Letter to Councillor Korako

Recently our attention was drawn to a news article reporting that the regional council, Environment Canterbury (aka Ecan) has been moved to investigate whether its business dealings have any connection to the “illegal” West Bank settlements.

This is our response, which was sent to him yesterday:

Dear Councillor Korako

I am President of the NZ Friends of Israel, a charity that fights racism and prejudice through raising awareness of Jewish culture and history.

I was concerned about your support for the Palestinian cause in an article published in yesterday’s paper “Ecan to investigate links with illegal Israeli settlements” (The Press, February 15, 2024).

This portion in particular caught my eye:

Councillor Tutehounuku Korako, who abstained from the vote, said on seeing the Tino Rangatiratanga flag alongside the Palestinian flag, he had wondered what the connection was.

“It only took me a few seconds, because it talked about loss of land and lots of things Māori have been through.”

And maybe you have seen maps such as this, purporting to show that the Jews have stolen Palestinian land:

In fact, these maps are misleading and completely give the wrong framing of the Middle East conflict.  MSNBC made a very public apology for using this map:  MSNBC, under pressure, apologizes for showing maps of Palestine (youtube.com)

In fact, the UN in mandating the establishment of Israel recognized that there are TWO indigenous ethnic groups that have legitimate claims on land in the area.

But one side, the Israelis, chose co-existence.  The Arabs chose, we want to go to war, winner takes all. 

The Arabs lost.

On October 7, the Arabs perpetrated a crime against humanity, raping, mutilating, murdering and burning innocent civilians and laughing gleefully.  No journalist who has seen Hamas’ GoPro and phone videos remain unaffected.  (54) Sean Plunket discusses graphic imagery of Hamas attacks on Israel – YouTube

Hamas breaks the peace but today Israel is vilified?! Go figure.

There is no doubt this is about indigenous peoples.  But it is about two indigenous peoples figuring out how to live in peace.  One wants co-existence.  The other just wants victory or die trying.

Look for videos and stories of Jews raping, mutilating, setting people on fire, beheading people and laughing exultantly with glee.  You won’t find any.

Watch a pro-Palestinian protest in NZ, it will be marked by anger, intimidation and hostility.  Often phrases such as “G— the Jews!”, “F— the Jews!”, and “K— the Jews!” can be repeatedly heard.  1930s Germany all over again.  The Māori Battalion fought and sacrificed to stop this kind of stuff.

Watch a pro-Israel march and it is marked by candles, hymns and quiet prayers.  No one is calling for more deaths.

Today, public opinion is being swayed by the plight of Gazan civilians, but there are more than 600km of tunnels in Gaza.   What percentage of Gazan streets have no tunnels under them?  Very few.

Hamas has turned homes into battlefield cover, civilians into shields and UN agencies into extensions of their own organisations.

Don’t be swept along by high feeling.  In this chaotic upside-down world, cool heads are needed.

Please reserve your opinion until you have had a chance to review the facts from both sides.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  But you don’t have to.  None of the above happened under a rock.  History books abound.

Haere ra

Tony

President

You may download our letter from here: https://www.nzfoi.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Letter-to-Councillor-Korako-ECAN.pdf

NZFOI responds to NZ Psychological Society

This afternoon we received this outrageous letter from the NZ Psychological Society.

Here is our response sent this afternoon.

To the Executive of the New Zealand Psychological Society

One of your members has sent us your open letter to the international community of Psychological Societies regarding Gaza.

We applaud your efforts to protect the civilians of Gaza from harm.

On the other hand, we deplore the absence in your letter of any condemnation of the atrocities carried out on October 7.

The absence of such condemnation leaves you wide open to the accusation that you find rape, summary executions of whole families in their homes, the beheading of babies, immolation of captives, gouging out of eyes, executing people at bus stops, and sitting in their cars, the abduction of civilians, children, babies, and the elderly, justifiable.

These are crimes against Israel, they are crimes against all Jews, and they are crimes against all humanity.  They are therefore crimes against us, New Zealanders. This is evil.

