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David Seymour
ACT Party Leader
Green MP Chloe Swarbrick must explain why she is repeating statements from the terrorist organisation Hamas’ charter.
Chloe Swarbrick was videoed leading a chant of ”From the river to the sea” at the same rally where Labour MP Phil Twyford was forced off the stage after saying he condemns the violence against civilians by Hamas. The phrase appears in the Hamas charter and there is a large group of people, at the very least, who believe it means no Israel and even no Jewish people.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has condemned the use of this phrase, while UK Labour suspended an MP for using it last week. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the Jewish community lives in fear of anti-semitism and must watch as political leaders repeat it with no accountability.
While Chloe Swarbrick has the right to say what she likes, people also have the right to question what she meant when she is repeating such inflammatory statements.
She needs to explain to New Zealand’s Jewish community, and to New Zealanders more broadly, why she thought it was appropriate to lead a crowd chanting a phrase that has such a dark meaning for so many people.
