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→ 16 December 2023
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Israel admits shooting three hostages dead in clash with Hamas – Stuff

From left Alon Shamriz, Samer El-Talaqa and Yotam Haim.

NZFOI: Tragic news, indeed.

Israel’s army has said it accidentally shot three hostages dead after “mistakenly” identifying them as a threat.

“During combat in Shejaiya, the IDF mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them, and the hostages were killed,” Israel Defence Forces said in a statement.

The victims include Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Samer Talalka, who was taken from Kibbutz Nir Am on October 7. [NZFOI: Jerusalem Post names the third hostage victim as Alon Shamriz].

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→ 15 December 2023
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Rampant antisemitism in New Zealand’s schools – HCNZ

In an ongoing survey of Jewish parents being undertaken by the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand since 22 November 2023, there is concerning evidence of high levels of antisemitism in New Zealand’s schools.

50% of the parents who have completed the survey said their children had been subjected to antisemitism in schools since 7 October 2023.  The age range of children affected was 9 -18 years of age. Only 40% of parents reported incidents to schools, one commenting that the school in question had handled incidents badly previously. Other respondents reported that they find it preferable to go directly to the parents of the bullying child and another saying their school was ill-equipped to deal with antisemitism.

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→ 11 December 2023
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Sean Plunket discusses graphic imagery of Hamas attacks on Israel

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→ 7 December 2023
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More plain speaking: Segregation is not OK

Some really profound statements in his introductory remarks.

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→ 6 December 2023
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My Meeting with Young Progressive Jews – Aish

We have failed to properly educate the next generation about Jewish history, Jewish values, and the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel.

[NZFOI: Thought-provoking. The same could be said by most of us in the Western world! We haven’t taught the next generation about our history, values and what made the freedoms we cherish today, possible.
Where did we get the idea that all people are equal? We didn’t get it from the Greeks or Romans! Where did we get the idea that there should be a rest day in every seven? Where did we get the idea of freedom of speech? Where did we get the idea that slavery was wrong?]

I recently spent an evening conversing with a group of left-wing progressive Jews in Brooklyn who are deeply bothered by what is happening in Gaza. They blame the conflict squarely on Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians. They were open to meeting a rabbi and having a heated exchange of ideas.

They all identify as politically progressive, and as one person told me, “Everyone I know is anti-Zionist.” I gained a number of valuable insights from our encounter which I am still mulling over. Here are a few of the key takeaways.

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→ 5 December 2023
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Bring them back – Get in behind the Billboard Campaign

A Billboard campaign has been put together to highlight the plight of the hostages.

Politicians instead of exercising leadership, often follow voter sentiment. The Billboard campaign is therefore also a tangible way for our politicians to see that there is a constituency that supports Israel.

Above is an example of what has been put up in Wellington.

Please support this worthy campaign:

If you’re in New Zealand donate to

NZFOI’s BNZ account 02 0820 0569411 00 and put “Billboards” in the “code” field and your initials and surname in the “particulars” field.

If you’re outside NZ make your donation via Paypal below.



If you’d like a tax receipt, please send us your contact details and we’ll match it up to the donation deposit. Once matched, we’ll send you a tax receipt.

NZ Friends of Israel is a registered charity: CC 43880.

Photos of other sites with Billboards in Auckland below:

and

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→ 5 December 2023
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Three-quarters of Palestinians Support Hamas’ Attack on October 7, Says New Poll. Why? – Haaretz

Since October 7, it has been impossible to truly understand Hamas’ motives and intentions. It can be just as hard to understand Palestinian public opinion right now. After the first few weeks of chaos, two Palestinian polls became available last week – and there is no good way to spin the results.

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→ 3 December 2023
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Fake babies, real horror: Deepfakes from the Gaza war increase fears about AI’s power to mislead – NZ Herald

NZFOI: We suspected it. Now others are seeing it too.

Among images of the bombed-out homes and ravaged streets of Gaza, some stood out for the utter horror: Bloodied, abandoned infants.

Viewed millions of times online since the war began, these images are deepfakes created using artificial intelligence. If you look closely you can see clues: fingers that curl oddly, or eyes that shimmer with an unnatural light — all telltale signs of digital deception.

The outrage the images were created to provoke, however, is all too real.

Pictures from the Israel-Hamas war have vividly and painfully illustrated AI’s potential as a propaganda tool, used to create life-like images of carnage. Since the war began last month, digitally altered ones spread on social media have been used to make false claims about responsibility for casualties or to deceive people about atrocities that never happened.

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→ 3 December 2023
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Hanukkah and how it’s celebrated around the world – Stuff

In 2023, Hanukkah is on December 7 through December 15.

Hanukkah – also spelled Chanukah or other transliterations from Hebrew – is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight consecutive nights, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah – a multi-branched candelabra.

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→ 2 December 2023
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Father describes how his young daughter Emily Hand survived Hamas captivity – CNN

Just so poignant and moving.

Emily Hand had to run from house to house, forced to move by Hamas as Israeli forces attacked Gaza, her father Thomas Hand told CNN.

“That’s terrifying. Being pulled, dragged, pushed … under gunfire probably,” he said on Tuesday.

It’s one of the details that his daughter is slowly sharing of what happened after she was kidnapped on October 7 and taken to Gaza, a place she now calls “the box.”

“She’s coming out slowly, little by little,” Hand said.

“We’ll only know what she really went through as she opens up,” he told CNN. “I want to know so much information … but you have to let them, when they are ready, come out with it.”

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