Take action this weekend against complicity with genocide

By
John Minto
-
102
1620

It’s over five weeks since the October 7th attack on Israel and the launch of Israel’s genocidal rampage against the Palestinian people of Gaza. But while our political leaders have been vocal in condemning war crimes that led to the killing of Israeli civilians they have not yet breathed a single word of condemnation of Israel for the wholesale slaughter of Palestinians civilians, including over 4,600 Palestinian children.

Israel has now slaughtered the equivalent of all the children in 17 average-sized New Zealand primary schools. According to Save the Children this surpasses the number of children killed in conflict zones around the world each year since 2019.

And for all the talk of going after Hamas, Israel Defence Force spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari says in relation to the bombing of Gaza “The emphasis is on damage and not on accuracy”.

Genocide indeed.

But, unbelievably, outgoing PM Chris Hipkins and incoming PM Chrisopher Luxon have been deathly silent on this depraved criminal behaviour against Palestinian civilians and the whole range of Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian people which include:

  • Collective punishment of an occupied people
  • Failure to treat Palestinians civilians as “protected persons” under the Fourth Geneva Convention
  • Depriving 2.2 million Palestinians of food, water, fuel, electricity, medical supplies etc
  • Bombing and attacking schools, hospitals, ambulances and civilian infrastructure such as water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants etc
  • Bombing densely populated residential areas murdering Palestinians in their thousands (According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israel has dropped more than 25,000 tonnes of explosives on the Gaza Strip since October 7, equivalent to two nuclear bombs)
  • Ethnic cleansing through forcible movement of civilian populations in Gaza
  • Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from towns and rural communities in the Occupied West Bank by heavily armed Israeli militias, supported by the Israeli army – casually killing any Palestinians that get in their way
  • Expanding illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land
  • Applying apartheid laws against all Palestinians across the entire area of historic Palestine
  • Continuing its illegal military occupation of Palestine

These are all war crimes and some, such as genocide and apartheid, are crimes against humanity.

If Russia were doing anything like this in Ukraine or a European community anywhere in the world suffered as Palestinians are suffering now our political leaders would condemn the outrages and apply immediate sanctions and accountabilities as we have done for Russia in Ukraine. Such barbarism as is being displayed by Israel today would be condemned as depraved, racist and genocidal.

But our political leaders are weak and spineless. The best they can do is repeat calls for a “humanitarian pause” (a “tea-break” in Israel’s murderous rampage) and have called on both sides to “protect human lives” – a meaningless piece of drivel in response to genocide happening before our eyes.

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Luxon lamely says “we haven’t received any advice to suggest Israel is breaking international law”. Open your eyes Mr Luxon.

Refusal to condemn Israel’s political leaders for their murderous war crimes means Israel’s cowardly attacks on Palestinian civilians will continue. Israel knows its genocidal attacks come at no political cost where New Zealand is concerned. Israel knows that anti-Palestinian racism is alive and well in New Zealand’s political leadership.

Our political leaders have made New Zealand complicit in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

I’m proud that Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa has joined with hundreds of other organisations in backing a complaint of genocide by Israel to the International Criminal Court.

Join your local rallies and marches taking place across the country this weekend. Citizens must step up where governments have failed.

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102 COMMENTS

    • Do you mean Israels policy of killing their own if it gets a result, or how Israel is still taking more and more Palestinian hostages – even in the West Bank, which has nothing to do with Hamas?

    • Great work @ John Minto.
      Vacuum Cleaner and Chipkins make a lovely little pair don’t they. All shiny and smiling.

    • Not a word about the horrendous pogrom Hamas inflicted on Israeli families on 7/10 either, the worst since the Holocaust and which triggered the conflict. Minto makes it crystal clear that Jewish lives count for nothing.

