Is the GCSB helping Israel commit war crimes?
Can we first all appreciate the joy that it is Mick Hall who was kicked out of RNZ during a red under the bed journalism hysterical smear campaign who is breaking this…
Spy watchdog considers probe into NZ possibly aiding Israel’s assault on Gaza
Lawyers urge the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security to look into activities of spy agencies and whether their intelligence is reaching Israel via the United States.
New Zealand’s spy agencies’ watchdog is considering a request to probe whether the country’s spooks have been aiding Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza.
Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Brendan Horsley on Thursday, September 12, confirmed he was considering the request by a group of lawyers.
In a letter, Associate Professor Treasa Dunworth, Dr Max Harris, and Vinod Bal warned it was plausible intelligence gathered by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) was being utilised to help Israel prosecute its 11-month siege and bombing of the occupied coastal strip.
They said the intelligence could be being passed via the United States. “If that is so, then we believe that this intelligence might be supporting the commission of international crimes in the ongoing conflicts between Israel and Palestine, and Israel and Hamas,” their letter said.
Intelligence-sharing activities with Western intelligence partners that aided Israeli actions in Gaza could be a breach of New Zealand law “as well as standards of propriety”, they added.
Attaching a 38-page document to support their call, they said an inquiry was desirable and necessary, as it could bolster confidence in the spy agencies and democratic checks and balances relating to their work.
…and it’s not just helping the IDF commit war crimes, it’s also what we are doing in Yemen…
They also said questions hung over spy agencies if they were helping a US-led military operation targeting Yemen in an attempt to end the Houthi naval blockade in the Red Sea. At least six members of New Zealand Defence Force have been involved in operation since January.
The Houthi blockade was launched in an attempt to halt Israel’s attack on Gaza and has involved dozens of cargo vessels being targeted with drones and cruise missiles. The Western counter operation, which has so far killed significant numbers of civilians in bombing raids in Yemen, was partly directed at “removing barriers to Israel’s ongoing actions in Gaza,” the lawyers said.
…only the Greens have taken this seriously…
Potential intelligence sharing with Israel must be investigated – Greens
Concerns have been raised that our spy arrangements may mean that intelligence is being shared between Aotearoa and Israel. An urgent inquiry must be launched in response to this.
“Any potential connection to Israel’s genocidal regime must be investigated. Aotearoa cannot afford to have any links to the crimes against humanity being committed in Gaza,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Teanau Tuiono.
“As a nation, we have a proud and enduring history of standing up for peace and fighting for justice where injustices lie.
“Any possibility of us supporting Israel’s illegal military operations must be investigated. Any connection to the atrocities being committed by Israel would represent a complete betrayal of the values and moral standards this country is grounded in.
“Associate Professor Treasa Dunworth, Dr Max Harris and Vinod Bal were incredibly clear in their letter to the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security: There is cause for concern that our intelligence is being gathered in a way which may ultimately see it being shared with Israel.
“We have a duty to ensure that our country does not assist in the perpetration of international crimes.
“Our involvement in this conflict would see us fall onto the wrong side of history and erode any future credibility we have when it comes to advocating for human rights on the international stage. We cannot call for other countries to respect the international rule of law if we are party to breaches of it ourselves.
“This matter must be urgently investigated.
“Day after day, the death toll continues to rise. We need to be doing all we can to help build a pathway towards peace while ensuring we are in no way, shape or form contributing to this devastating conflict,” says Teanau Tuiono.
…folks, this is not a Right wing or Left wing issue, we SHOULD NOT be helping in the targeting of war crimes!
It is incumbent and urgent upon us to immediately review this to see if we are in fact helping commit war crimes!
What the fuck is going on?
It is not good enough to gloss over this.
Our military and Intelligence apparatus should not be open to Israel to use in bombing and killing civilians!
We may not be pulling the trigger, but we are aiming the gun!
This demands urgent attention because the violence is ongoing.
These are serious people asking hard questions and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security Brendan Horsley has a legal obligation to ensure whatever intelligence is being shared is not being used to kill civilians!
That he is merely mulling the issue up is concerning enough, there has to be an immediate political response here that demands he take it seriously and urgently review the current situation and what ever has been already passed along!
The Political representatives of NZ must urgently add their voices to demand the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security does his job and honestly tell New Zealanders we are not enabling war crimes!
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My life would be meaningless if they weren’t.
Israel definitely adopting the “Scorched Earth Policy”.
The Jewish state of Israel is a real democracy – not one of the Islamic countries calling for its extinction is in any way democratic. When Nz troops were involved during the First World War in the three battles for Gaza the local population of Gaza was about 20000 most of whom left when the Turks took over the mosques for arms storage . Women in Gaza or any Muslim controlled county have minimal rights apart from bearing children.. Islam uses the female womb as a weapon to produce the next generation fighters. If you live by the Koran you know it calls for the killing of all unbelievers.
Hence the Muslim world population approaching 2 billion people average iq barely above retarded level.
Interesting a worldwide Jewish population of 50 + million can produce 215 Nobel prize winners (about 22%of all prizes) – the Muslim world of 2 billion produced 13 prize winners 8,of them for peace !!
Democratic countries will have to confront and destroy Islam at some point in the future , as they did in the 14 th century, and roll back their disgusting cultural beliefs.
Thank goodness the Koran is the only holy book we Westerners tend to critique, not to mention our penchant for critiquing everyone else but ourselves. Because in our democratic world that produces such stellar god-fearing leaders such as G W Bush, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the quality of leader we choose to represent us speaks for itself. We need to destroy other people you say, yep, you are speaking the language of democracy for sure and without doubt we have chosen and will continue to choose the right type of leader who fulfills out democratic desires. Gotta love democracy, gotta love our religious values, gotta love our tolerance, gotta love our intelligence especially since we pick the right people to fulfill all of these beliefs.
If Palestinian Arab workers and farmers are to join hands with their Jewish brothers and sisters to find a way to break the seemingly endless cycle of violence in their shared region, they must repudiate the Jew-hatred promulgated by Hamas and other reactionary Islamist groups. Equally, if Jewish workers are to start down that road, they must reject the Islamophobia and Jewish chauvinism displayed by Artemis in this comment. Hopefully, there are signs that ordinary working people on both sides are prepared to do that.
Does a Bear shit in the woods and will Israel cause a Blitzkrieg on the first years anniversary of October 7th?
I’m predicting it will be the biggest massacre of Palestinians over the last year, they just cant help themselves.