Asia Pacific Report
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa has appealed to Foreign Minister Winston Peters to stress to the Palestine genocide “open wound” in his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington this week.
Co-chair Maher Nazzal of PSNA said in a statement the international crisis in West Asia “must be reined in” and New Zealand pressure should be part of this.
He blamed the US-Israel war on Iran on resistance to the genocide in Gaza in which almost 73,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed.
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Nazzal also warned in the letter to Peters against New Zealand being “recruited” for the US war effort.
“The US will want to recruit New Zealand into the US and Israel war on Iran, and try to get Peters to offer something crazy, like dispatching the New Zealand frigates Te Kaha and Te Mana to help force the Straits of Hormuz,” he said.
‘But the open wound of Palestine remains the single greatest threat to peace and stability across the entire world.”
Nazzal said PSNA was urging Peters to press the US to demand equal rights for everyone living “between the river and the sea”.
“This means confronting the apartheid state of Israel head-on. The world can no longer tolerate a genocidal and racist state in West Asia, which is armed to the teeth by the US and hell-bent on attacking its neighbours to capture territory.
Stoking ‘the flames of hatred’
“Israel continues to stoke the flames of hatred and eternal war by last week passing legislation to execute Palestinians convicted of what Israel calls ‘terrorism’.”
Nazzal said the racist apartheid law did not apply to Jewish Israeli settlers who were killing Palestinians daily.
It exclusively applied in the military courts, which were only used to try Palestinians.
“They have a conviction rate of over 96 percent,” Nazzal said.
“Racist Israeli ministers and Knesset members celebrated the inflammatory racist law with champagne. There was barely a peep from Peters.
“New Zealand has played an important role in helping resolve international conflicts in the past — we can be part of the solution now,” Nazzal added.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
APR editor | Radio Free (2026-04-06T10:32:11+00:00) NZ’s Peters called on to stress Palestine ‘open wound’ with Rubio. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/04/06/nzs-peters-called-on-to-stress-palestine-open-wound-with-rubio/
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