A group of priests spent the night chained together outside Nicola Willis’ Johnsonville office, calling on the minister to “come and break bread”.
The protesters chained themselves to the door yesterday in a call for the Government to impose sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza and for New Zealand to recognise Palestine as a state.
The group remained chained to the door this afternoon and said they would stay until Willis met with them.
A second group of priests were trespassed after staging a sit-in at Health Minister Simeon Brown’s electorate office in Pakuranga, Auckland.
Rev Mel McKenzie of St Anne’s Parish in Northland said the group was in “good spirits” this morning.
“Though tired and a little hungry from our fast. However, this is nothing compared to what the people in Gaza are experiencing. That remains our focus.”
A spokesperson for the priests said the clergy were joined by dozens of others overnight and held evening prayers.
They held a communion service with around 50 people at 10am.
Police had been touching base with the protesters regularly, but no arrests had been made as of yet.
The protesters first chained themselves to the door yesterday in a call for the Government to impose sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza. (Source: 1News)
The group also called on Willis to meet with them and “discuss our desire for the Government to take stronger action against Israel’s war crimes and ongoing occupation of Palestine”.
“We also invite her to come and break bread with us at 10am communion, and to consider those who have no bread to break in Gaza today, and the Israeli government that is starving them.”
At a press conference this morning, Willis said she respected the priests’ right to protest, but in this instance said the group were “preventing people from being able to readily access my electorate office”.
She described it as “intimidating” for members of the public trying to access the office.
“So, I would just tell those protesters that they’re actually getting in the way of good people who need help in their constituency, and so I’d suggest that’s not the best way to make their message known.”
Willis said she would not be attending communion with them as she already had commitments for the day.
One of those chained to the door, Archdeacon Martin Robinson, said: “We feel we must stay on, those of us that are able to.
“Overnight six-year-old twins were among the 51 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City so far today, according to Al Jazeera. We wonder how many more children have to die before we’ll show moral courage as a nation and impose these sanctions on the Israeli government.”
They have invited the minister to “break bread” with them and discuss the Government’s actions over the war. (Source: 1News)
The clergy said they would end the protest if Willis or another Cabinet minister met with them and representatives of the Palestinian community to discuss sanctions on Israel.
The priest’s protest comes after around 20,000 people marched through Auckland on Saturday, calling for sanctions on Israel.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the coalition Government’s position on formally recognising the state of Palestine would be revealed at the UN in New York later this month.
Travel bans against what Peters referred to as two “extremist” Israeli politicians were implemented in June.
Peters said Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir would be banned from travelling to New Zealand for “using their leadership positions to actively undermine peace and security and remove prospects for a two-state solution”.
Airstrikes kill 18 in Gaza, Rubio and Netanyahu meet
In Gaza yesterday and into today, at least 18 people, including children, were killed in airstrikes according to local hospitals.
One strike hit a tent housing a family, killing seven, according to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Another hit a tent on the roof of a building, killing local journalist Mohammed al-Kuifi and another person. A strike in central Gaza killed four people, according to Al-Awda Hospital.
As Arab and Muslim leaders met in Doha to condemn Israel’s attack last week in Qatar and new rounds of criticism were aired over Israeli plans to occupy Gaza City, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Jerusalem and downplayed the furore that had, at least for a short time, taking the Trump administration aback.
“We understand they’re not happy about what happened,” Rubio told Fox News. But “we still have Hamas, we still have hostages, and we still have a war. And all those things still have to be dealt with, and we are hopeful that Qatar and all of our Gulf partners will continue to add something constructive”.
There were no signs of US frustration with Israel’s latest actions, although Trump had made clear his displeasure with Israel’s unilateral strike on Hamas in Qatar.
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The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefires brokered in part by Qatar or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,871 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how many were civilians or combatants. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, says women and children make up around half the dead.
– Additional reporting by the Associated Press