Labour MP Damien O’Connor removes post appearing to support attack on Israel, but no apology

Labour Party MP Damien O’Connor isn’t apologising after reposting a video on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) of a former high-standing American official saying “Palestinians had every right to do what they did on October 7″.

O’Connor, who is Labour’s associate foreign affairs spokesman, removed the post from his account after Act called on the party’s leader Chris Hipkins to tell his MP to either retract it and apologise or stand down from his role.

But a statement from O’Connor didn’t include an apology.

“The retweet has been removed,” he said. “It’s intolerable to see civilians continue to suffer disproportionately as innocent victims in this conflict. We call on the National Government to take stronger action on this situation, including recognition of Palestine and by intervening in the ICJ case brought by South Africa against Israel.”

Act’s Simon Court called what O’Connor posted a “hateful statement”.

“Here we have a Labour Party foreign affairs spokesperson justifying the largest Jewish pogrom since the holocaust. There is no way Chris Hipkins can let this extreme and hateful statement stand,” Court said.

“What Hamas-led Palestinians did on October 7 was a massacre of civilians. Every peaceful person deserves dignity and respect, and that includes Jewish families living in Israel, and their family members in New Zealand.”

Hamas, a group New Zealand has designated a terrorist organisation, killed more than 1100 people and took hundreds hostage when it invaded Israel on October 7 last year.

That incursion, which Hamas has claimed was in response to Israeli policies towards Palestinians, has sparked ongoing retaliation by Israel, which some globally have criticised as going beyond its right to defend itself. Israel has also struck targets in Lebanon which are linked to Hamas.

The tweet O’Connor reposted featured Lawrence Wilkerson, a former chief of staff to previous United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking at an event held by the Community Church of Boston.

Labour MP Damien O'Connor. Photo / NZME

The video snippet shows Wilkerson, a known Israel critic, speaking about how Israel had “dispossessed Palestinians of their lands, their orchards, destroyed their homes, killed their children”.

Given that and what he said was Israel’s non-compliance with United Nations responsibilities, Wilkerson said: “Palestinians had every right to do what they did on October 7″.

The full speech from Wilkerson, streamed on YouTube by the church in March, shows him then saying: “That is not very comfortable in Washington to make that kind of statement, especially not amongst Jewish Americans or people who are tightly tied to Israel”.

The rest of Wilkerson’s speech includes him making several very strong accusations against Israel and the United States’ role in assisting it.

O’Connor last year used a speech in Parliament to label Israel’s action in Gaza as a “genocide”, which went beyond Labour’s position.

At the UN last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said both Hamas and Israel were to blame for “misery” unfolding in Gaza.

“This misery was caused by both Hamas’ monstrous terrorist attacks last year and the now-overwhelming nature of Israel’s response. We are most concerned about the generational consequences of this level of suffering and violence, with no end in sight and which sees us on the precipice of an even wider conflict.”

New Zealand voted in support of a UN resolution this month on Israel’s “unlawful” presence in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub Press Gallery office.