Fiji has shot up the world rankings for press freedom but the victory feels hollow as journalists across the Pacific face a wave of court battles, police raids, and vicious online abuse.
The 2026 World Press Freedom Index, released last Thursday by Reporters Without Borders, shows Fiji climbing to a record 24th in the world.
But the celebration is being cut short. In Sāmoa, the media has plummeted to its lowest ranking ever (59th), and in Fiji, despite the “freedom”, reporters are still being summoned to court and having their phones seized by police.
Press freedom at its lowest point in 25 years Video: RSF
Sāmoa falls to lowest ranking after election fallout The biggest shock in the report is Sāmoa’s collapse. After a messy 2025 election cycle, the island nation — once the “gold standard” for Pacific media — has seen its ranking fall off a cliff.
It isn’t only about politics, it’s about safety. Women journalists are being targeted with threats for simply doing their jobs.
The World Press Freedom Index reports a 25-year low. Image: RSF/PMN News
Rula Sua Vaa, head editor of TV1 Sāmoa News, told the ABC she received threats against her and her family while covering the fallout between the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Sāmoa ua Tai (FAST) party and former Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa.
The UN Women Asia and the Pacific project reports that 45 percent of women in Pacific media now self-censor online just to avoid the abuse.
As the UN stated on social media: “Behind every silenced voice is a growing crisis of digital violence, weak accountability, and threats to press freedom,” it says in a social media post.
Kalafi Moala, president of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA), said the biggest threat might actually be “free” money being offered by foreign powers.
He said Pacific journalists were operating under dual pressures of political control and digital disinformation.
“In small island states, where information ecosystems are fragile and resources are limited, the impact can be immediate and damaging, undermining public trust, fueling division, and threatening social cohesion,” he said in a statement.
Kalafi Moala’s full interview with PMN News.
Fiji gains overshadowed by legal scrutiny Fiji’s rise to 24th is a big win following the repeal of the old, “draconian” 2010 Media Industry Development Act in 2023.
But the Fijian Media Association warns these gains are “tenuous”.
This year alone, senior reporters Lavenia Lativerata (Mai TV) and Jake Wise (The Fiji Times) were summoned to testify in court while Meri Radinibaravi, an investigative journalist, had her phone seized by police over a Facebook post earlier this week.
The Fijian Media Association at its AGM in March. Image: FMA FB/PMN News
Clayton Weimers, Reporters Without Borders North America executive director, said the global situation was critical.
“Journalists continue to be killed and jailed, but journalism itself is now threatened by economic headwinds, the criminalisation of reporting, and a hostile political climate. There is no freedom without press freedom,” he said in a social media post.
Across the region, the 2026 Index shows a Pacific moving in two directions.
While the laws are getting better in some countries, the digital and financial pressure on journalists is reaching a breaking point.
For Moala, the mission remains simple but difficult: “Tell the stories that’s right there in front of us… and somehow, we’ll get there.”
New Zealand was ranked 22nd, ahead of Australia at 33rd in the 2026 Index.
My name is Campion Ohasio, and I am currently the only political cartoonist in Solomon Islands.
In recent weeks, I have received many questions and comments from people across the country about my cartoons.
Some ask why I draw our national leaders in certain ways. Others wonder whether my caricatures are personal attacks or whether they violate the leaders’ rights.
Solomon Islands artist and cartoonist Campion Ohasio . . . “I remain committed to drawing honest cartoons that reflect the realities facing our people.” Image: Fine Art America
A few have even suggested that I should stop drawing critical cartoons.
I would like to take this opportunity to explain my work clearly and honestly.
As the only political cartoonist in our nation today, my job is simple: I use drawings to comment on the decisions, actions, policies, and laws made by our leaders.
My cartoons are not meant to attack any leader as a person or as a human being. Instead, they highlight issues that affect ordinary Solomon Islanders — issues such as corruption, poor governance, broken promises, and policies that may not serve the public interest.
Public figures hold power
In a democracy like ours, national leaders are public figures. They hold power on behalf of the people, and the people have every right to question how that power is used.
Political cartoons are one peaceful and creative way for citizens to express their views and hold leaders accountable.
As response to the many questions I have received. I believe healthy criticism is not an insult; it is an important part of democracy. Through my cartoons, I hope to encourage Solomon Islanders to think critically, ask questions, and stay engaged in the affairs of our country.
I remain committed to drawing honest cartoons that reflect the realities facing our people, always with the hope that our leaders will listen, improve, and serve the public interest better.
Thank you for your interest in my work.
A political caricature (also called a political cartoon) is a funny or exaggerated drawing that comments on a leader’s decisions, policies, or actions. It uses humour, symbols, and exaggeration to make a point about what the leader is doing in his public role.
Many people mistakenly think that a caricature is a personal attack on the leader as a human being. This is not true.
Eight reasons why leaders’ human rights are not violated Here are eight reasons why cartoons and caricatures are not a violation of the leader’s human rights:
1 What a political caricature actually does: It criticises the actions, decisions, or policies of the leader.
It does not attack the leader’s basic human rights (such as the right to life, dignity, safety, or personal freedom). It focuses on the leader’s public role, not his private life as a father, husband, or ordinary person.
2 Why it isn’t a personal attack on human rights: Leaders are public figures. When someone becomes a president, prime minister, or national leader, they voluntarily step into the public spotlight. Their decisions affect thousands of citizens. Because of this, they must accept public criticism, including through cartoons and satire.
3 Criticism targets power, not the person: A caricature usually mocks a bad policy, a broken promise, corruption, or a harmful decision: not the leader’s race, family, or basic humanity. For example, drawing a leader as a big balloon floating away from reality is criticising his disconnection from people’s problems, not denying his right to exist.
4 Satire and humour are protected forms of free speech: In a democracy, freedom of expression includes the right to use humour and exaggeration to comment on those in power. Political caricatures have a long history of helping people understand and question government actions.
5 It doesn’t take away basic rights: Drawing a funny or critical cartoon does not stop the leader from: Living safely, having a family, practicing his religion, speaking freely, receiving fair treatment in court. These are real human rights. A caricature does not remove any of them.
6 Public accountability requires public criticism: Leaders exercise public power using taxpayers’ money. Citizens have the legitimate right to comment on how that power is used. Caricatures are one peaceful, creative way to do this.
7 Confusion between criticism and hate: Some leaders or supporters claim any negative drawing is “hate speech” or a human rights violation. This is usually an attempt to avoid accountability. Legitimate political satire is very different from threats, violence, or calls for harm.
