The Jackal: Genocide

Showing posts with label Genocide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genocide. Show all posts

14 Aug 2025

A Parliamentary Travesty: Brownlee's Authoritarian Overreach

The spectacle that unfolded in Parliament this week, Where Gerry Brownleee, the Speaker of the House, bumbled his way through Standing Orders, represents nothing short of a constitutional crisis wrapped in the Speaker's robes.

Chlöe Swarbrick, the Green Party co-leader, was unceremoniously booted from the House for the remainder of the week for the grievous sin of suggesting that "If we find six of 68 Government MPs with a spine, we can stand on the right side of history" regarding Israel's ongoing war crimes in Gaza.

This isn't just parliamentary theatre; it's a damning indictment of Speaker Gerry Brownlee's authoritarian tendencies and his fundamental inability to apply standing orders with even a semblance of consistency or fairness.
 

Yesterday, 1 News reported:


Swarbrick kicked out of Parliament after refusing to apologise

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has again been kicked out of Parliament after refusing to apologise for a comment she made yesterday in the House.

Yesterday, Swarbrick was kicked out of Parliament during an urgent debate on recognising Palestine as a state.

The debate was called after Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the Government was weighing up its position on the issue.

In recent times, the UK, Canada, France and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state.

During the debate on Tuesday, Swarbrick said MPs could "grow a spine" and support her bill which would impose sanctions on Israel.

In response, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee said: "That is completely unacceptable to make that statement. Withdraw it and apologise." When she refused, Brownlee said she would have to leave for the rest of the week and removed her from the House.

 

The hypocrisy here is so brazen it would be laughable if it weren't so deeply concerning for our democratic institutions. When John Key famously roared at the entire Labour Party to "get some guts" during his tenure as Prime Minister, did we see Brownlee, then in opposition, calling for suspensions? Quite the contrary. Brownlee himself applauded most vociferously, treating Key's insulting outburst with admiration. Brownlee was similarly accepting of Brooke van Velden's use of the word "Cunt". However, when Swarbrick uses less insulting language, calling for government MPs to show some "spine," suddenly we're dealing with language that's "completely unacceptable" to parliamentary standards.

This selective enforcement isn't just inconsistent, it reveals Brownlee's fundamental bias as Speaker, a bias that has been exhibited throughout his tenure. As Speaker of the House, his role demands impartiality, yet time and again we witness him wielding the Speaker's power like a partisan cudgel, particularly against opposition MPs who dare challenge the government's moral failings.

Brownlee's authoritarian streak isn't new. Earlier this year, his handling of the Te Pāti Māori MPs who performed a haka in Parliament demonstrated the same heavy-handed approach. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke and co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi have been hit with sanctions for what was fundamentally an expression of cultural protest against legislation threatening Treaty rights.

Rather than recognising the profound cultural and constitutional significance of their protest, Brownlee chose punishment over understanding. The parallel is striking: whether it's Māori MPs defending indigenous rights or Swarbrick calling for international law enforcement, Brownlee consistently sides with unfair authoritarian silencing over justified democratic debate.

Most concerning is Brownlee's apparent disregard for parliamentary procedure itself. Standing Orders clearly state that following an MP's suspension for one sitting day, "the matter is at an end." Yet Brownlee has attempted to extend Swarbrick's punishment across an entire week, a ruling that fundamentally contradicts established parliamentary practice.

This isn't just procedural pedantry; it's the difference between rule of law and rule of the whims of a deluded right winger who doesn't understand the correct proceedures that govern his position, or even remember what he himself has said in the past.

In 2008, Gerry Brownlee accused Michael Cullen of not having a backbone. So how can he now say in all honesty that a Green's MP essentially saying the same thing is misconduct?

Here is Brownlee using the exact same language:

Does he agree with Trevor Mallard when he stated in the same speech: “any decent leader would have had the backbone to turn round, go the other way, and not greet Tame Iti,”; if so, does his trio of hongi with Tame Iti last week indicate that he is not a decent leader and has no backbone, because he did not take the strongly worded advice of his wise colleague?

 

When Speakers start making things up as they go along, particularly to silence opposition voices, we're witnessing the erosion of democratic norms that took centuries to establish.

This pattern of believing rules don't apply to him isn't new territory for Brownlee. In 2014, while serving as Transport Minister, he offered to resign after deliberately bypassing airport security in Christchurch, leading two staff members through an exit door to avoid security screening because he was apparently running late for a flight. The Civil Aviation Authority investigation revealed that the dishonest Brownlee had "plenty of time" to go through security correctly and still catch the flight, as a review of screening times that day showed the process took less than two minutes per passenger.

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by this display of authoritarian overreach from a man whose ministerial career is marked by catastrophic failure. As Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, Brownlee presided over one of the most bungled reconstruction efforts in New Zealand's history. The Christchurch rebuild became synonymous with delay, cost overruns, and bureaucratic incompetence under his watch. Communities waited years for basic infrastructure while Brownlee's ministry shuffled papers and shifted blame.

Then there's Brownlee's budget bungling, most notably his increases to the petrol excise duty and user charges because Bill English couldn't balance the budget properly. Not to mention Brownlee's press secretary, Nick Bryant, involvement in Cameron Slater's attack campaign against a public servant which resulted in death threats. Throughout his parliamentary career, Brownlee has demonstrated a particular talent for inflammatory and often racist rhetoric and campaigning when it suits him, yet now he demands standards of discourse he never applied to himself. His history of intemperate outbursts and partisan attacks sits poorly with his current position as supposed guardian of parliamentary decorum.

Swarbrick's comments weren't frivolous parliamentary point-scoring, they addressed New Zealand's immoral position regarding Israel's documented war crimes in Gaza. International courts have established clear evidence of violations of international humanitarian law, but our government appears to be paralysed by political calculation rather than moral clarity.

When an MP calls for basic adherence to international law and human rights obligations, the appropriate response isn't suspension, particularly in a country that prides itself for it's leadership on democratic principles. Instead, we have a Speaker who treats legitimate criticism of government inaction as grounds for silencing robust debate. This isn't protecting parliamentary standards; it's protecting the government from accountability.

Brownlee's ruling represents a dangerous precedent where Speakers can essentially manufacture extended punishments beyond established procedures. If this stands unchallenged, we're accepting that parliamentary rules can be bent to suit political convenience, a path that leads inevitably to the erosion of democratic safeguards. The real travesty isn't Swarbrick's call for moral courage; it's Brownlee's attempt to silence it through procedural authoritarianism.

Published by the Jackal



4 Aug 2025

Israel Continues to Lie About Gaza’s Starvation Crisis

In the grim shadow of Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe, a sinister disinformation campaign, orchestrated by Israel and amplified by right-wing politicians and propagandists, seeks to obscure the deliberate starvation of Palestinians. This grotesque manipulation of truth, peddled by figures like New Zealand’s Cameron Slater, Juliet Moses, Ani O’Brien, and Rachel Stewart, attempts to whitewash a genocide by blaming Palestinian suffering on medical conditions or external failures, while Israel’s blockade strangles even more innocent civilians to death.
 

