Israel plays the hunger games
The images of malnourished and starving Palestinian children appear daily. As understandable as it is that some cannot bear this sight and chose not to watch, we must make sure we don't turn away from them and from the awful realities of our world.
They need us for their very survival and to later hold the war criminals to account.
This is not the first time we have seen famine in recent decades, especially across parts of North and sub-Saharan Africa. More than 70 million people died from hunger in the 20th century, and many tens of thousands succumbed to acute malnutrition in recent famines in South Sudan and Somalia.
Famine is of course a consequence of more than just crop failures for whatever reason. They are also the result of the malign influences of human behaviour, such as wars and political instability, and the inability to get food supplies where they need to be for whatever reason.
What we are witnessing in Gaza is a deliberate stopping of desperate human beings from reaching food and aid. This is a despicable act, made even more shameful by the apparently indiscriminate killing of civilians by the members of the Israeli Defence Force.
Almost 1000 Gazans have been shot dead or blasted by mortars or tank fire in the past two months while queueing for food. In the latest outrage on Monday, Israeli soldiers opened fire at food-collection sites killing at least 40 civilians.
The civilised world is, naturally, appalled — just as it was shocked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1200 people and resulted in a further 251 people being taken hostage.
After nearly every shooting at a food-aid post, Israel's military either claims it knows nothing about the incident or its soldiers were feeling threatened by the crowds of Gazans.
Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is keeping up the pretence that nobody is starving in Gaza, calling it a "bold-faced lie" to say Israel is responsible.
"There is no policy of starvation in Gaza. And there is no starvation in Gaza. We enabled humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war to enter Gaza, otherwise there would be no Gazans," he said.
Even United States President Donald Trump, not known for his humanitarian approach — and perhaps Mr Netanyahu's only remaining political ally — has expressed disgust for the situation and says he doesn't agree with his claims that nobody is starving.
Mr Trump this week told the Israeli government to let "every ounce of food" into Gaza and said Israel bore "a lot of responsibility" for the crisis.
"Some of those kids ... that's real starvation. I see it and you can't fake that."
Airdrops of food and aid now being allowed into Gaza are widely condemned as far too little to make a difference when trucks with thousands of tonnes of supplies are being blocked from entering.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency head Philippe Lazzarini says "outrage and condemnation are no longer adequate for what is unfolding".
Israeli human rights groups are standing up and accusing the government of carrying out a genocide.
By not shouting vociferously about Israel's crimes in Gaza, many countries risk appearing complicit in those actions.
The world needs to express its abject outrage about these barbarities and leave the Israeli government in no doubt it is now a pariah. 'Uffin and puffing
Yes, Tauranga National MP Sam Uffindell, in your own words "how stupid do you have to be?"
Looking for an easy target to shore up the government's views on council spending, Mr Uffindell hyperfocused and hyperventilated over the George St, Dunedin, revamp and the supposed $600,000 cost of one seesaw.
Get your facts right. Three seesaws cost $244,700 in a total play space development of $586,000.
As you said yourself, Mr Uffindell, "get yourselves in order".
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
a minute ago
- RNZ News
Trump to start building $200 million White House ballroom in September
By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland , Reuters US President Donald Trump has long complained the White House lacked a large-scale ballroom for entertaining. Photo: AFP / MANDEL NGAN After paving over the Rose Garden and adding gold leaf in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump will embark on his most dramatic addition to the White House yet: a new, $200 million ballroom to be built adjacent to the mansion's East Wing. Trump, a former real estate developer with a penchant for decorating, has long complained the White House lacked a large-scale ballroom for entertaining. The White House on Thursday (US Time) announced plans to break ground in September on the project, which could prove to be the most extensive one since Harry Truman completed an entire renovation in 1952. The White House was originally finished in 1800 and partially rebuilt after being burned by the British during the War of 1812. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that work on the 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) facility would be completed "long before" Trump's four-year term ended in January 2029. The $200 million cost of the ballroom, which will be able to seat 650 people, will be donated by Trump and other donors, she said. Presidents have used the intimate State Dining Room for events, as well as the larger East Room for bigger VIP lists, and sometimes will have a tent temporarily constructed on the South Lawn to host big dinners. "When it rains, it's a disaster," Trump said of the tents when asked about the new ballroom. Trump's home at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, has a grand ballroom and a smaller one, both with glittering chandeliers and white walls decorated with gold flourishes. The Republican president has been determined to put his stamp on the executive mansion. He installed gold-filigreed decorations in the Oval Office and erected giant flagpoles on the north and south lawns. The Rose Garden is currently a construction site with the grass uprooted and replaced by a concrete patio of the type Trump enjoys at Mar-a-Lago. Trump first offered to build a $100 million ballroom at the White House back in 2010, an offer to then-President Barack Obama that went unanswered. The East Wing of the White House will be "modernised" as part of the project. Offices there, including the one used by First Lady Melania Trump, will be temporarily relocated, Leavitt said. As if to reassure traditionalists, the White House said the theme and architectural heritage will be "almost identical" to the rest of the house. It said Trump in recent weeks held meetings with members of the White House staff, the National Park Service, the White House Military Office and the US Secret Service to discuss design features and planning. "It'll be a great legacy project," Trump said on Thursday (US Time). - Reuters
