Below is Winston Peters recent speech to United Nations General Assembly on the terrible situation in Gaza.
Credit where credit is due it is a very good one.
If only he applied the same conciliatory principles at home as he proposes others follow abroad, we would have less division in our own country.
Mr President,
The situation in Gaza is an utter catastrophe.
New Zealand condemns Hamas for its heinous terrorist attacks on 7 October and since, including its barbaric violations of women and children. All of us here must demand that Hamas release all remaining hostages immediately.
At the same time, the facts on the ground in Gaza are absolutely clear. More than 32,000 people have been killed. Millions have been displaced. Warnings ring in our ears that famine in Gaza is imminent.
Indeed, Palestinian civilians continue to bear the brunt of Israel’s military actions, humanitarian and medical workers are being killed, and health facilities and vital infrastructure have been destroyed.
Gaza, which was already facing huge challenges before this conflict, is now a wasteland. Worse still, another generation of young Palestinians – already scarred by violence – is being further traumatised.
Since the start of the current crisis in Gaza, the veto has been used five times to prevent the Security Council from acting decisively. This has seen the Council fail in its responsibility to maintain international peace and security.
New Zealand is a long-standing opponent of the use of the veto. We have actively supported the Veto Initiative from its inception and remain a proud proponent of Resolution 76/262.
New Zealand welcomed Resolution 2728, which demanded an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire. We call on all parties to this conflict to comply with Resolution 2728 without delay.
We acknowledge Israel’s belated announcements that it will allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel must do everything in its power to enable safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access.
Israel cannot now be under any misconceptions as to its legal obligations. The provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice are clear and must be complied with fully and immediately.
New Zealand offers its full support for the mandate of Sigrid Kaag, Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza. Last week we announced a financial contribution from New Zealand to support Kaag’s Mechanism to maximise aid flows into Gaza.
New Zealand looks forward to the outcome of the investigations into serious allegations that have been made against certain UNRWA staff because UN Agencies, including UNRWA, have a critical role to play in meeting the needs of Palestinians. Israeli constraints on UNRWA’s ability to operate in Gaza must be lifted.
New Zealand is gravely concerned by repeated indications from Israel that it may soon launch a military offensive into Rafah. Palestinian civilians must not be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.
The risks of the wider region being further drawn into this conflict also remain alarmingly high. We strongly urge regional actors, including Iran, to exercise maximum restraint.
Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace and security. There is overwhelming support in the international community – including from New Zealand – for a two-state solution. Achieving this will require serious negotiations by the parties and must involve a Palestinian state.
We do not accept that Israel can achieve peace and security while taking more and more territory intended for a future Palestinian state. This misguided notion must end. Building and expanding illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza imperil the two-state solution, which remains the only blueprint for peace that we have.
Thank you.
Bryan Bruce is one of New Zealand’s most important and respected documentary makers.
Yes BUT! Peters cannot be allowed to get away with saying one thing on the world stage and another, or nothing, at home. If he was speaking for New Zealand at the UN, and not just grandstanding for his memoir, then he must be made to put “put his money where his mouth is”. But, being Winston, he’ll launch into yet another of his haughty dismissals of media questioning, and that will be that.
Yes agree Winston will make mincemeat of the New Zealand,medio at best,media.
Watching that old fart act like a complete idiot in front of the media when he’s here in NZ must be one of the most embarrassing spectacles around. It’s only matched by the media taking the bait.
Words are cheap, it is actions that speak louder.
Except for his criticism of the veto, Peters speech is mostly empty rhetoric, in lockstep with President Biden’s latest speeches, where the US President bemoans the enormous loss of life, while still supplying weapons to Israel to carry out this slaughter.
On Israeli allegations, Winston Peters cut aid to UNRWA in the midst of a looming famine, and has not reinstated it.
Two of our closest allies Canada and Australia have reinstated their funding to UNRWA. finding no credibility in the Israeli allegations against the UN aid agency.
I don’t care how fine his speech was. Winston Peters words have no credibility, there is no credit due.
For helping the Israeli authorities starve the people of Gaza, Winston Peters needs to be condemned in the strongest terms.
To recover his credibility Winston Peters must immediately renew this country’s aid to UNWRA.
“…United Nations General Assembly…” So fucking what. They’re just as large a group of wankers as our political coalition of the three stooges.
“Credit where credit is due it is a very good one.” What? Like when peters fell upside down out of roger douglas’s anus to begin a long history of offensive defence of neo-liberalism? Of how whinston prefers his poverty served with just a dash of champaign from within a triumphant and corrupt caucus? Or is it when he raged against the myths and mirrors of the wine box inquiry where corrupt banking systems were proven to be avoiding taxes while while committing the most vulnerable to decreasing wages and increasing costs?
Any kid with an iPhone could write a speech for the united nations. winston peters is an insult to arseholes actually and he really needs to just go fuck himself.
The sooner Winstone retires the better he is A stupid vindictive old coot.