On Monday, the Las Angeles Times reported:

Israelis rebuff Trump, insisting images of starvation in Gaza are ‘fake’

The Israeli government is defending a top military officer who dismissed images of starving Palestinians as “fake” over the weekend, despite President Trump stating Monday that he believes the pictures are real.

The rupture comes amid growing international pressure on Israel over dire circumstances in the Palestinian enclave, and as two Israeli human rights groups, in a first, characterized the Israeli operation in Gaza as a genocide.


In recent days, photographs and videos of desperate Palestinians crowding aid stations and of emaciated children have spread across the globe. Even so, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Sunday that “there is no starvation in Gaza.”

And on Sunday, during a press tour of a small area of the Gaza Strip, Effie Defrin, a commanding officer and Israel Defense Forces spokesman, told reporters that visuals emerging from Gaza were “breaking our hearts.”

“But most of it is fake, fake distributed by Hamas,” Defrin said. “It’s a campaign. Unfortunately, some of the Israeli media, including some of the international media, is distributing this information and those false pictures, and creating an image of starvation which doesn’t exist.”



Much of the mainstream media, too often weak in the face of Israel's propaganda machine, has often been complicit in amplifying these lies, failing to challenge the narrative with the rigour it demands. As the United Nations, aid agencies, and even starving Hamas prisoners bear witness to this engineered famine, the world must confront the moral bankruptcy of those who excuse Israel’s actions while children waste away in front of our eyes.

Israel’s campaign hinges on a cruel distortion: that images of emaciated Palestinian children, like one-year-old Muhammad Zakariya al-Matouq, reflect pre-existing medical conditions rather than widespread starvation. Right-wing propagandists in New Zealand have eagerly echoed this disgusting lie. Rachel Stewart, in a venomous X post on 1 August 2025, criticised Stuff for supposedly using a photo of a “malnourished” Gazan child, falsely claiming the New York Times retracted its use due to the child’s cerebral palsy.

Juliet Moses, Cameron Slater, and Ani O’Brien have similarly been cited for pushing this narrative, alleging media exaggerate starvation to vilify Israel. These claims, rooted in selective truths, ignore the undeniable: Muhammad’s condition worsened due to Israel’s blockade, which denies food and medical supplies, as confirmed by his doctor. This tactic, highlighting medical issues to dismiss intentional starvation, is a hallmark of Israel’s “Pallywood” propaganda, designed to dehumanise Palestinians and deflect blame.

The mainstream media’s susceptibility to this disinformation is a scandal in itself. Outlets like the New York Times and BBC have faced criticism for initially omitting medical context in stories about children like Muhammad, but their clarifications, such as the Times’ note on 23 July 2025, affirm that starvation compounds these conditions. However, when propagandists like Moses and Slater seize on these oversights, they distort the narrative to suggest no famine exists, a claim contradicted by overwhelming documented evidence.
 

On 23 July, PBS reported:

More than 100 aid groups sign open letter warning of starvation in Gaza

Experts say Gaza is at risk of famine because of Israel’s blockade and offensive, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The head of the World Health Organization said Gaza is “witnessing a deadly surge” in malnutrition and related diseases, and that a “large proportion” of its roughly 2 million people are starving.

Israel says it allows enough aid into the territory and faults delivery efforts by U.N. agencies, which say they are hindered by Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of security.

...

In an open letter, 115 organizations, including major international aid groups such as Doctors Without Borders, Mercy Corps and Save the Children, said they were watching their own colleagues, as well as the Palestinians they serve, “waste away.”

The letter blamed Israeli restrictions and “massacres” at aid distribution points. Witnesses, health officials and the U.N. human rights office say Israeli forces have repeatedly fired on crowds seeking aid, killing more than 1,000 people. Israel says its forces have only fired warning shots and that the death toll is exaggerated.

The Israeli government’s “restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death,” the letter said.


The World Health Organisation reported 63 malnutrition deaths in July alone, and one in five children under five facing acute malnutrition. But the true picture will be much worse. The media’s failure to consistently challenge Israel's disinformation about the cause of these deaths and mass starvation, often due to fear of being labelled antisemitic, allows these disgusting lies to fester, undermining the truth of Gaza’s man-made famine.


Israel’s blockade, intensified from March through to July 2025, slashed aid to a trickle, compared to the 500–600 trucks required each and every day, as per UN estimates. The Gaza Health Ministry reports 127 hunger-related deaths since October 2023, including 85 children. Of course, given the difficulties in locating people who have starved to death in a "war" zone, this will be an underestimation. Even Hamas prisoners, held in dire conditions, are starving, not because of Hamas’s actions, but because Israel’s restrictions ensure there’s not enough food to go around.

The claim that Hamas diverts aid lacks evidence; USAID and UN reviews, who have no reason to counter the Israeli narrative other than to tell the truth, found no systematic theft. Yet, Israeli officials like David Mencer and Benjamin Netanyahu shamelessly blame Hamas and the UN, accusing them of engineering shortages while ignoring Israel’s role in blocking aid. This is a grotesque inversion of responsibility: Israel, not Hamas, is starving both civilians and prisoners. They are doing this with the help of many western leaders, including Donald Trump, whose propaganda concerning the genocide is often just as dishonest as Israel's. The atrocities we are witnessing would end tomorrow if Western leaders truly wanted them to.


The disinformation campaign also targets the United Nations and surrounding countries, falsely claiming they fail to distribute aid. Israel’s ambassador Danny Danon accused UN aid chief Tom Fletcher of colluding with Hamas, offering no evidence at all to back up his false claims. COGAT, Israel’s aid coordination body, claimed 4,500 trucks entered since May 2025, but the UN notes these are insufficient and face military restrictions, rendering distribution nearly impossible.

Airdrops, lauded by Israel and the US as major humanitarian gestures, are a farcical distraction. UNRWA’s Philippe Lazzarini called them “expensive, inefficient, and dangerous,” with many landing in the sea or without parachutes, killing desperate civilians. The US and Israel’s Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supposedly replacing UN systems, has been a complete disaster, with over 1,000 Palestinians killed at its militarised aid sites so far. Many of these civilians are being murdered by Western soldiers who then return to their home countries without any consequences.

The United States and Israel's theatrics of providing aid mask the reality that aid volumes are a fraction of what’s required. The World Food Programme warns of famine-like conditions for 470,000 people, making a joke of the promise that this type of genocide would never happen again.

The right-wing's lack of action to curb this crisis, enabled by a disinformation campaign and amplified by discredited muckrakers like Slater, Moses, O’Brien, and Stewart, isn't just dishonest, it’s complicity in genocide. The blood of these starved children is on their hands. By parroting Israel’s lies, they obscure a crisis where women and children die daily from hunger, their bodies “eating themselves” in a slow, cruel death, as Dr Omar Abdel-Mannan described. The UN’s Michael Fakhri calls this “the fastest starvation campaign in modern history,” preventable yet enabled by international inaction and impunity.