RNZ News
23 minutes ago
- RNZ News
New Zealand hit with 15% Trump trade tariff
US President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs. (File photo) Photo: SAUL LOEB New Zealand exports to the US will face a 15 percent tariff rate, it has been announced. Trade Minister Todd McClay will be speaking to Midday Report's Charlotte Cook shortly. You can listen to a livestream above or in our app. The White House has revised its list of tariffs for particular countries and New Zealand has been put on a 15 percent base rate, up from the original 10 percent announced earlier. US President Donald Trump announced the tariffs back in April and said he they would be imposed on more than 125 countries. Tariffs are paid by importers of products from other countries to their own governments, like taxes, effectively making imported goods more expensive for local consumers. Advocates say they protect local economies, while detractors say they reduce trade and push up prices. In announcing the initial range of tariffs in April, Trump caused confusion when he held up a chart saying New Zealand charged US goods a 20 percent tariff , which the New Zealand government denied. It ended up being 10 percent, which Finance Minister Nicola Willis at the time called "extraordinary" . Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand would not respond in kind . Two-thirds of Kiwi businesses in a survey earlier this year thought the tariffs would have a more severe global impact than Covid-19 and the global financial crisis over the next 12 months. Trump has repeatedly threatened a range of different tariffs on various nations since returning to the White House - most recently India , citing its own trade barriers and purchasing of energy and arms from Russia, and Canada, over its newfound support for Palestinian statehood . More to come...
NZ Herald
31 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
What would New Zealand recognising Palestinian statehood mean?
What exactly is recognising Palestine statehood? Here are the details. "The world needs to focus" on aid for Gaza, Christopher Luxon has said. Photo / RNZ What is New Zealand's stance on Palestine statehood? After Britain's announcement this week that it would recognise Palestine by September unless Israel met certain conditions, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand wouldn't be following its lead 'at this stage'. 'Not at this point,' Luxon told reporters on Wednesday. 'Obviously, I will be talking with [British PM] Sir Keir Starmer around his position, which is a conditional statehood.' In response to questions from RNZ, Luxon said New Zealand had long supported the eventual recognition of Palestinian statehood, but that the immediate focus should be on getting aid into Gaza rather than 'fragmenting and talking about all sorts of other things that are distractions'. 'We need to put the pressure on Israel to get humanitarian assistance unfettered, at scale, at volume, into Gaza,' he said. 'You can talk about a whole bunch of other things, but for right now, the world needs to focus.' In Parliament on Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said he stood by a statement that 'it is a matter of when, not if, New Zealand will recognise Palestine statehood'. 'Yes, we steadfastly support the establishment of a Palestinian State and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. We have done so for decades.' However, when asked if now was the time to recognise Palestine, Peters said, 'We do need to see progress on some of the fundamental issues relating to a Palestinian state's legitimacy and viability, including representative governance, commitments to non-violence, regional support and security guarantees for Israel. 'If we recognise the state of Palestine, New Zealand wants to know that what we are recognising is a legitimate, representative, viable political entity.' University of Otago professor of politics and international relations Robert Patman said that while the Luxon-led Government did support the two-state solution, 'it seems reluctant to show leadership'. The Government has said New Zealand has limited influence over a conflict on the other side of the world. 'This claim does not sit comfortably with New Zealand Government's purported support for an international rules-based order,' Patman said. 'Distance from a conflict clearly should not determine whether flagrant violations of international law such as in Gaza are tolerated or condemned.' Former Prime Minister Helen Clark also told RNZ's Midday Report on Thursday that New Zealand was 'lagging behind' by not recognising statehood. 'If New Zealand can't act in these circumstances, when can it act?' Dozens of protests over the war in Gaza and Palestine's future have been held in New Zealand. Photo / RNZ Who else is recognising Palestine? There's been a groundswell of recent announcements from Britain, France and Canada this week announcing proposals to recognise Palestine timed around the UN General Assembly next month. In 2024, a group of UN experts called on all United Nations member states to recognise the state of Palestine, in order to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Gaza amid the Israel-Gaza war. Australia is believed to be about to join that group, with the ABC writing that 'Australia will recognise a Palestinian state, it is only a matter of when and how'. 'My entire political life, I've said I support two states, the right of Israel to exist within secure borders and the right of Palestinians to have their legitimate aspirations for their own state realised,' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. 'That's my objective.' Dozens of other countries already recognise Palestine. Some of these recent announcements come with caveats, such as ensuring free and open elections and the disarmament of Hamas. Britain's Starmer said it would recognise Palestine in September 'unless the Israeli Government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza' and other conditions. The UN also held an international conference on the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-state solution in New York from July 28 to 29. Why isn't Palestine recognised as a nation? Palestine exists in a peculiar quasi-state limbo. There are no internationally agreed-upon borders, no globally recognised capital or army. