A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
Parliament’s call yesterday for urgent steps towards a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war takes our official stance further and probably reflects what a majority of New Zealanders feel.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters moved that the House: “Express grave concern at the ongoing violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinianterritories, unequivocally condemn the Hamas terrorist attack on 7 October 2023 and call for the release of all hostages; call on all parties involved in the conflict as well as all countries with influence in the region to take urgent steps towards establishing a ceasefire, recognising Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law, and that all civilians be protected from armed conflict; affirm that a lasting solution to the conflict will only be achieved by peaceful means and that action to revive the Middle East Peace Process is critical.”
This goes a step on from his statement last Friday calling for urgent work towards a long-term ceasefire, by setting that down in the Parliamentary record and allowing the political parties to debate it.
Labour and Green Party speakers called on the Government to take firmer action. Their suggested amendments were opposed by the governing parties, apart from one put by Labour’s Phil Twyford that was added, calling for “the establishment of a free and independent Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution, with both nations having secure and recognised borders where all citizens have equal rights and freedoms”.
The New Zealand debate comes after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned Security Council member states that the humanitarian system in Gaza may collapse. In a dramatic move he invoked a UN article not used in decades to call on members to “avert a human catastrophe”, warning that epidemics could spread and pressure rise for mass displacements into neighbouring countries.
But Peters, a past master at guessing the present mood of the country, realises that even among those who sympathise with Israel there is growing concern about the suffering of the people in Gaza, 90 percent of whom have had to flee their homes.
The vast majority of New Zealanders just want the violence and suffering to end, but in the Middle East that is not something that comes easily.
