There is controversy surrounding the forthcoming visit to New Zealand of far-right US commentator Candace Owens. Among other things, she has minimised the consequences of the Holocaust in Europe during World War Two. But while a lot is being said about Owens, next to nothing is being said about New Zealand's own Holocaust deniers. They are the people who not only deny that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, but continue to defend Israel's barbarism.
HOW MANY people has Israel killed in Gaza? In June, the Hamas Health Authority reported that 37,376 men, women, and children had been killed by the Israeli military. These figures were confirmed by both the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, who said that claims by the Israeli Government that the figure had been 'fabricated' were implausible. Of note though is that Israeli intelligence services accepted that the figure was 'generally accurate'.
Since then, Al Jazeera has reported that the figure has grown to over 45,000 with over 100,000 people injured. These are the direct victims of Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza.
But in July, the British medical Journal The Lancet made the observation that 'armed conflicts have indirect health implications beyond the direct harm from violence'. It said the indirect fatality figure was much larger as a consequence of such things as the destruction of hospitals and the severe shortages of food, water, and shelter. It stated that 'it was not implausible to estimate that over 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the present conflict in Gaza.'
The figures are horrifying, and throughout this year we have watched Israel's genocidal assault play out on our television and computer screens. And the slaughter has been allowed to continue by western governments, particularly that of the United States. Israel continues to be supplied the weapons to continue its genocidal assault on Gaza, as well as bomb and invade Lebanon and Syria.
It is more than ironic that the forthcoming visit to New Zealand of far-right US commentator Candace Owens has been opposed because, among other things, she has sought to minimise the consequences of the Holocaust in Europe during World War Two. Neighbouring Australia declined her visa application, citing her denial that the Nazi's conducted medical experiments on Jews in the concentration camps.
But while the visit of Candace Owens might be contested because of her comments on the Holocaust that occurred some eighty years ago, little has been said in the mainstream media about New Zealand's own set of Holocaust deniers. They are the people denying that a Holocaust is occurring in Gaza right now.
Such genocide deniers include parliamentary politicians like Act leader David Seymour and fellow Act MP Simon Court. They include Newstalk ZB's Heather du Plessis Allan and Tim Beveridge. They include commentators like Chris Trotter and Sean Plunket. And they include Zionists and Israeli Government propagandists like Auckland University lecturer David Cumin and Auckland lawyer Juliet Moses.
Over the weekend, Juliet Moses reposted an article from the right-wing British newspaper The Telegraph that claimed that the number of people killed in Gaza had been 'inflated to vilify Israel'.
This is not the first time that Moses has sought to minimise the atrocities that Israel has committed in Gaza. This year, among other things, she has claimed that journalists killed in Gaza have, in fact, been Hamas fighters. She has also claimed that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) is a Hamas front. All her claims have been entirely without foundation, but she continues to make such unsubstantiated claims in a deliberate attempt to peddle disinformation about Israel's murderous assault on Gaza.
Perhaps it's time the mainstream media started paying attention to some of New Zealand's own homegrown Holocaust deniers. Unfortunately, since the New Zealand mainstream media continues to deny that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, the claims made by people like Juliet Moses will probably remain unscrutinised.
NOTE
And on X today Dr Carol Hamilton of Waikato University posted this. She describes one of her interests as 'post modernism'.
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