      • Build your house in the middle of a minefield don’t blame the mines for going off. Norman Finkelstein, your great enemy, who youse prevented from getting a job despite his honest scholarship, was not too sure the great horror of the Holocaust wasn’t a rightful case for putting aside the claims of natives. The Irish know that’s wrong from history and Scots me would fight to the death to prevent that happening to my country of origin. Are you learning? No one likes you or your propaganda. Are we wrong or are you?

  5. If your premise is the extermination of Israel all bets are off including unfortunately the civilians that support and are supported by you. Think Isis, the Taliban, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
    If you think that’s genocide you have no historical perspective.

    • Why did the Islamist death cult of Hamas happen is the question you need to be asking if you want peace. The Palestinians have been subjected to violence from Israel for the last 75 years yet for some reason you are surprised that they don’t like their illegal occupiers?
      They could live in peace by giving the Palestinian people the right to exist in their own land.

      • I’m not surprised at all the Palestinains don’t like Israelis. I was asking about Hamas and how realistic is the chance of a peaceful, two-state solution?

        And the Jews/then the Israelis were subjected to Palestinian violence for even longer, from before 1948 until the present day. But let’s pretend it’s only Israeli violence that counts.

      • As long as Hamas is in existence to exploit snd hide behind the Palestinians there will be no peace.
        Hamas needs to be terminated with extreme prejudice.

    • Not only Hamas. The middle east is rife with islamic death cults. They have form for exterminating hundreds of thousands of fellow muslims and not a peep from the deluded supporters of the Palestinians.
      Most of these ignorant western millennial lefties probably doesn’t know what happened on 9/11

  7. The war on Gaza has been a real eye opener in so many ways. The mask of kindness has dropped on so many of societies figureheads and we now see their true nature: war mongering, racist zionists.

  8. Israel did not bomb the hospital…it was a misfired Hamas rocket into the carpark of the hospital.
    The video evidence clearly shows the carpark destroyed but the hospital still standing.
    Or is that too much fact for you John?

    • There are so many people who think they have ‘facts’ but because you have said this does not make it right.
      Like the video the IDF has released showing some arms in the hospital… are we meant to believe this BS!

  9. Hamas would have been aware of the consequences of their attack .Did the people of Palestine fill the streets with people condemning the initial attack . Israel surely has the right to defend itself and break the back of those that want to see it gone .
    Thousands of civilians were killed in WW2 by bombs but the alternative was defeat by an evil power.

    • Not only was Hamas aware there would be a sharp response they and their Iranian revolutionary guard masters planned and accepted mass Palestinian casualties to drag the useful idiots in the west to do their bidding.
      This support is defacto backing for Hamas who are inextricibly linked to the Palestinians.

      • Couldn’t have said it better. Hamas were working under orders from Iran who in turn are in collusion with Russia. Well done for supporting evil guys! The Arab League do not support Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran in their aims to destroy Israel and destabilize the region. Unfortunately the issue with the PA is not just Hamas, there are many other terrorist groups that outright reject a two state solution. Palestine will be free when Palestinians choose to be free and finally agree to a solution. Sadly this will never happen and they will never form a stable state.

  10. When you’ve lost people like Sofie Berzon Mackie….

    Created by secular pioneers in 1946, the kibbutz, like many, had an ethos founded on socialism, with a successful printing factory and members always sharing earnings, eating together like a huge family.

    The most demonic creatures of mythology don’t come close to what Hamas did
    They were – are – peaceniks, derided as idealists by some in a country veering ever rightwards after 20 years of particularly violent conflict with the Palestinians.

    Members would drive regularly to the Gaza border to ferry children for hospital treatment in Israel.

    They employed Palestinians when the border was open for vetted workers, continuing to pay their wages when it was closed during increasingly frequent conflicts.

