12/07/2023
AS YOUR ADMINISTRATOR AND SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERT ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS FOR THE GROUP.....
"FRIENDS WHO LIKE SULTAN OF BRUNEI HASSANAL BOLKIAH INTERNATIONAL"
I FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO VIEW AND COMMENT ON THE ARTICLE BELOW.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE REALIZES THE SEVERITY OF WHAT IS HAPPENING AND WILL HAPPEN IN THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE UNLESS PEOPLE COME TO THEIR SENSES WORKING TOGETHER TO STOMP OUT EXTREME TERRORISM INSTEAD OF LOOKING THROUGH ROSE COLORED GLASSES.
....BEVIE
BELOW IS AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE BY ASHLEY CHURCH.
Kudos to New Zealands Deputy Prime Minister and new Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, for “unequivocally condemning” the Hamas terror attacks of October 7 and calling for the release of all hostages.
It's also encouraging to see him moving that Parliament recognises Israel’s right to defend itself.
However, the suggestion made by Labour MP Damien O'Conner in the ensuing debate, that Israel is committing 'genocide' is concerning.
Yes, I get that the use of that term plays well to a certain section of the electorate - but the MPs throwing it around are either being mischievous or haven't bothered to do their research and their use of that term is helpful only in as much as it quickly identifies them as extremists.
‘Genocide’ is defined, in international law, as the 'deliberate' killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.
The two key conditions of that definition relate to scale and intent.
In other words, Israel would have to be killing very large numbers of people ‘deliberately’.
In respect to the latest crisis, it’s important to note that the casualty numbers being quoted by international media are all coming from Hamas and Hamas controlled organisations such as the Gaza Health Ministry and can be regarded as little more than propaganda.
There is no independent count or credible verification taking place outside Hamas itself and media organisations are generally accepting these numbers without any evidence.
Given that this is the same Hamas which falsely claimed that Israel had bombed a hospital and that over 500 people had been killed, treating their numbers with anything other than extreme caution is unwise.
We currently have no idea of how many casualties have resulted from the conflict - and it’s also important to distinguish between innocent civilians and combatants.
We know that Hamas terrorists come in the form of men, women, and teenage children – so resorting to the term ‘women and children’ as a way of portraying innocence has less meaning than the claim implies.
We simply don’t yet know how many lives have been lost.
We also know, with absolute certainty, that Israel is focused on eliminating the terrorist organisation, Hamas - not killing Palestinians - so while there are likely to be civilian deaths (just as there were among German civilians during the bombing of German cities toward the end of WW2) painting it as being akin to genocide is ignorant and extremist.
If Damien O'Conner, Golriz Ghahraman and others are genuine about really wanting to understand the nature of the conflict, I suggest that they start by reading my article at www.voicesforisrael.co.nz.
It will help them to avoid making the kinds of embarrassing claims that only serve to make them look foolish....
