The inversion could not be more grotesque. While Israeli hostages languish in Hamas’s tunnels — starved of sunlight, medicine, and human contact — activists in New Zealand plaster walls with posters portraying themselves as “abducted.” These are not prisoners of war or victims of terror. They are self-styled crusaders, smugly waiting for their flights home after staging a failed stunt designed to manufacture confrontation with Israel.
This is not humanitarianism. It is performance activism at its most obscene. The so-called “flotilla” delivered negligible aid, refused to use proper humanitarian channels, and instead set out with one clear purpose: to demonise Israel. That this charade was timed for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, exposes the malice at its core.
To call themselves “hostages” while 48 Israelis remain in actual captivity reveals the moral rot of these activists. Real hostages were dragged into Gaza on the morning of Oct 7, 2023 – chained underground, and denied contact with the outside world. Real hostages are used as bargaining chips by a terrorist regime that proudly vows to repeat October 7 again and again.
Meanwhile, these activists pose for selfies, issue press releases, and preen in front of cameras. They trivialise the suffering of families still praying for the release of their loved ones. They desecrate the very meaning of the word “abduction.” And in doing so, they lend cover to Hamas, shifting outrage away from the true hostage-takers and onto the one state trying to bring its people home.
This is not solidarity with Palestinians. It is complicity with terror. It is a grotesque mockery of victims whose voices are silenced in Gaza’s tunnels.
New Zealanders should see these protests for what they are: not a plea for justice, but a carnival of self-indulgence built on lies. If these activists wish to stand for human rights, they should start with the simplest demand — release the hostages.
