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“Media Complicity in Colonial Violence: How the New Zealand Herald Whitewashes Netanyahu's Political Theatre While Māori Fight for Tino Rangatiratanga” - 29 July 2025

The Brutal Truth: When Western Media Sanitises Genocide While Attacking Indigenous Rights at Home

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Ltn

29 Jul 2025 — 15 min read

Kia ora whaenau, he tangata mauri whenua ahau - Greetings family, I am a person whose life force is connected to the land.

As Netanyahu maneuvers through yet another manufactured political crisis to maintain his death grip on power, the New Zealand Herald and our corporate media complex continue their shameful tradition of sanitising Israeli state violence while simultaneously attacking Māori sovereignty here in Aotearoa1. The attached article reveals not just Netanyahu's cynical exploitation of a humanitarian catastrophe for domestic political gain, but the deeper colonial machinery that connects Israeli apartheid, Western far-right movements, and the ongoing assault on tangata whenua rights in our own backyard.

This is no coincidence. The same neoliberal propaganda networks that manufacture consent for Israeli genocide are the ones pumping out anti-co-governance rhetoric, Treaty denialism, and "one law for all" poison in Aotearoa. The same white supremacist ideologies that fuel European far-right support for Israeli settler colonialism drive the attacks on Māori tino rangatiratanga. This essay exposes these connections through the lens of our ancestral values of manaakitanga, whakatōhea, and tika - revealing how colonial violence operates as an interconnected global system that must be resisted collectively.

Background: The Colonial Web of Violence and Misinformation

To understand Netanyahu's political theatre, we must first grasp the broader context of settler colonialism as a global system designed to eliminate Indigenous peoples and steal our lands. Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza represents the same colonial logic that drove the British invasion of Aotearoa - the systematic destruction of Indigenous societies to make room for settler expansion23 4.

The term "settler colonialism" describes a particular form of colonialism focused not just on economic exploitation, but on the permanent replacement of Indigenous populations with settler societies4. Unlike other forms of colonialism that eventually withdraw, settler colonialism seeks to eliminate Indigenous peoples entirely through what scholar Patrick Wolfe termed "the logic of elimination"4. This process operates through multiple mechanisms: physical genocide, cultural destruction, legal dispossession, and the manufacture of consent through propaganda systems.

For Māori, this colonial reality began with the 1840 Treaty breaches and continues today through Crown policies designed to undermine our tino rangatiratanga. The parallels with Palestine are unmistakable - both Indigenous peoples face ongoing colonisation, both experience military occupation of ancestral lands, and both confront propaganda systems that portray our resistance as terrorism while settler violence is justified as "security" or "development"5 6 7.

The significance of this analysis for Māori cannot be overstated. As tangata whenua fighting for co-governance, Treaty justice, and decolonisation, we face the same propaganda techniques being deployed against Palestinians. The "Stop Co-Governance" movement, with its racist characterisations of Māori as "elite" manipulators seeking to "take over" New Zealand, directly mirrors the antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric used to demonise Palestinian resistance8 9 10.

Netanyahu's Crisis Management as Colonial Template

The Herald article presents Netanyahu's decision to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza as political pragmatism, describing it as taking advantage of "a small political window" while his far-right coalition partners observed the Sabbath1. This framing - treating genocide logistics as mere political maneuvering - exemplifies how Western media sanitises colonial violence by focusing on the coloniser's internal politics rather than the systematic destruction of Indigenous life.

Several key claims emerge from this coverage that demand critical analysis. First, the article portrays Netanyahu as moderate figure managing extremist coalition partners, obscuring how he has deliberately cultivated far-right alliances to maintain power11. Second, it treats Palestinian starvation as a strategic tool rather than calling it what international law recognises - genocide through starvation as a weapon of war12 13. Third, it presents humanitarian aid as charity rather than legal obligation under international law, reinforcing neoliberal frameworks that privatise and depoliticise basic human rights14 15.

This matters profoundly for Māori because these same propaganda techniques are deployed against our sovereignty movements. When we assert tino rangatiratanga through co-governance arrangements, corporate media portrays this as "separatism" or "apartheid" - the same language used to demonise Palestinian liberation8 9. When we demand Treaty compliance, we're characterised as "elite Māori" manipulating the system, echoing antisemitic conspiracy theories about Palestinian resistance8 9 10.

The scope of this analysis extends beyond media bias to expose the interconnected nature of colonial propaganda systems. The New Zealand Herald's coverage of Gaza operates within the same ideological framework that produces anti-Māori sentiment, neoliberal policy justifications, and support for Western imperial projects globally16 17 18 19.

