New Zealand activists raise funds for Palestine charity after Israel fine

MELBOURNE: Two New Zealand pro-Palestinian activists have raised NZ$14,000 (US$9,108.40) as of yesterday for charity after being fined by an Israeli court for their alleged role in persuading pop star Lorde to cancel a concert in Tel Aviv last year.

Justine Sachs and Nadia AbuShanab said last week they would not pay the fine of 45,000 shekels (US$12,423.05) awarded to three Israeli teenagers, calling the court’s ruling a ‘stunt’ intended to intimidate Israel’s critics.

Instead, they asked people to donate money through website ‘givealittle.co.nz’ to the Gaza Mental Health Foundation, a volunteer group that raises funds for mental health and women’s empowerment groups in the Gaza Strip.

As of yesterday, they raised NZ$14,000, according to the website.

“Given that we’ve actually had this kind of push upon us - we felt that it was expedient to actually recenter the issue back on Palestine,” Abu-Shanab told Radio New Zealand.

The case arose from an open letter that Sachs and Abu-Shanab wrote to Lorde, a New Zealander, on the website ‘thespinoff.co.nz’ in December urging her to call off her planned concert.

Lorde cancelled her concert in Israel that same month after a campaign by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) group, which campaigns for Palestinian rights, that included the open letter published by Sachs and Abu-Shanab. — Reuters