  11. The Israehellis have numerous templates of atrocity and deliberate targetting of civilians to act as a template. The destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. The murderous assault on Fallujah where civilians including children were shot on sight by US soldiers. Genocidal extreme prejudice applied to destroy the will of a people to resist including bombing hospitals, schools, universities, refugee camps. The U$ provided the template in iraq including depleted uranium munitions contaminating the earth causing intergenerational birth defects and cancer.
    Then the collateral murder video in Iraq shows the inhuman monstrous cruelty of this modus operandi. WikiLeaks video: ‘Collateral murder’ in Iraq https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTxuW2vmzk
    Israehell applies the Dahiya policy: ” The Dahiya doctrine, or Dahya doctrine, is a military strategy of asymmetric warfare, outlined by former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff Gadi Eizenkot, which encompasses the destruction of the civilian infrastructure of regimes deemed to be hostile as a measure calculated to deny combatants the use of that infrastructure and endorses the employment of “disproportionate force” to secure that end.

    The doctrine is named after the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, where Hezbollah was headquartered during the 2006 Lebanon War, which were heavily damaged by the IDF. ”
    Collective punishment is the name of the game.

    The atrocious monstrous cruelty can be viewed on twitter. rense.com and youtube.
    500 sheltering cowed frightened refugees were massacred in the compound of the Al-Aqsa hospital by a guided JDAM fuel air bomb incinerating its wretches.
    The attitude of the Zionist mutant monsters are Palestinians are just feral animals to be exterminated or ejected.
    The U$ got away with inhuman cruelty as in the “highway of death” Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq why not little ole sidekick Israel?
    If despite the annihilation from the air with advanced warplanes and bombs of every conceivable type Israehell has the ” The Samson Option (Hebrew: ברירת שמשון, b’rerat shimshon) is the name that some military analysts and authors have given to Israel’s deterrence strategy of massive retaliation with nuclear weapons as a “last resort” against a country whose military has invaded and/or destroyed much of Israel.”

  12. Maybe wheel out quitter Ardern to give expert political advice on the Gaza cleansing? There is the equivalent of 200 Christchurch-call atrocities here. Or better still, anoint the war criminals Blair and Cameron as Middle East peace brokers?

  13. The emotional use of genocide and apartheid against Israel when it’s clearly not the case really exposes your willful ignorance Minto. It’s fooling noone with any intelect. Both genocide and apartheid are practiced by Hammas and their Palestinian supporters, which includes yourself. Many jews in West Bank and Gaza? Oh and how many Arabs in Israel? Exactly.

  14. Message to the many non posting readers on TDB:
    Please ignore the nasty usual suspects here supporting the IDF butchers and attend a local Palestine solidarity action, support BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) of the Apartheid state, encourage workers to implement trade bans on movement of all Israeli product, don’t buy Sodastream (instead try https://ohbubbles.co.nz/) or Israeli humus/olives etc., tell retailers you will be going elsewhere if they stock Israeli product, email your MP calling for cutting of diplomatic ties with Israel and the expulsion of their Ambassador.

      • Look up “administrative detention.”
        Israel needs to release their hostage first, and stop kidnapping them.
        THen, of course admit they are a racist settler colonial mistake; do that and we can finally move forward with 1 or 2 states.

        • There will never be peace until Israel is gone and all the Jews are dead. This is what hamas want. This is what Hitler wanted. This is why Hitler met with the Arabs to discuss the final solution for Palestine
          Why don’t you just admit this is what you want too ?

    • Rather disgusting, the ‘nasty, usual suspects’ here. Going through this comment section I see there are a lot of good coves like you.

  15. They can’t Ada yet there are many New Zealanders supporting Hamas. The majority of whom have no idea why,but protesting is a vocation.

    • There are many Jewish groups protesting the violence globally as well. Most of the world wants peace for Palestine and Israel but apparently the representative politicians do not. In terms of ethics the Palestinian’s position as the occupied is stronger than Israel the occupier; any resistance by Palestinians may have actually been in accordance with international law however uncomfortable that may be. Any violence perpetuated by Palestinians on Israelis is inexcusable but understandable. Certainly the subsequent collective punishment of innocents by Israel, the crimes against humanity by starving the population of due care and the explicit intent expressed by the Israel command is the evidence required to hold Israel to account for mass murder and genocide.