Media Manipulation: The Propaganda Machinery of Colonial Violence

The Herald's language choices reveal sophisticated propaganda techniques designed to obscure Israeli war crimes while manufacturing sympathy for the coloniser. Research by Palestinian advocate Dayna Edge found that when describing the October 7 Hamas attack, the Herald used words like "deadly" and "bloody," while Israeli attacks in the same period were described merely as "intense"17. More damning, the Herald used more than double the descriptive words to characterise one day of Hamas resistance compared to an entire months of Israeli genocide17.

Media Bias in Gaza Coverage: NZ Herald's Use of Descriptive Language

This linguistic manipulation serves colonial interests by constructing a false moral hierarchy where Indigenous resistance becomes "terrorism" while settler violence is sanitised as "operations" or "responses." The same propaganda techniques operate in Aotearoa, where Māori political action is characterised as "divisive" or "radical" while Crown violations of Te Tiriti are presented as reasonable policy debates8 9.

International research confirms systematic pro-Israel bias across Western media. The Centre for Media Monitoring found that Israeli perspectives were referenced almost three times more than Palestinian ones in British broadcast media, while 76% of online articles framed the conflict as an "Israel-Hamas war" rather than acknowledging Palestinian experiences20. CNN and BBC journalists have revealed internal pressure to downplay Israeli atrocities and promote false Israeli propaganda, even when staff members warned against broadcasting fabricated evidence21 22.

These findings expose how corporate media operates as an arm of colonial power, manufacturing consent for genocide while silencing Indigenous voices. In Aotearoa, similar bias shapes coverage of Māori issues, with research showing New Zealand newspapers consistently identify Palestinian and Māori liberation movements as threats while ignoring Crown and Israeli violations16 23 18 24.

The Far-Right Alliance: White Supremacy's Global Network

Netanyahu's reliance on far-right coalition partners reflects a broader alliance between Zionist movements and white supremacist politics across the Western world25 26 27. His government includes figures like Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was convicted of supporting anti-Arab terrorism, and Bezalel Smotrich, a self-proclaimed "proud homophobe" who advocates for Palestinian expulsion111 28.

This alliance extends far beyond Israel's borders. European far-right parties including Germany's AfD, France's National Rally, Sweden Democrats, and Spain's Vox have all embraced pro-Israel positions despite their own antisemitic histories29 25 27. These movements share common ideologies: Islamophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment, and support for ethno-nationalist projects that maintain white supremacist hierarchies29 25 27.

Far-Right European Parties' Support for Israel

The strategic logic becomes clear when we examine the statements of far-right leaders. Alternative for Germany's Alexander Gauland declared, "Israel is the West in an environment that rejects and fights the West. When we stand with Israel, we are also defending our way of life"27. White supremacist Richard Spencer has described himself as a "white Zionist," while Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders sees Israel as "a line of defence against supposed Muslim extremists"26 27.

This alliance operates in Aotearoa through groups like the "Stop Co-Governance" movement, which uses identical rhetoric to attack Māori sovereignty. Julian Batchelor's presentations, featuring banners comparing co-governance to apartheid, directly mirror European far-right attacks on Muslim and immigrant communities8. The same psychological frameworks - authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and prejudice - drive both anti-Māori sentiment and support for Israeli apartheid30.

Neoliberal Humanitarianism: Privatising Genocide

The Herald article's treatment of humanitarian aid reveals how neoliberal ideology transforms genocide into a charity problem rather than a legal obligation. By focusing on aid deliveries rather than the underlying policies creating starvation, the coverage obscures Israel's deliberate weaponisation of hunger against Palestinian civilians23 12.

International law clearly recognises starvation as a war crime and method of genocide, yet Western media consistently frames Palestinian hunger as a humanitarian crisis requiring charitable intervention rather than a crime demanding accountability12 13. This neoliberal framework serves colonial interests by depoliticising systematic violence and transferring responsibility from perpetrators to "humanitarian" organisations14 15.

Research on humanitarian aid reveals how these systems often reinforce rather than challenge colonial power structures. Aid becomes a tool for managing rather than ending oppression, providing minimal relief while legitimising the underlying violence31 32. The same logic operates in Aotearoa, where social services are increasingly privatised and Indigenous communities are expected to rely on charity rather than Crown Treaty obligations15 33.

UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston has documented how neoliberal privatisation of public services - promoted by institutions like the World Bank and IMF - systematically undermines human rights while generating profits for corporations14. This system treats basic needs like food, water, healthcare, and education as commodities rather than rights, creating conditions where genocide becomes possible through market mechanisms14 15.

Starvation as Colonial Weapon: The Deliberate Logic of Elimination

What makes Netanyahu's "humanitarian" gesture particularly grotesque is that it occurs within a deliberate campaign of starvation designed to eliminate Palestinian resistance. Israeli officials have openly acknowledged cutting off food, water, and fuel to Gaza, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declaring, "We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly"2. This language directly echoes colonial discourse historically used to justify genocide against Indigenous peoples worldwide3 12.

