WILL YOU BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HISTORY?
Opinion Piece
31st October 2023
Brian Tamaki
This is yet another history-defining moment we are living in. Will you be on the right side of history?
I strongly believe New Zealand has not gone far enough in condemning the actions of Hamas.
Hamas supporters and sympathisers should not be tolerated in New Zealand.
I have created an urgent petition to Parliament to declare the entire Hamas and Hezbollah groups as terrorist organisations and expel any MPs from Parliament who support them.
The actions undertaken by Hamas on 7th October 2023 were a terrorist act, pure and simple! There is no humane justification for the acts they undertook.
It was Israel’s equivalent of 9/11. It was pure evil. The verified reports of Hamas atrocities are heartbreaking. In one home Hamas terrorists killed the father, put the baby in the oven to bake to death, and while the baby baked Hamas terrorists proceeded to rape the mother three times. Even worse, Hamas proudly broadcast this over the internet via channels such as Telegram. In another home, a pregnant mother was found dead where her fetus had been cut out and beheaded. It’s completely barbaric and pure evil. Hamas has proudly and unashamedly broadcasted its brutality for the world to see.
So, I am horrified to see New Zealand MPs and everyday Kiwis being sucked into supporting Hamas, believing their terrorist actions were justified, as hundreds of Kiwis take to the streets in the wake of 7th October to show their embarrassing support for Palestine...when it is Israel that Kiwis should be supporting right now. To see on Saturday that Kiwis were burning an Israeli flag and shouting Hamas chants in Auckland is disgusting, and something reminiscent of an Arabic terrorist country. This is not the New Zealand I grew up in.
Israel’s current show of military strength should not be condemned by any of us. It's completely proportionate and understandable. After 9/11 we all accepted that the US needed to respond with military force and eradicate the ISIS terrorists. Why is there not the same understanding of Israel’s military response, which in all honesty has been measured and humane as they allowed ample warning for civilian Palestinians to flee the designated area in the Gaza Strip that Israel openly announced as an area they will need to attack?
Would you be so measured and restrained in your response if it was your Kiwi baby that was beheaded or taken hostage from your home one afternoon? Would you be so calm if it was your elderly Kiwi grandparents raped or taken as hostages? I know I would be on the warpath if someone dared to touch my family like this.
NZ needs to designate the entire Hamas and Hezbollah organisations as terrorist organisations
All factions of Hamas need to be deemed a terrorist organisation, not just the military wing. Our Five Eyes partner countries have already listed the ‘entire’ Hamas organisation as a terror entity, but New Zealand hasn’t. The same should also apply to Hezbollah who are also an Islamic resistance group within the Muslim Brotherhood and also backed by Iran.
Australia listed the entire Hamas movement as a terrorist organisation in March 2022, and since 2003 had the military wing listed as a terror group. New Zealand has still not gone this far, only more recently declaring the military wing of Hamas a terrorist organisation. Boy, NZ is slow off the mark. The world was once before slow to support Jews, let’s not repeat the same mistake again.
My original wording for the petition on the Parliament website called for the entire Hamas and Hezbollah organisations to be designated as terrorist entities, but the Petition Team at Parliament have reworded it to the ‘political’ wing of the Hamas organisation. Hamas’ organizational structure is divided into the military wing (Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades) and the political wing, known as the political bureau. The Shura Council oversees the work of both the political and military wings.
It’s important that Hamas and their mates Hezbollah are declared terrorist organisations so that we can ensure that members of these organisations are not allowed into New Zealand, or given any support by New Zealanders. We do not want any sleeper cells of such terrorist organisations in our country. I would hate to see such atrocities as 7th Oct ever committed in New Zealand on our babies, toddlers, children, women and elderly. Yet we will head that way too if we do not draw a line in the sand now. These terrorist organisations want to take over the entire world.
Expel MPs from Parliament
Members of Parliament should be expelled from Parliament if they do not show genuine support for Israel, and if they do not condemn the actions of Hamas.
