1 July 2026 – PSNA is accusing ACT Party leader David Seymour of crying “crocodile tears” for children who may have been present at a Palestine solidarity protest at a toy store in Wellington this afternoon.
Seymour was launching a policy on toy safety. Video of the protest is here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/protesters-disrupt-david-seymour-announcement-in-toyworld-store-police-called/7E5SMVNHXBACDFFF2RLZFLJJFI/
Seymour’s Senior Private Secretary Rachel Beauchamp wrote to PSNA immediately after the protest to complain that if children had been at the toy store it could have been “frightening and distressing” for them.
“We disagree” says PSNA National Spokesperson Rinad Tamimi. “The problem here is not hypothetical children who could have been upset.”
“The real problem is Palestinian children Israel is targeting and killing in Occupied Gaza and the West Bank, with not a murmur of protest from Mr Seymour.”
The United Nations Independent Commission on Palestine released a report last week, which included detailed testimony of the deliberate targeting of Palestinian children by Israeli soldiers in Gaza and the Occupied West Bank.
“The report is horrific reading”, says Tamimi. “It says more than 20,000 children have died so far in Gaza, and more than 40,000 are wounded. These are real children who will never be able to visit a toy store ever again. The report should shock to the core any decent human being.”
“If Seymour had spent just a few minutes reading the report, even just the summary, he would condemn Israeli soldiers and sanction Israel.”
Doctors on medical missions in Gaza reported to the Commission that it appeared Israeli Defense Force soldiers were engaged in a “game” of target practice with “different body parts being targeted on different days.
UN Commission member Chris Sidoti has stated “Anyone who has served in the Israeli Forces in Gaza since October 2023 should be considered a suspect in relation to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide.”
“We agree. And that includes some 50 New Zealanders who serve in the IDF.”
“We are asking Seymour if he joins with New Zealanders in condemning Israel’s deliberate targeting of children, and if he will act on Chris Sidoti’s evidence and stop the free flow of Israeli soldiers here, and instead ban them from Aotearoa New Zealand,” says Ms Tamimi.
Rinad Tamimi
National Spokesperson
PSNA.