  16. Our leaders like all Western leaders dance to the US government’s tune, who in turn, dance to big-money and corporate interests. In short, the entire western political world is captured/corrupted by big-money and corporate interests. And yet most of us inherently believe our politicians anyway, doubly so under ‘special’ circumstances. And yet we believe then anyway…granted a lot of this belief is driven by an equally corrupt mainstream (corporate) media.

    Will we learn, will we learn from this or are we all just treading water until the very same corporate-big-money driven political class turns its callous/corrupted gaze our way!

    This stark tragedy vividly displays both how easily led our politicians are therefore how callous they can easily be towards humanity!

    Learn from this.

  17. Peace activism goes both ways, and neither side seem interested in a ceasefire right now.

    Hamas is effectively using Palestinian civilians, who elected them, as human shields. After many years in “power” in Gaza, and I presume many years of planning for October 7th, Hamas have had plenty of time prepare for this and separate its militant activity from densely populated civilian areas in other places in Gaza, surely knowing that Israel’s response to their attack would be ruthless. That doesnt excuse Isreal from killing any civilians, but basing militant activity from highly populated civilian areas is a cynical and cowardly tactic that only says to me they don’t really care about the welfare of their own people who they see as cheap pawns to sacrifice towards a wider end game.

    Also the only way forward to convince Israel to adopt a ceasefire I can tell is if Hamas releases all Isreali hostages. We should all be advocating for that.

    To be clear I am not “pro Israel”. The whole situation is fucked. Just trying to demonstrate the complexity and human suffering that is brought on by both sides.

    • Israel bombs indiscriminately. As such, the term human shield has no meaning here other than to help justify Israel’s indiscriminate carnage. As for hostages, the whole point of taking hostages was to trade hostage for hostage (Israel has over 5000 Palestinian hostages rotting in their jails). Unfortunately for Hamas, this has backfired on them as holding hostages like the notion of human shields, have been turned into pretexts that allows Israel to inflict carnage upon Palestine with little, if any condemnation from the international world. And as we can see, clearly these pretexts work. Furthermore, Hamas has released hostages and offered to release more, 50 hostages in exchange for fuel supplies, an offer that Israel refused.

      Bottom line here being, these pretexts are really, really serving Israeli interests well. Talk about complexity, i reckon we are all barely scratching the surface here….

      • Look if the IDF wanted to commit genocide they could literally wipe out the Palestinians overnight with their vast military superiority. They are selectively targeting Hamas but this is made more difficult when Hamas are sheltering behind civilians which is a breach of the GRC.

        • Its genocide mate, pure and simple and I’ve provided links a little further up that points to this. You can argue the point by providing evidence to the contrary, but your opinion alone in the face of this evidence is meaningless. You have made a claim here that Hamas is breaching the GRC. Here’s an opportunity for you to prove your own point or for this point to be – hot air. Up to you.

          As for Hamas and so-called ‘selective targeting’, these are excuses that allows Israel to bomb indiscriminately and get away with it (for now). Thankfully for Israel, most of us in the West buy these excuses,aka propaganda, hook, line and sinker, then we double down on this chicanery by burying our heads in the sand to the utter destruction that every now and then, our mainstream media does actually show for a change.

          10’000+ killed already, food, supplies, utilities, water, cut off to drip-fed in. Millions being forced to flee, these are the realities verse Hamas, hostages, and human shielding. It takes one heck of a human to put the three H’s above the grim realities taking place before our eyes. Whew.

        • Douglas Murray pointed out that the genocide in Gaza is the only genocide that has involved a population boom since they left in 2005

          Agreed, if Israel did actually bomb Gaza, rather than targeted air strikes against Hamas targets as they currently claim ,then they could wipe the place out in a day.

