Dr Sheree Trotter responds to accusations made by Tina Ngata and demonstrates why the settler colonialist model is deeply flawed and dangerous.
The YouTube video is an abridged version of the following article.
Several months ago, Tina Ngata published an article entitled, ‘Make No Mistake – there is no Indigenous support for Israel’. It was a ‘hit piece’ on those Māori who support Israel, including me.
At the time I decided Ngata’s accusations, including the libelous claim that our organisation is affiliated with the far right and white supremacists, were so ludicrous, they should not be dignified with a response.
But evidently Ngata’s academically weak and spurious content is being spread via workshops and on university campuses. So, somewhat reluctantly, for the sake of those ingesting this poison, I offer this response.
At first reading, Ngata’s statement ‘Make No Mistake – there is no Indigenous support for Israel’, appears to be simple ignorance. Of course there is Indigenous support for Israel historically and in the present, within Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world.
However, it soon becomes clear that Ngata’s intention in making her claim is to undermine the indigenous status of those with whom she disagrees.
Her comments flow from a narrow worldview that judges a Māori person or group by a particular set of criteria. Māori who do not conform to her radical agenda are magisterially deemed ‘colonial Māori’. Ngata’s stated criterion to be recognised as indigenous is that one must be a political activist who holds to settler colonial ideology.
Read Dr Sheree Trotter’s full article on the Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem website HERE.
Note: This article is part one of a two part series. Part two is soon to be published.
