NZ Friends of Israel Association Inc
Fighting racial intolerance in New Zealand and beyond
Two days before the publication of an official report on Operation Protective Edge, Israeli officials say that Hamas currently operates at least 15 active tunnels leading from Gaza into Israeli territory.
Read more: IDF Officials report at least 15 active tunnels on border | JerusalemOnline
UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — Families waited in silent clusters in a century-old Jewish cemetery here on Tuesday.
Some clutched slips of paper describing where relatives were buried. Others carried small plastic bags full of rocks to leave beside graves, a tradition.
They came with a single question: Was the grave of a loved one among the nearly 200 that had been vandalized here sometime over the weekend?
“You hope it’s not a resurgence of something, of anti-Semitism, but I don’t know,” Herschel Price, 87,
Read more: At Jewish Cemetery, Seeking Answers Amid Heartbreak – The New York Times
PARIS (AP) ” No more Muslim women in the Metro wearing the latest in headscarf attire. No more young Jewish boys in kippas dashing into the bakery for the family’s dinner baquette.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s plan to ban religious symbols from French streets if elected president this spring would dramatically alter the country’s urban landscape.Le Pen gave a real-life demonstration of her far-reaching but little-noticed proposal during a trip this week to Lebanon, refusing to don a head covering for a visit with a Muslim religious leader. She lost out on the meeting but won new publicity just as she is topping polls.
The ban would stigmatize France’s large Muslim population anew and force Europe’s largest Jewish community to give up a cherished custom.
Read more: Far-right candidate sees a France sans kippas, headscarves – World – NZ Herald News
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has conveyed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Labor’s concern about Israel’s construction of settlements in occupied territories, in a meeting he described as “warm and productive”.
Mr Shorten – flanked by foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong, shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus and Melbourne Ports MP Michael Danby on Friday – also raised Labor’s support for a two-state solution, an outcome that Mr Netanyahu’s government has backed away from in recent years.
Read more: Bill Shorten raises settlements ‘clearly and unambiguously’ in meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take a circuitous route through South East Asia to dodge Indonesian airspace as he departs Australia for Israel.
The Israeli PM and wife Sara Netanyahu jetted out of Sydney Airport on Sunday morning bound for Hong Kong after a five-day visit meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and a slew of Australian officials.
The Israeli PM left Sydney just 10 minutes behind schedule, after a morning meeting with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, during which he described his stay as “wonderful.”
Read more: Benjamin Netanyahu says his visit to Australia was ‘wonderful’
The author walks past Ofer Prison near Ramallah, during a Palestinian protest outside the facility in November 2015. (photo credit:COURTESY / JONATHAN BROWN)
By HUNTER STUART
February 15, 2017 12:17
IN THE summer of 2015, just three days after I moved to Israel for a year-and-a-half stint freelance reporting in the region, I wrote down my feelings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A friend of mine in New York had mentioned that it would be interesting to see if living in Israel would change the way I felt. My friend probably suspected that things would look differently from the front-row seat, so to speak.
Boy was he right.
Before I moved to Jerusalem, I was very pro-Palestinian. Almost everyone I knew was. I grew up Protestant in a quaint, politically correct New England town; almost everyone around me was liberal. And being liberal in America comes with a pantheon of beliefs: You support pluralism, tolerance and diversity. You support gay rights, access to abortion and gun control.
For most people flying from Singapore to Sydney, the flight takes seven hours, give or take.But not if you are Benjamin Netanyahu. In the Israeli prime minister’s case, it can take more than 11 hours.FlightAware showed The Israeli leader took an unusual detour when travelling from Singapore to Australia on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Read more: The strange route Benjamin Netanyahu took to get from Singapore to Sydney | Stuff.co.nz
Australia’s Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop greets Israel’s PM, Benjamin Netanyahu
In the past fortnight the Israeli leader has visited London and Washington DC for talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May and “old friend” US President Donald Trump.His visit to Australia this week will be the first for a serving Israeli Prime Minister.
His time with Malcolm Turnbull will likely cover similar ground: the Palestinian conflict, West Bank settlements, Iran, and combatting global terror.
Mr Netanyahu, accompanied by wife Sara, will also meet with Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove, opposition leader Bill Shorten, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and members from Australia’s Israeli communities.
Australia’s Israeli embassy confirmed that, during Mr Netanyahu’s visit, the countries will sign two bilateral agreements. The first will focus on technological innovation, while the second will help “facilitate commercial air transport services” between Australia and Israel.
Anthony Bergin, from the Australian Strategic and Policy Institute, says the Israel-Australia relationship could be strengthened.
“It’s a good time for an Israeli Prime Minister to visit, and I think while we’ve got a lot of rhetoric about common values there isn’t at the moment a lot of substance,” he said. “The relationship, in many ways is underachieving. It could be developed.”
Read more: Netanyahu visit: Australia’s relationship with Israel and where it could go | SBS News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken warmly of his country’s relationship with Australia on a visit to the Central Synagogue in Bondi Junction on Wednesday evening.
It comes after a day spent fielding questions over the Palestinian and Israeli conflict.
“There’s no better friend for the state of Israel,” Mr Netanyahu said of Mr Turnbull as the pair appeared before a 2000-strong Jewish congregation.
“But he’s had some standard bearers before him. John Howard and Tony Abbott.
“Both former prime ministers were seated just behind Mr Netanyahu in the synagogue and received huge applause from the congregation, which included NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, prominent lawyer Mark Leibler, retail billionaire Solomon Lew and Jeanne Pratt, widow of the late industrialist Richard Pratt.
Read more: Jewish community welcomes Netanyahu at Bondi Synagogue on controversial visit | SBS News
Protesters gathered at Sydney’s Town Hall say Australia has been embarrassed by the warm reception given to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
About 1,000 people gathered at the George Street landmark in the city’s centre, although Mr Netanyahu was not in the area.
Mr Netanyahu spent the second day of his five-day tour meeting Federal Government ministers and visiting a Jewish school in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has emphasised the strength of the friendship between the two nations but protester Mona Abuzalaf said Mr Netanyahu was not welcome here.”
He’s responsible for settlement expansion which is illegal under international law, he’s responsible for a lot of the wars that have been committed against the Palestinians in Gaza, and really this man should be tried in the ICC, not welcomed down in Sydney,” she said.