All Winston achieved was to pander to the worst amoral, antisemitic organisation on the planet, long past its use-by date, while revealing his intrinsic ignorance of the conflict. Shame on him.
I always thought that when he put his mind to it Winston could be a good minister. Years ago when he was Maori affairs Minister I did an assignment for a Massey course which included him. His policies were actually pretty good – too good for national of course who couldn’t handle them. If only he was consistent, and a bit less fucking aggressive at home.
Sorry but I’m more inclined to go with Gordon Campbell’s summation of Peter’s UN speech. It was not novel, wise or revolutionary instead merely a lazy reiteration of platitudes greasing the US.
” mouldy old puffballs he tossed into the General Assembly.”
On Winston Peters’ Pathetic Speech At The UN
” The two state solution has been a dead duck for at least 25 years…
By choosing to keep on peddling this fantasy, Western leaders legitimise the violent occupation by making it seem transient, a mere period of turbulence before justice (somehow) prevails, and an era of peaceful co-existence (somehow)emerges from future negotiations conducted in a climate of mutual compromise. Dream on.
…the concept of the two-state solution has evolved to become a central pillar of sustaining Palestinian subjugation and Israeli impunity. The idea of two states as a pathway to justice has in and of itself normalized the daily violence meted out against Palestinians by Israel’s regime ..”
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2404/S00020/on-winston-peters-pathetic-speech-at-the-un.htm
Hamas actions are described as “heinous” and “barbaric” and “condemned” in Peters’s speech in which he also “demands” the “immediate release of hostages” (those held by Hamas).
Israel is not condemned for its genocide, no vituperation is directed at the State of Israel, and no demands are made of it except for a Ramadan ceasefire, the scope for which had already expired. New Zealand goes no further than expressions of “grave concern” at Israel’s future plans. So Peters, speaking for the Realm of New Zealand, continues to lean heavily towards the Israeli side. The New Zealand government is simply getting nervous about being identified as fully complicit in the Gaza genocide and is preparing a future defense against that charge by expressing some misgivings about the course of events.
Most telling of all, New Zealand continues to provide military support for the Gaza genocide. Nothing that Winston Peters might say can change that reality.
What was good about it? Peters knows better than to approbate spurious Hamas-supplied death toll figures. A disgraceful effort of appeasement to jihad.
By far and way the biggest bullshitters are the IDF and Netanyahu. The IDF look completely incompetent but I doubt they are.
The UN is the home of great speeches. The UN probably hears one at least every other week.
What would made Winston Peters speech memorable, was if Winston Peters had said, ‘I am using this opportunity to officially announce to the world that New Zealand is renewing its aid to UNWRA’
If I read or come across some-one making a point better than I can, or someone with more knowledge than me on the subject ,,,, I often just copy and paste their writing
eg – “Two State Solution = Tooth Fairy Solution
Both Winston Peters and Christopher Luxon repeatedly state their support for the “ two state solution” – as if, in 2024, this call still has any substance, or any merit. As the Palestinian writer and political analyst Tareq Baconi recently wrote in the New York Times:
The language that surrounds a two-state solution has lost all meaning. Over the years, I’ve encountered many Western diplomats who privately roll their eyes at the prospect of two states — given Israel’s staunch opposition to it, the lack of interest in the West in exerting enough pressure on Israel to change its behaviour and Palestinian political ossification — even as their politicians repeat the phrase ad nauseam. Yet in the shadow of what the International Court of Justice has said could plausibly be genocide, everyone has returned to the chorus line, stressing that the gravity of the situation means that this time will be different. It will not be.
The two state solution has been a dead duck for at least 25 years. To continue to call for it is rank bad faith. The two state solution vanished under the remorseless settler expansion, encouraged by successive Israeli governments. By choosing to keep on peddling this fantasy, Western leaders legitimise the violent occupation by making it seem transient, a mere period of turbulence before justice (somehow) prevails, and an era of peaceful co-existence (somehow)emerges from future negotiations conducted in a climate of mutual compromise. Dream on.
Before October 7, as Baconi says, Palestinian grievances (and the deaths of Palestinian children which through 2022 and into mid 2023 were running at record levels) were absolutely invisible on the world stage. It was only after Jewish people were killed on October 7 that the Gaza situation commanded media and political attention.
Since then, the international community has reverted to its deeply familiar call for a two state solution, under which Palestinians and Israelis co-exist in security and mutual prosperity, side by side. Baconi again:
Repeating the two-state solution mantra has allowed policymakers to avoid confronting the reality that partition is unattainable in the case of Israel and Palestine, and illegitimate as an arrangement originally imposed on Palestinians without their consent in 1947. And fundamentally, the concept of the two-state solution has evolved to become a central pillar of sustaining Palestinian subjugation and Israeli impunity. The idea of two states as a pathway to justice has in and of itself normalized the daily violence meted out against Palestinians by Israel’s regime of apartheid.
