Te Pāti Māori calls for gov’t to insist on Israel-Gaza ceasefire

Te Pāti Māori has called on the government to expel the Israeli ambassador if Israel does not immediately implement a ceasefire in its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.

In a series of posts on social media, the party condemned Israel and Hamas for their actions during the conflict, who they say have breached international law.

In one of the social media posts, Te Pāti Māori’s co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer are “demanding” the government expel the Israeli ambassador. The Herald has sought comment from Israel’s embassy in Wellington.

“We condemn Hamas for murdering civilians and taking civilian hostages. We also condemn the retaliatory actions of the Israeli government. The indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, destroying hospitals and civilian apartment buildings, is unconscionable,” Te Pāti Māori wrote in another post.

“Targeting civilians is a breach of international law, as is collective punishment – there can be no justification for blocking civilian access to water, power and humanitarian aid.

They said Hamas must “immediately release hostages and work towards peace” and Israel “must end their violent onslaught in Gaza and allow international aid groups to help the Palestinian people”.

Te Pāti Māori also called out “Western countries” for being “willfully in denial” about what they said was Israel’s past aggression against Palestine.

“They have instituted an apartheid regime and have blockaded Gaza by land, air and sea,” Te Pāti Māori wrote.

“The genocidal rhetoric of Israeli ministers and officials is well-documented. Their attempts to dehumanise the indigenous peoples of Palestine must be resisted.

“Israel’s colonial occupation of Palestinian lands, engineered by the British Empire, has led to decades of pain, suffering and bloodshed. The international community must exert pressure to end the occupation, the blockade, and the continued confiscation of Palestinian land,” Te Pāti Māori claimed.

The caretaker Minister for Defence and Immigration Andrew Little also posted online today saying he met with Australian, American, British and Canadian counterparts to share concerns regarding the “terrorist attack by Hamas on [Israel]” and the relation in Gaza.

“[We] shared deep local concerns, [including from] Jewish and Muslim communities, [the] importance of feeling safe in real life and online, and [the] need for social cohesion,” Little wrote.

And caretaker Minister for Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta shared her thoughts on social media, specifically regarding the incident where a massive blast rocked a Gaza City hospital packed with wounded and other Palestinians seeking shelter.

“New Zealand condemns the targeting of innocent civilians, and remains steadfast that the protection of civilians must remain a critical priority, as must adherence to [international] humanitarian law,” Mahuta said.

Yesterday, Golriz Ghahraman, the Green Party’s foreign affairs and human rights spokeswoman, warned of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza and called on world leaders to stand against Israel’s military actions she has described as “crimes against humanity”.

“We condemn the targeting of civilians by any armed group in the strongest terms, no matter the context. Both Hamas and the Israeli Defence Force have a clear obligation to protect civilians from harm,” Ghahraman said.

“We call on Hamas to allow the safe and immediate release of all Israeli civilian hostages, without condition.

“While the attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians was unconscionable and constitutes the gravest war crimes, nothing justifies the indiscriminate retaliation upon the trapped civilian population in Gaza by the Israeli Defence Force.”

The director-general of security for the Australia Security Intelligence Organisation (AISO) also said politicians and communities “all have to be mindful of... language that inflames tension” as he warned of the potential for “spontaneous violence” elsewhere in the world during the ongoing conflict.

-NZME