The Stuff headline (below) can be best described as a lie. To date, Stuff has shown little interest in presenting a range of views on this complicated conflict, and this call made at the start of the week will be no different. I would anticipate a careful selection of ‘voices’ that reinforce the single narrative Stuff has been pushing for months now. More worryingly, it will probably enable the usual tropes, slurs, and half-truths to be repeated. What we are witnessing is not reporting but propaganda.
You may recall I wrote Stuff an opinion piece on the conflict in response to one they had published by Phil Goff, and soon after my return from Israel and the Gaza envelope. They did not publish it. You can read that first unpublished op-ed below👇
The op-ed Stuff won't publish
Simon O'Connor
·
11 Jun
Read full story
Then, around two weeks ago, Phil Goff had another op-ed published by Stuff and once again, I drafted a reply. You guessed it, that was not published either. Stuff is under no obligation to publish but it reinforces my point - they are not interested in balance.
So, I include this second response below and you can make up your own mind on what I wrote. I’m very conscious there will be those agree and those who disagree but regardless of one’s views on this conflict, the key point is to remind readers of the censorious and carefully curated news you receive from the likes of Stuff. It is not broad, it is not neutral, it is not ‘both sides’. It’s a platform that pushes it’s view, it’s agendas, it’s moral perspective and not just on Israel-Gaza, but on almost every topic of contention - climate change, the Treaty, trans rights, cannabis, and much more.
A second unpublished op-ed to a media outlet that claims it wants to hear from kiwis
Please note, I wrote this around two weeks ago, so some aspects and context has moved on since then including the ceasefire negotiations once again failing (in no small part to Hamas being emboldened by the actions of France, the United Kingdom, and Canada).
For the second time in just over a month, Phil Goff has written a piece on the Israel-Gaza conflict and for the second time, he completely ignores the events of October 7 which ignited the recent fighting. He also fails, once again, to mention Hamas as a key protagonist of the violence.
What he should have noted was that this Islamic terrorist group started a conflict it knew it could never win militarily, but instead was prepared to fight behind its own civilians knowing full well that it would quickly tap Western progressive sympathies. Hamas relies on these sympathies to continue its campaign and deflect blame, while maintaining a commitment to a cult of death which most in the West cannot even begin to conceive.
Mazal, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre,
showing me two of her friends who did not make it.
While Mr Goff is welcome to his view, it is one full of sweeping accusations, a dangerous distortion of international law, and a misrepresentation of Israel’s intentions in a complex and tragic war.
To suggest that Israel is committing genocide is legally unfounded and morally reckless. The flagrant use of the term has become a clear tactic of Western liberals, happy to conflate current realities with past understandings. The Holocaust was a genocide and there is something particularly mocking when people like Mr Goff use the term, while rarely deploying the word in other contexts such as the targeted killing of Druze in Syria or Christians in Nigeria and Congo.
Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, there must be a clear intention to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Having been in Israel recently, it is clear there is no such intent towards the Palestinian people. Israel is fighting a conflict it did not start.
Since the horrors of October 7 (which again Mr Goff never mentions, but to whose sites I have visited and survivors I have met), Hamas has embedded itself inside civilian areas including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, and aid centres. This is fact, not a fiction and something confirmed by Hamas’ own boasts even before one looks at Israeli or US intelligence. As I write, a new aid system being run by the GHF is under fire both literally and figuratively. Literally, instances of Hamas firing on its own people are denied or downplayed. Figuratively, Western voices expressing concern about famine are now the same ones complaining that millions of meals have been delivered to Palestinians.
Mr Goff is also quick to condemn moves to transfer Palestinians civilians en masse away from active combat zones. Such condemnations are a gross misrepresentation of what is being discussed during ceasefire negotiations including with the Americans. Just like the new aid centres, it is an attempt to move civilians out of the firing line – something you would think Mr Goff, worried about ongoing civilian casualties, would be happy to support.
While I was visiting Israel and the Gaza envelope and talking to various people, it was clear Israel has no interest in being involved in Gaza. Israel left Gaza in 2005 and would have stayed out had Hamas not crossed the border fences in 2023 and killed over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping 251 others. But Hamas and others choose to attack on that day, knowing full well what would happen. From what I could see, read, and hear – Israel wants its hostages back, the end of the rule of an Islamic terrorist group (which by the way would be good for the people of Gaza), and security.
While Mr Goff is welcome to his view, it is one full of sweeping accusations, a dangerous distortion of international law, and a misrepresentation of Israel’s intentions in a complex and tragic war.
To suggest that Israel is committing genocide is legally unfounded and morally reckless. The flagrant use of the term has become a clear tactic of Western liberals, happy to conflate current realities with past understandings. The Holocaust was a genocide and there is something particularly mocking when people like Mr Goff use the term, while rarely deploying the word in other contexts such as the targeted killing of Druze in Syria or Christians in Nigeria and Congo.
Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, there must be a clear intention to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Having been in Israel recently, it is clear there is no such intent towards the Palestinian people. Israel is fighting a conflict it did not start.
Since the horrors of October 7 (which again Mr Goff never mentions, but to whose sites I have visited and survivors I have met), Hamas has embedded itself inside civilian areas including hospitals, schools, refugee camps, and aid centres. This is fact, not a fiction and something confirmed by Hamas’ own boasts even before one looks at Israeli or US intelligence. As I write, a new aid system being run by the GHF is under fire both literally and figuratively. Literally, instances of Hamas firing on its own people are denied or downplayed. Figuratively, Western voices expressing concern about famine are now the same ones complaining that millions of meals have been delivered to Palestinians.
Mr Goff is also quick to condemn moves to transfer Palestinians civilians en masse away from active combat zones. Such condemnations are a gross misrepresentation of what is being discussed during ceasefire negotiations including with the Americans. Just like the new aid centres, it is an attempt to move civilians out of the firing line – something you would think Mr Goff, worried about ongoing civilian casualties, would be happy to support.
While I was visiting Israel and the Gaza envelope and talking to various people, it was clear Israel has no interest in being involved in Gaza. Israel left Gaza in 2005 and would have stayed out had Hamas not crossed the border fences in 2023 and killed over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping 251 others. But Hamas and others choose to attack on that day, knowing full well what would happen. From what I could see, read, and hear – Israel wants its hostages back, the end of the rule of an Islamic terrorist group (which by the way would be good for the people of Gaza), and security.
What a car looks like after hit by a RPG - one of many
in which civilians were killed by Hamas militants on October 7
A final comment, for Mr Goff makes much of a moral conscience when discussing this conflict. It is easy to make broad emotive comments, but a conscience that is moral is one informed by facts and reality. The wider history of this conflict is not straightforward, but the reality and horror of October 7 was clear for all to see and yet Mr Goff continues to never mention it, nor condemn Hamas who anticipated and wanted the response we tragically see unfolding today.
Simon O'Connor a former National MP graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Political Studies . Simon blogs at On Point - where this article was sourced.
A final comment, for Mr Goff makes much of a moral conscience when discussing this conflict. It is easy to make broad emotive comments, but a conscience that is moral is one informed by facts and reality. The wider history of this conflict is not straightforward, but the reality and horror of October 7 was clear for all to see and yet Mr Goff continues to never mention it, nor condemn Hamas who anticipated and wanted the response we tragically see unfolding today.
Simon O'Connor a former National MP graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Political Studies . Simon blogs at On Point - where this article was sourced.
15 comments:
Well said Simon. Surely it is Hamas who are intent on genocide of the Jews.
There is no doubt about the atrocities of 7 October by Hamas, an evil terrorist group. However, that does not give Netanyahu a blank cheque to starve children and babies. Please note I am talking about Netanyahu and some of his government, and not the Israeli people. Netanyahu has been charged with serious crimes in Israel, and as long as he is PM he will not go to jail. There are many Jews outside of Israel who know the truth about Netanyahu.
Israel needs to stop what it is doing to innocent people. It would also be helpful for the UN to stop its Jew hatred. Israel has the right to exist, but it must stop its appalling treatment of the Palestinians on the West Bank.
The NZ media has completed wiped any reporting of the 3000 Israeli soldiers killed and wounded in the vicious fighting that has taken place in Gaza. Also they don't mention the refusal of the global community to take any refugees which would help vulnerable Gazan citizens.
I submitted the following to The Post. There is no hope it will get published, so I offer it here as it has relevance in the Middle east debate.
"I was astonished to see an anti-Israel, and by definition, anti-Semitic, full-page advertisement in The Post (31 July), placed by an organisation calling itself the Palestine Solidarity Network. To me, its presence reeked of hypocrisy compared with the strictures placed against correspondents for your Letters pages. Is money the answer? If I enclosed a suitable amount in my next letter, would it get published, irrespective of how inflammatory or insulting it was of, say, an ethnic minority? I suspect not. Of some relevance in this matter was the removal of Sir Apirana Ngata’s explanation of the Treaty of Waitangi by Lower Hutt library staff, and which has been successfully litigated. Facts and balanced discussion can get censored or omitted, but blatant (paid) propaganda is allowed. I also suspect that Hobson’s Pledge supporters would get short shrift from The Post if they offered a piece that referred to the Maori party in terms similar to those in the advertisement in question. I look forward to any indication that journalistic principles of fairness might be forthcoming; from the New Zealand Jewish Council, perhaps?"
Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, who served in the Israeli army and writes for the newspaper Haaretz, has called for sanctions to be imposed on Israel to stop the slaughter in Gaza, saying “Do to Israel what you did to South Africa.”
