A petition urging the Government to call for a ceasefire in Gaza has been handed to Opposition MPs at the steps of Parliament on Thursday afternoon.
Palestinian-New Zealanders and supporters departed on a hīkoi, or "pilgrimage", from Taitā to Kilbirnie earlier this morning, walking 41km to represent the length of the Gaza Strip.
The petition, with nearly 16,000 signatures, calls for the "immediate flow" of humanitarian aid, the release of all Palestinian and Israeli hostages, and an end to the Israeli occupation.
Palestinian-New Zealander Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab launched the petition to speak out against killings in Gaza, including her family members killed by Israeli bombardment on October 20.
"The Government's muted response is inadequate and unacceptable in the face of so much visible suffering," she said.
"Right now, New Zealand is running the risk of violating its duty under international law by failing to exercise its influence to stop an ongoing genocide."
Labour MPs attending the petition handover included Phil Twyford and Rachel Boyack.
An olive tree was gifted to the Greens' Chlöe Swarbrick, Ricardo Menéndez March and Julie-Anne Genter to memorialise lost lives and Gaza's now-destroyed environment.
Marchers also presented a Māori-Palestinian flag, designed by Sonny Nathan, to MP Debbie Ngarewa-Packer from Te Pāti Māori.
Mitchell-Kouttab said Aotearoa has an obligation to support the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICC).
"There are also double standards at play with New Zealand's historical responses to war and war crimes, and its approach to humanitarian visas, which Palestinians have been denied by Immigration Minister Erica Stanford," she said.
The group also wants the Government to allow family members of Gazans living here to have access to humanitarian visas.
Stanford's office told Morning Report last week that "the issue in Gaza is primarily a humanitarian and border issue, not a visa issue, as people are unable to leave".
