Jackson Willie; Brownlee GerryHon WILLIE JACKSON (Labour): Firstly can I support the Minister's motion and move That after the words all civilians be protected from armed conflict" the following words be added and expressed: "deep concern that actions of the Israeli Defence Force are disproportionate and indiscriminate."Like others today I share concern with what has been happening in the Gaza. I find it almost too hard to listen to and to watch on TV as we see the daily atrocities being rolled out. I know that some people have gone a bit wider in this debate but I think the House should remember that the Palestinian people have been under occupation for almost 75 years—75 years they have waged a struggle against a Government in their own land. Whether we like it or not it's a strategy that's been dubbed an apartheid strategy by many around the world. When you have those types of conditions every day those types of pressures it is the most horrific way for people to live. Of course that's no excuse for what Hamas did but the problem is that we keep getting reminded of this background. However there's no doubt that Israel had a right to respond—I don't think anyone in this House would support the Hamas response. No one in this House would support the Hamas initiative but we cannot support the Israeli response. In the eight weeks of the conflict thousands of Palestinians the majority of them women and children have been killed. The lives of these victims have been changed in a second—horrific scenes of lives destroyed. Children whose parents siblings and grandparents have been killed are still missing and buried in the rubble. There are few places to go in terms of safety. It's a daily nightmare for people there. Just listening to the stories this morning people are just dying in the open—no food no shelter no nothing.It requires a strong response so I compliment the Minister for this initiative. But we think as Phil Goff has said we can go wider we can be a bit stronger here and we can stand up against the rest of the world.I want to go to an area here because Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was talking about what was happening outside. I think it's important for the House to know that the Māori response is not what you see outside. The Māori people are getting mixed up with Destiny and Life and Brian Tamaki. The Māori activist movement was inspired by the Palestinian situation. They were inspired by Arafat and they were inspired by Castro and Mandela who all supported the Palestinians. But that was the Māori movement and it's important because these people outside are confusing people in terms of the support in terms of this conflict—confusing people. So I'm glad today to tell the House that Māori are very much in support of the Palestinian people—always have been always will be—and the two-State solution is the only way to go in terms of getting justice and fairness for the Palestinian people. It is one of the biggest tragedies in terms of indigenous people in terms of oppressed people in the world today. We're glad—particularly our Māori caucus and the Labour Party—that this Government is making a stand and I compliment you today. But we are adding a few words to that and we hope you take some of those recommendations seriously. Kia ora tātou.SPEAKER: As I said before I don't think this should be a long debate and so closure is coming. But I'll take the Green member Golriz Ghahraman."