Recently New Zealand Friends of Israel decided to sponsor two Israeli students who wanted to support the Canterbury Hebrew Congregation. While they were here, we suggested that they share their personal stories about military ethics and fighting in the 2014 Gaza War.
Due to the limited time available we chose to organise public addresses at Canterbury University and Victoria University in Christchurch and Wellington respectively.
We initially approached the Students for Justice in Palestine in Christchurch and asked if they would like to host them. They said they were too small and would referred us to the University of Canterbury Political Science Society who would draw a much bigger audience.
Discussions were constructive and had reached an advanced stage with the University of Canterbury Political Science Society when suddenly their president withdrew from the project citing that it was unconstitutional to host speakers with any political bias.
Our speakers pointed out that they had hosted other speakers in the past from one side of the political divide or the other without the requirement for both sides to be represented at the same event in the past. Nonetheless we respected their decision but was saddened by the double standard that had been applied.
In Wellington we were able to make much more progress because the Australasian Union of Jewish Students has an active branch there and to their credit they had no hesitation in agreeing to host and organise the event.
Unfortunately another student group called Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) have begun distributing flyers on campus and pressuring the University to deny access to its facilities for the event. They published a press release which was picked up by Scoop on Friday (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00344/row-over-universities-hosting-israeli-defence-force-soldiers.htm).
SJP’s stance is an attack on the principles of freedom of speech, a university’s role in facilitating honest enquiry through discussion and debate, and a denial of the principles of natural justice because no one can speak up in defence of the accused if they prevail.
Since the controversy is now in the public arena, both New Zealand Friends of Israel and the Australasian Union of Jewish Students have both issued their own public statements. Both of these statements have been picked up by Scoop: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00363/palestinian-justice-advocates-deny-others-justice.htm and http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00356/palestinian-students-try-to-stifle-freedom-of-speech.htm.
Now a group of Victoria University academics have also joined SJP in calling for these students to be suppressed: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1509/S00361/academics-protest-idf-meeting-at-victoria.htm.
The Dominion Post (Fairfax , stuff.co.nz) has interviewed the academics.
Sean Plunket of Radio Live has interviewed these academics: http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Israeli-soldiers-to-talk-at-Victoria-University/tabid/506/articleID/101259/Default.aspx.
TV3 (www.tv3.co.nz) has interviewed Naftali and Rafael and this will be aired on the 6pm news September 29. The
The Australian Union of Jewish Students has asked us to inform you that they are determined to protect the right to free speech on campus, they will ensure this event will proceed but opposition is growing.
We invite you to show your support by:
- Quickly reviewing these items on Scoop and if they meet with your approval, click or tap the “like” button.
- Attend the meeting, show that freedom of speech, and the right to enquire about any topic, however controversial, at a University is something worth protecting.
Khazak ve’ematz (be strong and courageous)
[…] For your convenience here is a list of links to various items published following the event. A list of items published before the event may be found here: […]