      • Selective quotations are used on purpose and demonstrates bias and lazy thinking.
        Those who choose not to see the dilemma of moral equivalence are indeed Hamas’s useful idiots.

    • Google says that there are 6507 people/Sq Km in Gaze, which is about 153.7 m2 per person, by the time you take roads, agricultural land & any other land that is unavailable away there is not actually much choice for where things happen. It seems obvious that Israel has decided to destroy anything even remotely associated with Hamas basically just because they can & are using the human shield excuse to justify their actions.
      NZ has just under 20 people/Sq Km (51203 m2/person) if you want a comparison.

  18. If you support barbaric, genocidal Hamas against Israel, the only democracy in the ME and acting in self defence, then you need to seriously question your motives. They’re bound to be very ugly, more to do with Jew hatred than any ‘human rights’ concerns. Israel is winning and Hamas will be eradicated. That’s not in doubt.

    • Gaby you’re tripping. Every Palestinian civilian killed by the IDF sets up the next generation of Palestinian Freedom Fighters.

      Since when was killing 11,000 innocents considered self defence?

      Israel may or may not be a democracy but please name me any other regime that has killed so many civilians in only a matter of weeks as Israel has.

      The Israeli regime is a terror regime, the most evil country on the planet right now. Fuck them and all who simp for genocide

  19. During World War II Jewish people in Germany who were unable to flee were rounded up and murdered by the Nazis in what became known as the Holocaust. In 1948 many Palestinians were driven from their villages into neighbouring states by Zionist gangs. Those who resisted were killed. This was known as the Nakba. You do not have to research very far to find that many Israelis want another “Nakba” to completely dispossess Palestinians of their lands and to drive them out of the country or to kill them and this explains why Israelis condone the mass killings of civilians, including thousands of children, by their armed forces. But the rest of the world should not tolerate the deliberate bombing of hospitals and civilian targets, or the imposition of a cruel and inhumane siege which deprives people of essentials such as food, water, medicines and energy. International condemnation should be followed by immediate action against Israel. New Zealand should not use coalition talks as an excuse but should act now, starting with the expulsion of Israeli diplomats.

      • It’s very strong on agitprop and a little short on detail though isn’t it. Detail such as the alliance of Arab countries that invaded Israel after calling Palestinians to leave their homes and return for the spoils of war after the defeat of Israel. And there’s the continual pogroms against Jews since the time of the First Aliyah, in addition to the Jewish ‘Nakbas’ whereby Jews were expelled from various Arab countries and their property forfeited. Finally the actual written intention of genocide in the Hamas Charter is very carefully avoided by Minto and his sycophants on this site in their rush to accuse Israel of genocide. Maybe save your thanks until a more objective comment from Mr van Ruyssevelt appears.

  20. The tragedy of the situation in Gaza is horrific and this is all the fault of Hamas they knew and wanted this to happen. It’s hard to have sympathy for some in Gaza when they show gleeful barbarity as dead bodies are paraded!! Hamas has stated that they will not stop until all the Jews in the WORLD are killed. What is Israel supposed to do this being the case when your neighbours have stated this. If Hamas laid down their weapons Israel wouldn’t do anything however if Israel lay down there weapons Hamas would cross through into Israel and murder the entire population of the country so I feel you’ve gotta be pretty intellectually dishonest to support these archaic barbarians.

  21. Since 1945 all we heard from the Jews was “Never again” and foolishly we all thought this was a cry for world peace and the end of genocidal wars for ever.

    Now we know “never again” actually only applies to Jews and everyone else is fair game for genocide, especially if seen as a threat to Gods chosen people.

    The mask has slipped big time. IDF may cleanse Gaza but in doing Israels reputation is gone forever. and rightly so.

  22. Who could have predicted cutting through the border fence and indiscriminately massacring Israeli civilians would have led to the IDF launching an invasion of Gaza?
    Hama’s did in the hope that it would inflame amongst others the woke idiots in the West who don’t know any better . . well done looks like a lot of you have taken the bait.

