NZ Herald, Wednesday 8 Feb 2016: A number of New Zealand’s leading academics on conflict resolution have slammed the country’s “dangerous double standard” on the Israel- Palestine problem.
In an open letter to Foreign Minister Murray McCully, the academics say New Zealand needs to take a firm stance on the long-running conflict in the Middle East and show leadership.
It comes in the wake of a United Nations Security Council resolution – co-sponsored by New Zealand – which stated Israel’s settlement activity was a “flagrant violation” of international law and had no legal validity.
The letter praises McCully’s leadership in pushing for the resolution, particularly in the face of pressure from Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw it from the UNSC’s table.
However, the Government’s position did not go far enough, they said, and slammed a “dangerous double standard” in supporting the resolution but failing to impose sanctions on Israel or its products made in illegal settlements. This while there were “serious tax-payer funded sanctions” on Palestinian groups involved in violence.
Read more: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11796916
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