Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has capitulated to US pressure and did not use any phrase which would “urge calm” in the Gaza/Israel war when he made his announcement of $5 million in humanitarian aid to the war zone (Hipkins statement is copied in full below)
The Huffington Post has reported:
In messages circulated on Friday, State Department staff wrote that high-level officials do not want press materials to include three specific phrases: “de-escalation/ceasefire,” “end to violence/bloodshed” and “restoring calm.”
(The US State Department thinks those statements will work to restrain Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken even deleted a post he made which mentioned Turkey’s calls for a ceasefire)
The message was aimed at US officials but clearly has been communicated to MFAT officials here because Prime Minister Hipkins’ statement, which we called “cowardly and shameful” is a shocking capitulation to US interests.
In the statement there isn’t a single reference to “de-escalation”, “ceasefire”, “end to violence or bloodshed” or “restoring calm”. Hipkins just says New Zealand is “deeply saddened”.
Now we know why.
The people of New Zealand want an end to the violence, an end to the killing. We want a ceasefire, we want de-escalation and we want an end to the bloodshed. We want an end to the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. We want to “urge for calm”.
Where is our independent foreign policy?
Over 2,800 Palestinian civilians have been killed so far and over 700 children.
How many more children is Prime Minister Hipkins prepared to see killed before he calls for a ceasefire or an end to the bloodshed?
Tellingly, in his first statement on the war on 8 October, before the US State Department memo went out, the Prime Minister did call for “restraint”. But nothing of that sort now (The PM’s first statement is also copied in full below as an appendix)
This is a humiliating day to be a New Zealander.
We want an apology from Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to New Zealanders and a New Zealand government call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the violence and bloodshed.
John Minto
National Chair
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
I had wondered if my comment “That’s a good boy. The dog biscuits are in your bowl.”, that I posted in response to Hipkin’s “11 Oct. statement of “grave concern at the escalation of violence in Israel and Gaza”, (republished here on TDB) had been a bit extreme in response.
But no, it appears to have been a bullseye.
USA has no interest in peace, be it in the Middle East, Ukraine, S. China Seas, it thrives on fomenting war and conflict.