A kite with an incendiary device is readied for its launch.  Another day of peaceful protest at the Gaza border.

NZFOI:  This article is a response to Rob Berg’s article.  How would you rebut her arguments?

OPINION: Forget the kibbutz-building Zionists of the past; the new Zionism is not about “doing” and forging a vision for the future; it is about focusing on “hasbara” (Hebrew: explaining) and preserving the status quo.

This is why Benjamin Netanyahu has made no effort toward making peace with the Palestinians even though it has become clear to the world that the subjection and collective punishment of Palestinians are against any notion of human integrity and decency.

And if there was ever any proof needed that Netanyahu’s global PR project (the hasbara project) is failing miserably, it can be found in a recent Stuff opinion piece by the president of the Zionist Federation of New Zealand, Robert Berg.

Berg argues that New Zealand’s co-sponsorship of a Security Council resolution declaring Israeli settlements “a flagrant violation of international law” was “anti-Israel”.

What Berg fails to mention is that resolution 2234 passed in a 14-0 vote by all members of the UN Security Council including those with a veto power – that is: France, UK, Russia and China.

Even Israel’s own closet ally, the United States, did not vote against the resolution – it abstained. So, it is ludicrous to suggest the resolution was “anti-Israel” and New Zealand is “out of step” with its Western allies.

But Israel does not see itself accountable to the international community.

When our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, expressed her concern at the “one-sided loss of life” during the Gaza protests, she was not complaining, as Berg suggests, about “lack of Jewish deaths”.

Of course, to any fair-minded person, it is clear that the prime minister’s remarks referred to Israel’s disproportionate response to Gaza’s protests – but “hasbara” is not about fairness, it is about propaganda to ward off the critics of Israel, which is why Berg’s attacks did not stop there.

In his piece, Berg names some of New Zealand’s bravest defenders of human rights, MPs Marama Davidson and Golriz Ghahraman, and accuses them of siding with those “advocating the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state” and “resurfacing modern-day blood libels”. This is beyond outrageous!

Where is the evidence for Berg’s accusations? He offers no evidence because there is no evidence.

What Berg is doing is what the main pillar of hasbara project is based on: to conflate anti-Semitism with criticism of Israel’s policies.

But the world is waking up to the true realities of a state that calls itself democratic but is happy to cage almost two million people in a small strip of land called Gaza under horrendous conditions.

Almost half of the besieged Palestinians in Gaza are children younger than my 15-year-old son.

Mr Berg, no amount of “explaining” can ever convince me or the rest of the world that those children who never had anything to do with any decisions made in the past, deserve to be collectively and cruelly punished by Israel.

Netanyahu’s project of keeping Palestinians on the edge and maintaining the status quo is not only failing the Palestinians, it is denying Israel a peaceful future and a respectful place among the international community.

If Mr Berg is committed to peace in the Middle East, he will do better to criticise Israeli politicians for its actions than to blame brave Kiwis for their response.

Freelance writer Donna Miles-Mojab is a Scottish-born Iranian New Zealander.

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