A better way for Gaza than military attacks.

The crisis in the Gaza strip should be resolved through international law and effective international institutions, Wigram MP Jim Anderton says.

But he says international institutions like the UN aren’t proving effective in these situations - and New Zealand should be a strong voice in support of improving them.

“Rockets and military attacks haven’t solved a hundred years of dispute over Israel and Palestine, and they won’t in the future.

“Military attacks cannot be justified before every diplomatic alternative is exhausted. Therefore Israel should have a better alternative available to it than military assaults in the face of Hamas’ rocket attacks and the existential threat it faces from fanatics all around it.

“The tactics of Hamas - and Hizbollah in Lebanon, along with governments supporting them - make it more important for Israel not to be trapped into a cycle of escalating injustice. Every cruel government in history claims the end justify the means, but you can justify anything like that.

“No amount of Israeli military attacks will destroy Hamas, nor achieve the aim of silencing the Arab voices that want Israel wiped off the map.

“The alternative to military action is international institutions strong enough to uphold international law, guarantee Israel’s survival and provide a response better than military attacks that kill suffering civilians in Gaza who are deliberately being put in harm’s way.

“There is global cynicism about the ability of institutions like the UN to make a difference, and about the power of international law to provide an humane solution. Because they are largely unaccountable for results, their results are not very good.

“Yet as a very small state New Zealand is utterly dependent on international law and effective international bodies - and we have recognised that since we helped establish the UN. We should now be strengthening our efforts to make the United Nations more effective and more responsive.

“Vacuous statements of concern crafted from weak diplomatic compromise are not enough,” Jim Anderton said.

ENDS

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