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people dates back centuries. British troops took control of the country from the Ottoman Empire after World War I and ruled it until 1948. The UN proposed partitioning Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states, but the plan was rejected. Jewish leaders in Palestine declared an independent state known as Israel when British rule ended. That declaration sparked war with Arab nation neighbours and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees. After the 1967 'Six-Day War', Israel captured much of the Palestinian territories from other Middle Eastern nations. Israel continues to occupy those territories. In 1988, the state of Palestine was officially declared by the Palestine Liberation Organisation, claiming the territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The state of Palestine has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations since 2012. The two-state solution that has been proposed for years would see an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, existing alongside Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Government rejects the two-state solution. What does recognising really mean? It's more of a symbolic step than anything, but it acknowledges Palestinian self-determination and allows the establishment of full diplomatic relations. 'The big difference with recognising a Palestinian state (as opposed to expressing a willingness to do so sometime in the future) is that it would significantly reduce the scope for diplomatic ambiguity or sitting on the fence,' Patman said. Juliette McIntyre, senior lecturer in law at the University of South Australia, told the ABC recently that a state has certain defining features under international law. These features include a permanent population, a determinate territory, an 'effective' Government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states. 'In some ways, the most important thing is recognition by other states – this enables entering into diplomatic relations, and membership of international organisations,' McIntyre said. The recent announcements by Britain, Canada and others come as coverage of death and famine in Gaza has escalated dramatically. 'Recognising a Palestinian state also conveys an urgent acknowledgment that the current situations in Gaza and the West Bank have been characterised by acts that constitute war crimes and represent an unacceptable failure by the occupying power, Israel, to live up to its legal responsibilities toward the Palestinian population it has under its control,' Patman said. So would it officially become a country? Well, under United Nations rules, it could be. To become a member of the United Nations, Palestine would submit an application to the Secretary-General and accept member obligations. The UN Security Council would vote on the admission, but none of the five permanent members – China, France, Britain, Russia and the United States – can vote against it. If the Security Council recommends admission, it then goes on to the full General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority vote is necessary. South Sudan is the most recent country to join as a member, in 2011. The United States has previously vetoed attempts to grant Palestine membership. What is the US view on Palestine statehood? The US has had long-standing support for a two-state solution, but hasn't gone so far as to support Palestinian statehood. It does recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation as the representative entity of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian National Authority as the Government of the territories. US President Donald Trump has frequently supported Israel and expressed reservations about recognising Palestine, telling reporters that Starmer's plan would 'reward Hamas'. 'You're rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don't think they should be rewarded.' Trump also threatened a trade deal with Canada over its overtures on Palestine. In a statement this week, the US Department of State called the UN's recent two-state conference a 'publicity stunt' and 'a slap in the face to the victims of October 7', and said France's announcement was 'welcomed by Hamas'. The US could again veto a motion on Palestinian statehood if it comes before the Security Council. Patman said that in his view, 'the National-led Government may be nervous about offending the Trump administration and by taking incremental steps toward recognition may be seeking to minimise that possibility, especially if it believes Trump may be reconsidering his hitherto staunch support for Netanyahu's stance toward Gaza (and West Bank)'. What else has New Zealand done? New Zealand has just signed a joint statement with 14 other countries expressing a willingness to recognise the state of Palestine as a necessary step towards a two-state solution. New Zealand also recently joined 24 countries in calling for an end to the war in Gaza, and criticising what they called the inhumane killing of Palestinians. New Zealand had announced $37.5 million in humanitarian aid for the conflict, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said. It also recently banned some Israeli politicians from travelling to New Zealand. Will these declarations actually make a difference? Realistically, Palestine's statehood and recognition by the UN won't happen overnight. But the declarations are also being seen as an attempt to revive peace talks and end the violence. 'The window for peace through the two-state solution appeared to be locked shut after the collapse of the peace process that started with real hope in the 1990s,' noted the BBC's international editor, Jeremy Bowen. 'Britain's decision to recognise Palestine is a diplomatic crowbar to try to reopen it.' New Zealand is a small player on the global scene, but this week's escalation of major global powers chiming in could make Israel more isolated on the issue. 'After making such declarations, it will be more difficult for the likes of Britain, Germany and Australia to continue to provide military and intelligence assistance to a Netanyahu Government that is using such military force to deny the possibility of a Palestinian state and the outcome of a two-state solution,' Patman said.
