Source: Palestine Forum of New Zealand
New Zealand has long prided itself on standing for justice and multilateralism. Yet the government’s refusal to recognize the State of Palestine is a failure of moral leadership. While countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Norway, and most of the global South have already taken this step, Wellington’s “not yet” posture looks less like caution and more like complicity.
International law is unambiguous. The Montevideo Convention defines statehood as requiring a population, territory, government, and the capacity to engage internationally. Palestine meets every one of these conditions: it has over five million people, a defined -though occupied- territory, functioning governing institutions, and diplomatic representation. Since 2012 the United Nations has recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state, and more than 150 countries now grant full recognition. By refusing, New Zealand leaves itself in a dwindling minority with the United States, Japan, and South Korea, increasingly out of step as global momentum accelerates.
Recognition is not, as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters claim, “a reward for extremism.” On the assumption that Hamas is a terrorist organisation, as New Zealand’s Prime Minister classified it in February this year, one must ask: was this designation of Hamas as a terrorist group a prelude to refusing recognition of the State of Palestine? Did Luxon intend to place the blame on Palestinians themselves, to sow division among them? This framing is misleading and morally indefensible. Gaza is not Palestine, though it is part of Palestine; Hamas are not all Palestinians but merely one faction. Reducing an entire people to a single group erases millions of civilians, children, and the voices of civil society. Recognition affirms a people’s right to sovereignty, not endorsement of a particular party.
If recognizing Palestine supposedly “rewards Hamas,” then refusing recognition rewards Netanyahu’s policies of occupation and settlement expansion. Worse, it enables the ongoing genocide, destruction and mass displacement inflicted on Gaza under his leadership. By denying Palestinians recognition, New Zealand denies them dignity while shielding Israel’s illegal settlement, which is already condemned by the International Court of Justice, in the West Bank.
Recognition matters because it reshapes the narrative. It affirms that Palestinians are not merely a humanitarian burden but a people with rights. It strengthens their hand in negotiations and underscores that the West Bank and Gaza are occupied, not annexed. Every year without recognition further erodes the viability of a two-state solution.
New Zealanders know this. Thousands have marched demanding recognition; academics, civil society leaders, and even former diplomats warn that our credibility is on the line. The government insists recognition is “when, not if,” but that hedging is no longer credible. Recognition is not radical; it is international law. It is not premature; it is long overdue.
By withholding recognition, Luxon and Peters are not choosing neutrality. They are choosing delay over justice and siding with the occupation over equality. New Zealand can and must do better. The world is moving forward. If we stand still, history will remember where we stood.
Samer Alfsees
Palestine Forum of New Zealand