The people of Gaza elected Hamas as their government.

With such power, Hamas has great responsibility.

On October 7, Hamas committed a series of atrocities on such scale that no right-thinking nation could ignore.

In so doing, Hamas has taken their people into war.

No government who carries out such an act of war can expect that there will not be any consequences for its citizens.

But Hamas’ ideology values martyrdom more than the lives of their people.

And therefore they have no regret in using their people as human shields.

Consequently they fight their war from residential apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and even designated safe zones.

This war is not a war of vengeance, it is not a war of evening up the score, it is not just about defending Israel, it is about making Israel’s people safe.

October 7, has shown the world that Hamas is prepared to throw aside its humanity in the furtherance of its cause. Their evil is revealed.

Any idea of coexistence, of living with Jews in peace and harmony, is far from Hamas’ mind.

History shows that unless evil is confronted then many more will die.

Although we sympathise with your goal of trying to protect the non-combatants in Gaza, we are deeply disappointed that your letter leaves you wide open to the accusation that you condone the October 7 atrocities as justifiable actions to further a political cause.

In doing so, you contribute rather than mitigate a tragedy.

There is also a war for the world’s heart and mind.  For our hearts and minds.

Do not be taken in by the emotional messages currently before the media.

The number of casualties that was supposed to have died outside a hospital began with 500 and since then the number has steadily dropped.

There is much value in independent investigations after the conflict is over. 

From past conflicts, Western news agencies have attested to Hamas’ misinformation campaigns.

You and your members are scientists, and if you as a society feel strongly enough to weigh into this conflict, then we urge you to examine this conflict and its history and the respective claims of both sides with the same forensic care you take in your professional life.

If you do, you may find that talk of apartheid practices, invasions, indigenous peoples, and colonization is not as simple as some would have you think.

We urge you to re-write your letter with these thoughts in mind.

Regards, etc.

NZFOI condemns Hamas invasion

MEDIA STATEMENT

CHRISTCHURCH, OCTOBER 7, 2023

NZ Friends of Israel strongly condemns the current ground invasion supported by a rocket bombardment on Israel, led by Hamas from Gaza.

Reportedly, these attacks are indiscriminately targeting civilians and terrorizing the country. The entire country is in lockdown, sheltering in bomb shelters. A number of townships have been infiltrated.

We urge the New Zealand government to

* Call for a ceasefire,
* Urge Hamas to withdraw for humanitarian reasons,
* Voice its opposition to settling the dispute through violence, and
* Encourage all parties to return to peaceful negotiations.

STATEMENT ENDS

Time to reset our relationship with Israel | NZ Herald

MEDIA RELEASE

19 JANUARY 2023 (Published in NZ Herald, 31 JANUARY 2023)

OPINION — Recently, there have been calls for resetting our foreign policy in respect of Israel. 

For decades now, New Zealand has founded its policy on Israel on the idea of a two-state solution: the idea that a Palestinian Arab state could exist in peace alongside the modern state of Israel. 

This idea is dependent on a number of assumptions:

  1. That the Palestinian Leadership is interested in peaceful co-existence with the Jewish people.
  2. That peace in the Middle East is predicated on the establishment of a Palestinian State based on pre-1967 borders.
  3. That the Palestinian Leadership are more interested in the welfare and prosperity of its people than they are interested in the destruction of Israel and its people.

We have sufficient history to see that each of these assumptions has been proven wrong.

Time and again, each Palestinian regime has shown that it has no appetite for peaceful co-existence with Israel.  The Arab language rhetoric is clear: the annihilation of the State of Israel is the end goal, and that relentless and deadly violence will be pursued until this goal is achieved. 

It is an all-or-nothing philosophy that is prepared to grind its own people into perpetual poverty and suffering.  During the 2000 Camp David Summit the Palestinians were offered nearly all of their demands.  Amongst anyone who is familiar with such negotiations between peoples, a truly remarkable offer. 