8 Thin-skinned leaders weaken democracy: If leaders cannot handle a simple drawing or joke about their policies, it shows they may not be ready for the public scrutiny that comes with power. Strong leaders accept criticism; weak ones try to ban it.
For example: If a cartoon shows a leader pouring money into his own pocket while the people are hungry, it is highlighting possible corruption or bad priorities. It is not saying the leader has no right to live or be treated with dignity. It is saying: “Your policy or action is wrong.”
A political caricature is a form of peaceful criticism, not a personal attack. It doesn’t remove or violate any of the leader’s fundamental human rights. Instead, it exercises the public’s right to question those who hold power.
In a true democracy, leaders must learn to live with satire and criticism. Their job is to serve the people: and the people have the right to laugh, question, and point out when the leader is failing in that duty.
Criticising a leader’s actions through a caricature is about holding power accountable, not denying the leader’s humanity or human rights.
Campion Ohasio is a Solomon Islands-based self-taught visual artist, graphic designer, and prominent political cartoonist known for capturing South Pacific social issues. He gained early recognition in the 1990s for his work on Uni Tavur at the University of Papua New Guinea and later as a editor for the Solomons Voice. This commentary is republished with the author’s permission.
Kiwi Julien Blondel’s face may be bloodied but it is unbowed. So far the New Zealand government has done nothing after Blondel and other New Zealand peace activists were savagely beaten by Israeli soldiers who attacked the Global Sumud flotilla near the Greek Island of Crete on April 30.
The flotilla was Gaza-bound and seeking to open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and apply pressure to the Israelis to halt the genocide.
New Zealanders Jay O’Connor, Mousa Taher, Julien Blondel and Sean Janssen were among 176 people who were captured in international waters, subjected to vicious mistreatment then dropped onto Crete.
O’Connor and Blondel were immediately transferred to hospital on arrival in Greece.
Several days after the Israeli attack, I spoke with Samuel Leason, another Kiwi who was on a boat that evaded the Israelis and made it to Crete. He told me that several people were still in hospital.
Our government has so far offered no consular support and the Kiwis, like their comrades, have had to rely on the kindness of strangers and local peace activists.
Samuel said it was really hard to see what Julien Blondel had been through.
Why the Israeli attack and kidnappings are illegal Video: TRT News
‘Brutalised state’
“I spent the last week with him, preparing in Barcelona. He’s just the most lovely man. It was very difficult to see him in such a brutalised state.
“Despite what happened to him, he is steadfast in the movement, and he is steadfast for Palestine. We all are. We’re all fuming. We’re all fuming that our government can let Israel get away with something so blatantly illegal.”
At least four Israeli warships, overhead surveillance planes, drones and sophisticated jamming technology (to shut down the flotilla’s Starlink comms) were deployed against the humanitarian activists.
The Israeli raiders systematically destroyed communications, navigation and other equipment on the ships they captured. They tampered with engines, cut fuel lines and shredded sails.
Once they transferred the abductees onto warships, they abandoned the Sumud vessels in open seas.
Members of the Global Sumud Aotearoa delegation who I talked with today said the beatings of dozens of activists was systematic. It started when flotilla members protested when two of the Steering Committee members, Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila, were isolated and then subjected to violence (they heard their screams).
The IOF soldiers dragged dozens of Sumud members, one after another, into a separate area where they were repeatedly kicked and punched.
Among many beaten
New Zealander Blondel (pictured) was one of many to be savagely beaten. Several were hospitalised when the Israelis, coordinating with allies in the Greek military, transferred them to Crete.
It is worth noting the attack happened within Greece’s Search And Rescue zone and yet the Greek Navy ignored SOS calls from the flotilla.
Such is the loyalty to Israel of New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters that there has been no immediate condemnation of either the violence meted out to New Zealand citizens or the fact that this violence was part of an act of piracy in international waters hundreds of kilometres from Israel.
The NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the standard mumble: “The safety of New Zealanders involved [is] paramount and international law must be upheld.”
Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs haul the Israeli ambassador in for a dressing down? Will the government publicly and forcefully rebuke Israel for its criminal behaviour? Will the government seek reparations for the damage done to the Sumud vessels?
Unlikely, as it was revealed last week that the New Zealand prime minister wanted to even more strongly support the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran but was blocked by the minister of foreign affairs. (Imagine if Luxon had been our prime minister when the Rainbow Warrior was sunk).
With leaders like these across the Western world the Israelis have learnt that they can act with impunity.
Kidnapped activists Spanish-Palestinian Saif Abukeshek (left) and Brazilian Thiago Ávila . . . taken hostage by the IOF in the Israeli attack on the Gaza freedom flotilla. Image: /www.solidarity.co.nz
‘Imagine the Palestinian hostages’
Eloiza Montana, comms lead for the Global Sumud Aotearoa delegation said: “What our people suffered is terrible but it is tiny compared to what Palestinians go through.
“Imagine: if the Israelis are allowed to do this to international activists who are sailing in the middle of the Mediterranean — imagine what is going on inside Israeli prisons to the Palestinian hostages.”
I have written a series of articles over the past few years highlighting the mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners. I have had the grim experience of watching footage of the rape-murder of a Palestinian prisoner by Israeli soliders at Sde Teiman prison and seen one of the perpetrators blessed a few days later on-camera by Netanyahu’s rabbi, who praised him for his work.
The only person punished for these sordid events was Israel’s top military prosecutor Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi who, disgusted by the impunity, leaked the footage.
Israel’s outstanding human rights organisation B’tselem has done the world a great service by documenting the physical, sexual and psychological abuse that is standard practice within Israel’s prison system. For those who can handle the truth, I highly recommend B’tselem’s site “Welcome to Hell – The Israeli Prison Camps as a network of Torture Camps.”
“Welcome to Hell” – Inside Israeli torture prisons for Palestinians. Image: www.btselem.org
New Zealand has maintained virtually total silence over this criminality in order to provide assistance to its close friend and ally Israel.
Our leaders tell us we share values with the Israelis. The New Zealand government may; I do not.
Speaking from Türkiye, Rana Hamida from Sumud’s Aotearoa New Zealand delegation told me: “We need to hold the criminals accountable, so we can move to restorative justice. Free Saif. Free Thiago. Free yourself!”
Olivia Coote, also a member of the delegation said: “Palestine activated for me a realisation that the society I was a part of is an absolute farce and that we are not the good guys.”
Last word on the attack
I’ll give the last word to Samuel Leason who told me from his ship moored off Crete this week:
“What this attack reveals is the true nature of the Israeli Occupation Force. There are 70 different nationalities on these boats — we represent the international community. For them to be able to come out here, brutalise us, steal our things and imprison us for days and then take some of our comrades to be questioned and tortured back in Israel just shows how much regard they have for people around the world.