Two Israeli human rights groups, B’tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, have labelled it a genocide, citing deliberate starvation tactics, which is clearly another war crime perpetrated by Israel and its accomplices. The mainstream media must reject their propaganda, amplify the voices of the besieged and starving, and hold Israel accountable. New Zealanders, too, must see through the lies of local propagandists and demand justice for Gaza’s rightful inhabitants. Because if we don't stop this type of genocide, aided and abetted by right-wing propagandists, it will continue into other countries, perhaps even your own.

Published by the Jackal



10 Jul 2025

The Dust of Israel's Genocide Settles Across the World

In the annals of human cruelty, the Holocaust stands as a grotesque monument to industrialised slaughter. Hitler’s regime exterminated six million Jews, alongside Romani people, disabled individuals, political dissidents, LGBTQ+ communities, and intellectuals, a genocide shrouded in secrecy, its full horrors only grasped after the German's were defeated.

Fast forward to present day, as Israel’s war machine grinds Gaza into dust, we witness a genocide not hidden in the shadows, but broadcast in real-time, livestreamed, tweeted, TikToked, into our living rooms. 

In the 1940's, after WW2 had begun, the world knew little of the Nazi's extermination camps; today, we watch Palestinian children being burnt alive by white phosphorus, entire families buried under rubble, mass graves and starving civilians shot while scrambling for poisoned flour. And yet, Western governments, complicit in arms and rhetoric, look on and do nothing to bring an end to this modern day atrocity.

The Nazi genocide unfolded largely beyond global scrutiny. Western nations, even those at war with Germany, possessed only fragmented intelligence on Hitler's extermination camps. The 1942 Riegner Telegram, confirming Hitler’s plan to annihilate European Jewry, was met with disbelief. 

Newspapers buried reports; governments hesitated to act. By 1945, when Allied forces liberated Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz, the scale of mechanised murder stunned the world, but by then, it was too late. This historical blindness is often invoked to excuse inaction. "We didn’t know," they said. But today, there is no such defence. 

 

On Monday, the Guardian reported:

Israeli plan for forced transfer of Gaza’s population ‘a blueprint for crimes against humanity’

Military ordered to turn ruins of Rafah into ‘humanitarian city’ but experts call the plan an internment camp for all Palestinians in Gaza

Israel’s defence minister has laid out plans to force all Palestinians in Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah, in a scheme that legal experts and academics described as a blueprint for crimes against humanity.

Israel Katz said he has ordered Israel’s military to prepare for establishing a camp, which he called a “humanitarian city”, on the ruins of the city of Rafah, Haaretz newspaper reported.

Palestinians would go through “security screening” before entering, and once inside would not be allowed to leave, Katz said at a briefing for Israeli journalists.

Israeli forces would control the perimeter of the site and initially “move” 600,000 Palestinians into the area – mostly people currently displaced in the al-Mawasi area.

Eventually the entire population of Gaza would be housed there, and Israel aims to implement “the emigration plan, which will happen”, Haaretz quoted him saying.

Since Donald Trump suggested at the start of the year that large numbers of Palestinians should leave Gaza to “clean out” the strip, Israeli politicians including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have enthusiastically promoted forced deportation, often presenting it as a US project.


Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed at least 57,645 Palestinians according to official counts, though the true death toll is catastrophically higher. With over 10,000 bodies still buried under rubble and thousands more missing, independent analysts estimate the actual fatalities likely exceed 150,000, a figure that includes entire families erased from civil records. 

Among the dead are more than 20,000 children, many burned alive by US-supplied white phosphorus or crushed in their homes by 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. Hospitals, designated as shelters, have been systematically targeted and now serve as mass graves.

The UN reports that 90% of Gaza's children now suffer acute food deprivation, with Israeli snipers routinely shooting those who approach aid trucks. Unlike the Holocaust, this extermination campaign unfolds before our eyes, journalists document mothers cradling their children's severed limbs, teenagers bleeding to death in gutted streets, and bulldozers piling corpses into anonymous trenches. 

These images flood social media in real time, yet Western leaders like Donald Trump, Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz respond by accelerating weapons shipments to Israel.

The United States, Britain, Germany, and other allies have armed Israel to the teeth. Since October 2023, the Biden and Trump administrations fast-tracked over 100 weapons transfers, including 2,000-pound bunker busters that flatten entire blocks. British-supplied fighter jets bomb UN shelters. German-made tanks crush ambulances. This is not self-defence; it is extermination. 

Worse still is the legal cover provided. The US vetoed multiple UN ceasefire resolutions. The ICC’s warrant for Netanyahu was met with outrage from Washington and London, the same capitals that once vowed "Never Again." The hypocrisy is staggering: Putin is a war criminal for Ukraine, but Netanyahu gets a blank cheque.

Some still parrot the fiction of Israeli "self-defence." But no nation has a right to "defend" itself by starving two million people to death, half of them children. No war justifies bombing hospitals, shooting paramedics, or executing entire families. 

The International Court of Justice has ruled Israel’s actions a genocide, a finding largely ignored by Western media who still often try to justify Israel's actions by framing Palestinian deaths as "collateral damage." This is not war. It is slaughter. And it is funded by our taxes. 

 

"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." ~ Albert Einstein


What Must Be Done

Silence is complicity. The Holocaust was allowed to happen because the world turned away. Today, we cannot claim ignorance—only cowardice.

1. Boycott & Divest: Pressure companies arming Israel (Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Elbit). Demand pension funds divest from genocide.
2. Streets, Not Petitions: Protests must escalate. General strikes. Blockades. The anti-apartheid movement didn’t win with polite letters.
3. Vote Out the Complicit: Donald Trump, Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz all are complicit. Support candidates who call for an arms embargo.
4. Amplify Palestinian Voices: Share their testimony. Challenge media bias. The truth is their only weapon.

History will judge this moment harshly. When the next generation asks, "What did you do?" What will you be able to say?

Published by the Jackal



3 Jul 2025

Bob Vylan Censored While Gaza Genocide Ignored

The recent blacklisting of British punk-rap group Bob Vylan, following their provocative chant of “death, death to the IDF” at Glastonbury 2025, exposes a chilling double standard in Western governance.

The swift and heavy-handed response, launching a criminal investigation, revoking the band’s visas, cancelling future concerts, and seeing them dropped by their agency, stands in stark contrast to western government's silence on Israel’s ongoing atrocities in Gaza. 

This is not merely an attack on free speech; it's a grotesque display of selective outrage, where dissent against a genocidal military machine is punished while mass starvation and slaughter is ignored.


Yesterday, The Irish News reported:

Police investigate Bob Vylan over ‘death to IDF’ call at gig before Glastonbury

Punk duo Bob Vylan are being investigated by police after allegedly calling for “death to every single IDF soldier out there” at a concert one month before Glastonbury.

The pair are already being investigated by Avon and Somerset Police over their appearance at Worthy Farm when rapper Bobby Vylan led crowds in chants of “death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)” during their livestreamed performance at the Somerset music festival last weekend.

In video footage, Bobby Vylan, whose real name is reportedly Pascal Robinson-Foster, 34, appears to be at Alexandra Palace telling crowds: “Death to every single IDF soldier out there as an agent of terror for Israel. Death to the IDF.”