If NZ Members of Parliament are genuinely so concerned about Gaza, we should pay for their one-way airfares to head over there so they can help out. I bet none of them will be keen, as they don’t care about Palestinians, it's all just political posturing.
There is an appalling lack of knowledge amongst Kiwis about the Israel-Hamas war, as evidenced by Kiwi’s recent Pro-Palestine protests with their signs and chants. And sadly I attribute much of this misinformation/disinformation to what is being proliferated by our MPs.
The cry “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is largely misunderstood by protestors, particularly Māori. This phrase is globally known as an anti-Semitic chant used by Hamas and outlines their agenda to reject the state of Israel and eradicate the Israeli people in their entirety. They have no interest in co-existing as two states. There is nothing humane in this chant.
Signs also read “Free Palestine” – yet the ones oppressing the civilian Palestinians are Hamas, not Israel. “Stop the genocide” – again, it’s Hamas committing genocide, not Israel. (Read more detail at the end of this article)
All of the cries for humanitarian efforts are again misdirected. Hamas are the ones not helping their own people with the stockpiled goods and fuel Hamas is hoarding. Hamas has repeatedly commandeered aid resources away from reaching civilians in Gaza. It is also their fellow Arabic country, Egypt that is not facilitating a safe corridor for humanitarian efforts to reach Gaza, and for refugees to easily escape through. Hamas is also actively prohibiting Palestinians from fleeing.
The number of deaths reported by Hamas can also not be trusted. Even Biden has said they have no confidence in the death toll numbers reported from Gaza. Who in their right mind would believe that a terrorist organisation is releasing truthful information? A recent video circulating by Hamas supposedly showing dead bodies in body bags shows one of the bodies moving and itching themselves. They really need better actors.
Disinformation is rife in this Israel-Hamas war and information age, and Kiwis need to ensure we do better homework. People can easily get stuck in an echo chamber where all they see and hear is one side of the story, particularly with the way algorithms work on social media and across search engines. I have the benefit of having studied in-depth the conflict between the descendants of Isaac (Judeo-Christians) and Ishmael (Islam) for over 40 years.
Kiwis need to be more careful with the information they consume, so they ensure they land on the right side of history in this Israel-Hamas war. It’s important to research and carefully study both sides of every argument and rely on trustworthy news sources, not biased mainstream media.
I was struck by this piece of history which says a lot about our human race. In 1940, students in Georgetown University USA when polled, ranked Adolf Hitler in 1st place as “the most outstanding personality in the world today”, ahead of the Pope (2nd), and President Roosevelt (3rd). Now in 2023 we see Georgetown University students supporting Hamas. Sadly we’ve still not learned lessons from the past and undertaken to do better research before we jump to conclusions.
Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers
An immediate halt needs to be put to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers coming into New Zealand. We need to sort out our dysfunctional immigration processes. It's horrifying to hear Immigration NZ staff recently disclose that proper checks and balances are not in place to ensure that criminal records are checked. They proved this point by submitting an application with pictures of pets in place of humans, and those applications were still approved. In effect, we have open borders into New Zealand. For all we know we could have terrorists already living amongst us. At the very least we appear to already have Hamas sympathisers living amongst us judging by the public protests taking place. New Zealand is a Christian nation, and if people want to enter this country they need to honour and respect our founding religion. If they don’t like that this is a Christian nation, then don’t come here...they have the freedom to choose. There are plenty of other countries that will take them if they don’t like our stance. We don’t need them and their radical beliefs in our country.
Urgently, adequate checks and balances need to be in place to ensure that Hamas or Hezbollah supporters or sympathisers are not gaining entry to our country.
We should not take any refugees or asylum seekers in from Palestine, or any country for that matter. For starters, we can’t even properly care for Kiwis living in this country, and our infrastructure (hospitals, schools, roads etc) are overstretched and at crisis levels without populating NZ even further. Secondly, the cost is massive to Kiwi taxpayers. Every refugee that New Zealand takes in costs taxpayers $100,000 per person a year for their first three years. We don’t even spend that on Kiwis who are struggling. We can’t afford to take any refugees in this current economic climate. We need to put Kiwis first. We need to regain our national identity and be confident in who we are as a nation before we extend a helping hand.
