Why we’re supporting the call to sanction Israel.

4 September 2025

We’ve spoken out on Gaza before.

As an organisation that works towards the vision of the flourishing of all people and the earth, there is a deep and provoking call on our hearts to respond to the ongoing tragedy of death and violence in Gaza inflicted by the state of Israel in response to the horror of the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7, 2023.

Though our primary mission is to organise Christians around climate, economic and Te Tiriti justice here in Aotearoa, we have discerned the ongoing need to support Aotearoa Christian voices that want to organise and make themselves heard in support of peace in the Holy Land, in prayerful and prophetic ways. We are responding to the direct invitation of many Aotearoa Christians, as well as the invitation issued by Palestinian Christian leaders.

Tāmaki Makaurau Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage, March 2024 (Photo: Auaha Media)

During Lent of 2024, we helped organise the Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimages, a Christian non-violent response to the devastation in Gaza, alongside Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine.

The situation in Gaza and the West Bank is untenable.

The number of Palestinian people in Gaza (children, mothers, fathers etc) killed by Israel is nearly 64,000, while nearly 2000 Israelis have been killed by Hamas. The UN has officially declared there’s a man-made famine in Gaza created by the Israeli state. Human rights organisations globally and within Israel, and a majority of genocide scholars describe what is happening as a genocide.

Meanwhile there is ongoing impunity for settler violence in the West Bank, and Israel has killed over 1000 Palestinians there since October 7, 2023, and the Israeli governmentt is toying with annexing the West Bank while expanding illegal settlements.

We believe it is a Christian responsibility to continue to speak up.

Our approach to this issue is grounded in the convictions that:

• The justice of Jesus values every life as made in the image of God - Palestinian lives and Israeli lives. We come alongside fellow Christians in condemning all attacks on civilians, especially defenseless families and children.

• The nonviolent love of God does not see taking of life as a necessary evil to achieve any notion of ‘greater good’.

• The justice of Jesus is about nonviolent solidarity not neutrality. We therefore must tell the truth about the power imbalance and context of oppression in which the current Gaza conflict is taking place, as well as the context of the October 7 terrorist attack.

• God’s covenant with the Jewish people within the context of the Old Testament is very different to the context of the modern nation-state of Israel. Applying this covenant to modern Israel to justify displacement, occupation and war dehumanises Palestinian lives, and ignores the presence of a Palestinian Christian community since the time of Jesus.

• We have hope in the redeeming justice of Christ as the realisation of good news for everyone, and a future where the Holy Land is one of peace, equality, and joy for all its people - and a place that shows the unfailing reconciliation and love that God promises for everyone. 

What Christian leaders are saying.

“Where is Jesus? Jesus is under the rubble” - Rev Dr Munther Isaac, pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.

“In the midst of ethnic cleansing....how do we act as a church?” - Archbishop Hosam Naoum, Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem to the Church of England General Synod, June 2025.

• The World Council of Churches calls for “targeted sanctions, divestment, and arms embargoes.”

• Caritas International states “famine in Gaza violates Genocide Convention”.

• Hundreds of NZ Baptist leaders sign statement naming reality of apartheid, calling for international legal accountability.

• President of the Methodist Church of New Zealand | Te Hāhi Weteriana o Aotearoa calls on the government to recognise genocide and impose sanctions

Why sanctions?

The New Zealand Government has rightly acted against injustice before. Now, it must do so again. When nations and leaders commit grave violations of human rights, words of condemnation are not enough. They must be met with consequences. That is why we are calling for sanctions. These are not instruments of punishment, but tools of accountability - a proven, non-violent means of applying real pressure and helping to bring atrocities to an end.

(Reverend George Armstrong removed by security at the 1981 Springbok tour protests)

New Zealand, as a Genocide Convention signatory, has a duty to act to prevent genocide. Sanctions have been proven effective in ending apartheid in South Africa.

After Nelson Mandela was asked, did they help? “Oh there is no doubt!”

New Zealand has an existing sanctions regime on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. A consistent application of principle demands that New Zealand should also sanction Israel. Anything less would expose a double standard and erode New Zealand’s moral authority.

Governments across the globe have since moved beyond words to concrete measures. As of 31 August, thirteen countries have suspended arms exports or broader trade to Israel. Five countries have partially suspended arms exports.

What has the New Zealand government done?

On 18 September 2024, New Zealand voted for UN General Assembly Resolution ES-10/24, which called on states to sanction Israel. The government’s only action to implement that resolution has been to impose travel bans on two Israeli ministers.

In July 2025, New Zealand joined a coalition of 30 countries including Australia, Canada, Belgium, Spain, and the UK in issuing a Joint Statement. They condemned the “drip feeding of aid” and the killing of civilians, demanded that Israel lift restrictions on humanitarian access, and called for an immediate ceasefire and renewed diplomatic efforts. Crucially, it concluded with the line: “We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace.”

This record shows that New Zealand has already acknowledged the gravity of Israel’s violations, voted for sanctions at the UN, and signaled readiness to escalate measures. The question now is whether it will follow through with concrete sanctions in line with its stated commitments.

What can you do?

• If you live in or near Tāmaki Makaurau, join the March for Humanity across the Auckland Harbour Bridge on Saturday, 13 September.

• Write to your local National, NZ First or Act Party MP and call on them to support sanctions on Israel, like they have done for Russia. Justice 4 Palestine has great resources to help you do that.

• Sign up to Aotearoa Christians for Peace in Palestine for further updates on Christian responses to this issue.