Kiwis like to get behind a good cause. We like to rally around the underdog and stick up for the little guy. This is admirable, but unfortunately it does make us vulnerable to narratives that frame conflict as black and white.

It is my desperate hope that it is this ignorance and earnestness that is behind the appalling antisemitism demonstrated at pro-Palestine rallies in New Zealand the weeks since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7th.

I fear, however, that for far too many, the Palestinian people are a convenient shield from behind which to voice the kind of hatred toward Jewish people that we were supposed to see ‘never again’.

What stands out at the pro-Palestine rallies in New Zealand, is that activists are eager to draw explicit comparisons between the Palestinian plight and Māori activism. Speakers like Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson have emphasised a joint suffering under colonialism and promoted decolonisation as the utopian goal.

With all due respect to Māori who suffered injustices as a result of colonialism, comparing this to the experience of people who have been displaced, lived in a near constant war zone for a century, and are at the mercy of terrorists who use them as human shields, is frankly ridiculous.

Colonialism in New Zealand is a pretty easy history to chart. We are a young nation and there is clear delineation in terms of who arrived and when. We also have a Treaty and have lived under democracy with equal suffrage longer than any other nation. Even so, we are still disputing aspects of our history and future!

By contrast, the complexity of histories in places like the Middle East is unfathomable. Narratives of decolonisation simply don’t work there when Jewish populations have existed in the region since some thousand years BC. They have been colonised multiple times including by the Romans.

Later, for about 700 years prior to World War I, the Middle East was part of the Ottoman Empire. The region was colonised by Turks and was largely Islamic. For much of that time, Jews were tolerated in the Ottoman Empire, although they were treated as lowly people, and many Jews escaping persecution in Western Europe fled to the region we now call Israel.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that antisemitism started to intensify in the Muslim-majority countries. Massacres of Jews became more common in the Middle East at that time.

The brutal history of Jews in the Ottoman Empire does not explain or excuse the suffering of the Palestinian people in the 20th century. However, it does make simplistic coloniser/colonised narratives difficult to reconcile. Jewish people have always been in the Middle East and in particular in the area now called Israel. Likewise, the Palestinian people can chart their history in the region, including roots in modern day Syria.

There is also a failure by New Zealand activists to appreciate that Hamas is the biggest barrier to peace. Hamas is a nationalist, Islamic terrorist organisation that was founded in 1987 with explicit intention to thwart peace negotiations between Israel and the internationally-recognised Palestine Authority (PA).

They opposed peace talks then, and continue to do so now, because they do not want peace. They want to eradicate Israel and bring about Islamic rule.

Hamas uses the modern infowar tactics of ISIS and the brutal terrorism of Al Qaeda. Their activism is characterised by suicide bombings and air strikes. Of course, Israel has always been their key target, but at times Hamas has also turned its violence on Palestinians in Gaza in efforts to seize power from Palestinian Liberation Organisation and PA.

Having won the Palestinian Parliamentary election in 2006, Hamas have prevented any subsequent legislative elections, although local elections have taken part in some form. They now have control of Gaza and use the Palestinian people as human shields.

They see their lives as dispensable and their deaths as necessary for their Jihad/Holy War. Hamas bases themselves and their weapons caches under schools and hospitals, daring Israel to strike.

Without Hamas, it is very possible the two-state solution would have been implemented.

At the most recent rally in Auckland, chants of “from the river to the sea” could be heard. Green Party MPs have repeatedly used this phrase in recent years too. They frame it as a benign call for the freedom and liberation of Palestine.

In reality, it is a call for Palestinian control from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea which would eradicate Israel. It is a rallying cry for terrorists and a call-to-arms that has often been used to mean not just the erasure of the Israeli state but also the extermination of Israeli Jews. It is not possible to advocate for a two-state solution while shouting “from the river to the sea”.

It is worth noting that a senior UK Labour MP has been suspended for the use of the phrase with a party spokesperson saying: "The comments made by Andy McDonald at the weekend were deeply offensive, particularly at a time of rising antisemitism which has left Jewish people fearful for their safety.”

If it is not shocking enough to hear that phrase, Unite Union organiser Joe Carolan finished his speech at the Auckland rally by screaming “globalise the Intifada”.

The word ‘Intifada’ relates to two Palestinian uprisings against Israel, the Intifada in 1987 and the Second Intifada in 2000. The first was made up of uprisings in which collective and individual guerilla violence was perpetrated against Israel by activists unhappy with what they saw as the PLO’s soft touch approach. The second was much more brutal as it was led by Hamas and involved more sophisticated weaponry and barbaric tactics.

There is no peaceful Intifada. They are specific uprisings against Israel and violence is a fundamental component. Calling for Intifada is not calling for passive resistance or advocacy. It is calling for violence and murder.

The phrase “globalise the Intifada” is sinister because it is impossible for people to take part in an Intifada against Israel from the otherside of the world. The inference is, however, that we can fight the local Jewish population. It is a call to rise up against Jews all over the world and frighteningly, we are seeing just that happening.

In Sydney, in the shadow of the Opera House, activists waving Palestinian and Hamas flags chanted “gas the Jews”. In Russia, Muslim men have stormed Dagestan airport to search for Jews on flights coming in from Israel. They mobbed passengers demanding proof that they were not Jewish. There are reports from around the world of Jewish businesses being harassed, vandalised, and mobbed.

In New Zealand, synagogues have been vandalised and Jewish schools and daycares have had to close due to threats. A group of men at the recent Auckland rally burned and tore apart the Israeli flag and shouted that they would “wipe their arse” with it.

Auckland Museum initially lit up their building in the Israeli flag in solidarity after the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 1500 Israelis and saw over 200 kidnapped. However, after activists swamped the museum and waged an aggressive campaign of denouncement, Auckland museum issued an apology for what was a simple acknowledgment of an awful event.

Jewish Kiwis are frightened and feel utterly gaslit by media, politicians, and the activist class. Immediately following the attacks, soon-to-be former Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta made international headlines for her appalling ‘both sides’ style remarks when the rest of the world was condemning Hamas. The Green and Māori parties have propagated antisemitic rhetoric and taken part in what are essentially pro-Hamas rallies.

And, the Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt, who usually barks at every passing car, has been almost silent on antisemitism and the attack on Israel. Bar agreeing with a journalist that antisemitism is bad, he has done nothing to quell its proliferation and has not reached out to the Jewish community.

It is quite frankly incredible to see the same old tropes and stereotypes about Jews being circulated again. Even Holocaust denial is on the rise. From the right and the left, Jews are being squeezed with hatred. All decent New Zealanders need to remember why we said “never again” after the Second World War.

Before joining a march or rally, they need to be sure they understand what they are condemning and what they are supporting. Relying on the moral compasses of professional activists will always have dubious results.