The Right Side of History
We are quite possibly going to see the outbreak of World War III as more and more countries pick a side. In the past few days we’ve seen Turkey’s President say he is ready to face a new Crusader-Cresent battle, to challenge the West as he deploys Turkish troops to Gaza.
Will New Zealand one day soon see our able-bodied men and women called to fight in this WWIII? Will this generation even understand who and what they are fighting for? Our ancestors in WWI & WWII knew they were fighting for God, for King and for country. I’m concerned this generation across our nation does not even understand our national identity these days, and what we stand for.
I want New Zealand to be on the right side of history.
I want God to continue to defend this Freeland, that we proudly sing in our national anthem.
Kiwis need to staunchly and proudly support Israel. We need to support the nation of Israel, the nation that is the most dear to God’s heart.
We need to expel any politicians from our Parliament who do not support Israel, and especially if they have the nerve to support Hamas.
I proudly stand with Israel!
Show your support for Israel too and sign my petition to Parliament here:
Additional Information, for avid readers:
What compels Hamas?
Hamas is motivated by their religion. Hamas have a radical faith in Islam. Hamas is a branch of the infamous Muslim Brotherhood, a radical Islamist movement that has imposed strict sharia law and education throughout Gaza during its 16 years in power. Its sole goal is “to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine” (Article 6 of their charter) by “obliterating” Israel.
Any peace talks of two-state negotiations will never be accepted by Hamas and is futile and contrary to Islam. They believe that “the day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them.” (Article 7).
They believe that once a territory is conquered by Islam, it cannot revert. So Israel’s existence will never be acceptable. (Hamas Charter, Article 14). The attack on 10/7 was designed to terrorise Jewish Israelis and mobilise all Muslims in the land to rise up in wholesale ethnic cleansing.
The ultimate conflict rages over which ‘God’ reigns over Jerusalem. ‘Abba Father’ – the God of the Jewish people and Christians worldwide, or ‘Allah’ the God of Islam.
Hamas does not protect the civilians of Palestine.
Hamas has made the civilians of Gaza into a giant human shield. They have taken millions of dollars given in aid for Gaza and spent it not on food but on weapons and expensive mansions for their Hamas leaders in the wealthy neighbourhood of Rimal in Gaza.
They have deliberately stored weapons beneath hospitals, schools and mosques, and they transport them using ambulances. They fire rockets at Israeli villages from civilian kitchens and rooftops.
Israel has shown more care for Palestinians than their own Hamas leaders have, even warning them by text message and other means to get out of harm’s way, every time a strike is planned.
Who are the Indigenous people: Is it Palestinians or Jews?
As an Indigenous leader within NZ I am disgusted at the comments other Māori leaders have made about Israel. Palestinians are not the indigenous people of the land. They only occupied the land in the recent times of 1948 A.D. Prior to that Israel occupied the land since 1000 B.C. during the empire of King David and King Solomon. That’s thousands of years prior to 1948 A.D that Palestinians harp on about. The whole Bible is a well-documented and proven historical record of Israelites occupying this land for thousands of years.
Israel vacated the Gaza Strip in 2005. Since then Palestine has been ruled by Hamas. It is Hamas that has Palestinians locked down, not Israel. Hamas runs Palestine! And just remember, it was the Palestinian people who chose and voted in Hamas, a terrorist organisation, as their political leaders. The Palestinian people need to be free from Hamas, not free from Israel. But just remember the Palestinian people also believe in Islam and serving Allah.
Israel and Egypt have had an ongoing blockade from 2007 restricting the movement of goods and people in and out of the Gaza Strip. This was aimed to isolate Hamas and prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Sounds like common sense to me.
