by Simon O'Connor

Phil Goff, a former Labour MP, Minister, and High Commissioner to London, recently wrote an op-ed on the Israel-Gaza conflict, published by Stuff. Much was made of Mr Goff being a former Minister of Foreign Affairs. I decided, as a former Chair of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense committee to write a reply, now over a week ago. To date, my reply has not been published. Granted, Stuff is under no obligation to do so, but one would think a bit of balance would be welcome including from someone who is also a former politician, involved in foreign affairs, and who has actually been to Israel recently.

I should add, regular Sunday opinion columnist, Damien Grant, engaged this topic well-after Mr Goff’s op-ed was published, but many would expect that a guest op-ed would be responded to by another guest op-ed.

Here’s what I wrote:

Phil Goff has recently written an op-ed that repeats the usual grave allegations against Israel in its ongoing conflict with the Islamic terrorist group, Hamas.

Mr Goff is very welcome to his opinion but it also requires serious pushback, firstly around the gross stereotyping that Israelis are all for the war and its conduct, all the while warping the legacy of the Holocaust to suit his narrative. Throwing words about like genocide and apartheid does nothing but show a willingness to engage in emotional theatrics detached from reality.

I have recently returned from Israel. I was in the Gaza envelope, visiting the massacre sites and survivors including at the Nova music festival where almost 400 young party goers were murdered by Hamas and Gazan militants. While not able to get into Gaza for obvious reasons, I was at the border observing the artillery fire into Gaza knowing that destruction and death awaited those on the other end – a sad and sobering reality. War is ugly as I also saw on my visits to Iraq and Afghanistan in previous years.

There is much that could be said in response to Mr Goff’s emotive claims. What struck me most was he did not make even once mention of the horrors of October 7th when 1200 Israelis (mostly civilians) were barbarically killed. This was not an act of resistance – this was killing broadcast live to the world with pride. Talking with Israelis during my stay – be they Jewish, Arab, and Druze – they all know that Hamas will not stop killing. It’s in their Charter, in black and white! Part of the collective trauma that Israel has is the knowledge that if Hamas and other Iranian proxies got renewed opportunities, they would just keep killing till every Israeli is dead.

Mr Goff also makes no mention of the remaining hostages or the grotesque spectacles Hamas have staged when returning some. No mention that Hamas have rejected another ceasefire offer which Israel has agreed to. No mention that civilians are left in the open while Hamas fighters hide in tunnels funded by UN monies. No reflection on why Hamas is more than willing to let it’s people die when returning the hostages would end things. Mr Goff is also very quick to criticise Netanyahu (which many in Israel also do), yet not one mention of Hamas’ leaders including that they too are subject to arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (note, Mr Goff wrongly states that Netanyahu has been found guilty).

During my visit, the conduct of the war, political leadership, and the future was debated fiercely by those I met. Israel is a democracy in the same way New Zealand is. Their leaders are elected, their media is free and open, and debate is robust. For Mr Goff to suggest there is a callous single view is demonstrably false, just in the same way he knows that sending New Zealand troops to fight overseas always came with much discussion and soul searching.

We know with certainty that there is no such open debate in Hamas-run Gaza. Any who question Hamas and the war are tortured or killed. While the United Nations talks about famine, it also actively undermines recent attempts by other groups to provide aid. I do get the politics of it all, but you would think the ‘who’ and ‘how’ would be secondary to just getting supplies in. Mr Goff also forgets to mention that Hamas itself is actively trying to stop Gazans accessing these food supplies, while continuing to sequester the UN supplies.

We all want the war to stop. I want the war to stop. The sad truth is Hamas and other terrorist organisations do not, and yet so many in the West align themselves with Hamas’ worldview and mistruths. Perhaps if the protest, theatrics, and action Mr Goff talks about was directed at Hamas and those supporting them, rather than only and obsessively at Israel, we might actually see the peace we all want.

Originally published at On Point.