Police are examining comments made by Free Palestine Party president Paul Hopkinson after he described the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel as a “victory” during a rally in Christchurch.
Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups launched a coordinated assault into southern Israel on October 7, attacking civilian communities, the Nova music festival and military positions.
The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry, citing Israeli sources, reported that more than 1,200 people were killed, including at least 809 civilians and 314 Israeli military personnel. The UN says 251 people were abducted and taken into Gaza as hostages.
The Commission concluded that members of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups deliberately attacked civilians and were responsible for war crimes including murder or wilful killing, torture, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and hostage-taking.
The Free Palestine Party has characterised the attack very differently. In a statement published on October 8, it described October 7 as one of the greatest “David vs Goliath” victories in human history and praised what it called the “courageous resistance fighters of the Gaza Strip”.
The party claimed that “well over a third” of the roughly 1,200 recorded dead were military, security personnel, police or people it described as armed settlers, arguing that they were legitimate targets under international law.
International humanitarian law makes a distinction between members of armed forces and civilians. The International Committee of the Red Cross says civilians are protected against direct attack unless, and only for such time as, they directly participate in hostilities.
The party also claimed Israeli forces killed many Israeli civilians on October 7 while applying the so-called Hannibal Directive, an Israeli military procedure intended to prevent personnel from being captured, even at the risk of killing or injuring those being abducted.
The UN Commission concluded that Israeli forces applied the directive in several locations and killed at least 14 Israeli civilians. Its investigation did not establish a wider number of October 7 deaths attributable to the directive.
The Christchurch gathering on October 10 also marked the official launch of the Free Palestine Party’s election campaign, according to material published beforehand by Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa.
Senior Sergeant Roy Appley told Chris Lynch Media that Police had maintained a presence at the gathering and were aware of concerns about some of the comments made.
“I am looking into the nature of what was said, alongside the overall activity of the event,” Appley said.
Police said they recognised the lawful right to protest and that their role was to uphold the law and ensure public safety.
Free Palestine, the party’s registered name, was registered by the Electoral Commission on August 5 and is contesting the 2026 general election. It has been allocated $82,011, including GST, through the Commission’s broadcasting allocation for eligible election advertising on television, radio and online.
New Zealand designated Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist entity on February 27, 2024.
The Terrorism Suppression Act criminalises specified conduct including providing funds or material support for terrorism, knowingly or recklessly making property or material support available to a designated terrorist entity, recruiting members for terrorist groups and participating in such a group for the purpose of enhancing its ability to carry out terrorist acts.
The Act does not create a standalone offence simply for praising or expressing political support for a designated terrorist entity.
New Zealand’s Bill of Rights Act protects freedom of expression, including the right to seek, receive and impart information and opinions “of any kind in any form”. Those rights may nevertheless be subject to reasonable limits prescribed by law that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
The Summary Offences Act contains separate public-order offences. Section 3 covers riotous, offensive, threatening, insulting or disorderly behaviour that is likely in the circumstances to cause violence against people or property to start or continue.
Section 4 separately covers offensive or disorderly behaviour and certain threatening, insulting, indecent or obscene language in or around public places. Police have not said which law or offence, if any, they are considering in relation to Hopkinson’s remarks.
Dr John Battersby, a senior fellow at Massey University’s Centre for Defence and Security Studies, told Chris Lynch Media that he regarded the remarks as “insensitive, cowardly, offensive and unnecessary”, but did not believe they had crossed the legal threshold.
Battersby said the remarks appeared to sit near the limits of freedom of expression and that, in his judgement, they had not crossed the threshold into criminal offending.
The controversy comes as overseas conflicts increasingly feed into New Zealand’s domestic security environment.
In its 2026 Security Threat Environment report, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) said conflicts including Gaza were contributing to violent rhetoric online and threatening or intimidating behaviour directed at people or groups perceived to support or oppose them.
NZSIS also identified both antisemitism and Islamophobia as concerning themes within New Zealand’s violent extremist environment. The agency said increasingly mainstream extremist rhetoric was making it more difficult to distinguish genuine support for violent extremism from hateful material intended to shock or content designed simply to attract attention online.
Chris Lynch Media said it approached NZSIS about the Christchurch gathering. The agency declined to comment on the rally specifically and instead referred to its latest assessment of New Zealand’s security threats.
Chris Lynch Media also said it had approached Hopkinson and the Free Palestine Party for comment. No response was included in its report at the time of publication.
At the time of publication, Police said they were examining the remarks and wider activity at the gathering. No charges had been announced, and Police had not indicated what offence, if any, was being considered.
