New Zealand should call upon Hamas to refrain from rocket attacks on Israel. Such actions comprise a senseless provocation, which Israel uses to devastate Gaza's infrastructure, and for which Palestinians pay dearly through their lives. See: http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/nz-must-make-position-clear-israel-gaza-conflictKennedy Graham that is shameful. Not only did you imply that the conflict is the fault of Palestinian Resistance but you failed to make your statement with proper assessment of all the facts available. As stated by Noam Chomsky (et al) who recently returned from Gaza:
“…the chronology of events of the recent flare-up began on November 5, when an innocent, apparently mentally unfit, 20-year old man, Ahmad al-Nabaheen, was shot when he wandered close to the border. Medics had to wait for six hours to be permitted to pick him up and they suspect that he may have died because of that delay…then, on November 8, a 13-year-old boy playing football in front of his house was killed by fire from the IOF that had moved into Gazan territory with tanks as well as helicopters. The wounding of four Israeli soldiers at the border on November 10 was therefore already part of a chain of events where Gazan civilians had been killed, and not the triggering event”. See: http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/13031What about the Palestinians right to self-defence? Did you even mention that Israel don't have that right under international law? Again, from (*a previous statement made) Professor Noam Chomsky:
When Israel, in the occupied territories now, claim that they have to defend themselves, they are defending themselves in the sense that any military occupier has to defend itself against the population that they’re crushing...You can't defend yourself when you're militarily occupying somebody else's land. It's not defense. Call it what you like, it's not defense. See: http://www.mediaed.org/assets/products/117/transcript_117.pdf
(*Important note: It has been brought to my attention that I had previously misquoted Prof. Noam Chomsky by failing to verify the credibility of the source from which I quoted. For that, I sincerely apologise. Lesson learnt. I have now amended the above quote and provided a credible source. It must also be pointed out that the statement made by the Professor is not in relation to the current attack on Gaza but this particular quote comes from 2004 documentary Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land. See: http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/it-misquoting-noam-chomsky-gaza/)
For the Party whom many New Zealander's turn to for support for human rights, this is a massive fail. Your neutrality here is what Bishop Desmond Tutu refers to as support for the oppressor.
And what is this?
And what is this?
It is time for Fatah and Hamas to make a renewed effort at a consensus over the future of Palestine...their continuing divisions are blocking progress towards full statehood and an official role for Palestine in the Middle East. See: http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/nz-must-make-position-clear-israel-gaza-conflictAre you f*ing kidding? Lets not point the finger at Israel who breached the cease fire while Hamas were working on a long term peace agreement, instead we'll condemn the internal conflict? An account from Israeli Peace Activist Gershon Baskin:
Just hours before he was assassinated, the Hamas commander had received the draft of a long-term peace agreement with Israel, Baskin claimed. Having kept communication channels with Gaza open since the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, the activist was well informed about the state of the negotiations.
The powerful Hamas leader played a vital part in those talks, Baskin said, adding that Jabari even prevented a number of recent flare-ups, having realized that the fighting was not “beneficial” to Gaza. But the Israeli side did not want to form a lasting peace agreement with Hamas, Defense Minister Ehud Barak shelved the draft truce after a committee that was reviewing the proposal “decided not to decide”, the peace activist claimed.” See: http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/13029
The only political party to make a stand for Gaza so far is members of the Mana Party. I had the NZ Greens earmarked for my vote at the next election. This is a deal breaker.
For updates see: Harry Fear.TV at ustre.am/QLL5 (or follow him on Twitter @harryfear); Gaza TV News https://www.facebook.com/GazaTVNews?fref=ts (Palestinian); Haaretz News http://www.haaretz.com (Israeli); RT http://rt.com/news/today/ ; Al Jazeera English http://www.aljazeera.com/
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