“It shows how little regard they have for international law, and just how morally messed up they are.”
Eugene Doyle is a writer based in Wellington, New Zealand. He has written extensively on the Middle East, as well as peace and security issues in the Asia Pacific region and is a frequent contributor to Asia Pacific Report. He hosts solidarity.co.nz
“These citizens are part of a completely legal action onboard vessels that are lawfully exercising navigation rights under article 87 of UNCLOS — to deliver essential aid, open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza, and break the illegal siege on Gaza by the Israeli regime,” it said.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry had called organisers “professional provocateurs” and said it would not allow “the breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza”.
Global Sumud Flotilla said that Blondel had assured the team he was “up to be continuing this going forward,” as the rest of the Flotilla continues to sail.
Two other New Zealanders
Two other New Zealanders, Hāhona Ormsby and Samuel Leason, are currently regrouping with the others in Greece.
“Consular officials in Wellington, New Zealand’s Embassies in Rome and Ankara, and New Zealand’s Honorary Consul in Greece have been working throughout the night and over the past few days to gather information, provide advice to families, and support New Zealanders involved,” it said.
“Immediately following the interception of the flotillas on Thursday, the New Zealand government made it clear to Israel that the safety of New Zealanders involved was paramount and that international law must be upheld.
“These and other views were made clear to Israel’s Ambassador to New Zealand and by New Zealand’s Ambassador to Israel, stationed in Ankara.”
The ministry added that New Zealand had a long-standing “do not travel” advisory in place for Gaza, explicitly warning against any attempt to enter by sea.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defence minister, are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, including murder and forced starvation. Israel is also on trial for genocide in a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa supported by other countries.
Gaza flotilla attacked by Israeli military. Video: Al Jazeera
As World Press Freedom Day rapidly approaches and Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Israeli government for its massacre of journalists in Lebanon and Palestine, New Zealand journalist David Robie reflects in a speech at Auckland’s Te Komititanga Square today.
MEDIA FREEDOM: By David Robie
In a week’s time next Sunday, it is World Press Freedom Day on May 3. And already our whānau of journalists who are facing horrendous danger at the hands of the Israeli killing machine have had a shocking few days.
During our 133 weeks of protest we have become painfully accustomed to how one journalist after another has been brutally assassinated, some even alongside their family members.
Far more than 260 journalists — the actual number varies with different media freedom monitoring agencies and different methodologies — have been slaughtered in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023.
Southern Lebanon journalist Amal Khalil . . . the latest media worker to be assassinated this week by the Israeli killing machine. Image: Reporters Without Borders
And some of you may have seen the chilling photograph circulating on some social media channels. It shows 8 Lebanese journalists – four men and four women – smiling and giving peace signs.
They have all been murdered in the last month, including the tragic killing of Amal Khalil, who died last Wednesday under building rubble in the town of al-Tayri, southern Lebanon, after a double tap attack and then the Israelis fired a stun grenade on the ambulance rescue workers preventing them trying to save her.
But before I talk more about her tragedy and what it means– she was just buried yesterday with thousands at her funeral — I want to show you another photo.
This is Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American journalist working for the Arabic channel Al Jazeera who was a highly popular household name right across the Middle East if not the world.
PSNA protest organiser Leeann Wahanui-Peters holds aloft the author’s photo of assassinated Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh referred to in this article. Image: Del Abcede/APR
She was known as the “daughter of Palestine” and she was shot and killed by Israeli occupation forces on 11 May 2022 — just eight days after Media Freedom Day that year.
I have this photo hanging on the wall of my office, thanks to Palestine Youth of Aotearoa, to remind me daily of the brutality and global impunity of the Israelis.
With my experience as a media freedom defender for Pacific Media Watch and Reporters Without Borders since 1996, I have come to a chilling and shameful conclusion:
The fact that there was no accountability for her murder and the US authorities and Biden administration orchestrated a cover-up – even though she was American — signalled to the Netanyahu government that they could target journalists and those bearing witness with absolute impunity.
So this is where we are at now, the Israeli killing machine launched into a bloody massacre of more than 72,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza over the past two plus years, especially targeting journalists, doctors and medical workers, teachers, and aid workers.
And the hypocritical Western countries, including Aotearoa New Zealand, have barely offered a timid bleat.
The Israeli bloodlust has now spread to Lebanon and other countries. The IDF claims that its military is the “most moral in the world”. That claim is an obscenity.
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect journalists (CPJ), Israel is by far the world’s biggest killer of media workers.
• 260 journalists and media workers killed by Israel, of which:
• 207 were Palestinians killed in Gaza
• 2 Palestinian killed in Gaza during the Iran war
• 2 Palestinians killed in Israeli detention centers
• 31 Yemenis – out of a total of 32 – killed in Yemen
• 6 Lebanese in Lebanon during the war on Gaza
• 9 Lebanese in Lebanon during the Iran war
• 3 Iranians in Iran during the 12-day war
To return to the targeted murder of Amal Khalil, who worked for Al-Akhbar, she was with another journalist, Zeinab Faraj, who was rescued and survived.
“The Israeli army has very likely committed two more war crimes on 22 April, by targeting journalists who were identified as such, obstructing rescue operations and continuing strikes that killed one journalist and injured another.
“Responsibility for these crimes also lies with Israel’s allies, who continue to allow the Netanyahu government to commit them with impunity.”
RSF published a compelling and disturbing timeline of how the IDF blocked her would-be rescuers for seven hours.
“We knew [Amal] was alive beneath the rubble – a real, breathing presence. Not in the abstract, not as rumour or hope.
“The 40-year-old female journalist, Amal Khalil, whose voice had just reached her family and colleagues, her survival depended on whether the machinery of rescue would be allowed to operate as it is supposed to under international law, and the law of humanity.
“That is what made what followed so difficult to process — not only emotionally, but structurally.
“Because this was not a case of disappearance in the fog of war.
“It was a case of proximity to survival that collapsed into confirmed death while rescue was still theoretically possible.”
Journalist and author David Robie speaking at the PSNA rally for Palestine at Auckland’s Te Komititanga Square today. Image: Del Abcede/APR
Qudah added that her death could not be understood only as an individual tragedy, “although it was that to everyone who knew her, every journalist in the region”.
“It must also be understood as a stress test of the systems that are supposed to prevent this outcome — early warning, protection, humanitarian access and accountability. On each of these dimensions, the case raises unresolved questions.”