Bob Vylan’s chant, raw and unfiltered, was a cry against the Israel Defense Forces’ documented brutality, which has seen over 56,000 Palestinians killed since October 2023, many of them women and children. The United Nations has described Israel’s actions as consistent with genocide, yet Western governments continue to arm and defend Israel while condemning artists who dare speak truth to power. 

Bobby Vylan’s words, far from inciting violence, we're a justified response to a military force that has shot unarmed Palestinians seeking food aid, with soldiers admitting to using “unnecessary lethal force” against civilians. This is the real scandal, not a musician’s chant, but the West’s complicity in a humanitarian catastrophe.

In New Zealand, the hypocrisy is equally glaring. Free speech advocates like David Seymour, who once championed unfettered expression, have been conspicuously silent or contradictory when it comes to Bob Vylan’s case. Seymour’s libertarian rhetoric falters when the speech challenges Israel, revealing a selective commitment to free expression that bends to geopolitical convenience. 

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has sat on his hands over what is clearly a terrorist group, the IDF, as New Zealand quietly removed the Proud Boys from its terrorist list, despite their history of violent assaults, including the January 6 Capitol riot in the US, which caused the deaths of nine people, including police officers.


Today, RNZ reported:

It's no longer illegal to be a proudly violent Proud Boy

Then, in 2022, the New Zealand government took a bold stance, listing the Proud Boys as a terrorist entity, a move that made global headlines and was praised by anti-extremism campaigners.

"It was big news... and what it would mean in practice was that anyone who supported or funded or participated in Proud Boys actions here was committing a criminal act, imprisonable by up to seven years, so it was a big deal," Penfold says.

But then last month, without any fanfare, the group slipped off the list of designated terrorist entities.

The only statement on the move was released on the website of the New Zealand Gazette - the newspaper of the government. Penfold describes it as bland and brief.

"The designation had been made under the Terrorism Suppression Act... and every three years that designation will expire unless the prime minister seeks to extend it."

When asked why he didn't extend it, a response to Penfold from the prime minister's office "didn't specifically answer that", but she was told "the Proud Boys remain on the radar... and if any new information comes to hand, they will consider it."

"Those who monitor terrorist organisations and far-right extremist groups... are really concerned at this step that the designation has been allowed to lapse", Penfold says.

So as New Zealand grapples with the rise of conspiracy-fuelled protests and declining trust in democratic institutions, the Proud Boys' shadow, although faint, may still be felt.

 

The government should not be ignoring the Proud Boys' role in spreading white supremacist propaganda, propaganda that has lead directly to people dying. This leniency towards far-right extremists, who've incited and committed real violence, contrasts sharply with the heavy-handed crackdowns on pro-Palestinian voices.

Brenton Tarrant, the Christchurch mosque shooter, was radicalised on websites like 4chan and 8chan, where white supremacist narratives, including the "Great Replacement" conspiracy, festered in unmoderated forums. These same platforms, known for their extremist subcultures, were also used by the Proud Boys to propagate their "Western chauvinist" ideology, share memes, and recruit members, creating an overlapping digital ecosystem of hate.

Other white supremacist figures linked to the Proud Boys and similar online spaces include Dylann Roof, who massacred nine Black worshippers in Charleston in 2015 and was active on sites like Stormfront...and Patrick Crusius, the 2019 El Paso shooter, who posted a manifesto on 8chan echoing the same anti-immigrant rhetoric embraced by Proud Boys, which is earily similar to the rhetoric used by Donald Trump to justify the illegal ICE abductions. The shared use of these platforms underscores a broader network of far-right radicalisation fuelling violent acts.


On Tuesday, the NZ Herald reported:

Christchurch mosque attacks: Podcast questions lone wolf theory

Tarrant was asked to join the Lads Society, an Australian white nationalist and Islamophobic extremist group, in 2017.

Following Tarrant’s attack in Christchurch, the group’s members posted to a closed social media channel.

Some celebrated the attack, others questioned if it was a false flag, possibly to restrict firearms access in New Zealand.

“This one’s not a false flag. Take my word for it,” the group’s founder Thomas Sewell said.

“He seems to know more than the others,” another member replied.

“What do you mean, take my word for it. That almost sounds like you know the cobber.”

Sewell then responded – Tarrant had “been in the scene for a while”.

Sewell later compared Tarrant to Nelson Mandela, saying he would be imprisoned until “we win the revolution”.

 
In stark contrast, the designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist group for spray-painting planes and buildings with red paint is another grotesque overreach. This non-violent protest group, which seeks to disrupt western arms supplies to Israel, is branded a threat to national security, while Israel’s starvation policies and bombing of civilians in tents and aid sites go unchallenged.

In Gaza, hundreds have been killed near food distribution hubs, with Israeli soldiers openly admitting to treating starving women and children as a “hostile force.” Western governments offer tepid criticisms at best, while their actions, continued arms exports and diplomatic support, enable the carnage.



The hypocrisy extends beyond individual cases to systemic patterns of enforcement. Across Western nations, authorities deploy extraordinary measures against pro-Palestinian demonstrations while showing remarkable restraint toward far-right rallies that openly promote racial hatred. Police forces that brutalise peaceful protesters demanding an end to the collective punishment in Gaza then turn their attention to escorting white supremacist marches safely through diverse communities.

Free speech advocates who once championed absolute protection for controversial expression now perform intellectual contortions to justify censoring criticism of unjustified military actions. These same voices, who defended the rights of Holocaust deniers and racial provocateurs under abstract principles of open discourse, suddenly discover compelling state interests that justify silencing uncomfortable truths about contemporary violence.

This selective censorship reveals the true nature of Western liberal democracy's commitment to free expression: it extends only as far as speech that doesn't threaten established power structures or challenge strategic geopolitical relationships. Artists, activists, and ordinary citizens who dare name ongoing atrocities face swift punishment, while actual violent extremists operate with relative impunity.

The Bob Vylan controversy thus represents far more than an isolated incident of artistic censorship. It exemplifies a broader authoritarian drift wherein Western governments abandon foundational democratic principles when confronted with dissent that threatens preferred narratives. When free speech becomes conditional upon political convenience, democracy itself withers.

This is the West’s moral collapse: a world where punk bands are vilified for decrying genocide, but white supremacists and war criminals are indulged. Bob Vylan’s blacklisting isn't just an attack on art; it's a warning to all who dare challenge the status quo. As socialist Jewish activist Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi noted, suppressing outrage against a “televised genocide” only fuels its expression. If New Zealand and its Western allies truly valued free speech and justice, they would hold Israel to account, not silence those who speak for the oppressed.

Published by the Jackal



29 Jun 2025

Why are Western Leaders Complicit in the Gaza Genocide?

The ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has exposed the profound moral bankruptcy of Western diplomacy, revealing how economic interests and geopolitical calculations have trumped basic human decency.

With over 70,000 Palestinians officially dead, 59.1% of them women, children and elderly, NATO nations have demonstrated a stunning inability to deploy the same diplomatic pressure and sanctions they readily apply to other conflicts. The statistics are staggering: 44% of all victims are children, with the youngest being a day-old boy.

