Sent on 22 August 2025
Israel
Dear Winston Peters,
As the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFAT) and a member of the New Zealand Government, you are responsible for representing all New Zealanders in this liberal democracy.
Since no poll has been conducted to gauge the public’s views on this matter, I can only assume that you are unaware of them. However, it is clear that New Zealanders, by and large, value justice and fairness—for Palestinians, Israelis, and all others. Historically, public opinion has kept us out of foreign conflicts, especially those tied to the actions of the USA. New Zealanders expect you to take decisive action, not offer platitudes or criticize those who advocate for justice more effectively and strongly than you.
- Issues With MFAT’s Stance on Israel and why they are wrong
MFAT’s and NZs bias in favour of Israel reveals the Government’s tacit support for its genocidal colonization of Palestine. This bias is evident in several ways:
- You say Hamas carried out the attacks on 7 Oct 2023, when it was Al-Qassam. Al Qassam is the military wing of the government of the state of Gaza. Hamas is the party in government originally by an election,
That’s like saying Lukid Party is carrying out genocide in Gaza right now rather than the Israel or IDF are. Or saying NZ First is supporting genocide in Gaza when NZ government is.
Do you see how biased that is ?
- Notwithstanding the misinformation bias above you label Hamas a terrorist group but refuse to apply the same label to Israel or Israeli government or the IDF, which is also a terrorist entity by definition and has killed and taken more Palestinian hostages than Hamas military wing Al-Qassam ever has.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/nz-designates-entirety-hamas-terrorist-entity
- You condemn Gazas Al-Qassams Oct 7 attack but refuse to condemn Israels or IDF terrorist attacks and terrorism in Gaza & the West Bank prior to and since Oct 7.
- Israel holds far more hostages than Hamas, yet you have not called for their release.
- You defend Israels right to defend itself [notwithstanding its actions are not self defence but colonisation] but fail to defend Palestine’s right to self defence from Israel’s colonisation and apartheid and terrorism.
- On October 7, Al-Qassam did not kill 1,200 innocent civilians. At least one-third of those killed were military personnel—legitimate targets given Israel’s action. Another third were killed by the IDF itself, yet you fail to condemn these atrocities or even acknowledge the nuance of deaths in Oct 7 attack.
- You have not called out Israel’s genocide or supported charges against it in the ICJ or ICC.
- You have a working Holiday Visa specifically for young citizens of Israel, which you have not cancelled.
- By far the worse action is your support for Israel in its denial of a Palestinian State as Minister of NZ MFAT having refused to recognize Palestine as a state, even as most of the world has done so. Most of the world being made up of de-colonised, non western states. NZ is not included as it is a colonised Western state . 9 states recognised the Palestine state in 2024 including 3 European and 4 Caribbean states bringing the total to 147 at the time of writing .
The excuse of Hamas being in government is just that , an excuse and invalid because:
a) Your government has had no issue engaging with dictatorships in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and dozens of other states, including Libya before Muammar Gaddafi’s ousting. You engage with and recognise Israel , from inception in 1948 and even prior. In fact, if you exclude four socialist states in Asia and there are 26 monarchies, dictatorships, and autocracies across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Russia that your government routinely deals with—yet you single out Palestine. Meanwhile, you engage with and recognise Israel as a state. It is a terrorist state by definition.
c)Your stance ignores the fact Hamas’ presence in Gaza is not the real issue. While they maintain their defensive posture, no land has been lost there so far. In contrast, the West Bank—governed by a weaker secular authority—continues to lose land to Israeli settler colonization and apartheid enforcement. Israelis are terrorising , murdering and holding Palestinians hostage due to its lack of statehood because Israel claims it’s disputed because it is not by UN definition a state even though Hamas has declared it a state. This stands in contrast to Israel which had very little land when it declared itself a state. The West Bank was never legally or lawfully allocated to so-called “Jews” by the unlawful UN resolution, just as Indigenous Americans and Aboriginal Australians never “lacked ownership” of their land, yet Britain took it unlawfully.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) or settlers, under IDF protection, routinely continue to murder Palestinians with impunity—around 155 in 2022 , 272 in the West Bank before & Oct 2023, a number that exceeded 500 by year’s end, and 695 in 2024 all during what is supposed to be a time of peace.