Yet, up until 7th October 2023, Palestinians have been able to move in and out of Israel. I visited Israel in April/May 2023 and many of our taxi drivers and tour guides in Israel were Palestinians. I chatted and questioned them at length, they said that they had more job opportunities in Israel than in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, however there are checkpoints and they must have a permit to enter into Israel for work.
Israel has not made Gaza an open air prison as many falsely report. For starters one of the Gaza Strip borders is alongside Egypt, the largest Arabic country in the world. Yet, Egypt won’t open its Rafah border with Gaza as they don’t want to allow Hamas and its sympathizers into their country. Where is the outrage against Egypt?
If Māori care about the indigenous people, they should be throwing their support behind the Jewish people like I am. The Jewish people are the true indigenous people of this land.
Which MPs have shown support to Hamas or Palestine?
Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party have supported calls for an end to Israeli forces’ bombardment of Gaza.[1]
Since 7th October, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer & Rawiri Waititi issued a statement demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador if Israel does not immediately implement a ceasefire and open safe humanitarian aid corridors for Gaza.
Rawiri Waititi stated “...we condemn the retaliatory actions of the Israeli government.”
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer goes on to say “Western countries are wilfully in denial about the long-term aggression by Israel against Palestine. They have instituted an apartheid regime and have blockaded Gaza by land, air and sea.”
There is a blatant distortion of the word ‘apartheid’ being bandied around by these politicians.
On Saturday 28th October, in Wellington, Green MPs Golriz Gharaman, Teanau Tuiono and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbit Ngarewa-Packer spoke to the crowd gathered at the pro-Palestine protest.
Again, Debbie was vocal saying “I support anything that’s about protesting against genocide, protesting against colonisation, and most importantly looking for a peaceful resolve.” Again, she also referred to Apartheid. With colonisation she doubled down stating that indigenous peoples through this type of violence is doing nothing.
Teanau also referred to the violence of settler colonisation...”that since 1948 Israel has been trying to systemically disenfranchise and marginalise the Palestinian people, pushing them off their whenua, and it’s outrageous.” (These people seriously need to fire their researchers)
Golriz said “right now, Gaza is living under a situation of ethnic cleansing, so it is unconscionable for us to remain silent.” She calls it “crimes against humanity.” She calls on world leaders to stand against Israel’s military actions.[2]
Other Green Party members have frequented recent pro-Palestine events including Marama Davidson, Darleen Taha (who called for the “end to apartheid and against war crimes...for there to be peace, there needs to be justice.”) Also, Ricardo Menendez March, Steve Abel, Lawrence Xu-Nan and Chloe Swarbrick have made appearances.
Golriz Ghahraman is herself an Iranian refugee so not surprised she is showing up. Marama Davidson was arrested and detained by Israeli authorities back in 2016 for attempting to breach the Gaza blockade on a protest ship in 2016, so she’s also got a chip on her shoulder.
Notice, however, that in the days directly following 7th October, these MPs were relatively quiet, and have only found their loud voice after Election day on the 14th October.
Even Labour Party’s Damien O’Connor broke ranks with Labour and shared a video about the situation in Gaza, criticising the Israeli government and himself writing: “We cannot remain silent on this tragedy.”
PM-elect Christopher Luxon is conveniently avoiding the issue, saying as little as possible about it, and won’t commit to whether he would support a ceasefire in Gaza. This is why we need to force the topic to be debated in Parliament with our petition.
To give credit where credit is due, ACT MP Karen Chhour supported the Israel rally in Auckland on Sunday 30th October and spoke of her support for Israel. David Seymour has also openly expressed he is deeply saddened to see the acts of those in the Pro-Palestine march on Saturday where they burned the Israeli flag, but in my opinion, his message did not go far enough in condemning these acts.
Many of these MPs are calling for the Government to make a stand on the side of the oppressed, (in their view, the Palestinians), and support Palestine. They are so deluded.
All of these MPs supporting Hamas and Palestine should be expelled from Parliament immediately.
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