NZFOI: This thought provoking letter to the Editor was published in today’s Dominion Post
Words affect our understanding of the world. Language can be poetic, describe fiction and fine reality. As a Jewish New Zealander, the language being used in New Zealand media surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is concerning.
Words such as coloniser and ethnic cleansing are being used to create an image of Israel as an out-of-control superpower, imposing its will on and seeking to annihilate its Palestinian neighbours.
Change the words, however, to homecoming and self defence, and you see a picture of Israel as a land which has seen the return of its people taken away as slaves 2000 years ago, compelled to act when attacked.
Currently, New Zealand media we see David and glass story. But what if we changed the paradigms to 1 of the feuding family, where descendants of the shed ancestor or tupuna (in this case the biblical forefather Abraham) both have manua whenua or valid claims to the land. Palestinians and Jews have overlapping interests in the Holy Land.
Jewish tino rangatiratanga in Israel, formalised in 1948, need not come at the expense of Palestinian tino rangatiratanga. The rallies this past weekend around New Zealand call for a one-sided condemnation of the violence.
Rather, Kiwis should call for co-existence and a two-state solution to be born through negotiation, not through blood.
Dr Michelle Gezentsvey Lamy, Wallaceville.
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