By Sheree Trotter on the Israel Institute of NZ…

Tena koe Kanoa,

I’m writing regarding your interview with Mike McRoberts about the Israel/Gaza conflict aired on 18 May 2021.

I am Maori and an historian who has studied this issue closely over many years. I know that this conflict is very difficult to understand from afar, so I wanted to address some of the problematic content of your programme.

From the on-line article:

Mike McRoberts: “It’s come about from some pretty onerous decisions by Israel over access to some holy sites for the Palestinians.”
There is a range of complex issues that have contributed to the current situation, but the most significant, ignored by most media, is the inter-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians were hoping to be able to vote for new leaders after more than 14 years. That election was postponed by the Palestinian Authority because Hamas was expected to win. Hamas threatened violence at the time if elections were cancelled and followed through on that threat. As has been the case before, Hamas saw the opportunity to win points by a display of power and by attacking Jews.

Hamas has intentionally incited violence in its manoeuvring for political power in the wake of the election cancellation.

To give but one example, a Hamas senior offical, told the Palestinians of Jerusalem:

“People of Jerusalem, we want you to cut off the heads of the Jews with knives. With your hand, cut their artery from here. A knife costs five shekels. Buy a knife, sharpen it, put it there, and just cut off [their heads]. It costs just five shekels. With those five shekels, you will humiliate the Jewish state.”

Hamas cultivates a culture that glorifies martyrdom – dying for the cause is considered an honour. Terrorism is a win-win for Hamas as long as the media ignores these facts and focus instead on a perverse scorecard of bodycounts. If civilians in Gaza are killed, Hamas gains international sympathy, if Israeli citizens are killed, Gazans rejoice in the streets.

Read Sheree Trotter’s article in full on the Israel Institute of NZ website here.