Israel is not only killing journalists, it is systematically torturing them — along with hundreds of other Palestinian hostages. CPJ’s recent report, “We returned from hell”, where the watchdog published the in-depth testimonies of 59 media prisoners released from jail since October 2023 is shocking reading.
Comment on an X post by a former Al Jazeera executive editor, Barry Malone. Image: APR
I would like to finish with a quote by Australian journalist Antony Loewenstein, who visited New Zealand in 2023 to launch his book The Palestine Laboratory about how the Israeli killing machine exports in brutal technologies — a book that has been translated into many languages and had a profound influence in the world.
“With some notable exceptions, too many in the international media, journalists, editors and owners, have refused to take appropriate action against Israel. No official sanction.
“[They are] still interviewing Israeli spokespeople and politicians as normal. Not treating this as a monumental crime and outrage. Instead, often deferring to unproven Israeli claims that every journalist murdered was a ‘terrorist’.”
This complicity by many journalists — even in our own region — must be widely condemned.
Dr David Robie is convenor of Pacific Media Watch and a media freedom defender with global groups including RSF. He gave this short address at the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) rally in Auckland on Anzac Day.
Some of the protesters at the Te Komititanga rally today. Image: Asia Pacific Report
Author and journalist Dr David Robie speaking at the launch of the third edition of the Rainbow Warrior book Eyes of Fire in 2015 . . . he is also pictured in the background on board the bombed original ship. Image: Pacific Media Centre
Updated research has shown up lingering headaches over the impacts of decades-long nuclear testing in the Pacific islands and interventions of outside powers, amid growing threats from climate change, writes Dr Lee Duffield for the Independent Australia.
REVIEW: By Lee Duffield
The journalist, professor and peace activist Dr David Robie, was one of a media party on the ill-fated voyage of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in 1985, before its sinking by French security operatives in Auckland Harbour.
He wrote a definitive book about the lead-up in the region to the fatal sinking of the ship with limpet mines; unmasking of the plot made in Paris; attempts to obtain justice and a long aftermath with demands for empowerment by former “colonial” people to prevent such outrages in their island homelands.
The book is Eyes of Fire, first published in 1986, then successively updated as the story unfolded, with new facts and consequences of the outrage coming to light.
Author and journalist Dr David Robie speaking at the launch of the third edition of the Rainbow Warrior book Eyes of Fire in 2015 . . . he is also pictured in the background on board the bombed original ship. Image: Pacific Media Centre
It ran to three revised editions, the latest out now to commemorate 40 years since the attack took place. It therefore marked 40 years since the death of the Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, a Portuguese-born Dutch national, aged 35, father of two children, Marelle and Paul, drowned on board after the second of two blasts that hit the ship.
Eyes of Fire is a highly professional work of journalism, built out of investigation and documentation of facts, then fashioned into an accessible read; illustrated also with easy-to-comprehend maps and diagrams, showing where the ship travelled and where the bombs were planted against its hull, plus photographs from a copious accumulation built up as the Greenpeace movement generated publicity for its actions worldwide.
New Zealand author David Robie . . . his book identifies same-old patterns of resistance in latter-day moves, successful, to get better recognition of the impacts of nuclear contamination and in moves through international forums. Image: The Australia Today montage
Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior One section describes the Rainbow Warrior, appreciatively and affectionately: a former fisheries research vessel, a trawler type, 50-metres in length, with some difficulty converted for sail as well as power, made into a “proud campaign ship”, painted a strong green with a long rainbow-emblem along the sides.
“The wheelhouse was rather lumpy and unattractive but the rest of the ship was appealing. She had a high North Sea prow, graceful sheerline and round-the-corner stern.”
For the record… The Rainbow Warrior sailed from Hawai’i on the Pacific Voyage — taking on board seven journalists and some leading figures from the Pacific communities, to the Marshall Islands — where it evacuated the inhabitants of a nuclear afflicted island, Rongelap, to an uninhabited island Mejatto on Kwajalein Atoll.
Pacific distances are great. They transported 350 people — with house lumber and belongings — in four trips, 250 km there and back.
Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior. Image: David Robie/Little Island Press
The islanders were suffering from contamination by the infamous upwind explosion of the experimental thermonuclear weapon, Castle Bravo, in 1954 — causing thyroid disorders, cancers and constant miscarriages and birthing disorders.
Dissatisfied that health officials sent by the United States administration were more interested in research than care, they decided to leave. The key instigator was the late Marshall Islands legislator Senator Jeton Anjain. He was one of two Pacific Islands leaders with prominent roles in Robie’s narrative.
The other was Oscar Temaru, a nuclear-free town mayor in Tahiti, also elected as the territory’s President on five occasions.
Temaru, now 81, spoke for many when he said:
“The sad truth is that the only ones who tried to help us are the Greenpeace ecologists…”
According to folklore among Greenpeace founders, a native American woman named “Eyes of Fire” told of a legend that where there was dispossession and despoilation of the land and culture, in time mythical warriors — deliverers — would come, who would mend and restore both. So the peaceship offering aid would be a “Rainbow Warrior”.
The author, Robie, in his news despatches for Radio New Zealand and other media (for which he was awarded the 1985 NZ Media Peace Prize, judged the evacuation project a change for Greenpeace towards humanitarian work connected with environmental destruction:
“This isn’t a game or the sort of action publicity stunt that Greenpeace would do so successfully.”
But the next part of the journey was another dramatic action, in Marshall Islands, at the US missile testing base on Kwajalein Atoll. A party from the ship went ashore, got through perimeter wires and hoisted a banner inscribed “Stop Star Wars” onto a space tracking dome, escaping before the arrival of security guards.
The scene was then being set for the tragedy as the vessel made its way 5000 km to Auckland through friendly territory, calling in at Kiribati, the country hosting the former Christmas Island base for British nuclear tests (1957-58), and Vanuatu, where the leader of the then five year-old Republic, Father Walter Lini, a champion for a nuclear free Pacific, organised a big public welcome.
The strike Celebration fitted the mood of the “Warrior” crew a lot of the time, in this account; a group of 11 skilled and idealistic younger people, sharing a mission they considered important to the world, and enjoying it as an adventure. They wanted to protect nature and promote peace, never violent, but charismatic, given to direct action, often enough dangerous.
They had others on board — in the case of David Robie, for an extended time, 11 days, time enough to get to know the characters and introduce them to readers in his book.
A further leg of the voyage was intended, to take them to Moruroa Atoll — where France was continuing with underground nuclear testing — as flagship for a flotilla of protest boats. In the event, the flotilla sailed, led by another Greepeace ship, Greenpeace III. One boat was arrested penetrating the 12-kilometre territorial limit around the atoll, where a series of tests was about to begin.
