A group of priests ended their Gaza war protest last night, after spending 32 hours chained to the door of Nicola Willis' Wellington electorate office.
The protesters chained themselves to the door on Monday in a call for the Government to impose sanctions on Israel over the war in Gaza and for New Zealand to recognise Palestine as a state. The group also fasted while chained to the building.
They had wanted to meet with Willis or another cabinet minister to discuss what New Zealand could be doing in response to the war.
A second group of priests were trespassed on Monday after staging a sit-in at Health Minister Simeon Brown’s electorate office in Pakuranga, Auckland.
At around 7.15pm last night, a spokesperson for the clergy said it would be concluding the protest after 32 hours.
"We leave with our message ringing louder than ever: further sanctions on Israel are an urgent step New Zealand must take. We have seen an incredible outpouring of support for this message from people of all faiths and walks of life," the spokesperson said.
Yesterday, the priests held communion and invited Willis to "break bread" with them.
Willis said she respected the priests' right to protest, but in this instance said the group were "preventing people from being able to readily access my electorate office".
She described it as "intimidating" for members of the public trying to access the office.
"So, I would just tell those protesters that they're actually getting in the way of good people who need help in their constituency, and so I'd suggest that's not the best way to make their message known."
Willis said she would not be attending communion with them as she already had commitments for the day.
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