Maritime Union backs Global Sumud Flotilla and recognition of Palestine

Mar­itime Union of New Zealand Nation­al Sec­re­tary Carl Find­lay says the New Zealand Government’s fail­ure to for­mal­ly recog­nise the State of Pales­tine is a bad mis­take.

Mr Find­lay says New Zealand is not even doing the bare min­i­mum for jus­tice and peace.

“The Government’s posi­tion that recog­ni­tion of Pales­tine is a mat­ter of ‘when, not if’, is a delay tac­tic at a time when every day of inac­tion means the death and maim­ing of more inno­cent civil­ians includ­ing chil­dren.”

Mr Find­lay says the MUNZ view is that “peace is union busi­ness.”

He says MUNZ ful­ly sup­ports MUA Queens­land sea­far­er Hamish Pater­son who is crew­ing a ves­sel as part of the Glob­al Sumud Flotil­la.

“Hamish, along­side the Aotearoa – New Zealand del­e­ga­tion of Samuel Lea­son, Rana Hami­da and Youssef Sam­mour, is sail­ing to chal­lenge the ille­gal block­ade of Gaza and deliv­er aid, embody­ing mar­itime work­ers proud tra­di­tion of inter­na­tion­al sol­i­dar­i­ty.”

He says MUNZ has affirmed its com­mit­ment to the inter­na­tion­al posi­tion of orga­nized mar­itime and trans­port work­ers on Gaza and Pales­tine.

MUNZ backs the pol­i­cy of the Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers’ Fed­er­a­tion (ITF), which sup­ports the for­mal recog­ni­tion of the State of Pales­tine as a cru­cial step towards a just solu­tion.

MUNZ also stands with the Inter­na­tion­al Dock­work­ers Coun­cil (IDC), which has con­demned the actions of Israel in Gaza.

In New Zealand, MUNZ sup­ports the posi­tion of the New Zealand Coun­cil of Trade Unions (NZCTU), which demands a solu­tion that recog­nis­es the Pales­tin­ian people’s inalien­able rights to self-deter­mi­na­tion and sov­er­eign­ty.

Mr Find­lay says dock­work­ers inter­na­tion­al­ly have shown lead­er­ship where gov­ern­ments have failed.

“Genoa dock­ers have car­ried out strike actions in sol­i­dar­i­ty with Pales­tine, includ­ing blockad­ing ports in protest against Israel’s actions, while unions in Bel­gium, Italy, and the USA have car­ried out sol­i­dar­i­ty actions at their ports.”

MUNZ stands shoul­der to shoul­der with the Mar­itime Union of Aus­tralia (MUA), which has repeat­ed­ly called for sanc­tions, demand­ed an end to mil­i­tary exports to Israel, and joined protests aimed at dis­rupt­ing com­plic­it ship­ping lines.

MUNZ and the MUA share a long his­to­ry of pro­gres­sive polit­i­cal action around issues such as apartheid, nuclear weapons, lib­er­a­tion strug­gles and sup­port­ing work­ing class sol­i­dar­i­ty.

MUNZ demands the New Zealand Gov­ern­ment for­mal­ly recog­nis­es the State of Pales­tine and uses its voice to pre­vent fur­ther blood­shed and oppres­sion.