The planned disruption of activities on Moruroa may have been the death warrant for Rainbow Warrior — a solution to the riddle of what purposes its destruction was supposed to serve.
As the ship made its way towards Auckland, two French infiltrators got to work in that City, penetrating the Greenpeace operation. A group of military divers from a training base in Corsica was en route to New Zealand on a charter boat and two officers of France’s security service, DGSE, Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart, flew in under cover as a honeymoon couple.
Rainbow Warrior came in on Sunday, 7 July 1985, surrounded by an escort of small boats and was sunk at the dock in shallow water just before midnight on 10 July.
Divers using an inflatable boat set off the two explosions. Prieur and Mafart were spotted picking up one of the divers on a beach by men doing night watch at their boat club, who got the number of their vehicle, enabling the police to apprehend them, and begin a tortured process to try and secure justice.
Aftermath Updating of the book takes in the negotiations over holding Prieur and Mafart, their eventual transfer to France and subsequent early release; the fate of other conspirators spirited home, promoted, decorated, “looked after” in early retirement; intensive and large scale work by the New Zealand police to find out about the charter boat carrying some of the divers, said to have transferred them onto a submarine, the Rubis; and investigative work by the French press to sheet home responsibility for the attack.
Very soon after Rainbow Warrior was sunk, the Defence Minister, Charles Hernu, was sacked and the head of the DGSE Admiral Pierre Lacoste resigned. The book has a positive impression of the replacement Minister, Paul Quiles and the Prime Minister, Laurent Fabius, who admitted the obvious — that it had been done by French agents and was apologetic.
Subsequent negotiations between New Zealand and France, under United Nations auspices were made very difficult; a formal apology was avoided for some time; eventually both New Zealand and Greenpeace received financial packages in compensation and exemplary damages.
After the 1996 death of François Mitterrand, French President at the time, an investigation by Le Monde turned up circumstantial evidence that he knew of the attack in advance and a statement by Lacoste that he had approved it. Fabius evidently had not known.
Mitterrand’s motive was said to have been realpolitik — to support nuclear deterrence against the Soviet Union in tandem with the US, which supplied France with highly strategic computer technology.
Reviewer intercession… Mitterrand, as a highly equivocal and manipulative politician, walked a tightrope, always watching his soft electoral margins — in this case knowing there was 60 percent support for nuclear testing in France.
In office for four years in 1985, it may have been a new government still failing to face down entrenched security identities, undisciplined, considering themselves to be “deep state”, attached to violent solutions, with potential to go rogue.
Most of Robie’s work here is a narrative, a strong true story, but it has space for analysis, and in particular registers the correlation between devastation brought by the nuclear testing, and colonial management and manipulation of islands affairs.
The post-war wave of independence had come to the Pacific, though not to French Polynesia nor New Caledonia. In addition, the United States still held its Micronesian dependencies in trust or, for Sovereign states, via signed compacts of free association, accompanied by substantial aid payments.
France’s position against independence is incentivised by maintaining colonies of more than 200,000 settlers; and in New Caledonia, the nickel deposits, around 15 percent of world resources, as well as the 200 kilometre territorial zone off the long coast of Grande Terre island, opening onto as yet unsurveyed undersea resources.
For the Americans, the priority has been both weapons testing and maintaining a strategic barrier against Russia, then China.
Old problems, future challenges These considerations help to address the always unanswered question of what the plotters thought they had to gain. The book suggests a clumsy and excessive attempt to stop the ship leading a flotilla to Moruroa Atoll as most likely.
It goes on to identify same-old patterns of resistance in latter-day moves, successful, to get better recognition of the impacts of nuclear contamination and in the moves through international forums — such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, South Pacific Forum, United Nations agencies, the international courts — to get recognition and action on the impacts of climate change.
Pacific communities mindful of the rising seas, and other problems like impacts on sea-life, have struggled to get a hearing, finding, again, that “great powers” outside the region which hold resources that can help hold off the crisis, hold back their response.
Nuclear testing in the atmosphere was made to stop in 1974; tests underground on the atolls continued to 1996, leaving a very brief interregnum before global warming reared its head.
The current edition of Eyes of Fire has a prologue by Helen Clark, New Zealand Prime Minister from 1999-2008, a staunch keeper of the faith in a nuclear-free Pacific. Saying, “storm clouds are gathering”, she warns against renewed militarisation especially with Australia and perhaps other Pacific states acquiring nuclear submarines under the 2021 AUKUS agreement.
It is time for “de-escalation, not for enthusiastic expansion of nuclear submarine fleets in the Pacific”, writes Clark in her contribution to the new edition. With its peace policy, New Zealand wanted to be “a force for diplomacy and for dialogue, not for warmongering”.
Clark warns withdrawal of funding from the United Nations, led by the US, is a new threat: “Its humanitarian, development, health, human rights, political and peacekeeping, scientific and cultural arms all face fiscal crises.”
David Robie reports on the 40th anniversary commemoration of the 1985 events by Greenpeace, sending the new purpose-built ship, the new Rainbow Warrior, sometimes known as Rainbow Warrior III, to carry out independent radiation research. He follows up the lives and careers of the crew members and the islanders they worked with, several of whom have passed away.
While the writer’s own message, as in much good journalism, emerges from true handling of the facts, Robie does privilege a quotation from the executive director of Greenpeace Aotearoa, Russel Norman, on the crew of Rainbow Warrior, to close the story:
“They faced down a nuclear threat to the habitability of the Pacific. Do we have the courage and wits to face down the biodiversity and climate crises facing humanity, crises that threaten the habitability of planet Earth?”
Dr Lee Duffield on board the Rainbow Warrior in Fremantle, WA. Image: Independent Australia
Dr Lee Duffield reported on Australia’s dispute with France over atmospheric testing for ABC News in Sydney and then from Paris as the ABC European Correspondent. His work entailed monitoring police actions against Kanak activists in New Caledonia, including the killings on Ouvéa Island; confrontations with French Ministers over the test programme; and negotiations between France and New Zealand, in Paris, on Rainbow Warrior, especially the jailing then early release of Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart. He later taught Journalism at QUT in Brisbane and was a contributor to Pacific Journalism Review. Dr Duffield is also one of the co-owners of Independent Australia, and the chair of its editorial board. This review is republished from the Independent Australia with permission.
The Banners whānau completed preparations in Shed Two, installeding banners and flags, and photographs that reflected years of artistic labour and struggle. Image: Tony Fala
SPECIAL REPORT: By Tony Fala
Saturday, 18 April 2026, was a beautiful autumn day in Henderson, Tāmaki, Aotearoa, but with clouds gathering and rain promised for later in the day. I came to support my friends Simon and Mel from the Banners Crew and to perform kaimahi work for their fundraising efforts for Médecins Sans Frontières–Doctors Without Borders.