Yet the Palestinians declined it, setting off the second intifada.  The Gaza peace for land deal only resulted in even more violence.  The Palestinians have now received more foreign aid than Europe did to rebuild after the Second World War.  And what have they done with it?  They have used it to fund hatred, murder and misery.

The Abrahamic Accords have shown that there is an appetite for peace in the Middle East.  The normalisation of Israel’s relations with Sudan, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, and Jordan show this. 

Even Saudi Arabia has allowed Israeli civilian aircraft to fly through its airspace.   These are monumental signs that the other Arab Middle Eastern nations are tiring of Palestinian narrow-mindedness. 

The current Palestinian regime will try to turn us against Israel by accusing it of not holding to Western liberal values while pushing a totalitarian society within their own jurisdictions. 

Today, Israel is a shining light in the totalitarian darkness of the Middle East.  It demonstrates that Middle Eastern peoples can live together in a true democracy, where their vote counts, where there is no threat of governmental coercion as to how they can vote, where one’s civil liberties are protected by law, where its citizens have access to health care, education and state welfare assistance, where Palestinian Arabs can study law and fight for justice, where people can truly live and whatever they lawfully wish. 

The Palestinian Regime needs to understand that its current goal of annihilating Israel, by fostering a grievance industry that enriches its leaders through the suffering of its people, has been discredited.  New Zealand has to reset its foreign policy in regard to the Middle East. 

Only by showing that this current regime has no credibility, will a new regime emerge that is free of corruption and is willing to enter into genuine peace negotiations with Israel.  Only by strengthening our trade and diplomatic relations with Israel will we positively reinforce the regional behaviours we so desire. 

We do need a foreign policy reset.  We would be fools to continue to persist with the current policy that superficially shows even-handed support to the Palestinian Arabs, and yet has had so little success in bringing peace over so many generations.

Tony Kan

President
NZ Friends of Israel Association Inc

Box 37 363
Halswell
Christchurch
New Zealand

NZ Friends of Israel Association is a registered charity that fights prejudice and intolerance through raising awareness of Jewish history and culture.


Rubbish journalism: Stuff’s substandard reporting of Palmerston North protests | NZFOI

Protestors demand NZ Government to push for investigation of Al Jazeera reporter death

Yesterday, Stuff ran an article reporting a public protest in response to the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.

NZFOI considers the article a shockingly substandard piece of journalism.

According to the Media Council,

“An independent press plays a vital role in a democracy. The proper fulfilment of that role requires a fundamental responsibility to maintain high standards of accuracy, fairness and balance and public faith in those standards.”

Yet Heagney’s article falls short of this standard in three areas.

Accuracy: The article states that “She was shot by Israeli forces”. The matter is still under investigation by the authorities. Therefore, on what basis does the reporter make his statement? Nothing but hearsay.

Fairness: Heagney reports that his interviewee wants the New Zealand government to “push for an investigation.”But Heagney doesn’t mention the existence of other reports (e.g. Your Friday Briefing: The Fateful Bullet – The New York Times (nytimes.com)) saying that the Palestinian authorities had refused to allow Israeli investigators to examine the bullet removed from her body.

The truth is that there is no need for the NZ Government to push for an investigation because there is already an investigation underway and for unknown reasons, the Palestinian authorities were being obstructive and frustrating it.

Balance: Instead of presenting the full story, Heagney has written an article that provides no context, that does not inform readers of the long standing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and by omission, implies that the protestors’ cause is free of bias and just.

On three counts, Heagney’s article falls short of the Media Council’s standards.

Antisemitism Survey of New Zealand 2021 report released

Media Release

Wednesday 30 March 2022

Known as the oldest form of racism, a new study about the views of New Zealanders towards Jewish people shows concerning levels of antisemitism in Aotearoa New Zealand today.

The Antisemitism Survey of New Zealand 2021 was conducted by Curia Research and put 18 internationally recognised statements to just over one thousand New Zealanders to measure antisemitism sentiment.