NATO's response to the Gaza crisis stands in stark contrast to its swift action against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Within days of Russia's aggression, Western nations implemented comprehensive sanctions, froze assets, and coordinated unprecedented diplomatic pressure. Yet when it comes to Israel's disproportionate response in Gaza, these same mechanisms mysteriously evaporate.

On Thursday, Al Jazeera reported:

 
EU calls for Gaza ceasefire, stops short of taking action against Israel

Irish leader Michael Martin decries Europe’s inability to pressure Israel to stop ‘continuing slaughter of children’.

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels have condemned the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza, but were unable to unite on means of pressuring Israel to end the war.

Thursday’s summit noted a report issued last week by the bloc’s diplomatic service, which found that Israel was likely flouting human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association agreement. Yet, the bloc stopped short of acting on the assessment or ditching the 25-year-old accord.

 

The hypocrisy is glaring. Where are the targeted sanctions against Israeli officials? Where is the coordinated diplomatic pressure? Apart from some token restrictions, the silence is deafening, and it speaks volumes about the selective application of international law when it conflicts with Western strategic interests.

Even more damning is the systematic targeting of starving Palestinians seeking basic humanitarian aid. According to the UN Human Rights Office, over 410 Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while attempting to collect food aid, with at least 93 others killed by Israeli forces while approaching UN and humanitarian convoys. 

In a single incident last week, Israeli tanks killed 59 people and wounded 221 others who were desperately seeking food supplies. The UN reports that more than 3,000 Palestinians have been injured in these attacks on aid seekers. Israeli soldiers, who have reportedly been ordered to open fire, have used bullets, tank shells, and drone-mounted weapons against unarmed civilians whose only crime was attempting to feed their families in a deliberately starved territory.


On Friday, the Intercept reported:

Israeli Soldiers Killed at Least 410 People at Food Aid Sites in Gaza This Month

The Israeli military has killed at least 410 people trying to get food at Israeli-run aid sites in Gaza in the past month.

This constitutes “a likely war crime” that violates international standards on aid distribution, according to the United Nations. “Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food,” the U.N. human rights office said. Palestinian health authorities reported that Israel killed 44 people waiting for aid in separate incidents in southern and central Gaza just on Tuesday this week. Israeli soldiers have reportedly killed aid-seekers with bullets, tank shells, and drone-mounted weapons.

Israeli officers and soldiers said that they were ordered to deliberately fire at unarmed civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in an investigation published by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday; the military prosecution has called for a review into possible war crimes.


The reluctance to act becomes clearer when examining the financial beneficiaries of this tragedy. The United States remains Israel's largest arms supplier, accounting for 69% of major weapons imports, continuing to benefit from the $6.3 billion NZD annual military aid package. Germany emerges as the second-largest supplier, while Italy ranks third among Israel's top armaments providers. 

The United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Australia also provide critical military components and weapons systems, with EU states collectively authorising almost $12 billion in export licences to Israel between 2014-2022. The Netherlands supplies crucial aircraft components, while Canada authorised $47 million in new military exports even after pledging to halt arms sales. 

This web of complicity creates a perverse incentive structure where prolonged conflicts translate to increased profits across the Western military-industrial complex. These economic entanglements goes some way to explain the tepid responses from many Western politicians about the numerous war crimes Israel is committing. When your domestic industries profit from conflict, genuine peace-making becomes an economic liability rather than a moral imperative.

Perhaps most embarrassing has been NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte's recent performance during the latest NATO summit. Rutte's obsequious behaviour, described by observers as "arse-kissing of the highest order", reached new lows when he appeared to defer to Trump's volatile positions on Middle East policy.


On Thursday, RNZ reported:


NATO's Trump flattery buys time but dodges tough questions

Lavishing praise, playing the royal card and copying his slogans - NATO pulled out all the stops to keep Donald Trump happy and hold the alliance together at a summit in The Hague.

The plan came off, although it largely avoided tough topics of vital importance to NATO such as the war in Ukraine, Russia strategy and a likely drawdown of US troops in Europe.

...

Rutte gushed with compliments in a message to Trump, made public by the US president as he flew to The Hague.

"You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done," the former Dutch prime minister said in his message, putting some of his words in capitals like Trump.

"Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win."

Right before the summit, in another sign of chumminess with Trump, Rutte reacted to the US president's comments berating Iran and Israel by saying that "daddy has to sometimes use strong language".


This diplomatic genuflection demonstrates how Western leaders prioritise personal relationships and strategic partnerships over principled stands on human rights. The spectacle of NATO's chief diplomat pandering to a leader known for his erratic foreign policy positions that have cost the world dearly undermines any pretence of principled international leadership. 

When your primary military alliance becomes a vehicle for personal diplomacy rather than collective security based on shared values, the entire framework of institutions such as NATO loses credibility.

Then there's Trump's pre-election promises regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files, which remain conspicuously unfulfilled. His repeated campaign pledges to release these documents have evaporated into silence, raising uncomfortable questions about what compromising material might implicate powerful figures across the Western political establishment. 

With his verified links to Israel's secret service, Mossad, already released document's show Jeffrey Epstein's pedophile network's reach extended deep into political, financial, and intelligence circles, creating webs of potential leverage that transcend national and diplomatic boundaries. 

When leaders find themselves constrained by hidden vulnerabilities, their capacity for principled decision-making becomes severely compromised. This dynamic may help explain why so many Western leaders, including those who campaigned on transparency and moral leadership, have displayed such curious paralysis when confronted with clear moral imperatives like preventing mass civilian casualties and a genocide in Gaza.



This pattern of compromise and control offers another lens through which to examine Western inaction over Gaza. Beyond the obvious financial incentives, arms sales, defence contracts, and strategic partnerships, lies the possibility that key decision-makers are constrained by factors far more personal and damaging than mere economic considerations. When leaders fear exposure of their darkest secrets, principled stands on genocide become secondary to self-preservation. The systematic nature of Western diplomatic failure suggests coordination born not just of shared interests, but potentially shared vulnerabilities.

The convergence of financial profit and personal compromise creates a perfect storm of moral cowardice. Western leaders who should be leading international condemnation of Israel's actions instead find themselves bound by self preservation and bonds of complicity, both economic and personal. 

Until these hidden influences are exposed and confronted, the selective application of international law will continue to make a mockery of Western claims to moral leadership. The Palestinian people deserve better than leaders whose silence may be purchased with both money and blackmail.

Published by the Jackal



26 Jun 2025

Is Trump Laying the Groundwork for U.S. Invasion of Iran?

The effectiveness of the United States’ recent military actions against Iran’s nuclear facilities have been cast into doubt by a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment, revealing that Iran may have relocated much of its enriched uranium stockpile, including approximately 400 kilograms of near-weapons-grade uranium, to undisclosed locations before U.S. bunker-busting bombs struck.

President Donald Trump’s assertions that these strikes completely "obliterated" Iran’s nuclear programme now appear very overstated, again exposing a troubling gap between his often childish rhetoric and reality.

This development may appear to undermine the Trump administration's credibility but it also gives the orange buffoon a reason to undertake another ground offensive in the Middle East. US propaganda about Iran not being allowed to develop a nuclear weapon evoked unsettling parallels with the prelude to the 2003 Iraq invasion and claims of weapons of mass destruction, which were never found, raising concerns that the United States is once again undertaking another war for control of the world's resources.

