By John Minto
For the first time on our main television channel in Aotearoa New Zealand this evening we had a reasonably balance story from the Middle East. It was an extended look at what is actually happening in Occupied Gaza with Israel’s humanitarian blockade.
We had the head of UNRWA (United NationsRelief and Works Agency) explaining how Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war. Reported also was Israel’s plan to force all two million plus Palestinians into one single massive refugee camp in the south of Occupied Gaza.
Against a background of starving, desperate civilians we had a Palestinian worker at a food kitchen explain that they would have no food left after a few more days. The story even had a Palestinian journalist speaking – I can recall seeing that on only one previous occasion in the past 19 months.
The story showed the aftermath of the bombing of a hospital in Khan Younis with Israel’s preposterous claims it was a terrorist base for Hamas.
It appears the situation in Occupied Gaza has become so monstrous and outrageous that finally western media can no longer justify looking away or justify the reporting of absurd Israeli propaganda.
For the first time I can recall only a few Israeli lies were reported tonight rather than the pervasive domination in all western reporting of Israeli propaganda narratives for 19 months of genocide.Palestinian voices are an afterthought at best.
A lot has been written about the reasons for the silence of western leaders and western media in the face of what all humanity can see is a genocide. Some emphasise that western media has been so well trained over many decades that reporting Israeli lies is hard-baked into news editors and journalists; others that the threat of false smears of anti-semitism from the pro-Israel lobby encourages news organisations to self-censor in favour of Israel; others that western racism towards Arabs and Palestinians provides a natural slippery slide to just go with Israeli bias; others that Eurocentrism means western audiences naturally tend to side with Israelis who speak their own language and share similar values such as a beliefin “democracy” (The inverted commas because Israel has never been a democracyand democracy in western countries is deeply compromised by the power and political influence that comes with huge wealth)
The truth is probably a mixture of all that.
Earlier this year an independent report on Radio New Zealand’s reporting on Palestine/Israel (the report was written by a former senior journalist at the organisation) was unusually and revealing frank about the bias in stories selected for reporting on the Middle East. The reportsays:
In covering international news RNZ (and other New Zealand media) has traditionally seen’relevance to New Zealand’ as giving greater prominence to events in countries in which New Zealand has some active engagement (trade, aid, travel) or from which many New Zealanders originate or have family (the UK, Australia, Sāmoa).This extends to shared language or cultural experience. Israel, as a result oftourism, trade, ‘western’ alignment and language (with English a common firstand second language there) have a greater ‘news proximity’ to New Zealand thando Palestinians and Palestine. Stories may be chosen for these reasons and the inevitable result is a stronger perception of news relevance of Israeli stories. Coverage of stories with a Palestinian angle will tend to be less often reported. This tendency needs to be recognized.
It’s unusual to see such a frank expression of “Eurocentrism” being used as an explanation for pro-Israeli narratives. In the world today such an explanation looks shocking and reeks of lazy racism. All of us deserve better – Palestinians in particular.
New Zealand as a small country often claims the importance of the “rules-based international order” and by implication the importance of institutions such as the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court and the United Nations.
However, when it comes to Israel the rules become the US/Israel “rules” and our country has been shamefully silent in upholding what we claim we believe in.
But despite the built-in bias in favour of Israel, the big majority of people here – and I think across the western world– has a gut feeling of sympathy and support for Palestine over Israel.
Last week the solidarity movement here joined with the New Zealand Māori Council to publish full-page advertisements in three major daily newspapers – if we had a half-decent, moral government this would not be needed. The add was in the form of an open letter to our ForeignMinister:
E te rangatira Minister Peters, tēnā koe
The situation in Occupied Gaza has reached a further crisis point.
We urge ourcountry to speak out and join the other nations demanding humanitarian supplies into Gaza and accountability for the blockade.
For more than two months, Israel has blocked all aid into Gaza – food, water, fuel and medical supplies. The World Food Programme says food stocks in Gaza are fully depleted. UNICEF says children face”growing risk of starvation, illness and death”. The International Committee of the Red Cross says “the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of total collapse”.
Meanwhile, 3000 trucks laden with desperately needed aid are lined up at the Occupied Gaza border. Israeli occupationforces are refusing to allow them in.
Starving a civilian population is a clear breach of International Humanitarian Law and aWar Crime under the Rome Statute to the International Criminal Court.
At the International Court of Justice many countries have stood up to condemn the use of starvation as a weapon of war and to demand accountability for Israel to end its industrial-scale killing of Palestinians in Gaza.
New Zealand has not joined that group. Our government has been silent to date.
After 18 months facing what the International Court of Justice has described as a “plausible genocide”, it is grievous that New Zealand does not speak out and act clearly against this ongoing humanitarian outrage.
Minister Peters,as Minister of Foreign Affairs you are in a position of leadership to carry NewZealand’s collective voice in support of humanitarian aid to Gaza to the world. We are asking you to speak on behalf of New Zealand to support the urgentinternational plea for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and to initiate calls for a no-fly zone to be established over the region to prevent further mass killing of civilians.
We believe the way forward for peace and security for everyone in the region is for allparties to follow international law and United Nations resolutions, going backto UNGA 194 in 1948, so that a lasting peace can be established based onjustice and equal rights for everyone.
New Zealand has an internationally respected voice – please use it to express solidarity forhumanitarian aid to Gaza, today.
Nā,
Ann Kendall QSM,Co-Chair
Tā Taihākurei Durie,Pou
NZ Māori Council
Maher Nazzal
John Minto
National Co-Chairs,Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa
What will the response be? No sign of courage or conscience yet.
As they said in the anti-colonial liberation struggle in Angola and Mozambique:
“A luta continua,vitória é certa” (The struggle continues, victory is certain)
John Minto is a New Zealand political activist known for his involvement in various left-wing groups and causes, most notably Halt All Racist Tours. A 2005 documentary on New Zealand’s Top 100 History Makers listed him as number 89
17 May 2025