Historical analysis reveals starvation as a consistent tool of colonial violence. British colonial famines in India killed tens of millions through deliberate policies that prioritised profit extraction over Indigenous life3 15 12. In North America, the systematic destruction of buffalo herds was designed to force Indigenous peoples into dependency and eliminate their autonomous food systems3. The Holodomor in Ukraine, Nazi hunger plans, and countless other genocides utilised starvation as a method of elimination12 13.

Indigenous solidarity between Palestinian and Māori peoples

Contemporary Gaza represents a textbook case of what international law scholar Blanca Palacián de Inza identifies as genocidal starvation: the deliberate creation of conditions designed to destroy a population through hunger13. Israeli control over Gaza's borders, fishing zones, agricultural land, and water systems creates what scholars term an "open-air prison" where Palestinian survival depends entirely on their colonisers' permission34 352.

This colonial logic operates in Aotearoa through policies designed to undermine Māori food sovereignty and economic independence. Land confiscations, environmental destruction, and legal restrictions on traditional harvesting practices all serve to increase Māori dependency on Crown-controlled systems15 33. The same eliminatory logic drives both Israeli starvation of Palestinians and Crown policies that erode Māori tino rangatiratanga.

Indigenous Solidarity: Connecting Struggles for Liberation

The global Indigenous solidarity movement connecting Māori, Palestinian, and other colonised peoples represents one of the most powerful challenges to settler colonialism worldwide36 37 38 39 40 6 7. This solidarity is not merely symbolic but based on shared material conditions and common struggle against interconnected systems of oppression.

Māori leaders have consistently expressed solidarity with Palestinian liberation, recognising parallel experiences of displacement, cultural destruction, and ongoing colonisation37 38 6 7. The petition signed by over 8,000 Māori supporting Palestinian rights demonstrates this connection, with organiser Ayla Collin noting the "strength of support among tangata whenua for the indigenous people of Palestine"37.

This solidarity extends beyond rhetoric to practical action. Indigenous peoples globally are developing shared analyses of settler colonialism, connecting struggles from Pine Ridge to Palestine, from Kanaky to Aotearoa39 40 7. These connections challenge the artificial divisions colonial powers create between Indigenous communities, building unified resistance to global systems of oppression.

The framework of Te Tiriti o Waitangi offers particular insights for Palestinian solidarity work in Aotearoa. As Alternative Jewish Voices notes, Te Tiriti provides "an actionable vision of co-existence" that demonstrates how Indigenous self-determination and settler accountability can coexist6. This model directly challenges Zionist claims that Indigenous rights necessarily threaten settler security.

Exposing the Colonial Matrix

Netanyahu's political theatre, sanitised by corporate media like the New Zealand Herald, represents far more than Middle Eastern power politics. It reveals the interconnected nature of colonial violence, neoliberal propaganda, and white supremacist ideology that operates globally to maintain systems of oppression.

For Māori fighting for tino rangatiratanga in Aotearoa, understanding these connections is crucial. The same propaganda techniques used to justify Palestinian genocide are deployed against our sovereignty movements. The same far-right networks supporting Israeli apartheid fuel anti-co-governance rhetoric in New Zealand. The same neoliberal frameworks that privatise Palestinian suffering undermine Treaty obligations to tangata whenua.

But recognition of these connections also reveals our collective power. Indigenous solidarity movements worldwide are exposing and disrupting colonial systems through shared analysis and coordinated resistance. From the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti that brought 50,000 people to Parliament, to Palestinian resistance in Gaza, to Indigenous movements across Turtle Island and beyond, we are building the foundations for decolonised futures.

The path forward requires sustained commitment to truth-telling that exposes colonial propaganda, solidarity work that connects Indigenous struggles globally, and political action that dismantles systems of oppression at their roots. We must continue challenging media bias, supporting Palestinian liberation, defending Māori sovereignty, and building alternatives based on Indigenous values of manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, and tika.

This is our time. This is our kaupapa. From the river to the sea, from Reinga to Bluff, Indigenous peoples will be free.

Kē ra! Toitū te Tiriti! Free Palestine!

If you find value in this analysis and can spare it, please consider supporting this mahi with a koha to The MGL: ASB 03-1546-0415173-000. These are tough times for whānau, so please only contribute if you have the capacity and wish to do so.

Ngā mihi nui,
Ivor Jones, Te Māori Green Lantern

Sources cited throughout text using inline hyperlinks

"THE EMPTY TANK: How a White Supremacist Neoliberal Government Left Its Carers on the Side of the Road to Die" - 26 March 2026

“The Pātaka Beside the Strait” - 25 March 2026

"THE PĀTAKA IS ASH: How Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon Poured Petrol on the Poor and Called It Relief" - 25 March 2026

"THE POISON PEN MINISTER: How Erica Stanford Weaponised the Taxpayer-Funded State Against Her Own Critics — and Why a Wounded Luxon May Be Letting Her Burn" - 25 March 2026