Source: Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ)
It is a universal principle of humanity that all people should be entitled to safety, security, and life. The past two years have shown the world that statements alone are not enough.
The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) calls on the New Zealand Government to act, and to honour and enforce international law everywhere. In recent days, a humanitarian flotilla has been intercepted and prevented from distributing much needed aid to the starving in Gaza, NZ citizens have been taken in international waters and remain in captivity, and a proposed “peace plan” disregards core international conventions and established structures.
These breaches show the dangers of governments remaining neutral in the face of injustice, and New Zealand’s silence signals not balance, but rather an abdication of responsibility.
A principled stance requires that Aotearoa honours its agreements and insists that all states we interact and conduct business with do so as well. If the NZ Government will not act in this case, or for the Palestinian people, time will show it will not act for others. The question is simple: who is next?
In this context, IWCNZ calls on our Government to immediately and unconditionally recognise the State of Palestine, demand the release of all those seized in international waters, require Israel’s compliance with international law in all cases, and impose sanctions for its ongoing and egregious violations of humanitarian law. To fail to do so is not a passive omission. It is a conscious political decision that undermines international law, human dignity, and the global consensus affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination.
IWCNZ represents Muslim women across Aotearoa, many of whom carry the trauma of war, displacement, and watching their families suffer in silence. Our Palestinian sisters are raising children under siege, giving birth under rubble, and grieving in front of cameras that only occasionally pay attention.
This is not simply a political matter. It is a humanitarian emergency. According to UN OCHA and UN Women, over two million people in Gaza are displaced, 94% of hospitals are damaged or destroyed, and more than 70% of those displaced are women and children. Estimates indicate over 65,000 dead, 150,000 wounded, and 500,000 facing famine-like conditions.We include the voices of Palestinian women whose testimonies reflect the unbearable cost of this crisis. As reported by Al Jazeera on 24 September 2025, Hiba al-Sheikh Khalil, a mother displaced multiple times in Gaza, said:
“I gave birth under siege with no milk, no diapers, no medicine — nothing.”
From UN Women’s September 2025 report, Niveen Adel, displaced more than ten times, shared:
“I can’t be mother, father, and head of the household all at once. I have no money, not even a bag of flour to feed us.”
These are not isolated stories. They represent the daily reality of millions enduring war, starvation, and erasure.
The New Zealand Government has claimed that recognition is premature. We ask: after 75 years of occupation, tens of thousands of dead, and over 150 countries already recognising Palestine, what exactly is premature?
Delaying recognition in 2025 is not neutrality. It is a choice to avoid responsibility rather than to act with integrity.
New Zealand’s voting record at the United Nations has shown inconsistency. While supporting humanitarian aid, it has repeatedly abstained from opposing resolutions affirming Palestinian sovereignty. Aotearoa is party to the UN Charter, which upholds the right to self-determination – a right the Government now selectively applies.
New Zealand once stood proudly against apartheid in South Africa. Today, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories describe Israel’s system as apartheid.
We ask: Will our government again wait until the injustice is safely in the past before finding its voice?
IWCNZ calls on the New Zealand Government to:
- Immediately and unconditionally recognise the State of Palestine as a matter of international law and moral clarity.
- Support international accountability mechanisms, including the ICC’s investigation into war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
- End all military and security cooperation with entities complicit in the occupation.
- Ensure refugee and humanitarian pathways for Palestinians impacted by ongoing violence.
- Champion a foreign policy grounded in justice and consistency, not geopolitics or selective empathy.
We also call on Māori and Pacific leaders, interfaith communities, and civil society organisations to stand with us in solidarity. Recognition of Palestine is not just a foreign policy issue — it is a test of our national conscience.Silence is not neutrality. It is prolonging the suffering.
As Muslim women, we know too well the cost of silence when our pain is erased, our voices ignored, and our communities left to carry the burden of injustice alone. Today, we speak not only for Palestinian women, but alongside them.
We urge all New Zealanders, and especially our elected officials, to act with the same courage we ask of women under siege: to stand, to speak, and to end injustice and to support the oppressed.