If only Peters had chosen to address that reality…He didn’t, of course.”
…. What I do have a lot of knowledge and expertise on is that Ann E is a compulsive liar who supports terrorism when Zionists/Israel uses it …. she’d lie about Palestinian children being murdered even if she hsad to bury them herself…..
The only regret she has about Israel murdering babies, children, women, civilians,,, is the damage to Israels/zionists reputation…. and the only thing she can do about that is tell more lies.
The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza is a large if not huge under-count …. “Since the Hamas raid penetrated the multi-tiered Israeli border security on October 7, 2023 (an unexplained collapse of Israel’s defensive capabilities), 2.3 million utterly defenseless Palestinians in the tiny crowded Gaza enclave have been on the receiving end of over 65,000 bombs and missiles plus non-stop tank shelling and snipers.” …..
“With virtually no healthcare left, no medications, and infectious diseases spreading especially among infants, children, the infirm, and the elderly, can anybody believe that the fatalities have just gone over 30,000? With 5,000 babies born every month into the rubble, their mothers wounded and without food, healthcare, medicine, and clean water for any of their children, severe skepticism about the Hamas Health Ministry’s official count (being far to low) is warranted. ” ….
This is what Ann E supports ,,, and tries to minimize/cast doubt on …. “Children 44% of Palestinians Killed by Israel Since Oct 7” ……. “Women and children constitute nearly 70 percent of over 7,000 additional persons missing in the same period, and the majority of the over 75,000 Palestinians who are wounded are women and children.”– note the missing are not included in the death toll
“Over 17,000 Palestinian children have also been orphaned or separated from their parents as a result of Israel’s genocidal attacks, ”
Israel ” drops unguided munitions (“dumb bombs”) and 2000-pound “bunker buster” bombs on refugee camps and densely packed urban centers as well as the “safe zones” — 42 percent of Palestinians killed have been in these “safe zones” where they were instructed by Israel to flee. ”
“As Surgeons, We Have Never Seen Cruelty Like Israel’s Genocide in Gaza ” ,,,, “Now we know the pain of being unable to treat a child who will slowly die, but also alone, because she is the only surviving member of an entire extended family. ” https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/surgeons-cruelty-israel-gaza
The reason Ann E lies is because she wants Israels barbaric savagery to ‘win’….. she’s a more extreme example than most AoNz zionists ,,, gaby and co prove she’s far from alone though ,,, but I will note a few of them like Andrew and gaby ,,, are pommy imports/racists. Shame they didn’t emigrate. to Israel
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/04/10/children-44-of-palestinians-killed-by-israel-since-oct-7/
Yes, the IDF butchers and psychos in Knesset want a final solution-which is why they target women and children-to sabotage the emergence of a new generation of Palestinians.
Filthy bastards…BDS hard, banish Israeli businesses from your life, expel the Embassy and join the weekly solidarity actions.
Kitman at its finest there old chap. Are you, like the whitewashing western governments and media, claiming there is no combatants in that death toll?
https://honestreporting.com/skewed-statistics-a-look-at-the-numbers-behind-gazas-civilian-casualties/
Kitman at it’s finest there old chap. Are you, like the whitewashing western governments and media, claiming there is no combatants in that death toll? https://honestreporting.com/skewed-statistics-a-look-at-the-numbers-behind-gazas-civilian-casualties/
An experienced politician is our Deputy PM Winston Peters doing New Zealand proud whereas the Labour Government’s equivalent a colossal embarrassment.
“…our Deputy PM Winston Peters doing New Zealand proud” Bob the first
Peters has not done this country proud.
Bemoaning the loss of life on the lectern at the UN while cutting aid to starving people is the height of hypocrisy, that shames us all.
If Winston Peters had announced to the world that he was renewing this country’s aid to UNWRA in spite of Israel’s allegations, that would have done this country proud. It would have taken courage and demonstrated our independence.
Peters speech must rank as one of the most disgraceful hypocritic speeches in the history of the UN. And that is saying something.
A comment at Moon of Alabama –
There is a very interesting conversation between Pepe Escobar and Kevork Almassian of Syriana channel. It is wide ranging but it’s all worth the time. It’s the best I’ve seen in over 2 weeks. Save yourself some time; the video really starts at 6:00. I never watched Syriana before, but Kevork Almassian is very knowledgeable and a peer to Pepe, which made it enjoyable to watch.
Pepe Escobar: Eurasia vs. Natostan is the Defining Struggle of Our Time | Syriana Analysis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue9ZtVxBdb4
At 54:00, so nearly at the end, they agree that the Golan Heights offers “the best return on investment” for Iran’s retaliation. So I guess the Israeli radar station atop Mount Dov (Lebanese territory) would likely be the first target, reducing Israeli ISR in the Golan Heights. By not striking Occupied Palestine, the Iranians would avoid giving the Zionists any excuse for the hot war they desperately need.
Posted by: JessDTruth | Apr 12 2024 16:03 utc | 151