The similarities won't be lost on many US voters, who will hopefully realise that Donald Trump's propaganda is airily similar to that used by George W. Bush in the lead-up to the Iraq war, when the U.S. government justified invasion based on false claims of WMD's. Today, the narrative of an imminent Iranian nuclear threat, either through Trump propaganda or leaked intelligence reports, mirrors previous disinformation campaigns by the dishonest United States government.


Yesterday, 1 News reported:

 
US regime change record isn't great, would Trump do any better with Iran?

As President Donald Trump floats the idea of “regime change” in Tehran, previous US attempts to remake the Middle East by force over the decades offer stark warnings about the possibility of a deepening involvement in the Iran-Israeli conflict.

“If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” Trump posted on his social media site over the weekend. The came after the US bombed Iran's nuclear sites but before that country retaliated by firing its own missiles at a US base in Qatar.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt yesterday insisted that Trump, who spent years railing against “forever wars” and pushing an “America first” world view, had not committed a political about-face.

“The president’s posture and our military posture has not changed,” she said, suggesting that a more aggressive approach might be necessary if Iran ”refuses to give up their nuclear program or engage in talks".

Leavitt also suggested that a new government in Iran could come about after its people stage a revolt — not necessarily requiring direct US intervention.

The Trump administration has repeatedly heralded the strikes on Iran’s Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan facilities as a decisive blow to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. However, the DIA assessment, as reported by sources familiar with the matter, indicates that the strikes failed to destroy core components of Iran’s nuclear programme, such as centrifuges and highly enriched uranium stocks, with damage largely confined to underground entranceways and above ground structures. The impact is estimated to set Iran’s programme back by mere months, not years.

Along with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi stating that there was no evidence Iran was actively pursuing weaponisation, and U.S. intelligence assessments concluding Tehran halted such efforts in 2003, the Trump administration’s rhetoric continues to frame Iran as a terrorist nation who is aggressively pushing towards developing an A bomb.

The Trump administration’s dismissal of the DIA leaks as “fake news” propagated by mainstream media outlets appears increasingly disingenuous, a calculated effort to deflect scrutiny from intelligence that contradicts its hawkish narrative, including a report from Trump’s own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, stating Iran was not enriching uranium beyond 60% before the U.S. strikes. This saber-rattling clashes with Trump’s public anti-war posturing, designed to placate his MAGA base. Polls currently show 68% of Americans oppose further military engagement in the Middle East. Such contradictions expose Trump’s efforts to balance domestic support with aggressive foreign policy, risking escalation despite widespread public aversion to another Middle Eastern war.

Notwithstanding a United States ground invasion of Iran being a logistical nightmare and a geopolitical disaster, it remains a plausible scenario if public opinion can be sufficiently swayed by the administration’s unsubstantiated fear-mongering about Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The administration’s marginalisation of experts and dissenters within its own ranks, reminiscent of the Bush administration’s pre-Iraq purges, suggests a dangerous willingness to ignore inconvenient truths in pursuit of political ends.

However, these leaks may even be strategically timed by US neoconservatives, designed to justify further escalation by highlighting the potential “failure” of surgical strikes. What we all need to keep in mind is that Iran’s preemptive relocation of uranium stockpiles indicates a safeguarding to avoid potential fallout as well as a defensive posture, not an aggressive push toward a bomb, yet this nuance is conspicuously absent from many world leaders' war propaganda rhetoric about Iran not being allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

 

Ground forces are key — but don't guarantee success

Airstrikes have never been enough on their own.

Take, for example, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. His forces withstood a seven-month NATO air campaign in 2011 before rebels fighting city by city eventually cornered and killed him.

There are currently no insurgent groups in Iran capable of taking on the Revolutionary Guard, and it's hard to imagine Israeli or US forces launching a ground invasion of a mountainous country of some 80 million people that is about four times as big as Iraq.

A split in Iran's own security forces would furnish a ready-made insurgency, but it would also likely tip the country into civil war.

There's also the question of how ordinary Iranians would respond.


The problem for Trump is that his administration’s high-profile strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities have only strengthened the Iranian people's resolve against the United States. They've also (conveniently for Israel and the United States) shifted global attention away from two pressing crises: the ongoing genocide in Gaza and their domestic unrest sparked by illegal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abductions.

As Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza continues, killing over 55,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, drawing international condemnation, the U.S.-led Iran operation has dominated headlines, effectively sidelining scrutiny of Washington’s complicity in the Gaza atrocities.

Trump’s push for allied nations to ramp up defence spending, framed as a necessity for global security, takes on a sinister hue in light of the Gaza devastation and his Iran gambit. With Gaza reduced to rubble and over 56,000 Palestinians killed directly by violence, alongside estimates of up to 186,000 total deaths including indirect losses from disease, malnutrition, and healthcare collapse. 800 more Palestinians have been murdered in recent days while trying to access food aid.

The U.S. appears to be laying the groundwork for further conflicts, potentially in Iran and beyond, to fatten the coffers of their military-industrial complex. By pressuring allies to bolster their arsenals, Trump ensures a steady flow of contracts for American defence giants, conveniently aligning with his administration’s hawkish posturing and the distraction from domestic failures.

Trump was facing a mounting backlash over ICE’s aggressive deportation raids, which have detained over 9,000 individuals in 2025 alone, triggering widespread protests and uprisings in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, with communities decrying the humanitarian toll of family separations and detentions. The timing of the Iran strikes raises questions about whether this foreign policy spectacle is a deliberate distraction from both the moral stain of Gaza and the domestic turmoil threatening Trump’s political standing.

The administration’s criticism of the media further erodes its credibility. By branding critical reporting as the work of “low-level losers,” it seeks to undermine legitimate scrutiny, a tactic that feels rehearsed and hollow. This posturing distracts from the real issue: the risk of entangling the U.S. in another Middle East quagmire. For New Zealand the implications are significant. Our government’s alignment with Washington could draw us into supporting a conflict with very dubious justification.

The right-wing New zealand government must not be allowed to provide support for the United States' unending wars in the Middle East. This is especially noteworthy being that Trump’s recent admission that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu will have operatives “involved in the whole situation” regarding Iran’s nuclear sites lends credence to Tehran’s claims that the IAEA has been co-opted as an intelligence-gathering apparatus for Israel and the United States.

Iran’s decision to suspend IAEA inspections and withdraw from the NPT, widely condemned by Western powers, appears increasingly justified in light of this revelation. Such interference undermines the IAEA’s neutrality, fuelling Iran’s distrust and providing a pretext for its defensive posture, while exposing the U.S. and Israel’s coordinated efforts to provoke escalation under the guise of non-proliferation.

In conclusion, the DIA leaks expose the fragility of Trump’s claims about neutralising Iran’s nuclear programme, while the administration’s rhetoric and media attacks echo the dangerous prelude to invading Iraq. The U.S. appears poised to escalate a conflict that could destabilise the region and beyond. The pursuit of a ground invasion, predicated on unverified threats, demands rigorous scrutiny to avoid repeating past mistakes.