Corban Arts Estate was busy with families, workers, and visitors. As I approached Shed Two, the Te Tino Rangatiratanga and Palestine flags fluttered in the wind.
Some of the flags on display . . . Lebanon (from left), West Papua (Morning Star), Kanaky New Caledonia, and Palestine. Image: Tony Fala
Inside, the Banners whānau were completing preparations, installing banners and flags that reflected years of artistic labour and struggle. Photographs and placards were already in place.
Banners Crew whānau Stephen, Maia, Stu, Matt, Simon, Mel, and the children, Josh, and Jim were there. Linda joined later, while John was not present as he was not well.
Simon provided important background to all Banners Crew organisation efforts for the day:
“We were planning for the event for months and compiling the speakers’ list. Planning stepped up six weeks out and went into overdrive for the last three weeks. We got the venue on Thursday before the event.
“That’s when we started loading in the banners and hung the drop sheet from the ceiling. That took a lot of effort and time…
“Another Banners member, John, helped us with the load in… Linda, another Banners soul, helped on Friday and collected some donated food from the Greek house Restaurant.”
All this extensive work laid the foundation for a formidable community event to come in the afternoon. In diverse ways, and on multiple levels, the Banners Crew had worked tirelessly to ensure all speakers, poets, singers, and manuhiri enjoyed a special community event and fundraising occasion.
The event started just after 2 pm.
“Stop Arming Israel” . . . among the banners on display. Image: Tony Fala
Opening the space
Simon opened the space just after 2 pm with songs on his guitar — “Stand Up,” “Free Palestine,” and the classic Aotearoa movement song, “Nga Iwi E.”
Simon with Maia and Mel. Image: Tony Fala
As the MC, he invited his daughters to deliver a karakia in beautiful Te Reo. He then welcomed the first speaker, Stephen Woodward of the Banners Whānau.
Stephen Woodward . . . explains that the group has changed its name from Banners for Palestine to Banners for Humanity. Image: Tony Fala
Stephen Woodward
Stephen greeted the audience warmly and explained that the group had changed its name from Banners for Palestine to Banners for Humanity. He thanked Corbans Arts for their support and acknowledged all speakers and performers who had contributed to the kaupapa.
Stephen spoke about the important work of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), and he encouraged the audience to give generously. His words were met with strong applause.
Simon with his daughters singing in Te Reo. Image: Tony Fala
MSF video presentation
Simon reminded the audience that the day’s kaupapa was to support MSF. A video presentation followed, outlining MSF’s founding in 1971, its 1999 Nobel Peace Prize, and its mission to provide medical care without discrimination.
The video highlighted MSF’s work in war zones, disaster areas, wherever people suffered, as well as its advocacy for oppressed communities. It described how MSF intervenes in crises, how it authors reports, and how it advocates across the world in public forums.
The video centred the kaupapa and provided the audience with a deeper appreciation of this wonderful organisation and the mahi that they accomplish on behalf of others.
Josh
Simon introduced Josh, who performed a set of acoustic guitar pieces seated on the front stage floor. His music was melodious and calming. It encouraged people to pause and reflect as he performed. The audience responded with warm applause.
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa co-chair Maher Nazzal and Maia. Image: Tony Fala
Maher Nazzal
Simon welcomed Palestinian leader Maher Nazzal. Maher thanked the Banners Crew for their tireless work across Tāmaki over the past two years and described how their mahi complemented the weekly PSNA rallies.
He spoke about Gaza’s collapsing health system in 2026, noting that only 10 hospitals remained operational and that Palestinian health professionals were being targeted and killed.
Maher emphasised the need for continued pressure on Israel and highlighted two recent victories for the Palestinian movement in Aotearoa — one at the Auckland Council and another at the High Court — with a third expected shortly. He praised MSF for delivering medical care to oppressed people and encouraged donations. Maher concluded by presenting Stephen with a trophy to honour the Banners Crew for their work for Palestine.
Maher and Stephen received generous applause.
Taipua and Delta
Two rangatahi, Taipua and Delta from Waitākere College, performed a powerful spoken word poem exploring rangatiratanga, te reo, Māori identity, and resistance. Their performance was dynamic, an interplay of two voices, multiple themes, in one performance. The audience responded with warm applause.
Leka Skipwith
Simon introduced his friend Leka Skipwith, a leader of the Rotokakahi struggle. Leka expressed solidarity with Palestine and acknowledged the work of the Banners Crew. He described himself as a “Haututu” and Protector, speaking about opposing a proposed sewerage pipe through his people’s wāhi tapu.
He recounted the 1886 Tarawera eruption, the loss of the Pink and White Terraces, and the ancestors buried there. Leka connected the oppression faced by Māori with the struggles of Palestinians and Iranians. He built unity between local and international movements. His kōrero received warm applause.
Community Fellowship Break
Simon performed a moving acoustic guitar version of Bob Marley’s acclaimed Black Liberation Struggle Anthem, “Redemption Song”, just before the event intermission. A 30 minute break allowed guests to share food and conversation.
Mel and her daughters provided a generous spread, and people from different communities — Palestinian, Tangata Whenua, Tagata o le Moana, Sudanese, West Papuan, Congolese, Lebanese, Afghani, Pākehā, and others — mingled and built intercommunal, inter-movement solidarity. The atmosphere was positive, allowing for people from different generations, communities, and struggles to meet.
Eva Maria
After the break, Eva Maria performed hauntingly beautiful Lebanese songs. She then spoke about Lebanon’s suffering during the 10 day “truce” with Israel, describing bombings of villages, bridges, churches, mosques, and synagogues. She said the 2026 invasions were worse than those of 2006, displacing 1.2 million people.
Eva shared her desire to return to Lebanon to live with her children and questioned whether calling for humanity toward the Lebanese should be considered “radical.” She described how Israeli forces warned communities to evacuate while simultaneously jamming communication networks, preventing people from sharing life saving information.
Eva urged support for Lebanon, Sudan, Congo, Palestine, West Papua, and MSF. Her speech received warm applause.
Achmat Eesau
Simon welcomed Achmat Eesau, a veteran of South Africa’s anti apartheid struggle. Achmat acknowledged Te Kawerau ā Maki and spoke about South Africa’s 2023 case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, noting the court’s 2024 interim finding that genocide charges were plausible. Israel is still on trial with the ICJ.
