Gaza, and the realities you won’t see in mainstream media

ByJohn Minto

“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” Malcolm X

  1. That Israel had doubled its population of Palestinian prisoners to 10,000 over the last three weeks – this includes the mass incarceration of 4,000 Palestinians from Gaza who had work permits for Israel. Israel doesn’t muck around with a couple of hundred hostages – it takes them en masse in their thousands – incarcerated in army bases.
  2. The truth about Hamas. Israeli propaganda about Hamas is dominant in our mainstream media. For the past six years Hamas has accepted the existence of Israel based on 1967 borders – pretty much the same policy as the New Zealand government and the vast majority of countries in the world.

“Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine. Yet, it is the Zionists who constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project and illegal entity.”

This is no secret and was widely reported at the time but our mainstream media repeat Israeli lies ad nauseum and unchallenged. We repeatedly hear that “Hamas wants to kill all the Jews”, “Hamas wants to drive the Jews into the sea”. Israeli apologists Chris Bishop and Chris Trotter have both repeated these lies in the last couple of days.

3. Almost a complete absence of local Palestinian voices and those of Jewish supporters of the Palestinian struggle. Israeli voices dominate on TV, radio and in newspapers.

4. The maps which show Israel theft of Palestinian land, ethnic cleansing, illegal Israeli settlements and the mass of roadblocks and checkpoints which make Palestinian lives almost impossible.

5. The genocidal talk of Israel leaders which the Israeli military is putting into genocidal practice. In the last few days Israeli PM Netanyahu has invoked the Amaleks in the Old testament of the bible to tell Israel soldiers how they should treat Palestinians. Video here. The biblical reference he used says:

“Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass,” (1 Samuel 15:3). 

The Israeli military are taking him at his word. Netanyahu has a long history of genocidal incitement against Palestinians. He describes Palestinians with Israeli citizenship as an “existential threat to Israel” and says “the way to deal with Palestinians is to beat them up. Not once but repeatedly, beat them up so it hurts so badly, until its unbearable”.

Genocide always starts with words…

6. That the Palestinian people have the right to resist their coloniser Israel, including through armed struggle. This is enshrined in UN Resolution 2625, as “the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation by all available means”.

7. That Israel does NOT have the right to defend itself because it is the colonial occupier of Palestine – Israel has run a military occupation of the entire area of historic Palestine since 1967 and has no more right to defend itself than Russian troops occupying Ukraine or Nazi troops occupying France in the 1940s. Just as it is Ukrainian troops who have the right to armed struggle against their occupiers rather than Russian soldiers having the right to defend themselves, it is the Palestinian resistance who have the right to armed struggle against their occupiers, rather than Israeli and now US soldiers having the right to defend themselves.

In fact under the Fourth Geneva Convention an occupying military force actually has obligations to protect an occupied people – they are “protected persons” in the Convention.

(Note: Israel claims a right to defend its borders.  But Israel has never defined those borders.  The separation of Gaza and Israel is not a border.  It is a ceasefire line behind which Israel forced Palestinian refugees in 1948, and, despite their legal right to return, Israel has never allowed this.

Israel has no legal right to defend its occupation nor annex the land it has conquered.

Under international law defensive actions must be proportionate.  Israel does not even pretend this is the case.

Has anyone considered the right of Palestinians to defend themselves?  Just because Israel has prevented the creation of a Palestinian state, it then argues that without a state of Palestine to protect, Palestinians have no rights! Catch 22!)

8. An analysis of the October 7 attack on Israel and the constant reference to 1400 killed as though they were all civilians. There has been a huge amount of propaganda pouring out from Israel and the pro-Israel lobby here but no serious analysis which can separate fact from fiction including the numbers of IDF personnel killed and military installations attacked/destroyed. Haaretz newspaper in Israel has made a good start here but much more is needed.

9. Following on from the last point New Zealand must demand a swift investigation by the International Criminal Court into all war crimes committed in Israel/Gaza since October 7th – including the crimes of genocide and apartheid. The western world did this for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – now it must be done for the Israel/Gaza war.