  23. Intellectual ignorance drives many views on this site.
    Protesters just need a cause and at the moment it’s fashionable to support Palestine.
    Interestingly the fringe groups who support Hamas would be killed by Hamas because of their beliefs if they went to Gaza.

    • There is a generational ignorance going on here as well.
      Anybody who is old enough or who has parents or grandparents who know what happened in the holocaust will understand why it is necessary to liquidate Hamas.
      Woke millennial ignoramuses will probably not even know about September 11.
      This is largely the fault of schools and universities who have sanitized history to suit their diversity inclusion and equity indoctrination.

  24. I have always opposed what Israel is doing in Palestine, and repeatedly called out Gaby for being pro-Israeli mad but I just have to say John, this isn’t genocide. Genocide would involve them carpet bombing the Gaza Strip and they are so far away from this.
    Your use of Genocide language is so far from actual genocide like Rwanda or WWII, its really ridiculous.
    I’m very concerned also about the moral relativism of the left on this – in what world is the actions of Hamas excusable? Why laud them as freedom fighters and anti-colonials? They are fascist Islamist butchers clear and simple.

  25. Like Ukraine. Israel, the zionists are losing the war and support of the global public and the weak leadership around the UNSC table. It’s all over for the both fascist states.

  26. Marches — where? As a life-long cyclist I have a rightful distaste for pedestrianage, but for Falestine I’ll walk. Irishers know the reality of conquest and Scots like me boil at the thought.

  27. One thing all you Israel bashers consistently ignore is that, unlike Israel, Hamas provide NO bomb shelters for their people. Why is that, do you think????? The cowardly terrorists shelter in their rat tunnels of course, and their vile leaders direct the battle from their mansions in Qatar.

    • If they did the Israelis would accuse them of being Hamas holdouts and would use bunker busters to kill everyone inside
      Sorry Gaby , you haven’t got a leg to stand on .It’s over .Israel has shown its true face to the world

  28. ” It’s over five weeks since the October 7th attack on Israel and the launch of Israel’s genocidal rampage against the Palestinian people of Gaza. But while our political leaders have been vocal in condemning war crimes that led to the killing of Israeli civilians they have not yet breathed a single word of condemnation of Israel for the wholesale slaughter of Palestinians civilians, including over 4,600 Palestinian children ”

    Human life has no value.

    Children aren’t asked to be born and suffer nevertheless.

  29. No doubt there are economic threats at a diplomatic level preventing our leaders from saying what they really think.
    Is it just me or has propaganda gone into overdrive in the last few years? I was particularly impressed by the clip of Israeli soldiers delivering (empty?) cardboard boxes with ‘medical supplies’ printed on A4 paper stuck to the sides, they didn’t even bother printing them the right way up, a complete farce.

  30. Luxon always says only ever says it is Israel that has a right to self-defence. Never once has he ever admitted that the militarily Occupied people of Palestine have a right, as they do under international law, to defend themselves. Israeli forces in the West Bank seize and abduct minors and, when unable to capture one person in particular, take prisoner a close relative to hold as hostage. Jewish-only settlements are imposed on stolen Palestinian land in the West Bank and the Israeli Army, as well as settler terrorists, have been sabotaging and plundering the Palestinian olive harvest. Population-control in the West Bank is severe.

    It is more than 50 years since the UN ordered Israeli Occupation forces to withdraw from the West Bank but Israel has not just defied UNSC Resolution 242, adopted on 22 November 1967, it has incrementally been stealing more and more Palestinian land. Zionism is working towards an eventual single state for itself. Since 2018, the United States has been contributing more than US$3.8bn a year to Israeli military forces, which are among the most powerful in the world. Israeli and US officials describe the aid as an example of the “unbreakable bond” between the two nations. The US support for Israel continues, in total disregard of the Security Council Resolution referred to above as well as Israel’s violations of countless UN human rights provisions.

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