It’s not really about Palestine
Why has the question of Palestine dominated discourse, for the past few months and increasingly in the past weeks? Even my eight year old grandson asked me, Are you for Israel or Palestine? He was prompted by a sign he'd seen at local netball courts condemning Israel. A young school girl was questioned about her views on national TV, to which she gave an informed reply.
Why have New Zealanders, even our children, become fixated on a conflict on the other side of the world, in a land which the majority have not visited, nor ever will, and about which, despite months of mindless chanting, very few can name the river or the sea?
In reality, opinions on Palestine have very little to do with Palestine. Palestine has been taken up as a symbol of victimhood, particularly by the Left. This explains why people have been willing to turn a blind eye to the barbarity of Hamas, the brutal slaughter of 1200 innocent people, the rape, burning of babies, beheadings and kidnapping of civilians. This is why there’s been no outrage over Hamas’ unwillingness to release hostages or their use of their own people as human shields. No calling Hamas to account for 20 years building a terrorist enclave rather than a thriving state. Conversely, it explains why Hamas talking points, civilian casualty figures and propaganda have been blindly adopted. The public imagination has been captured by a constant diet of powerful imagery, which often tells a story divorced from reality. Meanwhile, social media algorithms manipulate and drive perceptions.
Ultimately, the pro-Palestinian cause is, at its core, cultic. It has little connection with fact, reason and logic. Victimhood is sanctified and those who identify with the victims are the righteous. The ideology is overlaid with reverse racism - where those perceived to be white are oppressors, even if they are not, in actual fact, white. (The majority of Israelis are not white, but are perceived to be so). The tenets are held dogmatically and anyone who deviates from the narrative is silenced, shunned or persecuted. The religion is cultivated on university campuses in social science and humanities departments, where students are indoctrinated to hate the West and all it represents - Judeo-Christian values, the Enlightenment, reason and logic. The dogma has filtered from there to media, politics, the education system, legal institutions, the church, and is even making in-roads into the discipline of science.
New Zealand’s Indigenous Party, Te Pāti Māori has embraced the Palestinian cause as its own, with statements such as ‘until Palestine is free, neither are we’. The fact is, that the people of Gaza need to be freed from Hamas who hold them captive to an ideology that willingly sacrifices its children on the altar of Jew-hatred. In contrast, Māori are indeed free. We are free to express our opinions, live how we choose, vote for whomever. We have every opportunity before us, with only the enslavement of our own thinking to hold us back. Growing up in material poverty does not prevent success - poverty of mind, however, does. Māori do not need to be shackled with this ideology of victimhood and grievance. We are only as victimised as we choose to be.
Winston Peters' speech at the United Nations was a circuit-breaker. It was an intrusion of common sense and reason into a discourse dominated by emotion, delusion, and post-colonial dogma. What is notable about his speech is how eminently sensible it was. He stated, “With a war raging, Hamas remaining the de facto government of Gaza, and no clarity on next steps, too many questions remain about the future State of Palestine for it to be prudent for New Zealand to announce recognition at this time… We are also concerned that a focus on recognition, in the current circumstances, could complicate efforts to secure a ceasefire by pushing Israel and Hamas into even more intransigent positions.” He also called for “the release by Hamas of all the hostages it holds; the disbanding and disarmament of Hamas; and the renouncement of violence by all Palestinian leaders who have yet to do so.”
Predictably, left wing parties and MSM responded with outrage. However, what was perhaps unforeseen was the outpouring of relief from many ordinary New Zealanders. This was evident on social media, even on the pages of the aforementioned left wing politicians and media outlets.
Reflecting on the response, the Act Party released the following statement:
“Since Saturday’s announcement, Free Press has been inundated with messages of thanks. They’re coming from all corners, more widely than we ever imagined.
People quietly assumed something dismal about modern New Zealand. The shouty mob would win, the Government would buckle and recognise Palestine. No matter how illogical the position may be, our Government would fall like many others. At least that’s what people thought because they’ve got used to it.
But the Government didn’t buckle. Reason and logic triumphed over emotion and the mob. We’ve been amazed at how powerful and widespread the relief has been. We think the people’s supportive response to the Palestine decision shows the Government should have the courage of its convictions more often.”
So perhaps this is a moment of re-set for New Zealand, in which the house of cards built on a deeply flawed ideology and faux outrage will begin to tumble. It may just be that after two years of listening to MSM dismissing, scolding and scorning Israel’s side of the story, New Zealanders have had enough. That after two years of listening to activists screeching and screaming on our streets, Kiwis are thinking ‘this is not who we are’. Politicians would do well to realize that social media silos and algorithm driven echo chambers bear little relationship with reality. And that New Zealanders, at heart, value common sense and fairness, humble qualities all too rare in this day and age.