10. That Israeli hostages who have been released say they have been well-treated after the initial violence. They weren’t driven into the sea. Meanwhile Israeli torture of Palestinian detainees is routine and continues unabated today – here also

11. Ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta under the cover of war. Israeli settlers from illegal Israel-only settlements on Palestinian land, with protection from the Israeli military, are attacking and ethnically cleansing Palestinians from small rural communities in Masafer Yatta.

12. Another Nakba is a very real possibility – including the occupied West Bank. Some references here and here.

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33 Comments

  2. The real question supporters of Israel in the West should be asking is how we can deconstruct the whole Zionist project without yet another holocaust?

    It is clear that the Israelis are incapable of living peacefully with the Arab world. And probably vice versa. When you are a mere 7 million surrounded by a billion hostile foes it should be obvious that whatever force you use is ultimately untenable. The only possible option for Israel is to retreat to 1948 borders and come to a political agreement beneficial to all parties. Can’t see that happening, I can predict the long term tragedy.

  3. Thanks John,
    An amazing excellent overview of the current situation in both Palestine and Aotearoa. The struggle is one. Our growing movement is quickly learning that the state and for-profit media is not on the side of truth or justice. We are building our own networks and strengthening our communities along the way. Kia kaha
    Maurice

  4. I would doubt that the 4000 Gaza residents with work permits in Israel being “incarcerate” there is meant as collective punishment – housing, power, food and safety.

    1. Isreal and Palestine has cut ties with strong intellectual and philosophical minds. We can try and get either one of them point by point but it’s intellectually stagnant. It’s brain rot. But whatever the average IQ of Palestinians or Isrealis truly is, it’s a lot higher than the average IQ of those defending each and every one of Bibis and or Hamas barbarism.

  5. There is no recognition of Israel from Hamas – Hamas back in 2017 signalled a willingness to accept an interim Palestine State within 1967 borders capital East Jerusalem and with return of refugees to their former property (the position of Arafat and the PA/PLO in the peace talks of 2000).

    “The new document, which Hamas says does not replace the charter, accepts the establishment of a Palestinian state within territories occupied by Israel in 1967 as a stage towards the “liberation” of all of historic Palestine west of the River Jordan.”

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39744551

  6. As per the ICC

    Jurisdictional Triggers

    Whether after or during the commission of alleged atrocity crimes, the ICC can only exercise jurisdiction over such crimes in one of three ways:

    Where a State Party refers the crimes to the Court (State Party Referral),
    Where the UN Security Council refers the crimes to the Court (UN Security Council Referral), or
    Where the ICC Prosecutor initiates a preliminary examination into the crimes (Propio Motu Investigation).

    https://how-the-icc-works.aba-icc.org/

    Given the US UNSC veto, it would only be via the ICC Prosecutor initiating a preliminary examination, but it would have to start with the murder of civilians at the dance would …

  7. As per 6 and 7

    Following the Oslo Accord 1993 and set up of the PA in 1994 for 5 years before final status (peace talks) 1999-2000. Of course no peace resulted, only a stalled/suspended peace process.

    The matter of the occupation, practices of the occupier and resistance to occupation etc, has been a matter for the UNGA since 1997 (given the failure of the UNSC in the matter).

    The UN process stuff.

    If there is an impasse on the UNSC there is the option to have a special session of the UNGA.

    What UNGA Res 377A says is here

    Reaffirming the importance of the exercise by the Security Council of its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and the duty of the permanent members to seek unanimity and to exercise restraint in the use of the veto, …

    Conscious that failure of the Security Council to discharge its responsibilities on behalf of all the Member States … does not relieve Member States of their obligations or the United Nations of its responsibility under the Charter to maintain international peace and security,

    Recognizing in particular that such failure does not deprive the General Assembly of its rights or relieve it of its responsibilities under the Charter in regard to the maintenance of international peace and security, …

    Resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_377

    This has happened 11 times since 1950.

    The 11th time was the invasion of Ukraine – Russia and a UNSC veto.

    The 10th began 1997 and resumed October 26 2023

    The tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly centers on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict: the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_emergency_special_session_of_the_United_Nations_General_Assembly

  8. Haaretz newspaper in Israel has made a good start here but much more is needed – the link goes to Grayzone.

    1. Read it and your Zionist brain might catch fire or explode SPC ….

      “October 7 testimonies reveal Israel’s military ‘shelling’ Israeli citizens with tanks, missiles” …..

