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September 27, 2024
Sanctions call as Israel steels for Lebanon invasion
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On September 27, 2024
Download AudioAn expert in international development says the potential for all-out war in the Middle East is at an all-time high, and it’s time for New Zealand to speak out more strongly on Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.
Dr Ritesh Shah from the University of Auckland’s School of Critical Studies in Education has spent time in Gaza doing research for humanitarian organisations and in Israel visiting his partner’s family.
He says this week’s meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York has exposed the crumbling of the international world order, as the United States and parts of Western Europe continue to arm and fund Israel’s war machine.
It shows an acceptance of settler colonisation with its associated racism and subjugation of peoples that the world had tried to move on from.
“I think our Government should be taking a stronger stance. I think it should be more vocal in its criticism of Israel. I think we should be making sure our allies are not continuing to fund this war machine. We should go as far as putting on sanctions,” Dr Shah says.
He says New Zealand was quick to impose sanctions and other measures against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
He says at an individual level people should look at where their savings are invested and whether what they buy supports Israel’s colonial project.
