100 signatures reached
To: Palmerston North City Council
Call for an Immediate, Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza and Ethical Action for Palestine
We, the undersigned, urge Council to act in accordance with international law, human rights, and community values by:
1. Publicly supporting an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian Territories, as affirmed by UN resolutions, the ICJ, and the Geneva Conventions.
2. Developing and adopting an ethical procurement and investment policy that seeks to avoid contracts with companies complicit in grave breaches of international law, including those profiting from illegal Israeli settlements and occupation — consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2334, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and recent UN Special Rapporteur findings.
Council may develop a practical implementation framework that aligns with local procurement procedures and legal obligations, while reflecting community expectations and international ethical standards.
Supporting Statement
As of 25 June 2025, at least 56,156 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including more than 17,121 children, with a further 132,239 injured, and countless missing. In addition to targeting civilians, Israel has destroyed civilian objects, including hospitals, schools, UN shelters, and entire neighborhoods. For 11 weeks (2 March–18 May), no humanitarian aid entered Gaza due to the siege imposed by the Israeli authorities. Since 18 May, effective aid delivery has been replaced by the Israeli-and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which by 31 May had sent only 10% of the aid needed into Gaza, and is accused of undermining the core humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. At least 549 people seeking food from the GHF-run hubs have been killed by Israeli soldiers, and more than 4,066 others wounded. Basic humanitarian supplies, including food, fuel, medical aid and vaccines for children, have largely run out, with devastating impact on the population. The UN warns that Israel’s campaign of deliberate starvation has left the entire population at risk of famine, and that its mission to help civilians in Gaza is "one of the most obstructed ... in recent history".
Israel’s obstruction of humanitarian aid and its unchecked military assault defy international calls for a ceasefire and the ICJ’s finding that there is a plausible case of genocide. Israel has repeatedly ignored the Court’s binding provisional measures, and has escalated its expansion of settlements in the West Bank - which the UN, the ICJ, and multiple human rights organisations have declared unlawful.
The international community, including individual states and local governments, must not be silent in the face of such profound and continuing injustice and human suffering. Granting impunity to such a devastating level of dehumanisation sets a terrifying precedent. Our silence teaches the next generation what we value, and what we are willing to ignore.
Aotearoa New Zealand is a founding member of the UN and a signatory to the Genocide Convention, Geneva Conventions, and other key human rights treaties. Under these, New Zealand is legally bound to prevent and not be complicit in genocide and war crimes. It must also uphold UNSC Resolution 2334 (2016), which affirms the illegality of Israeli settlements on the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories, and calls on all states to distinguish between Israel and the territories it occupies. In 2020, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) released a list of organisations involved in the maintenance, development, and consolidation of these illegal settlements, and updated this database in 2023. Binding provisional measures issued in 2024 by the ICJ — the principal judicial organ of the UN — include the requirement that states and international institutions prevent companies from enabling international crimes. Our government supports the ICJ process.
Why is this important?
Local governments have a role to play in upholding this legal framework and ensuring our cities do not profit from or contribute to the normalisation of human rights violations by dealing with the listed organisations and companies. Failure to do so would be a grave blow to the credibility of and trust in the international legal order, and to the reputation of New Zealand.
Palmerston North is a proud multicultural city, and a certified Welcoming Community. We have many sister cities, in support of international peace, and our Mayor is currently the President of Sister Cities NZ. Many members of our community have whakapapa to the Arab world and are deeply affected by events in the Middle East. The Palestinian members of our community are grieving; they have all lost family and friends, and have faced decades of trauma and loss.
As a city, we have historically stood for peace, social responsibility, and human rights. Our Council has ethical guidelines for its operations and procurement processes, with commitments to values such as integrity, sustainability, and inclusion.
It is crucial that the Council condemns injustice wherever it occurs, in reflection of our shared ethics. We cannot claim to support women while watching Palestinian women targeted and starved. We cannot say we protect tamariki while Gaza’s children are orphaned, amputated without anaesthetic, and lie cold under rubble. We cannot support human rights while turning away from genocide. This is the test of our generation, and history will remember what we choose.
While Palmerston North City Council may not currently purchase large volumes of goods directly, we call for a formal policy that ensures:
• PNCC does not knowingly enter into service contracts, sponsorships, or investment arrangements with companies that profit from or are complicit in violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, including the illegal occupation of Palestinian Territory.
• PNCC commits to ongoing ethical screening of procurement, investment, and funding practices, in line with its existing sustainability and social responsibility goals.
• PNCC aligns future policy development with New Zealand’s obligations under international law and the rulings and advisory opinions of the ICC and ICJ.
This is an ethical call, not a political call. Councils have, in the past, taken ethical positions on international issues, including condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sponsoring fundraising, and fundraising for Ukraine, and refusing procurement from companies complicit in other abuses. Likewise, the procurement policies called for in this petition are neither arbitrary nor politically biased — they are based in international law: UNSC Resolution 2334, ICJ Advisory, Opinions, and the Rome Statute and Geneva Conventions, which prohibit aiding and abetting war crimes or occupation. Councils have a duty to not support or engage with entities complicit in these crimes, especially as the ICJ and ICC are now actively investigating crimes against humanity and plausible genocide.
Across Aotearoa New Zealand, local authorities have begun taking action. Far North, Whanganui, Nelson, and Dunedin City Councils have passed motions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and to uphold Palestinian human rights. In addition, Nelson and Christchurch City Councils have amended their procurement policies to comply with UNSC Resolution 2334 and not contract with the list of companies identified by the UN Human Rights Council as being involved in the building, maintenance, or consolidation of illegal Israeli settlements (as has Environment Canterbury Regional Council). Dunedin City Council’s Community Services Committee has recommended that their Council support the Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill proposed by the Green Party, and supported by the Labour Party and Te Pāti Māori.
This movement is part of a wider global effort. Hundreds of city councils worldwide (including in Australia, USA, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, and Belgium) have passed motions calling for a ceasefire, to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinians’ human rights, and/or to end Sister City relationships.
In light of the above, we urge Palmerston North City Council to pass the following motions: CEASEFIRE MOTION
That Palmerston North City Council:
1. Expresses grave concern at the continuing loss of life in Gaza and Israel, and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire;
2. Condemns all acts of violence against civilians, and calls for the immediate release of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages held unlawfully;
3. Calls on the Government of Aotearoa New Zealand to actively support a permanent ceasefire, uphold ICJ rulings, and fulfil its legal obligations under international law, including UNSC Resolution 2334.
ETHICAL PROCUREMENT MOTION
That Palmerston North City Council formally adopts and enacts an ethical Procurement and Investment Framework that:
1. Incorporates respect for human rights, international law, and peacebuilding as key criteria in decision-making;
2. Screen suppliers, contractors, and investment partners for involvement in serious human rights violations, including those identified by the United Nations and international courts, UNSC Resolution 2334, and the 2004 and 2024 ICJ rulings on the wall and settlements, ensuring that Council resources are not used in ways that contribute to the occupation or related violations.
Passing these motions would place Palmerston North City Council among the ethical leaders of local government in Aotearoa New Zealand, building on its commitment to sustainability and social justice.