He explained that South Africa stands with Palestine because international solidarity — especially from Cuba, Palestine, Libya, and Iran — had supported South Africans during apartheid. He quoted lines from the Irish poet Yeats in the context of the fall of colonialism and empire, saying, “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold,” and led the audience in the anti apartheid chant “Amandla!” with the crowd replying “Awethu!” His contribution was warmly applauded.
Chelsea
Chelsea spoke about the power of light over darkness and her commitment to Palestine and Lebanon. She performed two delicate, beautiful, and original songs. She received a generous applause.
Congo’s Mama Lema . . . spoke of displacement, disease, and media silence concerning the killing and oppression of her people by M23 militia. Image: Tony Fala
Mama Lema
Simon welcomed Mama Lema from North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mama came to the event with her grandson. She shared the sad news of her mother’s recent passing and described how the M23 militia forced women and children into labour to extract minerals used in cars and cell phones. She spoke of displacement, disease, and media silence concerning the killing and oppression of her people by M23.
Mama said she was not a politician but a historian for her people. She spoke of land loss, the severing of communities, and the suffering of Congolese women. She implored the audience to speak for Congo and support MSF. Her speech received strong applause.
Rahman Bashir
Rahman invited the audience to consider the interconnected struggles of Congo, Falastin, West Papua, and Lebanon alongside Sudan. He performed two spoken word pieces addressing genocide, inequality, and the need for liberation across all regions of Sudan.
He encouraged people to help however they could — even feeding five Sudanese people could assist the suffering in his land. Rahman asked people to help the people of Sudan, Beirut, Gaza, and West Papua. His words were met with generous applause.
Mary Joku Ponifasio . . . originally from Jayapura and she spoke about her father, Henk Joku, a senior OPM [Free West Papua] leader. Image: Tony Fala
Mary Joku Ponifasio
Mary introduced herself as being from Jayapura and spoke about her father, Henk Joku, a senior OPM [Free West Papua] leader. She described West Papua’s preparations for independence in 1961 before Indonesia’s 1963 invasion. She explained the symbolism of the Morning Star flag and spoke about West Papua’s rich natural resources, including gold, copper, and oil.
Mary recounted her father’s imprisonments, her mother and siblings’ escape by canoe to Papua New Guinea, and the family’s long years of exile. She spoke of the work of her cousin, West Papua independence leader Theys Eluay, and his assassination by the Indonesians.
Mary also mentioned two people her father always spoke of with respect — David Robie and Maire Leadbeater, both long time supporters of West Papuan human rights. She spoke of how her people were dehumanised as primitive people. Mary said she felt a deep affinity for Tangata Whenua, and she acknowledged Māori women and their Moko Kauae traditions.
As Mary left the stage, I approached her and introduced her to David Robie, who was present with his wife, Del. Mary, David, and Del met and later caught up after the event ended. Mary’s talk received warm applause.
Fatima
Fatima spoke for her people of Darfur and for Sudan. She said it was never easy to speak about Sudan and that she felt the world had abandoned her people. Fatima reflected on the 2004 Darfur massacres, where 300,000 people were killed, and on global indifference to Sudan’s suffering.
She spoke about anti Blackness against African peoples, where others profited off the deaths of African peoples, the exploitation of African resources, and the ongoing violence perpetrated on Sudanese lives. She cited an MSF report documenting how women in Darfur were unsafe against sexual violence and rape, and urged people to remember Sudan. The audience applauded her talk with generosity.
Amena
Amena spoke in solidarity with Iran, recounting the nationalisation of oil under Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1951, the establishment of Operation AJAX and the 1953 CIA MI6 led coup, and the repression under the Shah and SAVAK.
Amena said the same CIA tactics deployed against Mosaddegh were deployed against the great African independence leader Patrice Lumumba in 1960 in the Congo. She described the achievements of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, including increased life expectancy and women’s strong representation in medicine, engineering, and parliament.
She connected Iran’s struggles with those of Congo, Palestine, Sudan, and Venezuela, concluding that Iran would continue to stand and fight for its freedom. Her talk was warmly received.
Immense success
The event was an immense success, bringing together different community voices speaking to different, yet deeply interconnected struggles in support of MSF–Doctors Without Borders. Performers, singers, poets, and speakers from Afghanistan, Aotearoa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Palestine, South Africa, Sudan, Tagata O Le Moana, Tangata Whenua, and West Papua all added their mana to the event.
One of the Banners Crew organisers, Simon, reflected: “All of the speakers were grateful to participate and share their thoughts and experiences. I spoke to all speakers before and after their talks.
“They appreciated the opportunity and felt seen, heard, and respected.
“I am so proud of them all and the Banners Crew for pulling off such a special event.”
More than $4000 was raised for MSF at the event.
Dr Tony Fala is a Moana activist in Tamaki. This article is dedicated to the tireless work of the Banners Crew. Fala has seen their work in the movements, particularly for Palestine and respects their contribution to the Palestine struggle — and other struggles in Aotearoa and around the world.
The heads of Israel, Russia and the United States are leading the destruction of global human rights, says Amnesty International, describing them as “voracious predators” intent upon economic and political domination.
“A global environment where primitive ferocity could flourish has been long in the making,” Agnes Callamard, the head of the global rights group, wrote in an annual report on the state of the world’s human rights that was released yesterday.
In 2025, “sharp U-turns were taken away from the international order that had been imagined out of the ashes of the Holocaust and the utter destruction of world wars, and constructed slowly and painfully, albeit insufficiently, over these past 80 years,” she said.
In a news conference in London, Callamard said that most governments tended to appease the “predators” rather than confront them.
“Some even thought to imitate the bullies and the looters,” she said.
Spain, however, which is an outlier in Europe for its criticism of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and US-Israeli attacks on Iran, “is standing above the double standard that is destroying the international system”, Callamard said.
She argued that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who in 2022 sent his forces into neighbouring Ukraine, have had an “absolutely dramatic” impact on the world.
Their conduct is “emboldening all of those that are tempted by similar behaviours,” said Callamard.
“It is allowing for the multiplication of copycats around the world, and therefore what we are confronting now is much more aggressive and ferocious than what we had to confront three or four years ago.”
Amnesty shocking report – Global rights collapse Video: Al Jazeera
‘Authoritarian practices have intensified worldwide’ Amnesty’s review of the state of the world’s human rights makes for grim reading, documenting attacks on fundamental civil liberties in most nations.
“Authoritarian practices have intensified worldwide”, the report reads, before running through abuses alleged in countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe in 400 pages.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Russia’s “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine, and the US-Israeli war on Iran were noted as examples of conflict in which international laws have been ignored.
