India to Ethiopia to Morocco to Denmark, and especially in the Middle East. We lived in peace, and we will live in peace again.

I want to acknowledge the Palestinian community today, in all my shame and my horror, they have accepted me and my community here without condition. It is an honour to know you. It is a privilege to fight with you and for you.

You have truth and righteousness on your side, and we will be with you every step of the way, through pain and despair and anger and tears. We will not falter by your side for your land and your freedom. New Zealand Jews have gone against occupation because we believe in a peaceful future for our peoples, where we can live and thrive together wherever we are in the world.

But peace is a positive side effect of justice, of equality of rights, of the right of return of Palestinian people to their homes and lands. This is our commitment and our promise to you as Jewish people, we will do everything in our power to see this future come into fruition, and we will claw back our Judaism to its true essence of peace, shalom, of social justice, sandek, of repairing this earth.

We will have a thriving Judaism divorced of Zionism, even if we have to fight for it with our last breath.

I know it was our desire to cross the bridge, but as a movement, we can change direction and go with the wind. We are clever, flexible and fast, and we will rise to the occasion no matter the weather. We will shake this government to its core. They will hear our rage and our resilience.

Palestine will be free in our lifetimes; we will see justice. This is our message to this complicit, incompetent government. You will sanction Israel, or we will see you out. We will pull every lever. We will meet you at every pulpit, in every one of your shiny offices and every public meeting, every time you try to drum up those votes you care so much about, you have no idea what you are up against."

In solidarity with the working class

NZ Council of Trade Unions, Representative

"It is my privilege to bring a message of solidarity from the well over 300,000 union members that make up the CTU (NZ Council of Trade Unions). Many of them are here today... and many more stand in solidarity all around the motu with us and with Palestine and have done so for decades and decades.

The union movement exists because of the concept of solidarity, because we know that an injury to one is an injury to all. We know that none of us, not you, not I, not anyone in Palestine, not anyone of the 68 government MPs who could sanction Israel if they wanted to. None of us are free until we are all free.

And because of this, peace is and always has been union business. Our core goal as union members is to stand together to improve our working lives. But that is not possible without peace and democracy.

Right now, we live in a world of rising extremism and authoritarianism, a world where our peace and democracy are increasingly under threat. Myanmar, Ukraine, Palestine. At home, union rights and undermining Te Tiriti.

Our struggles look different, but the origins are the same. They are the same systems of capitalism and colonialism that oppress working people, that oppress women, that oppress tangata whenua, disabled, queer peoples, Palestinians. All these struggles can only be overcome when we stand together.

The International Trade Union Confederation, which is the global peak body of the union movement and represents 200 million workers globally, recently released an open letter, and I'd like to share some of it with you:

Apart from strong statements and global protests, the political world remains paralyzed watching this humanitarian catastrophe unfold as if its hands were tied. This is not diplomacy. This is not neutrality. This is complicity, political inaction in the face of these atrocities is nothing less than criminal negligence, the options are many and available within the framework of international law, and the international community must act now.

It goes on to demand that government stop all arms deliveries to parties now, a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access now, the release of all hostages and political prisoners, that governments recognize Palestine, that Israel ends the occupation and nations stop trading with illegal settlements. Now.

The war must end now, and justice must begin. We all carry responsibility, and inaction is complicity now. At home, the inaction of our government is despicable. Every day. They don't sanction Israel. They are making a choice to turn a blind eye to truly unimaginable human suffering. They make that choice, but we also get to make a choice. We choose to be here. We choose to stand shoulder to shoulder, to raise our voices, to refuse complicity, to take actions that our children can be proud of us for, and we will not stop until Palestine is free.

The forces against us are strong, but we are stronger. Keep turning up. We will turn up with you, bring your friends and your families and your colleagues, do your bit to grow the movement, join your union and push your workplaces and institutions to support Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction kaupapa. Turn up to union events.

I'd like to extend an invite to everybody. Next Saturday, we have a pay equity event. The Women's Day of Action will be marching down Queen Street again and meeting at Britomart. Please come and show your support as well. Contact your local MPs, and in fact, right now, you can take a moment and whip out your phone and take a selfie or share one of the photos that you've taken today with your friends and family and send it to your local MP and tell them that this is a photo of someone who next year, at the election, will only be voting for parties that back sanctions. Let them know that their job is on the line if they don't stand up with what the values of New Zealanders are.

Whilst you're at it, please check that you are enrolled to vote, because one of the attacks that we have on our democracy right now is around voting enrolment. Take a moment, go to the enrolments website and check your details and make sure that you are enrolled to vote. And next year, when you do vote, remember today. Vote with your hearts and your values for leaders who stand for humanity."

In solidarity with (some) political leaders

Marama Davidson, Green Party Co-leader

"Listen up. Look around. Remember how long it took to walk down all of Queen Street? Remember how full, how full we packed out these grounds here, this whenua of Tamaki Makaurau.

Now remember, this is unity. This is kotahitanga. You are doing it.

Now today, many of the speakers have been asking, where is the real leadership of this of this country? I'm going to take us through a chant now, because you are the real power. Look at what you did. Look at what you did, bringing us together from all of our communities, from all of our backgrounds. So, I am saying, "You are the leaders", and you say back to me, "We are the leaders". Don't forget this. This is where the real power has always been, bringing people together like this, it's the healing to the nastiness and turmoil that this world is in right now. We are the solution, together, united, bringing ourselves together for humanity.

Don't forget that and vote for Māori wards, everyone. If you do nothing else, take out that local government ballot and just vote for Māori wards. Everybody, I want to shout out to the organizers who have kept us safe and together today. I want to acknowledge that our Green MPs are here, and we are joining the solidarity hikoi all around Aotearoa and you know whanau that if Chloe was in the country, she would be here right now. You know she is here with us in spirit.

I want to acknowledge that right now, 10 years ago, I was honoured and privileged to be part of the Women's Peace Flotilla to Gaza ten years ago. Right now, the Global Sumud Flotilla, the massive global and international solidarity for Gaza is charging its way through with a boat to Gaza. Kia kaha to the Flotilla. They are being attacked. We know this. They are being attacked, but they will charge through because they have the power of the world on their side.

I want to again repeat and support sanctions right now for Israel. Sanction Israel and do it now, standing for an independent and free Palestine, end the genocide, make sure that aid goes through immediately.

Now these are the minimum demands that we will continue to make, because we will always take your voices from the streets into the hallways of power. We have honor, and we will continue to be your voices in Parliament, to be your voices in the hallways of power, making every politician who does not have the guts to stand up for Gaza incredibly uncomfortable, and we will continue to do that.

My last korero whanau, I have seen, I have seen the attempts to dehumanize the mokopuna of Gaza. We have seen that. That is how they try to make excuses for killing the mokopuna of Gaza, but they will not take our humanity.

Every time they kill in the name of Israel, they only deplete their own dignity. They only are killing their own humanity. They will never, ever take our humanity away from us."

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in Craccum are those of individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial team or the publication as a whole. While we aim to ensure accuracy and fairness, Craccum cannot guarantee the complete reliability of all information presented and assumes no liability for errors or omissions.