It found that 63% of New Zealanders agree with at least one antisemitic view and 6% hold nine or more antisemitic views out of the 18 questions posed to quantify antisemitic views.

Former New Zealand Chief Science Advisor Sir Peter Gluckman wrote the foreword for the survey which follows a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in New Zealand in the past few years.

“This survey shows that classic antisemitism has re-emerged – particularly during the pandemic – as Holocaust denial and has become conflated with conspiracy theories and alt-right politics.

“Another recent trend is the global emergence of left wing antisemitism. While most forms of discrimination are unacceptable in progressive thinking, antisemitism does not seem to count as racism because Jews can be accused of ‘white privilege’ and hatred can be hidden under a cloak of Zionophobia, or anti-Israel sentiment.

“History tells us that whenever societal cohesion breaks down or is at risk, antisemitic attitudes, memes and actions soon surface,” Sir Peter Gluckman says.

The survey was undertaken on behalf of the New Zealand Jewish Council with funding from the Ministry of Ethnic Communities.  

Jewish Council spokesperson Juliet Moses says it shows some New Zealanders still believe in stubborn and dangerous myths, or tropes, about Jewish people.

“About one in five New Zealanders, or 17%, believe Jews have too much power in international financial markets, and one in 10 believe Jews have too much control over the global media.

“This survey is an important tool in exposing these alarming beliefs. These falsehoods make Jewish communities a target when people are looking to lay blame for tough times.

“History has taught us this hatred doesn’t stop at Jewish communities. It spreads to other ethnic communities,” Juliet Moses says.

The survey also asked about New Zealanders’ understanding of what occurred during the Holocaust.

Of those surveyed only 42% could correctly identify that six million Jewish people were killed in the Holocaust. One fifth, or 17%, said they knew virtually nothing about the Holocaust.

Holocaust Centre of New Zealand chair Deborah Hart says the survey shows the need for Holocaust education.

“This survey represents the views of everyday New Zealanders. We recently saw an extreme side of this lack of understanding in the gross misuse of Holocaust references at the protest at Parliament.

“If people understand what the Holocaust actually was, it is a significant buffer against the rise of antisemitism and other forms of racism that can lead to genocide.  Holocaust education is a safeguard for civil society. Deborah Hart says.

Wellington Jewish Council chair and one of the founders of the National Interfaith Forums, David Zwartz, says the survey offers a solution to racism.

“Perhaps unsurprisingly, it found that warmth towards ethnic and religious groups increases when people personally know a member of that community.

“The simplest way to fight racism is to get to know each other, and do things together. When communities understand each other, they build trust and are able to put their judgements aside. They can embrace their similarities as well as their differences.

Juliet Moses says the Jewish Council thanks the Ministry for Ethnic Communities for their support, pointing out that such a survey has important lessons for all Aotearoa New Zealand’s minority ethnic and religious communities, not just the Jews.

“Many New Zealanders may be surprised to learn the Muslim and Jewish communities have had a close relationship for many years and the 2019 Mosque attacks brought us even closer together. Trust and understanding are the most powerful antidotes to racism,” Juliet Moses says.

Background information:

  • The New Zealand Jewish Council is the representative body of Jewish communities in New Zealand. There are congregations in Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin. There are approximately 10,000 Jews in New Zealand with the largest population in Auckland followed by Wellington.
  • The New Zealand Jewish community works with a number of other ethnic and faith communities including the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, the Bahá’í Faith of New Zealand and through interfaith forums.
  • The New Zealand Jewish Council is working closely with the Government on its social cohesion programme in response to the Royal Commission into the Mosque Attacks.
  • The Holocaust Centre of New Zealand is the country’s national Holocaust education and remembrance centre. It inspires and empowers action against antisemitism, discrimination, and apathy by remembering, educating, and bearing witness to the Holocaust.
  • A copy of the Antisemitism Survey of New Zealand 2021 report can be found at www.nzjc.org.nz/AntisemitismNewZealand2021.pdf

Media contact: Danya Levy 021 996 010

Joint Statement by Friends of the New Zealand Jewish Community

Juliet Moses, NZ Jewish Council

We are deeply concerned at the response by audience members to statements made by Juliet Moses on behalf of the Jewish Council at the Hui on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism in New Zealand. We are also disappointed by the distortion of facts by mainstream media.

