Daniel Morgan and Yosef Livne (Image by Zahn Trotter)

Daniel Morgan, a NZFOI committee member, welcomed the new Ambassador Yosef Livne at a reception in Auckland.  Attended by over 200 people, the audience was treated to a number of items by local performers.

Yosef spoke about how the Jewish people were “here to stay.”  Many people have sought the demise of the Jewish people, the Babylonians, the Nazis among the prominent ones that come to mind.  But all have gone but the Jews have survived.

Long may that continue.

A Kenyan lawyer has filed a petition with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, suggesting that the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ was unlawful, and the State of Israel among others should be held responsible, Kenyan news outlet the Nairobian reported on Friday.

Dola Indidis (left), a lawyer and former spokesman of the Kenyan Judiciary is reportedly attempting to sue Tiberius (emperor of Rome, 42 BCE-37 CE), Pontius Pilate, a selection of Jewish elders, King Herod, the Republic of Italy and the State of Israel.

“Evidence today is on record in the Bible, and you cannot discredit the Bible,” Indidis told the Kenyan Citizen News.

Although those he suggests should have been convicted during the original trial have not been alive for more than 2,000 years, Indidis insists that the government for whom they acted can and should still be held responsible.

Read more.

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Grave-tagger-told-to-leave-NZ/tabid/423/articleID/303104/Default.aspx#ixzz2YyBikCz3

Peace activist who grew up as the son of an Israeli general then became supportive of the Palestinian cause. He tells his story in The General’s Son.

The New Zealand government has doubled the grant of €50,000 it made in 2011 to support the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Site.

Minister for Culture and Heritage Hon Chris Finlayson announced the additional contribution of   €50,000 at a Polish National Day reception in Wellington for visiting Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

Mr Finlayson – who visited Poland and the Auschwitz-Birkenau site earlier this year – has received a thank you letter from Mr Jacek Kastelaniec, Director-General of the Foundation of Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, who spoke to the Wellington Jewish community in the Van Staveren Room in November 2010.

In his letter, Mr Kastelaniec said that he was deeply touched by news of the further contribution. “Without people like you it would be impossible to fulfill our mission. Your understanding of the great tragedy that occurred in Auschwitz during the II World War is in my opinion the key to our very good relationship with New Zealand.

“I hope that together we will be able to preserve the authenticity of the Auschwitz Memorial so the future generations could visit and try to understand what happened during the Holocaust. That they will see for themselves what can happen when hatred takes reign.”
Mr Kastelaniec hoped that individual donors might also contribute to the project.

Read more.

The idea of babies switched at birth has always been a staple of dramatic fiction, perhaps because it is no rare occurrence. Shakespeare used it in The Comedy of Errors and W.S. Gilbert used it twice, in The Gondoliers and HMS Pinafore.

Here it is used in the more serious setting of Israel and the Occupied Territories in a French-Israeli co-production whose more contrived and formulaic elements are redeemed by some solid and heartfelt performances.

Read more.

Currently being shown at

Empire Cinema and Paramount in Wellington

The Bridgeway in Auckland