Johnny
Blades RNZ Pacific senior journalist
The chair of
the Pacific Elders’ Voice (PEV) says the argument that
religious affinity justifies the Pacific Islands Forum’s
(PIF) partnership with Israel does not stack up.
The
Forum’s recent decision
to make Israel a sectoral partner has drawn widespread
criticism by civil society in the region, and is described
as being in conflict with the Pacific’s commitments to human
rights, self-determination and international law.
The
Pacific Elders’
Voice – a group of former Pacific prime ministers,
presidents, senior diplomats and academics – has also come
out strongly against the move.
According to PEV chair
and former Kiribati President Anote Tong, their position has
been informed by a recent report from a Middle East
fact-finding mission by the global Elders Group, including
former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Pakistani
human rights advocate Hina Jelani.
Their report
concluded that Israel’s conduct was driving systematic
occupation, annexation, and forced displacement of
Palestinians amidts a prolonged campaign of
violence.
“The mission also cited reports of genocide,
killings, and the harassment [of Palestinians],” Tong told
RNZ Pacific.
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“These are not speculative, these are
reports coming from the people who actually went on the
ground, people who have absolute credibility. These are
leaders, former leaders.”
Israel’s President Isaac
Herzog has categorically rejected what he called the
one-sided criticism of Israel’s conduct by the
Elders.
However, deep
division over the Forum’s move has been reflected in the
reaction to the Pacific Elders’ stance. While many took to
social media to applaud the call, others were critical of
it.
For some Pacific Islanders, Israel’s partnership
with the Forum makes sense because many of them are
influenced by Judeo-Christian, biblical narratives and
Christian Zionism, and consider the Middle Eastern country
as the Holy Land.
But for the Pacific Elders’ Voice,
this does not justify bringing Israel into the
Forum.
“To say that we have an affinity with Israel
because of religion … there is nothing morally defensible
by the actions that are being described, and so that kind of
an argument supporting Israel against a very clear report
doesn’t really stand in any
way.”
Consistency
The Pacific Elders Voice
said the Forum’s decision raised questions about the
consistency of the region’s positions on colonialism, human
rights and self-determination.
Tong said he believed
the Pacific Elders represent the views, principles, and
moral standards common to Pacific Islands
people.
“This is also important because in our
advocacy on climate change, we’ve always emphasised the
moral and the ethical perspective, which we are asking the
world to step forward on climate action.
“I read the
arguments that we need the technology that Israel is putting
forward, but that does not give them the permit to do what
it is that they are doing.
“We’re arguing exactly the
same thing that the countries which are benefiting by the
fossil fuel industry need to make sacrifices because what
they are doing is immorally destructive.”
Tong said
the Pacific Islands region should put substance to its new
Ocean of Peace initiative.
“I don’t think we should be
saying one thing and doing very opposite the next moment. I
think it’s counterproductive.
“I guess as a
non-political group of elders, we are not constrained by the
political or the diplomatic constraints, and I think we can
speak our mind, hopefully from from a moral perspective,
more freely.”
Timing
A number of Pacific
countries have recently forged closer ties with Israel’s
Netanyahu regime, but Anote Tong says the Pacific should not
be endorsing a government like that.
“I think it’s
really the wrong time, given what is happening in that part
of the world. It’s really the time to be very cautious to
how we get involved with that region, particularly with some
a country that is very much at the forefront of the
conflict.”
Tong said that from his own experience, he
knows of the strong lobbying that is levvied against Pacific
governments.
“There is no doubt at all in my mind that
this has been the case because there is no reason why we all
need now to establish relations and put offices in Israel at
this time.
“We should be very cautious about getting
closer to a country that is now being declared a criminal
administration.”
Churches
The Forum’s move has
been met with strong criticism from civil society groups in
the region, including
the Pacific Council of Churches (PCC).
Tong said
the PCC’s strong rebuke represented a different position
from those arguing the Pacific’s religious connection to
Israel justifies stronger ties to the Israel
state.
“That kind of argument doesn’t stand in the
face of what is happening, in the face of the findings that
the Elders have come up with,” he said.
“I cannot
imagine any moral human being saying that religious affinity
is what needs to guide our decision.”
The Pacific
Elders’ Voice said the PIF should review
and reverse its partnership with
Israel.
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