Updated: this story has been updated to add context.
A coalition of Māori leaders has rejected Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer’s demand for the expulsion of the Israeli Ambassador to New Zealand amid the Gaza conflict.
The group comprises prominent individuals such as Rātana āpotoro rēhita Kereama Pene and Indigenous Coalition for Israel spokesperson Dr Sheree Trotter.
“I found that very disappointing because I don’t think they understand what we are facing here. Hamas is a radical Islamist organisation. It has, in its charter, it wants to annihilate Israel.”
On October 7 the Islamic militant group launched an unprecedented cross border attack, firing about 3,000 rockets and deploying hundreds of gunmen who indiscriminately attacked military and civilian targets including a music festival and a kibbutz.
More than 1,400 people, mostly civilians were killed and 250 others were taken hostage.
It was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
Israel immediately retaliated with concerted artillery and aerial bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which after two and a half weeks has killed 5,000 people, 60 percent of whom are women and children, according to the United Nations.
Rātana Church āpōtoro eēhita Kereama Pene says the situation is dire in Gaza.
“I am saddened for our Israeli people and what they suffered on October 7 but I am even more saddened by the cruelty to Palestine that’s gone beyond revenge.”
‘Milking the sympathy of the world’
“Israel now has a warmonger of a Prime Minister in Netanyahu. He doesn’t mind letting blood flow, and right now he is milking the sympathy of the world to crush Hamas.”
Ngarewa-Packer says her party has called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador if the killing of civilians in Gaza continues. They also called on Hamas and Israel to work together for peace.
“The violence. Their limbs are being ripped off, and the extent of the imbalance in this atrocity is just dehumanising.”
“We must always stand against the oppressor. Others have their whakaaro and kei te pai for them to justify that for themselves. We must do all we can to use our influence to appeal for peace.”
Trotter is also taking aim at the way coverage of the conflict is being portrayed on social media, while some legacy media outlets are quick to jump on reports of death in destruction in the Gaza Strip, in particular the bombing of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, which claimed a massive amount of life.
“What we saw was a news report that claimed that Israel had struck a hospital in Gaza, killing 500 people. That news report came out almost instantly; where did it come from? Well, it came from Hamas.”
“What actually happened in that instance was that it was a backfire from Islamic Jihad-fired rockets; they were firing into Israel.”