Published by the Jackal



2 Jun 2025

What Happens If Israel Murders Greta Thunberg?

The whole world’s watching, and it’s holding its breath. Greta Thunberg, the climate warrior turned Palestinian advocate, is aboard the Madleen, a Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessel aiming to break through Israel’s brutal blockade of Gaza and deliver aid to a starving population. This isn’t just a humanitarian mission, it’s a direct challenge to Israel, who is backed by a complicit United States intent on funding a genocide. But what happens if Israel, in its reckless arrogance, murders Greta on this peace ship? And let’s not mince words: the threat’s already out there, with posts by prominent US politicians practically calling for Israel to attack.


Yesterday, The Guardian reported:

 
Greta Thunberg joins aid ship sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel’s blockade

The climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and 11 other activists have set sail for Gaza on a ship aimed at “breaking Israel’s siege” of the devastated territory, organisers have said.

The sailing boat Madleen – operated by the activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition – departed from the port of Catania in Sicily, southern Italy, on Sunday.

It would try to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip to bring in some aid and raise “international awareness” of the continuing humanitarian crisis, the activists said at a press conference on Sunday, before the vessel departed.

“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” Thunberg said, bursting into tears during her speech.

“Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And, no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the livestreamed genocide.”

 

Let’s not forget, Israel’s got form here, and it’s bloody. In 2010, the Israeli military stormed the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla carrying aid and activists. In international waters, Israeli commandos killed nine activists, including one shot four times in the head. A tenth died later from injuries. The UN called it “excessive and unreasonable” force; Israel shrugged, claiming self-defence.

In 2018, the Al Awda and other flotilla vessels faced similar aggression, boarded, seized, with activists beaten and detained. These weren’t isolated incidents but a pattern: Israel targets those who dare challenge its blockade, leaving a trail of dead and wounded peaceful protesters. Greta’s mission sails into the same crosshairs.

Back in 2023, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee sneered that those pushing for Palestinian statehood should “carve it out of the French Riviera” instead of Gaza. It’s a dog whistle, plain and simple, a nudge to the far-right zealots who see dead activists as collateral damage in their stupid holy war. Huckabee’s words aren’t just rhetoric; they’re a green light for violence against anyone daring to stand with Palestinians. If Israel takes that shot, the fallout would be seismic.

The world would erupt. Greta’s a global icon, her defiance a symbol of resistance against oppression the world over. Her death would galvanise millions of climate activists, human rights defenders, and ordinary people fed up with Israel’s impunity. Protests would choke cities from Stockholm to Sydney.

Social media, already buzzing with outrage over Gaza’s unending military enforced famine, would explode. Israeli embassies would be targeted. Governments, especially in Europe, would face unbearable pressure to act, with sanctions, boycotts, and severed ties with Israel. Even the UN, currently sitting on its hands, might muster a resolution or two to try and dissuade Israel from pursuing their atrocious genocide.

But don’t hold your breath for the US or Israel to care. Peace negotiations? They’re a sham. Israel’s “Witkoff outline” for a Gaza deal is a non-starter, with Hamas calling out its “complete bias” toward Tel Aviv. The US, meanwhile, plays good cop while funnelling billions to Israel’s war machine. Since October 2023, the US has approved over $14 billion in military “aid” to Israel.

This isn’t just support, it’s complicity in what the Center for Constitutional Rights correctly calls a “genocide” that’s killed over 52,000 Palestinians, including more than 16,500 innocent children. The US vetoes UN ceasefire calls, shields Israel from ICC probes, and keeps the bombs flowing. It’s not just enabling genocide; it’s bankrolling it.

If Greta’s killed, the US will wring its hands, maybe issue a limp condemnation, but don’t expect accountability. Trump’s sycophantic team of idiots would dodge, citing Israel’s “right to self-defence,” while the war machine, a juggernaut the US economy relies on, churns on killing woman and children. The world, however, won’t stay silent. Greta’s death would be a tipping point, exposing the US-Israel axis of evil as not just indifferent to peace but actively hostile to it.

Published by the Jackal



22 Apr 2025

Help Stop the Gaza Genocide Through Activism

As a living breathing human being, you’ve likely seen the heart-wrenching images from Gaza...homes reduced to rubble, children burnt to cinders, families displaced, and a death toll that’s beyond comprehension. What is going on in Gaza is most definitely a genocide, the suffering is real, and it’s easy to feel helpless. But here’s the truth: you, the average person, have more power than you think to help stop this crisis of humanity. From grassroots activism, economic pressure, and political advocacy, let’s break down how ordinary people can step up and make a difference.

First off, let’s talk grassroots activism. You don’t need a PhD to amplify Gaza’s plight. Start with your phone or PC…and the internet which is a goldmine for sharing verified info from groups like Amnesty International and other Palestinian voices on the ground. Post a video, share a thread, or create an infographic that cuts through the noise. But don’t stop at the screen. Get out there! Join a protest, organize a vigil, or host a community hui to talk about what’s happening. Movements like Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) show how collective action can shake things up.


Today, Aljazeera reported:

 
Before he died, Pope Francis called for peace in Gaza. Will anyone listen?

Amid international indifference to the continuing genocide in Palestine, the Pope used his last address to call for a ceasefire.

Pope Francis died today at the age of 88 following a prolonged illness. Just yesterday, in his Easter Sunday address in Saint Peter’s Square in Vatican City, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church chose to express his “closeness to the sufferings of Christians in Palestine and Israel, and to all the Israeli people and the Palestinian people”.

He went on to state that he was “think[ing] of the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation” – a toned-down reference, of course, to Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, which has officially killed more than 51,200 Palestinians since October 2023.

 

We need to hit them where it hurts: their wallets. Economic pressure is your secret weapon. BDS has a hit list of companies tied to the conflict, like Hewlett-Packard, which supplies tech to Israeli forces. Boycott these brands. Check your KiwiSaver or pension fund. Does it invest in dodgy companies? Demand divestment or swap providers. Even small choices, like buying from businesses that back Palestinian rights or donating to Gaza charities, add up. It’s like refusing to buy from a dodgy fish-and-chip shop...enough of us say no, and they’ll feel the pinch.

Then there’s political advocacy. Governments aren’t untouchable; they’re swayed by people like you. Fire off an email to your MP demanding humanitarian aid for Gaza or an arms embargo. Ask them to put pressure on Israeli and United States diplomats to end the atrocities. Groups like Jewish Voice for Peace have templates to make it easy. Better yet, vote for candidates who give a damn about human rights and international law. Sign petitions on Change.org or join advocacy crews like CODEPINK to keep the pressure on. It’s not glamorous, but it’s like turning up to a council meeting...your voice matters when it’s heard.

Look, it’s not all smooth sailing. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a tangled mess, and misinformation can make your head spin. Plus, you might cop flak for speaking out. Stay sharp—read up on Palestinian perspectives, Israeli peace activists, and UN reports. Link arms with others, whether it’s a local activist group or an online crew, to keep the fire burning. History’s got our back here: ordinary people helped topple apartheid in South Africa showing that people power can work.