Omer Bartov, who served as an Israeli company commander in the 1973 war, is Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University. He stated in an article on July 15 in The New York Times that his “inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
The genocide in Gaza signals the abolition, for Israelis as well as Palestinians, of the rule of law. It marks the obliteration of even the pretense of an ethical code. Israelis are the barbarians they condemn. If there is any warped justice in this genocide it is that Israelis, once they finish with the Palestinians, will be forced to live together in moral squalor.
The corrupt MSM is the problem. They have become the official mouthpiece for Hamas’s propaganda. They have a captured audience of those poor souls that are wedded to their daily dose of brainwashing.
Stuff did publish three pieces on Thursday from members of the public which were all thoughtful, and one was from a Jewish lawyer. They'll publish more in coming weeks, I gather.
Thank you Simon, for continuing to be the voice of sanity. My own current feelings are not so much of anger and sadness - always of course -but surprise. How can Goff et al ( Mr Thicko of 9.48) be so stupid? People like you and me - and many others thank God - strive for the truth, keep on picking away to try to determine 'how it REALLY is' - not without emotion, but committed to reason, and the precise use of language. I keep expecting the human race to get more sense - sigh.
Well, Anon @9.48, it is interesting how you can ignore cries of 'from the river to the sea' and 'eliminate Israel' and still accuse Israel of genocide, a term which you use incorrectly anyway. Only Hamas and its supporters are being hunted, not ALL Arabs. The Nazis tried genocide of jews; the Israelis are fighting for survival.
Well said, Simon. Thoughtful article.
Night after night, 3 News, compiled under contract by Stuff, runs story after story about Gaza, always of course preceded by the warning that these images may be "confronting". The images are certainly confronting but not for the reason 3 News thinks. They are confronting because they nightly demonstrate the complicity of the MSM in spreading the carefully curated propaganda provided free of charge by the HAMAS Health Ministry. As ratings dwindle, 3News is determined to never let a good picture get in the way of the facts. It's what keeps the punters watching and they know perfectly well that people love to be shocked, so long as it's in the safety and comfort of their own living rooms.
The great irony here shouldn't be lost in that Israel is accusing the Palestinians of overstating what the situation is, exaggerating the human toll, and producing atrocity propaganda as to a claimed genocide with the aim of engendering and sustaining public sympathy and the Palestinians giving themselves a political "get out of jail free" card which the Palestinians can pull out whenever they get backed into a corner in a debate - which is exactly what Israel does all the time vis a vis its holocaust genocide narrative. The irony is so rich that it defies belief.
How is it that Chuck Bird is so exceedingly confident that the Israelis are starving the children in Gaza ? It is obvious to anyone who has a clear mind that the children shown on TV every night are not starving to death but are suffering from other diseases that display symptoms similar to those of starvation. Did it not occur to Chuck Bird and other like minded critics of Israel, that the parents of these kids were healthy ? No parent would take the food meant for their children, for heaven's sake. If food is in short supply, did it occur to critics of Israel that Hamas has stolen it at gunpoint ?
While it is awful to see the plight of the Palestinians, the cause of this catastrophe is entiely at the making of Hamas. A Terrorist Group ! Why are the touchy touchy feely feely wonders of this world demanding that Israel stops the war ? Why are they not demanding Hamas, the instigators and terrorists to boot, lay down their arms and surrender ? That would stop the war instantly.
If Hamas wont stop the terrorism, then Israel has really no other choice but to finish it themselves, and Palestiinisans will suffer further because of Hamas.
Now we have the Accord of the Loopy Left: Starmer, Macron, Carney, Albanese et al calling on Israel to cease fire ! What a bunch of whishy washy feeble-minded clowns they are. If Israel does not finish this war once and for all, Hamas or an equally blood-thirsty Islamic Group will start it all over again in the not so distant future. War is horrible, we all know that. And the perpetrators of wars, such as Hitler and his Nazis or Hamas must be eliminated. Our father's and grandfather's generations stood up to such evil monsters.
It seems this generation or so do not have the stomach to stand and fight evil to the very end.
To all those who read this article by Simon, and the following comments - some are valid, others are a waste "of space".
The Jones Boy - is "right on que" , take note of what he has stated.
Mr Jones, you should have added TVNZ in the 'same breath' as you did re 3News.
We are being lied to regarding Gaza, which has been the norm since Hamas 'raided Israel', which in it self was an interesting act, as they new what was happening, where and who to target, all be it to the "spying" missions undertaken by Palestinian's who had been working in that Israel zone -a proven fact, from media who worked in that area, following the attack, but not reported by NZ media.
The current "humanitarian" issue is being "manufactured & managed' by Hamas and if you want proof - YouTube - search for recent speech by Senator Cotton(R) to the Senate - he makes it very clear what is going on, so do International Media who have visited Gaza - their video footage (YouTube) will leave no doubt as to what is really happening.
The article is about Stuff and their biased far left views. Simon is simply pointing out that stuff have requested that they want to hear from nz ers. Simon has also suggested that they will continue their far left narrative and not a balanced piece. That's a very safe bet......
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