Gaza cannot afford to change government to a weaker secular government and be colonised like the West Bank just to meet your conditions to allow you to recognise it as a state, when ultimately the UN calling it a state is what counts. Your non acceptance helps UN defer acceptance of a Palestinian state while your recognition will move UN closer to recognising it as one.
d) Netanyahu’s opposition to Palestinian statehood is not new. He explicitly rejected the Oslo Accords in 1995, which sought to establish Palestinian self-governance and eventual statehood. Notably, Netanyahu vehemently opposed Rabin’s policies, participating in protests where Rabin was vilified as a traitor. While Netanyahu never explicitly called for violence, his refusal to condemn chants like “Death to Rabin” mirrored Trump’s infamous failure to denounce white supremacists killing a counter protester at the 2017 Charlottesville rally, where he claimed there were “very fine people on both sides.” Rabins subsequent assassination by a zionist who did not want a Palestine state followed and the accords ended. During Netanyahu’s 1996 campaign for prime minister, he campaigned on not allowing a 2 state solution specifically with Palestine not having a state. His platform claimed these accords endangered Israel’s security. Netanyahu’s victory that year reflected a significant segment of Israeli society’s rejection of the peace process, especially following Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. He has maintained that stance to this day. Yet October 7 still happened in reaction to Israel’s colonisation and terrorism.
This fits with your very slow response to ask for cease fire leaving it until May 2024
And, even then a ceasefire is a minimum and not a solution to the Israeli colonisation and terrorism.
This fits with your poor response in your July 2024 Letter to John Minto.
Your July 2024 response to John Minto was pure political doublespeak. Claiming adherence to “international law” is meaningless when international law is ;
- Court resolutions by UN and rulings by the ICJ and the ICC against Israel’s criminal actions are not heeded and Israel’s crimes have no consequences.
- The courts are compromised by corruption and Israel’s strong arm tactics that delay or dismiss cases and evidence.
At 105 min Norman Finkelsteins talks of corruption in court
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waNjFRCfEQc
These alone should horrify you given your very conservative view of justice and the imposing of harsh punishment as a consequence of crimes.
The courts delay in questioning whether Palestine is a state or a jurisdiction is an excuse . USA and the allies had no trouble taking NAZI Germany to a court they created in the Nuremberg trials. This is a western double standard.
- Evidence is hard to bring in cases especially in Gaza where it is an open air prison lockdown controlled by Israel. And, Israel’s war crimes include assassinating journalists.
- Harder to enforce in occupied territories, which Israel claims as “disputed” to avoid accountability. Your refusal to recognize Palestine as a state perpetuates a convenient chicken-and-egg scenario of statehood and rights for Palestinians without taking meaningful action.
- You cant enforce court decisions if you are unwilling to do so. Neither the UN or the ICJ or the ICC who are extremely slow to apply the process of law are willing or able to enforce their decisions because the western powers are the problem by not holding Israel to account . NZ and MFAT form part of that coalition of willing Western Zionism.
- As Dianna Buttu says “The ICJ decision is an even harsher indictment of the Western powers that for nearly 60 years have allowed a brutal, illegal occupation and land heist to take place, while fatuously claiming to seek peace”
they refer to the ICJ report Jul 2024
The settlements are already considered illegal under international law—because an occupation must be temporary and 58 years is not temporary leading one to decide is it an annexation? Annexations are also considered illegal under international law.
More recently in 2024 the International Court of Justice in its 2024 advisory opinion found that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories constitutes systemic discrimination and is in breach of Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which prohibits racial segregation.
The ruling issued by the ICJ ordered six provisional measures including for Israel to refrain from acts under the Genocide convention, prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to genocide, and take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. Crucially, the Court also ordered Israel to preserve evidence of genocide and to submit a report to the Court, within one month, of all measures taken in line with its order. But it did not order Israel to suspend its military campaign. Talk about double speak but this backs up what the world is saying about Israels genocide.
Israel’s claims of legality are irrelevant. Israel writes legislation to institutionalize the theft of Palestinian land. That would be illegal as well as unlawful if Palestine was a UN recognised state even though it is already a state. Your refusal to act enables Israel’s continued colonization and parallels New Zealand’s own colonial history which has yet to be compensated for. When the NZ colonial government made an excuse and went to war against Maori who refused to sell land and stole (confiscated) millions of acres of land legally under NZ legislation but in violation of the law, Te Tiriti o Waitangi .