I know it might feel like it, but you’re not powerless. Share, protest, boycott, vote, and keep at it. Every action...big or small...builds a movement for peace that can’t be ignored. Let’s stand with Gaza and show the world what everyday people can do. Ka whawhai tonu mātou. Let’s keep fighting the good fight.

Below is a curated list of relevant links to help you stop the genocide in Gaza:

Economic Pressure

BDS - Boycott Targets List
Link: https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott
Description: BDS lists specific companies, like Hewlett-Packard (HP), targeted for boycotts due to their ties to Israeli forces. This resource helps readers follow your advice to boycott brands and check investments like KiwiSaver funds. 

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) - Investigate Database
Link: https://investigate.afsc.org/
Description: AFSC’s database identifies companies profiting from the occupation, useful for divestment campaigns. It supports your suggestion to check pension funds and demand divestment from complicit companies. 

Ethical Consumer - Boycott List
Link: https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/boycotts
Description: Ethical Consumer details boycott campaigns, including BDS calls against HP and others. It offers alternatives to complicit brands, aligning with your advice to make small, impactful economic choices. 

Care4Gaza - Donation Support
Link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/careforgaza 

Description: Care4Gaza is a grassroots initiative for donating to Gaza aid, as mentioned in X posts. It supports your call to fund charities helping Palestinians directly. 

Don’t Buy Into Occupation - European Financial Institutions
Link: https://dontbuyintooccupation.org/
Description: This coalition tracks European investments in companies tied to Israeli settlements, offering a model for New Zealand readers to investigate KiwiSaver or pension fund complicity, as you suggest.

Political Advocacy

Jewish Voice for Peace - Advocacy Templates
Link: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/take-action/
Description: JVP provides email templates and advocacy tools to contact elected officials, aligning with your suggestion to email MPs for humanitarian aid or arms embargoes. 

CODEPINK - Advocacy Campaigns
Link: https://www.codepink.org/palestine
Description: CODEPINK offers petitions, advocacy guides, and campaigns to pressure governments on Gaza, supporting your call to join groups like them for political impact. 

Change.org - Petitions for Gaza
Link: https://www.change.org/petitions?selected_sorts=most_signatures&q=gaza
Description: Change.org hosts petitions demanding humanitarian aid and ceasefires in Gaza, making it easy for readers to sign and share, as you recommend. Ensure petitions are from reputable organizers. 

Amnesty International - Take Action for Palestine
Link: https://www.amnesty.org/en/petition/demand-a-ceasefire-by-all-parties-to-end-civilian-suffering/
Description: Amnesty offers advocacy actions like petitions and letters to pressure governments, supporting your advice to demand action on international law violations. 

UN Reports - Human Rights in Palestine
Link: https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/palestine
Description: The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights provides reports on Gaza, offering credible sources for readers to stay informed and advocate based on international law, as you suggest.

Additional Context and Staying Informed

Al Jazeera - Gaza Coverage
Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/gaza/
Description: Al Jazeera offers up-to-date reporting on Gaza, including BDS and protests, helping readers verify information and counter misinformation, as you advise.

Electronic Intifada - Palestinian Perspectives
Link: https://electronicintifada.net/
Description: This platform amplifies Palestinian voices and covers grassroots activism, aligning with your call to read Palestinian perspectives for a fuller understanding.

Middle East Eye - Genocide Claims and Analysis
Link: https://www.middleeasteye.net/
Description: Middle East Eye covers claims of genocide in Gaza, as noted in X posts, providing context for your blog’s stance and helping readers stay sharp on the issue. 

The Intercept - Israeli Peace Activists
Link: https://theintercept.com/
Description: The Intercept often features Israeli peace activists and critical perspectives on the conflict, supporting your advice to explore diverse voices, including those within Israel. 

South Africa Anti-Apartheid Movement - Historical Context
Link: https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/anti-apartheid-movement-aam
Description: South African History Online details the anti-apartheid movement, providing historical context for your comparison to BDS and people power toppling oppressive systems.

Published by the Jackal



3 Jul 2021

A failure to report on Canada's ethnic cleansing

You’ve really got to wonder why New Zealand’s main six o'clock news broadcasters, One News and Newshub, aren’t reporting on the shocking revelations that mass graves of indigenous children are being found at numerous sites right across Canada at the moment?

This is an egregious lack of coverage for something as serious as genocide and just goes to show that we’re being badly served by our current mainstream media propagandists.

Instead, we have numerous puff-pieces about how great Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson are because they're wasting a few billion dollars to stroke their egos and fly off into outer space.

Perhaps what the TVNZ and Newshub news producers are really saying by failing to report on the ethnic cleansing of thousands of Indigenous children is that their lives simply don’t matter. Or perhaps they just don’t like reporting on the fact that most of these children have been murdered in residential schools run by the Roman Catholic Church.

Their silence looks even more questionable when other news agencies are actually doing their jobs properly.


Yesterday, CNN reported:


182 human remains discovered in unmarked graves near former residential school

A search has revealed 182 human remains in unmarked graves at the site of another residential school in British Columbia.

The Lower Kootenay Band, a member band of the Ktunaxa Nation, has announced that remains were found at the site of the former St. Eugene's Mission School near the city of Cranbrook.

This announcement comes after hundreds of unmarked graves thought to contain the remains of Indigenous children were recently discovered at the sites of two other former boarding schools in Canada and many First Nations communities having called for a halt to Canada Day celebrations Thursday.

"It is believed that the remains of these 182 souls are from the member Bands of the Ktunaxa nation, neighbouring First Nations communities, & the community of aqam," the Lower Kootenay Band said in a statement released Wednesday.


If New Zealand cannot even acknowledge Canada’s persecution, murder and forced assimilation of their Indigenous population, which uprooted an estimated 150,000 Indigenous children from their communities with the sole purpose of getting rid of “the Indian problem”, how exactly are we going to acknowledge past atrocities in our own country?


Approximately 100 Lower Kootenay Band members were required to attend the St. Eugene's Mission School. The residential school was operated by the Roman Catholic Church from 1912 until the early 1970s, the statement said. Indigenous children ages 7 to 15 were mandated by the Canadian government to attend the schools.


It’s little wonder that Churches are being burnt down and statues demolished in Canada at the moment. I mean what would you do if thousands of your people were systematically erased through industrial sized ethnic cleansing programs that were run by the church and sanctioned by the state?


The discovery of human remains at the sites of former residential schools comes as Canadian authorities are investigating multiple fires that destroyed four Catholic churches on Indigenous land in the past week.

They are the latest in a string of recent events affecting the country's Indigenous communities. The churches were destroyed as Canada confronts its history of systemic abuse of Indigenous communities.


Even if there wasn’t any new evidence of mass grave sites in Canada, the fact that numerous churches have been burnt down and statues destroyed not to mention the huge protests about Canadian Day celebrations going ahead in the face of new evidence about these terrible massacres is newsworthy enough.

There has been well over a thousand unmarked graves found so far with another 132 sites of interest yet to be searched. So whatever the reason is for TVNZ and Newshub to keep Kiwis uninformed on this issue, it's clearly entirely unjustified.

Published by the Jackal