MEDIAWATCH: Phil Goff righteous in claiming Genocide

Phil Goff continues to show a moral leadership against the appalling violence Israel is committing against the Palestinian civilian population…

Phil Goff: Israel’s actions now amount to genocide

For a long time, I hesitated to describe Israel’s intentions in Gaza as genocide. Genocide is a term I associated with the Nazi Holocaust in which 6,000,000 Jews were murdered. Over many years I have attended memorials to the Holocaust in the belief that we should never forget the lessons of history including the consequences of populist politicians demonising ethnic minorities for political purposes.

I am not comparing Israel’s actions in the Gaza with the Holocaust. However, Israel’s actions now clearly meet the definition of genocide. Article 2 of the Geneva Convention on Genocide defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Among other things it specifies the killing of members of groups, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a group and deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

Israel’s latest announcement to forcibly transfer 600,000 Palestinians in Gaza to an internment camp established in Rafah on Egypt’s border confirms Israel’s intent. The announcement was made by Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz, who said it could begin as soon as a 60-day ceasefire currently under negotiation came into effect.

Once in the camp, people would be unable to leave. The intent is that the whole of Gaza’s more than two million Palestinian people would ultimately be transferred to the zone. In language comparable to propaganda used by authoritarian regimes, the internment camp is being termed “a humanitarian city”. Amos Goldberg, historian of the Holocaust at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, described what was being proposed as “neither humanitarian nor a city”. It was placing people in “a concentration camp or transit camp”.

…everyone should feel a shiver down their spine at this grotesque ‘concentration camp’ idea Israel are embarking upon for the Palestinian people .

The echos of history are screaming at us!

hil Goff saying what we are all thinking but are too frightened to say for fear of being accused anti-semitic resets the debate in New Zealand.

You can’t eclipse his righteous and rational criticism of Israels disproportionate actions by trying to smear Goff as an anti-semite!

He makes valid and very reasonable criticism of what Israel’s actions amount to, regardless of Israel’s right to defend itself, a right remember they are using over a people they have occupied brutally.

Phil is providing real moral leadership here, when someone of his mana calls out Israel’s brutality and speaks for basic decency when so many are too fearful to, that deserves respect.

I supported him speaking truth to power over that Trump question in Chatham House, because Trump is an extremism that must be denounced.

Gaza demands our attention regardless of how uncomfortable the issue makes us.

No citizen of this planet can support killing civilians with the woeful malice of the IDF.

Shooting through human shields to kill Hamas is not a solution nor justification. It’s murder.

‘Who started it’ doesn’t justify what has happened and is occurring right now.

We in the West are complicit to enabling a war crime if we refuse to speak out.

Phil has the courage to speak out.

We should be grateful there are still those New Zealanders bold enough to demand action against the worst angels of our nature.

We can not remain silent any longer while Israel continues to butcher human beings.

 

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