Having seen the realities of war,
I know the value of peace

Josh Jacobsen on why he is standing for the Greens: 

Some are surprised to see a former soldier sign up as a Green candidate, and some are critical of the Greens for accepting me.

Throughout my life, my experiences have shaped my views on creating a more just, equitable, and peaceful world. The Green Party has shown the courage needed to achieve those goals.

During my military service I was deployed to Afghanistan where my unit trained the Crisis Response Unit (CRU) as they worked to defend Kabul from attacks. The CRU members we served alongside wanted more than anything to protect their communities. They risked, and in some cases sacrificed, their lives in the pursuit of safety for their families and friends. Many of the people I met were from Hazara, Tajik, Uzbek, and other communities most at threat from the Taliban.

As with any overseas deployment, there are legitimate questions about what form our involvement in Afghanistan should have taken and whether that should have included troops on the ground. The Greens opposed military involvement at the time, and there has been criticism of the decisions taken by those in power about our country's role in the conflict. On the ground, our focus was on protecting human life.

Following my time with the military, I joined the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). I worked in Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza, supporting UNRWA’s teachers, engineers, health care workers and food distributors as they carried out their work.

What that work showed me was the inadequacy of aid alone. I left the UN feeling disillusioned because our work could never address the oppression and violence that Israel, with the diplomatic and military support of the US, inflicted on Palestinians. The failure of the world to confront Israel’s occupation of Palestine demonstrated that no matter how hard people work on the ground, it can’t correct injustices committed by those in power. It cannot compensate for a lack of courage by political leadership. The escalation of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people that we have seen over the last three years has confirmed this truth. The failure of New Zealand’s government to stand up for justice in Palestine is a stain on our history.

What I saw in Afghanistan, Gaza, and the broader region are the consequences of political decisions – and so it takes politics to fix them. The Greens have a longstanding anti-militarist tradition and have fiercely stood for New Zealand having a truly independent foreign policy. This stance is more important than ever as Trump’s war machine unilaterally attacks Iran and throws the world into chaos.

Like many soldiers throughout history who have experienced the realities of war firsthand, I have a deep belief in the need for non-violent solutions to conflict. To achieve true peace, we must first have justice. As an example here in Aotearoa New Zealand, justice begins with understanding our history and upholding our founding agreement Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The Greens are the only party with a constitutional commitment to non-violence, and, of all the parties, they are the party that most closely aligns with my values.

Be it in Afghanistan, Palestine or Aotearoa, each of us deserves a good life. That principle has guided me now that I’m back home. For the past decade I’ve been active in Tāmaki Makaurau, protecting our local environment and building connections with people through shared values. I believe in achieving political solutions to problems, even if the work to get there is tough. It’s worth it to achieve a more just, equitable, sustainable, and peaceful world for all of us.