New Zealand registers party with pro-Palestinian platform
In New Zealand, the Electoral Commission has registered the Palestine Free from the River to the Sea Party, which plans to take part in the general election in less than two months. The decision was made on August 5, despite more than 200 submissions objecting to the registration. As The Jerusalem Post reports, the party was also allocated nearly NZ$79,000 in public funding for election broadcasting.
To register, the political force needed at least 500 members. On its website, it lists among its main goals uniting Palestine supporters from different traditions, pressuring the New Zealand government to support the prosecution of war crimes and genocide, and links the liberation of Palestine to a broader struggle against imperialism.
The party’s platform and leader
According to The Jerusalem Post, the party also advocates for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland and the abolition of the State of Israel. It was founded and is led by Paul Hopkinson, who is also the national spokesperson in New Zealand for the campaign of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
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In June, Hopkinson told The New Arab that he intended to use registered party status to hold other political forces accountable for their position on Palestine. He declared unconditional support for all forms of Palestinian resistance, including armed resistance, and opposed adding Hamas and other Palestinian groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to New Zealand’s terrorist list. According to The Jerusalem Post, the PFLP itself is not included on that list.
Reaction from Jewish organizations
Greg Bower, a spokesperson for the Israel Institute of New Zealand, told the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) that the official use of the slogan “From the River to the Sea” in the name of a registered political movement could make the meaning of Zionism, Israel’s continued existence, and Jewish national self-determination election campaign issues.
Juliet Moses, president of the New Zealand Jewish Council, mentioned in a comment to AIJAC the positions of representatives of other parties on the war in Gaza and Israel. According to the New Zealand Jewish Council, the country recorded its highest number of antisemitic incidents in a single year in 2025. These included five attacks, two threats, and 15 cases of desecration or damage to Jewish sites.
