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→ 8 December 2019
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NZ rugby star apologises for racist slur | J-Wire

Bryn Hall

Crusaders halfback Bryn Hall has apologised to the Jewish Council over a comment he made on live television in which he labelled an All Black a “Jew”.

Hall made the slur against his teammate Jack Goodhue on TV. In media reports  Hall said: “[He] doesn’t want to pay for his wedding, so he’s actually looking for Women’s Day or Women’s Weekly to try and get behind and pay for his wedding, so red card for being a Jew, Jack, so there you go mate.”

A complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority claimed that the remark was discriminatory was not upheld as it did not meet the standard of “nastiness”. Although not the source of the complaint the New Zealand Jewish Council expressed their disappointment on it not being upheld.  They only knew about the complaint when the BSA released its decision.

The New Zealand Jewish Council’s Juliet Moses told J-Wire: “Mr Hall made contact with me by email on Thursday and offered an apology that I believe to be considered and sincere, and have accepted. We are planning to have a telephone conversation and I hope we can all move on constructively from this.”

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→ 8 December 2019
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Targeting of pro-Israel Jews on campus must be countered | Montreal Gazette

Professor Gil Troy

For years, we at McGill have tolerated outrages that reflect poorly on our institution — and us — cowering behind our respect for academic freedom and student autonomy. As long as Israel-bashers yell “occupation,” many academics have allowed this legitimate political criticism to mask anti-Semitism. And when certain leaders of the SSMU — the Students’ Society of McGill University — have harassed pro-Israel students, we’ve insisted, “it’s not us, it’s the students.” Meanwhile, every year more students suffer — and our university is besmirched when student leaders in official positions show contempt for anyone who deviates from the politically correct Israel-bashing line.
So when Jordyn Wright, a McGill undergraduate, found herself the latest target of today’s socially acceptable campus witch-hunt — targeting pro-Israel Jews — it seemed as if it would be one more episode in a sad history.
Fortunately, this time, many McGillians said: “Enough.”
Last week, Wright reported that after she enrolled in a free Hillel Montreal Israel trip, Face-to-Face, the SSMU Legislative Council passed a motion claiming this “conflict of interest” required her “resignation” from student government. What “interest” was involved? Certainly nothing connected to the student governance issues that justify the “M” in SSMU, meaning the reason why student tuition dollars fund the organization and SSMU may use McGill’s name.
Beyond the “thinly veiled and blatant anti-Semitism” Wright says she experienced, watch what’s happening to McGill’s brand. “I was warned about getting involved in student leadership at McGill,” she writes. “The toxic environment, countless scandals, prohibitive anti-Israel sentiment, and anti-Semitism have led to a tainted image of an unfriendly campus for Jews.”
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→ 8 December 2019
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McGill student won’t be punished for accepting trip to Israel | Montreal Gazette

Jordyn Wright

Jewish advocacy groups say they’re relieved that the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) voted to toss out a motion late Monday that would have punished one of its members for accepting a free trip to Israel.

The vote came after the SSMU drafted a resolution last week to trigger an impeachment vote against councillor Jordyn Wright if she accepted an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel. The trip, sponsored by Hillel Montreal, is meant to educate students on the complex realities of life in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Wright said she was targeted by the student union because of her Jewish identity, triggering an international backlash against the SSMU.

After a day that saw Wright’s story covered by media across Canada and in Israel, the SSMU voted to drop the motion during a meeting of its board of directors late Monday.

“Discrimination, racism and any attempt to ostracize students based on their identity have no place on campus, or anywhere else for that matter,” read a statement published by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs on Tuesday. “CIJA applauds the SSMU Board of Directors for unequivocally rejecting the Legislative Council’s discriminatory motion.”

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→ 8 December 2019
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SEVENTY Labour whistleblowers condemn Jeremy Corbyn over Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis as 53-page report claims ‘officials objected to Jewish people joining the party and asked to inspect their HOMES’ | Daily Mail

UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is currently investigating Labour

It is probing the way in which the party has handled allegations of anti-Semitism

The Jewish Labour Movement has now handed the EHRC its formal submission

Document contains sworn statements from 70 serving and ex-Labour officials

The submission concludes Labour is ‘no longer a safe space for Jewish people’

Seventy serving and former Labour officials have condemned Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of the party’s anti-Semitism crisis in a bombshell submission to the UK’s equalities watchdog.

The Labour Party is under formal investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission over its handling of allegations of anti-Semitism.

The 70 current and ex-staff have given sworn statements which form part of the Jewish Labour Movement’s submission to the EHRC.

The document handed over by the JLM represents a major blow to Mr Corbyn’s general election campaign as it contains numerous accusations about him as well as the Labour Party more broadly.

It includes a claim that some prospective Jewish Labour members in one constituency were subjected to ‘home visits’ before they were allowed to join.

The JLM submission argues: ‘The Labour Party is no longer a safe space for Jewish people or for those who stand up against anti-Semitism.

