New Zealand should NOT designate Hamas a terrorist group

By
John Minto
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72
1170

The government is shortly to announce whether it will designate Hamas a “terrorist” group in response to the October 7th attack on Israel in which Hamas was involved. The US and most of the western world calls Hamas “terrorists” but so far New Zealand has only designated the armed wing of Hamas as a terrorist group. More importantly the United Nations, along with most of the rest of the world, has not taken this step and neither should New Zealand.

It is for Palestinians to decide which groups they support in their struggle for self-determination but it’s important here to respond to the incessant, hysterical lies told about Hamas by Israel and the pro-Israel lobby around the world.

There are probably more lies spoken about Hamas than any other organisation in the world.

One of these is the lie that the Hamas Charter calls for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews worldwide (For example this was one of the many lies in an opinion piece in the Post newspaper recently by Daniel Taub – in response to which the newspaper declined to print any letters)

The truth is that in the latest Hamas charter from 2017, the organisation says

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“Hamas reiterates that its conflict is with the Zionist project and not with the Jews based on their religion.”

“Hamas is not fighting against the Jews because they are Jews, but against the Zionists who are occupying Palestine.”

“Hamas rejects the persecution of people or the undermining of their rights on nationalist, religious or sectarian ground.”

In fact their new charter goes further and Hamas accepts the state of Israel based on 1967 borders – the precise same policy as the New Zealand government along with the US, the UK and most of the world!

It is clear to everyone that war crimes were committed in the October 7th attack on Israel. Killing civilians and taking civilian hostages are war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention and should be condemned. These crimes should be investigated by the International Criminal Court as were crimes in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Those investigations resulted in arrest warrants issued against Russian Leader Vladimir Putin. The same process should be followed for the October 7th attack on Israel and Israel’s genocidal response. For example arrest warrants should be issued by the ICC against Israeli PM Netanyahu and at least half his cabinet for war crimes and crimes against humanity – including the crimes of genocide and apartheid.

As things stand there were eight Palestinian resistance groups involved in the October 7th attack on Israel and we simply do not know yet which groups and leaders were responsible for war crimes.

Palestinian resistance groups have the right under international law to take up arms to fight against their colonial occupiers just as the African National Congress had the right to take up arms to fight for freedom in apartheid South Africa. Aotearoa New Zealand must respect this right and not pander to the deep-seated racism and cheap political sloganeering of the pro-Israel lobby.

A knee-jerk reaction from New Zealand to designate Hamas a terrorist group would be a further step backwards from an independent foreign policy.

72 COMMENTS

    • James evil Clown more fittingly … Tell me Clown ,,, I mean Brown ,,,, That the Zionists starving to death children, babies and everyone else , in a enclosed Ghetto where they have been bombed and shelled by them ,,,, that the Zionists or their actions are any different than the Nazis ,,, or their Nazi war crimes.

      “All 1.1 million children in Gaza are now facing death by starvation and disease as aid delivery is impossible to carry out safely, Save the Children said. Continued fighting, Israeli bombardment and insecurity have impeded safe aid delivery.

      The risk of famine is projected to increase as long as the government of Israel continues to impede the entry of aid into Gaza and access to adequate food, water, sanitation, hygiene and comprehensive health and nutrition services for children and families in urgent need.”

      If you take the first two letters of Nazi and combine them with the first two letters of Zionist ,,, you get NaZi,,,, how very fitting.

  2. It really says something about how subverted the Labour/National uniparty is, that designating the popularly elected government of Palestine as a terrorist group is being considered at all- especially when no steps have been taken to do this vs. a vs. the zionist entity, which unlike Hamas targets civilians for mass murder, starvation, rape and torture.

    The likely reason for this is that Peters and Luxon want to support the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians by doing this, by deliberately making it more difficult to get humanitarian aid in to defeat the zionist plot to murder Palestinian civilians with starvation and disease. If it goes through, it will be confirmed that these people are completely subverted by alien foreign interests.

  3. It is easy for far removed spectators and even supporters to pass judgement on those directly involved in an existential struggle and up against military oppression, institutionalised brutal torture and incarceration like the Palestinians of West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians live like South Africans did in Bantustans.

    With Apartheid South Africa, back in analogue days when information took longer to arrive, unlike todays 24/7 incessant news feed, there was an ANC/PAC difference among some supporters, and in retrospect the PAC was right, The ANC was more a nationalist organisation that allowed for international capital to continue operating. I mention this because the history of Hamas is a chequered one too, as was the previous PLO–Palestine Liberation Organisation–led by Yasser Arafat. Living in abnormal violent, restricted situations is hardly likely to produce perfect norms of democracy is it…no it is not.

    So you support the oppressed regardless of their sometimes grisly errors of tactics and strategy with all your resources and ability. NZ wankers like Baldrick condemning Hamas are basically just siding with the oppressor who have murdered many tens of thousands of Palestinians.

  6. That’s it – I’m out of this shit hole site. I used to come here to enjoy a variety of differing opinions to challenge my thinking. There’s some real sickos on here. I guess you can never tell what’s going on in people’s minds. Owen Jones would be proud to be numbered among most of you.

  8. Turns out Aaron Bushnell was a highly disturbed leftist anarchist extremist brought up in a religious cult.
    Great company the left keeps.

      • James Brown/Clown — “yup had to be something else going on ….

        ” getting orders to prepare to participate in a genocide of millions of civilians, half of whom are children’ is obviously nothing to James Brown ….

        Actually J Brown/evil Clown is far far worse than that ,,,, he’s literally a AoNZ example of one of the piece of shit tough guys described here ..– “The other day I shared a report from an American doctor saying that IDF snipers have been picking off Gazan children with single shots to the head, and I again received a comment from someone saying “Fuck around and find out.” ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. They’re essentially standing over a pile of child corpses and puffing their chests like a guy who just won a pub brawl.”

        That’s you eh James ,,,,, that’s your attitude and the exact phrase you have used to describe Israels actions …. when half of whom they have slaughtered/murdered have been children,,, in their collective punishment war crimes.

        And you can’t bull-shit or claim Israel is not targeting them ,,,, As the small children will be the first to die from the starvation/famine Israel has deliberately created….. FAFO again James?

        NaZi supporter.

        Israel Supporters Are Some Of The Worst People In The World https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-supporters-are-some-of-the

    • Yes, yes, we know you ‘people’ consider all Christians to be ‘cultists’ and say that the Prophet Jesus is boiling in a vat of s*men in your Talmud. However, it’s not very convincing to those of us who respect human religions.

      • Mohammed Khan would condemn a human religion founded by a warlord, spread by the sword and decrees the death penalty for apostates I take it?

  9. Your contention that the “new charter goes further and accepts the state of Israel based on 1967 borders” is misleading. The sole mention of Israel in the new we’re-the-good-guys-now document is in Article 18 which claims “the establishment of “Israel” is entirely illegal.”
    Presumably you base your claim on Article 20 where Hamas considers the establishment of a Palestinian state. “with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967” as their acceptance of the legitimacy of the Israeli state. It is not and cannot be when, in the previous sentence, Hamas “rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.” https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/doctrine-hamas.
    The 2017 sham document was a transactional response to the organization’s circumstances rather than a transformative statement. Hamas was politically isolated, its economic management of Gaza was reaching crisis proportions, it was under pressure from the PA, which wouldn’t pay the Israelis to supply electricity and the group was increasingly out of step with the Arab world. It may have been intended to demonstrate a softer edge in the eyes of the international community and to make Hamas more attractive and fundable but their subsequent actions proved the group is still the religious manifestation of Palestinian nationalism displayed in all its malevolence in the 1988 charter.

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