      “Israel’s military received orders to shell Israeli homes and even their own bases as they were overwhelmed by Hamas militants on October 7. How many Israeli citizens said to have been “burned alive” were actually killed by friendly fire?

      Several new testimonies by Israeli witnesses to the October 7 Hamas surprise attack on southern Israel adds to growing evidence that the Israeli military killed its own citizens as they fought to neutralize Palestinian gunmen.”,,,,,”As David Sheen and Ali Abunimah reported in Electronic Intifada, Porat described “very, very heavy crossfire” and Israeli tank shelling, which led to many casualties among Israelis.

      While being held by the Hamas gunmen, Porat recalled, “They did not abuse us. We were treated very humanely… No one treated us violently.”

      She added, “The objective was to kidnap us to Gaza, not to murder us.” https://thegrayzone.com/2023/10/27/israels-military-shelled-burning-tanks-helicopters/

      There is a huge amount of Israel propaganda to justify the mass murder/war crimes against civilians/children in Gaza ….

      Israel Bombing Hospitals And Refugee Camps Is Fine With UK ( and NZ ) Politicians https://youtu.be/aoVW-RlZcYw

      1. Given I was capable of going to the link, why would Ivan the Kremlin parrot think I was also not able to read the report by the editor in chiefness?

      2. And I am sure your FSB comrades would be able to educate you about what happened.

        A three point plan – kill those at the music festival, take some back to Gaza and also occupy settlements and use Israeli civilians as human shields (to force hostage swap negotiations from a position of strength).

        That either worked, or the IDF was ordered to drive the gunman out of Israel via military action (in which Israeli civilians died).

        If the latter, well as a FSB PWO expert would say – it would be all in and it would not be good to be in the way.

        It’s definitely something for the UNGA – as per gathering No 10 – to be wary about.

        Such as offer UN intervention admin of Gaza and disarmament of Hamas in return for a cease-fire and fast.

        1. How come Zionist shills like SPC never make mention of the K-K-Kahanist extremists/terrorists that now are in Parliament and in power in Israel …

          These racist supremacist nutters were quite rightly called terrorists until recently,,, even in Israel ,,, and they have been let of the leash with more killing/murder,,, more ethnic cleansing/land stealing/pogroms ,,, more beatings/intimidation and terrorizing of Palestinians under their rule …

          SPC would rather wank on about Hama’s ,,,, while ‘Never Again’ becomes ‘it’s happening again’ under Netanyahu and his extremist Kahanist infested government …

          From 10 months ago …. ‘Springtime for Fascists In Israel: Far Right & Theocrats Take Power’ https://youtu.be/XkyP-oYh2ss

          From yesterday …. “There has always been a strain of Jewish fascism within the Zionist project. Now it has taken control of the Israeli state.” ….

          …”The decision to obliterate Gaza has long been the dream of Israel’s crypto-fascists, heirs of Kahane’s movement. These Jewish extremists, which make up the ruling coaltion government, are orchestrating the genocide in Gaza, where hundreds of Palestinians are dying daily. They champion the iconography and language of their homegrown fascism. Jewish identity and Jewish nationalism are the Zionist versions of blood and soil. Jewish supremacy is sanctified by God, as is the slaughter of the Palestinians, who Netanyahu compared to the Biblical Ammonites, massacred by the Israelites. Enemies — usually Muslims — slated for extinction are subhuman who embody evil. Violence and the threat of violence are the only forms of communication those outside the magical circle of Jewish nationalism understand. Millions of Muslims and Christians, including those with Israeli citizenship, are to be purged.

          A leaked 10-page document from the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence dated Oct. 13, 2023 recommends the forcible and permanent transfer of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

          It is a grave mistake not to take the blood curdling calls for the wholesale eradication and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians seriously. This rhetoric is not hyperbolic. It is a literal prescription. Netanyahu in a tweet, later removed, described the battle with Hamas as a “struggle between the children of light and the children of darkness, between humanity and the law of the jungle.”

