International Concerns–Israel and Palestine                                            

26 July 2025 - Several hundred people gathered at the Octagon to protest Israel's war in Gaza, which has been ongoing since October 2023 resulting in close to 60,000 Palestinians killed.  A flyer distributed at the event, headlined "#MillionKiwis Against Genocide," stated "our government has taken only ineffective symbolic action."  The flyer argued, "Concrete economic sanctions are needed, similar to NZ's Russia Sanctions Bill on Russia's occupation of Ukraine."  Support for Palestinians and opposition to Israel's war is quite evident around town as there are many, many leaflets pasted up and regular protests.
__________________

International Concerns–Ukraine 

Putin's war in Ukraine has a much lower profile.  Although as many as one million people have been killed or wounded since Russia's invasion in February 2022, there are few if any leaflets.  A handful of people in Dunedin are still working to raise awareness of the conflict.  Every week on Saturday, a small group holds a visibility at the Octagon to remind people of the suffering Putin's barbaric war has inflicted on Ukraine (and his own country). 
26 July.
13 September.
4 October.
13 December.  Practicing Shchedryk (Щедрик), a Ukrainian folk song used to welcome in the new year and known in the English version as "Carol of the Bells."
__________________

International Concerns–Myanmar 

13 December - Aung San Suu Kyi, former State Counsellor of Myanmar, has been imprisoned by the military regime since 2021.
< back to photos  |  international concerns 2026 >