Kerri Nuku, Kaiwhakahaere
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO

At a recent conference speakers talked about the waves of pandemics not isolated to viruses, communicable or non-communicable diseases. They also talked about the pandemics of economic disadvantage, declining social and labour markets; pandemics of hate and war for control and resources. All of these are underlined by power and greed, with the highly calculated weaponisation of racism, xenophobia and bigotry to divide people and concentrate more power and wealth in the hands of the few.

We see this on full display in Palestine where one of the largest military powers in the world, backed by the US, is committing alleged ethnic cleansing and displacing millions of indigenous people living in what the UN has described as the world’s largest open-air prison. And why is Israel doing this? If the ‘war’ is really about driving out Hamas, then why displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians? This is and always was about claiming more land and resources.

As the genocide in Palestine continues to escalate, my thoughts are with the thousands who have been slaughtered, and the hundreds of thousands displaced in the last month. It would be difficult for many of us to appreciate the indescribably harrowing and traumatic experience of those people, and especially of the Palestinian health workers dealing with mass death and injury under siege.

It’s sickening to see the violent invasion of al-Shifa Hospital where more than 3000 doctors, nurses and civilians have been sheltering. Seeing these images, it’s clear to me that there’s no symmetry of power, and it reminds me of the events of our own history in Aotearoa.

I think of the violent displacement of our people by the British so that settlers could have more land and resources. I think of Parihaka, where 1600 British soldiers arrested hundreds of peaceful protesters trying to protect their own whenua from unlawful occupation. I think of the purposeful erosion of our legal, political, cultural and economic institutions over the past 250 years, and the violence that our resistance is met with. I see the similarities between our fight for tino rangatiratanga and mana Motuhake, and the struggle for Palestinian liberation.

There’s a growing call globally for a ceasefire and an enduring solution that recognises the Palestinian state. There are also calls for Israel to be held accountable for war crimes. Among those countries calling for justice, it should be noted, is South Africa who intimately understands the injustice from their own history of apartheid.

Palestinians often say: “justice is the seed, peace is the flower”. We know that those in power will play on our fears and make us believe that justice is impossible and peace unreachable. But as unionists and health workers, we know that those in power rarely have the people’s best interests at heart. So, we must critically analyse their motives and interests, and listen to the dreams of the Palestinian people. When we do, it is clear to see that with global solidarity, justice is possible, and so too is peace.