          These Jewish fanatics have begun their version of the final solution to the Palestinian problem. They dropped 12,000 tons of explosives on Gaza in the first two weeks of assault to obliterate at least 45 percent of Gaza’s housing units, according to the U.N.’s humanitarian office. They have no intention of being detoured, even by Washington” …. https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-final-solution-for-the-palestinians

          I’m surprised (not) that you spend so much time and energy sticking up for such a Israel SPC ….

  9. Let’s try and complicate things as much as possible shall we. We can justify it all with peculiar and/or recurring historical examples, and as many incidents of whataboutisms we can find. We’re exceptional after all, and especially me who iss is technically a Jew by virtue of having maternal ancestry with names such as Pentecost.
    I have been trying to tell you all just how bloody gorjiss I am, but none of use seem to want to know – not even Andrew Kingston’s mate.

    So pick a religion and ‘ism’, and as you do, forget about the opium of the people or other politically-economuk considerations (‘coa we’re ALL above that crap on account of our being exceptional).
    We’re so so so more sophusticated and better than the other youse.
    Go on! I dare youse

    – Catholicism = good. Really good, deserving of its nation state. Let’s call it Rome. Sin all you like, so long as you show up once week to say a few Hail Mary’s, and then on yer bike till next week. Lapsed Catholics welcome. If things get too bad, we’ll shunt you off to some Pacific atoll to get on with your lives and pretend nothing happened.

    – Judaism = good! Exceptional in fact. The chosen people. Better than Miks. Rag Heads of all denominations, except bald-patch skull caps, Budhists, Christians, Tamakists and Rosicrucians. Absolutely due an exclusive. religious nation-state. We’ll cll it Israel, AND equip it with weaponry for defensive only purposes, and let it control the world’s economy. Truly exceptional.

    – Sikhism = Caution Will Robinson. If we’re not careful, the .0000001% calling for a Khalistan will overrun us all. And then where would we be? Next thing you know they’ll be after the Jews, the Muslims, the Christians, the Hindus, the Buddhists, and by Christ just about every religious ‘ism’ you can think of. And where the hell are we going to create their nation-state? Somewhere around Kangra/Dharamshala maybe?

    – The Anglicans = Good. Thoroughly good and decent people – particularly because their clergy have proven themselves to be less into little boys in colonial outposts than their Mik counterparts. Nation-state England. And don’t you forget it even if its Head of State is busy running around making apologies on the African continent. They’re so decent, never will they commit adultery, sexually abuse offspring, or misrepresent their virtuous endeavours. They’ve got Kings and Queens to prove it

    – Muslims (aka rag heads) = bad, very bad, dangerous. Bad, bad. bad! Islamic State = very very very bad.
    Unlike the Miks, the Anglicans, the Jews, the Tamaki’s, and every other religiously chosen sect, they LIE through their teeth. And where on the globe would we put the buggers anyway? Somewhere in Indonesia maybe? The Muddle East? We really need to ensure they come nowhere NEAR our other religious states.

    Pick a Religion or ‘ism’. you exceptional clevernesses when you’re done through transitioning and preening yourselves and tearing yourselves away from 7 Sharp or the Projeck.
    Seriously, I’ll defer to your superior intellects (Trotter and Andrew Kingston’s little bum chum included).

  10. Maybe the MSM might get around to reporting this …

    600,000 have died in Syria. And it has flared up again.

    A nurse was killed and a doctor and driver were seriously injured on Monday as a result of a guided rocket attack by Syrian regime forces on a car carrying a medical team on a road connecting Benish and Taftanaz in the Idlib countryside.

    Since the beginning of October, cities and towns in northwestern Syria have witnessed a military escalation by Syrian government forces and Russia, the most intense in nearly three years. Over 65 civilians, including more than 20 children and 10 women, have been killed and more than 265 civilians, including 80 children and 45 women, have been injured, according to a Syrian volunteer emergency rescue group.

    “Our teams responded to over 250 attacks on 70 cities and towns in northwestern Syria until October 28th,” said Ahmed Yazji, a board member of Syria Civil Defence.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/31/northwest-syria-witnesses-most-intense-military-escalation-in-three-years

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