In a section on repression, the United Kingdom is blamed for cracking down on the Palestine solidarity movement and Palestine Action, the direct-action group that targets sites associated with the Israeli military and is currently fighting a legal battle against its UK proscription as a “terrorist” organisation.
Afghanistan’s Taliban was responsible for further gender-based discrimination in 2025, the report noted, citing measures excluding women from education and work, while Nepalese authorities were said to have failed to investigate instances of gender-based violence against Dalit women.
Amnesty’s report comes as multiple conflicts rage across the world.
US-Israeli assault on Iran
The US-Israeli assault on Iran has killed more than 3000 people, while Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed nearly 2400.
In Gaza, the confirmed number of people killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023 has surpassed 72,500 as the decimated territory is continually threatened by Israeli bombardment.
In Ukraine, more than 15,000 have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began more than four years ago.
Conflicts in the Middle East are a “product of the descent into lawlessness, made possible by a vision of the world in which war-making and the killings of civilians are normalised,” said Callamard.
“No effective steps have been taken against Israel for its repeated, constant violation of basic standards of humanity.”
However, there is some room for optimism, Amnesty said.
An "IDF = Murder Machine" banner at today's "Banners for Humanity" exhibition at the Corbans Art Centre. Image: Asia Pacific Report
By David Robie, Asia Pacific Report
A South African-born New Zealand critic of Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing today delivered strong praise for his home country’s genocide case filed with the International Court of Justice.
Israel is currently on trial on allegations of genocide with the ICJ in The Hague and South Africa has been joined by at least 15 other countries as accusers — but New Zealand is not among them.
Noting how global iconic leader Nelson Mandela spoke out in his lifetime in support of Palestinian rights, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) campaigner Achmat Esau said South Africa was not speaking out of convenience, “but out of principle”.
Speaking at the combined Banners of Humanity and Banners of Palestine exhibition and concert at the Corbans Art Centre, Esau paraphrased the Irish poet and essayist W B Yeats’ famous 2019 poem “The Second Coming”:
“In a time when the world feels like it is unravelling, we must choose to be that centre — to hold the line for justice, dignity and humanity.”
Anti-apartheid activist Achmat Esau . . . “Why does South Africa persist? The answer lies in our history.” Image: Asia Pacific Report
A veteran activist of the 1981 Springbok tour anti-apartheid protests, he told the audience he was speaking about “camaraderie — a spirit of shared struggle, trust and solidarity” and how it shaped South Africa’s decision to take legal action against Israel at the ICJ and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
On 29 December 2023, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the ICJ, alleging violations of the Genocide Convention in the besieged Gaza Strip.
By January 2024, the court found these genocide allegations “plausible” and ordered Israel to take steps to prevent genocide, a legal order Tel Aviv has since ignored.
Support for South Africa
“Since then, multiple countries have joined the lawsuit action, and South Africa has submitted extensive to support its case,” Esau said.
Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Iceland, Ireland, Libya, Maldives, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Palestine, The Netherlands, and Türkiye are among countries joining the lawsuit.
“Free Palestine” banners at the exhibition. Image: Asia Pacific Report
The ICC has also issued arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders (all since assassinated).
“in response, South Africa has faced intense pressure — particularly from the United States — through political threats, legal opposition and public condemnation,” said Esau.
“So why does South Africa persist? The answer lies in our history.
“Under apartheid, our struggle for freedom was sustained by international solidarity — by comrades who stood with us in our darkest hours.
“That solidarity shaped who we are.
“Countries such as Cuba, Palestine, Libya and Iran actively supported our liberation.”
Hooded “Palestinian political prisoners held hostage” at today’s Red Ribbon protest event in Auckland. Image: Asia Pacific Report
Mandela’s message
On Nelson Mandela’s release from Robben Island jail after being imprisoned for 27 years, he “honoured them, calling them brothers, comrades and leaders , because they stood with South Africa when it mattered most”.
Esau also cited Mandela’s famous pledge, “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
Many other speakers, singers and musicans took part at the Banners for Humanity event, which was a fundraiser for the global medical charity MSF — Doctors Without Borders.
The performers included Simon Frost and his daughters; PSNA’s co-chair Maher Nazzal; Taipua Kipa and Delta Johns, Waitakere College rangatahi; Lebanese singer Eva Maria Chasson; Mama Lema Shamaba, of the Democratic Republic of Congo; West Papuan Dr Mary Joku Ponifasio; Fatima Sanussi of Sudan; and Bibi Amina, speaking about Iran.
Masses of protest banners on display included “End genocidal capitalism — Palestine forever”, “IDF = Murder Machine — your silence is complicit with murder”, “Luxon! Sanction Netanyahu now: End U$rael Illegal War$”, and “The more you oppress — the more we will resist”.
“Tortured Palestinian prisoners” lying on the pavement in today’s street theatre protest. Image: Asia Pacific Report
‘Prisoners’ in street theatre
A street theatre performance led by the Artists for Sumud Ensemble and Under the Same Moon featured hooded prisoners (the protesters) and most of the crowd. The group was led by singers Acacia O’Connor and Eva Maria, and Uruguayan artist-filmmaker Eloiza Montaña.
Speakers included Maya Swaid from the Palestinian community and social justice engineer Syed Iqbal, chair of Support Beyond Boards.
Swaid related how many prisoners were arbitrarily “taken from their homes, prosecuted and then incarcerated” in prisons notorious for torture under a military court system where they had no rights.
“There are also many women housed in these prisons and more than 3500 people who are not charged with any crime at all,” she said.
Palestinian community speaker Maya Swaid . . . Palestinian “administrative” prisoners held with “No charge, no trial, no conviction.” Image: Asia Pacific Report
“No charge, no trial, no conviction. They are jailed under ‘administrative’ detention based on ‘secret evidence’ that they are not allowed to see in a system where they cannot defend themselves.
United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s latest report has warned that Israel is systematically torturing Palestinians on a scale that “suggests collective vengeance and destructive intent” and that “torture has effectively become state policy” since October 2023, reports Democracy Now!
“Release the Palestinian hostages – Free Dr Abu Safiya” in reference to the Palestinian paediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was kidnapped detained by Israeli military forces in December 2024. Image: Asia Pacific Report
At least 262 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war against the besieged enclave, marking one of the deadliest periods for media workers in recent global history, reports Al Jazeera.
Despite newsrooms being destroyed and reporters losing their lives, coverage continues through a new generation of young, often untrained correspondents determined to document the conflict.
With international media access severely restricted, the responsibility of reporting increasingly falls on local journalists who work in makeshift shelters and tents amid rubble, facing constant danger.