It is imperative that terrorism is discussed openly and truthfully at a hui explicitly called for the purpose of countering terrorism and violent extremism in all New Zealand communities. Terrorist entities must be able to be named, whether they be far-right, Islamic, or any other groups.

Ms Moses referred to a rally in support of Hezbollah on Auckland’s Queen Street in 2018. The rally should be of concern to all New Zealanders. New Zealand has labelled the military wings of Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist groups. However, New Zealand’s position on Hezbollah is out of step with most of our allies who recognise that there is no distinction between the military and political wings of the organisation. In fact, in 2017, The Arab League, comprised of 22 Arabic-speaking countries, designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization for destabilizing the region and posing “a threat to Arab national security by raising sectarian … and ethnic tensions”.

We affirm the call made by Ms Moses:

“We need to hear leaders condemn all support for terrorism and all terrorism equally, whatever the source, target and circumstance – and even when it is not politically expedient to do so”.

On behalf of the thousands of constituents we represent, we support Juliet Moses’ effort to bring this matter to public attention and agree that this concern must be acknowledged in order to achieve social cohesion in New Zealand. We call on our leaders to speak out clearly and unequivocally to condemn all forms of terrorism. We also call on the government to take measures to ensure that those who openly support terrorists and terrorism are censured.

Ashley Church, Israel Institute of New Zealand
Rob Berg, Zionist Federation of New Zealand
Bryce Turner, Christians For Israel
Nigel Woodley, The Protection of Zion Trust, Flaxmere Christian Fellowship, Ebenezer Operation Exodus
Derek McDowell, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
Tony Kan, New Zealand Friends of Israel
Patrick Tupoto Manawakaiaia Ruka, Ngapuhi Kaumatua
Dr Sheree Trotter, Holocaust and Antisemitism Foundation, Aotearoa New Zealand
Simon Lawry, Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry
Stephanie Harawira, Pacific Pearls, Kia Ora Israel, Hikoi Aotearoa, Ezekiel 33 Trust, Kotahi Tatou Trust

Press Release: Israel agrees to ceasefire | Israel

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

21 May 2021

Prime Minister’s Office Statement (Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)

The Security Cabinet, this evening (Thursday, 20 May 2021), unanimously accepted the recommendation of all of the security officials, the IDF Chief-of-Staff, the head of the ISA, the head of the Mossad and the head of the National Security Council to accept the Egyptian initiative for a mutual ceasefire without pre-conditions, to take effect at a time to be determined. The IDF Chief-of-Staff, the military and the head of the ISA briefed ministers on Israel’s significant achievements in the operation, some of which are unprecedented. The political leadership emphasizes that it is the reality on the ground that will determine the future of the operation.

End.

Israeli Embassy Press Release

Folks,

Please find attached their latest press release on the current violence in Israel:

UPDATED PRESS RELEASE AND FACTSHEET – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 14 May 2021