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→ 8 December 2019
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There is a ‘powerful case’ that Jeremy Corbyn could be anti-Semitic, says former most senior civil judge | The Telegraph

Lord Dyson

There is a “powerful case” that Jeremy Corbyn could be anti-Semitic, the country’s former most senior civil judge has said as he revealed that he was “disturbed” by elements within the Labour party.

Lord Dyson, who was Master of the Rolls, the second most senior judicial position in England and Wales, questioned why it took Mr Corbyn “so long” to apologise for the way his party has handled anti-Semitism allegations.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Lord Dyson said it is “deeply concerning” that Jewish MPs have left the Labour party.

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→ 5 December 2019
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Grandson of Last German Politician Capable of Stopping Word War 2 Dies in New Zealand | MSC Newswire

Tony Haas

Anticipating Hitler’s rise pre-war politician told family to get as far away from Germany as possible

The death in New Zealand’s Wairarapa Valley of Tony Haas (pictured) severs one of the closest human link’s with Germany’s Nazi era.

Haas was the grandson of Ludwig Haas the minister for Baden and member of the Reichstag for the German Democratic Party and a determined opponent of the National Socialists, the Nazi Party.

Ludwig Haas died unexpectedly in 1930.

He is often considered the only politician who, had he lived, could have foiled the rise of Hitler and thus averted World War 2.

On his deathbed Ludwig Haas, anticipating Hitler’s rise and what was to come and knowing he would be powerless to do anything about it told his son, Karl, father of Tony Haas, to move as far away from Germany as possible –and stay there.

The family did this, re-establishing in New Zealand.

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→ 4 December 2019
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The BSA ruling on a ‘Jew’ slur loaded with centuries of persecution is utterly feeble | Spinoff

Bryn Hall

The ruling from the broadcasting regulator on a plainly anti-Semitic comment is unacceptable and suggests we have failed to learn the lessons of March 15, writes Juliet Moses of the NZ Jewish Council.

Yesterday a ruling came out from the Broadcasting Standards Authority, otherwise known as the BSA, that was, frankly, BS.

It considered whether the “red card segment” in the programme Kick Off, broadcast on Sky Sport back in June, fell foul of its “denigration and discrimination” standard. The statement in question was something to do with All Black Jack Goodhue’s mullet and went like this: “I’m red-carding … Jack Goodhue for his mullet … he’s actually looking for Women’s Day or Women’s Weekly to try and get behind and pay for his wedding, so red card for being a Jew, Jack”.

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→ 4 December 2019
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Jewish student should resign if traveling to Israel, says student gov’t | Jerusalem Post

Jordyn Wright

Students’ Society of McGill University calls on board member to resign if she participates in free Hillel trip

Calls have been made for a Jewish student leader at McGill University to resign from her position in the student government for accepting an invitation to travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

Jordyn Wright, who represents her peers on the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council and serves on the Society’s Board of Directors and was invited to participate in a trip called “Face-to-Face” that is being offered by Hillel Montreal, said over the weekend that she will travel to Israel and she will not resign from her positions.

She took to Facebook to share her shock and outrage about the actions taken by some members of the SSMU during a meeting last Thursday night.

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→ 22 November 2019
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NZFOI welcomes US announcement on Israeli Settlements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

22 November 2019 CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND — NZ Friends of Israel welcomes the US announcement on Monday November 18, that acknowledges that Israel’s settlements in Judea and Samaria (also known as the West Bank) are not illegal.

Most international law opinions that suggest otherwise are based on a misapplication of the Fourth Geneva Convention which was never written with the Middle Eastern situation in mind.  The original convention expected that the land of a sovereign state was being occupied by another sovereign state. 

This is not the case with the lands of the Middle East.  Following the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the Second World War, there was no legitimate sovereign over the disputed lands. 

The US announcement affirms the fact that Jews have always been indigenous to the region and are not foreign colonizers. 

With the resurgence of anti-Semitism in many countries of the world, the foresight and wisdom of the League of Nations in mandating the establishment of a Jewish homeland, is unfortunately being vindicated. 

NZ Friends of Israel (www.nzfoi.org, contact@nzfoi.org, ph 027 433 9745) is a registered charity that fights racial prejudice and intolerance by raising awareness of Jewish history and culture.

ENDS

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→ 19 November 2019
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Trump administration says Israel’s West Bank settlements do not violate international law | Washington Post

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Monday that Israeli settlements in the West Bank do not violate international law.

Pompeo said the Trump administration, as it did with recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and Israel’s sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights, had simply “recognized the reality on the ground.”

In remarks to reporters at the State Department, he said the administration was overturning actions taken late in the Obama administration, which for the first time declined to veto a United Nations resolution calling for the dismantlement of West Bank settlements.

Instead, Pompeo said, the administration said it was returning to policy under the administration of Ronald Reagan, who declined to characterize settlements as illegal but called them “ill-advised” and an obstacle to peace.

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