You are now in coalition with a party that seeks to abolish Te Tiriti o Waitangi —the very document offering Māori partnership and sovereignty and allowing coloniser immigration and protection. It seems you enable final colonisation at home as well as enabling it abroad as if you are kupapa.
This fits with your slow extremely response to say Israel’s gone too far and enough is enough, speech as if a little genocide is ok , leaving it until Sep 2024, nearly a year after genocide began that most of the world recognised immediately.
Even Australia is questioning terrorist visitors.
- Consequences of Inaction
Israel, like a near fascist state, believes it has immunity for its war crimes and genocide in Gaza, which it intends to continue until it has full control.
By denying Palestine statehood, you enable Israel to pass legislation that grants itself the supposed right to unlawfully steal Palestinian land in the West Bank by labelling it “disputed,” all while enforcing apartheid and terrorizing and killing Palestinians without consequence. But this land is not “disputed”—it is Palestinian land.
Your support for Israel’s actions—through inaction and rhetoric—only fuels more violence and suffering. This will not weaken Hamas but instead increase support for it, giving you endless excuses to justify further inaction. Yet, a recent poll shows that 40% of New Zealanders now support recognizing a Palestinian state—double those who oppose it.
(Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/528256/new-poll-shows-support-for-recognising-palestinian-statehood-sanctioning-israel))
All of this reinforces your support for Britain’s last colonial project—the state of Israel—established before the British Empire’s demise. This stance aligns you with Western powers, isolating you from the majority of the world’s states. You are supporting Israel’s ongoing colonization of not only the rest of Palestine but its broader goal of controlling the entire region—something that will continue unless Western governments and the UN take real action.
Further, Israel has the worlds 4th strongest military and Gaza is the worlds most heavily monitored and secure border in a open air prison. Israel’s suspiciously slow response on October 7 raises questions. How did they fail to detect a breach of Gaza’s heavily monitored secure borders ? This lapse suggests possible complicity in allowing the attack, which conveniently justified Israel’s ongoing colonisation and genocidal campaign. Thus proving its not justice you or UN serve but those with the most power and its not the public or democracy. Your actions and failure to act will most likely sweep this under the carpet.
- Conclusion
As John Stuart Mill said, “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing.”
So far your actions only show that of a politician on the wrong side of history and the majority of the world. You have the power to change this—to take a stand for justice and recognize Palestine as a state. Will you rise to the occasion, or will you remain complicit in genocide and colonization?
Your actions thus far suggest spineless cowardice and a willingness to sell out your principles. You were once admired for your stance against neoliberalism and your pursuit of truth during the Winebox Inquiry and visiting an illegal protest on parliament grounds when no other Minister would. But now, you appear to have abandoned those ideals, serving instead as a mouthpiece for colonization and injustice, and perhaps greater empire masters.
It is time to end politician speak, pontificating and delaying and for you to decide: will you stand for justice, or will you continue to betray it?
You are not alone in your cowardly wilful complicity with all Western countries except decolonised Ireland in supporting the last western colonisation project of Israel in Palestine and the current genocide in Gaza.
I realise NZ is powerless and impotent against the terror state of USA in the UN, making the UN an impotent organisation at USA’s disposal, but you can still do more than you are doing, you can :
Kick out the Israeli ambassador of NZ.
Support and promote BDS and ban any NZ trade with Israel.
Recognise the state of Palestine.
Apply sanctions to Israel.
Cancel the specific working holiday visa for israelis and put a total travel ban on all Israelis to NZ.
Announce and take steps required to arrest Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant and any other Israeli. ICC put arrest warrants out for them should they set foot in NZ.
Call out Israel’s genocide officially from MFAT as NZ policy.
Call for the cancellation of USA’s veto power in the security council of the UN.
Stop providing any aid to Israel.
Call for Israel’s withdrawal from its illegal settlements and occupation in the West Bank.
Living in faith, that there’s humanity inside you somewhere again, and you will finally do the right thing.
Yours sincerely
Sam Burnside-Woods
Socialist Aotearoa
Socialist Aotearoa 
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