In Light of the Continued Wave of Terrorism from Gaza

 Israel is protecting its citizens from a wave of terrorism instigated by Hamas. Israel has taken steps to restrain and de-escalate the situation for a number of weeks. These steps have been answered by a wave of rockets and acts of terrorism from the Gaza Strip.
 Israel is currently experiencing a large-scale wave of terrorism that is being directed entirely at civilian population centers throughout the country. No country would tolerate such extreme levels of terrorism and aggression.
 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations are committing double war crimes. Hamas is indiscriminately launching rockets at civilian population centers and is launching them from within civilian population centers. Every rocket that is launched at Israel is an act of terrorism and a war crime. Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations have carried out over 1,500 war crimes in the past three days.
 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations have situated their terrorist infrastructures (launch bases, weapons arsenals, manufacturing sites, headquarters) in the heart of the civilian population, including within multi-story buildings. In doing so, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations have turned the civilian population of Gaza into a human shield. Between 20-30 percent of the rockets launched by Hamas and the terrorist organisations fall in the territory of the Gaza Strip. Indications suggest that at least nine Palestinian children were killed by these rocket landings.
 The IDF is only acting against terrorist targets in Gaza that are directly connected to the rocket fire on Israel’s cities and civilians. Israel is acting against the terrorist attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations in a measured and accurate manner and on the basis of unequivocal intelligence information, adhering to the principles of international law.
 Strengthening of Hamas is a mistake. The strengthening of Hamas is destructive to the effort to achieve regional stability. Hamas instigated the escalation in the current situation in an attempt to seize control of the Palestinian agenda and to weaken and replace the Palestinian Authority. Hamas’ strength in the face of the

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Palestinian Authority opposes Palestinian interests, harms Palestinian society and is not in the international community’s interests, and certainly harms the State of Israel’s interests and security. Hamas is exploiting the heightened religious and nationalist sentiments surrounding the holy days in Jerusalem in order to encourage terrorism and violence. Unequivocally condemning these acts of terrorism and supporting Israel’s steps to protect its citizens will help to prevent this radical terrorist organisation from being further emboldened at the expense of pragmatic and moderate actors.
 The internal tension in Israel arising from the current situation is indeed worrisome. The State of Israel is a law-abiding country and the police will maintain law and order throughout the country. These are difficult days of polarisation and violence within Israeli society. The President, Prime Minister, and other public leaders have condemned the violence on all sides and have called for de-escalation. The Prime Minister called on the country’s citizens to unite in order to reinstate governance, neutralize the anarchy, and preserve and restore the security and calm that we all deserve.
 It is important to note that Sheikh Jarrah is not the story. Hamas is attacking Israel for its self-declared goal of eliminating Israel. Hamas has exploited the tensions surrounding the Sheikh Jarrah legal matter and turned it into a nationalist and religious issue in order to bring about an escalation, violence, and terrorism. Whoever links Hamas’ terrorist attacks and hundreds of rocket launches against the civilian population in Israel to the issue of Sheikh Jarrah is playing into the hands of the terrorist organization and granting legitimacy to terrorist activities. We condemn these acts of terrorism in the strongest terms and hope to return to our lives of coexistence and peace soon.

End.

Statement on the escalation of violence in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Gaza | NZ Govt

Nanaia Mahuta, NZ Minister of Foreign Affairs

NZFOI: The NZ Government has released a statement regarding the current escalation of violence between Israel and the Arabs. In her statement, she is implying the root cause of the violence is Israel’s forced evictions occurring in East Jerusalem. However the matter she is referring to is an ongoing legal dispute between Arabs who occupied those properties after Jordan’s illegal invasion of Israel and Israelis who fled during that conflict and want them repatriated. In the 1970s Israel passed laws that legalised the repatriation of such properties provided there was sufficient proof of ownership. In NZFOI’s opinion, MFAT’s root cause analysis is flawed. Here is the NZ government’s full statement:

BEGINS

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta today expressed Aotearoa New Zealand’s grave concern at the escalation of violence in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Gaza.

“The growing death toll and the large numbers of casualties, including children, from Israeli airstrikes and Gazan rockets is unacceptable,” Nanaia Mahuta said

“Senior officials met with the Israeli Ambassador yesterday. Officials underlined the concerning loss of life and strongly urged Israel to de-escalate to prevent the prospect of a widening conflict. They also raised their concern at the continued violation of international law and forced evictions occurring in East Jerusalem.

“The launching of rockets towards Israel by Hamas is unacceptable and must stop. At the same time any response from Israel should be restrained and must avoid civilian casualties. All sides have a responsibility to de-escalate, stop the violence and prevent further suffering and loss of life.

“Aotearoa New Zealand stands ready to assist in any constructive way we can to support urgent de-escalation of the situation.” Nanaia Mahuta said.

ENDS