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→ 1 March 2020
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All White Tom Doyle glad to be back in NZ after unsettling encounter with neo-Nazism | Stuff

Tom Doyle, NZ Footballer

Tom Doyle is enjoying New Zealand, after an unsettling four-month stint in a German city that was the site of major neo-Nazi marches in 2018.

The 11-cap All White is in Tahiti this week with Auckland City, chasing success in the OFC Champions League and a place at the Fifa Club World Cup in December.

As he soaks up the sunlight in the Pacific – and does his job on the pitch, whether at left back or left centre back – he is glad to be back on this side of the world.

At the start of August, shortly after Doyle made his debut for Chemnitzer FC in the German third tier, the club sacked its captain, Daniel Frahn, accusing him of openly displaying sympathy for neo-Nazi elements within its support base.

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See this video discussing the rise of the far-right in Chemnitz:

https://www.euronews.com/embed/745054

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→ 26 February 2020
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CLARIFICATION TO THE OPINION COLUMN IN THE DOMINION POST ON 25 FEBRUARY | One Chronicle

Clarification to the Opinion Column in the Dominion Post on 25 February
Tuesday, 25 February 2020

In an opinion piece published in the Dominion Post on 25 February the authors, Fred Albert and Marilyn Garson expressed their contentious views on the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism (https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/working-definition-antisemitism).

In their column, the authors chose to self-describe themselves as “members and service leaders” at Wellington’s Progressive Synagogue without offering any further disclaimer. In doing so their views are in effect being ascribed to be those of the Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation (Temple Sinai) and its members.

This effective misrepresentation is damaging to the Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation and is disregarding of its members.

As Board Chair, I want to distance the Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation from the views expressed by the authors in their column. Their views are in no way representative of those of the Board or the congregation, they are rather the views of a vocal fringe.

Furthermore, I want to assert that the Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation is not anti- or non-Zionist. It is an affiliate of the Union for Progressive Judaism (UPJ), a Zionist organisation and support and love for Israel is at the heart of Progressive Judaism.

I trust this will help to correct misconceptions arising from this newspaper column.

Matthew Smith

Board of Management Chair
Wellington Progressive Jewish Congregation (Temple Sinai)

Source

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→ 26 February 2020
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Racists don’t care about new definitions of hate | Stuff

Temple Sinai was the recent subject of an anti-Semitic graffiti attack

NZFOI: This article was written by two members of the Temple Sinai community and derailed efforts urging the Wellington City Council to adopt the IHRA definition of Anti-Semitism. It was met with outrage by the rest of the Jewish community and the President of Temple Sinai has distanced the organisation from the article, stating that its views do not represent the views of the Temple Sinai board.

If you follow the issue of racism or the protest against Israel’s occupation of Palestine, you will know the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. It has lit fires of protest across Europe, Canada and the US.

The problem lies not in the IHRA definition of antisemitism but in a set of examples which have been used to conflate criticism of Israel with a hatred of Jews. Anti-Zionism has been called antisemitism.

Given this document’s global trail of controversy, we were stunned to see a motion on Wellington City Council’s agenda for Wednesday, February 26, to adopt the IHRA document for our city.

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→ 25 February 2020
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Black Hebrew Israelites behind attacks in Jersey City and Monsey | Jerusalem Post

NZFOI: Last Sunday, Rebecca Marchand gave a briefing on the December anti-Semitic attacks in Jersey City and Monsey. For many attendees this was the first time they had heard of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, or even that there were anti-Semitic sentiments amongst African-Americans for that matter. More disturbingly, the philosophies of the BHI resembles closely the philosophies of the British Israelite Movements and the modern Christian doctrine of Supersessionism. We should also add that though Supersessionism is commonly held amongst Christians, many oppose it. This article provides a disturbing briefing on BHI.

The Jersey City murders are the culmination of years of incitement against Jews. But the perpetrators in that case were themselves minorities from the African American community. The perpetrators have been identified as coming from an extremist religious group called Black Hebrew Israelites, making them a minority of a minority. The perpetrators are seen as a “militant” fringe within that minority.

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→ 13 February 2020
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WHY SUCH A SURGE OF WORLDWIDE ANTI-SEMITISM | Israel Seen

Alan Dershowitz

Why are so many of the grandchildren of Nazis and Nazi collaborators who brought us the Holocaust once again declaring war on the Jews?

Why have we seen such an increase in anti-Semitism and irrationally virulent anti-Zionism in western Europe?

To answer these questions, a myth must first be exposed. That myth is the one perpetrated by the French, the Dutch, the Norwegians, the Swiss, the Belgians, the Austrians, and many other western Europeans: namely that the Holocaust was solely the work of German Nazis aided perhaps by some Polish, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian collaborators.

False.

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→ 3 February 2020
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NZ must step up against antisemitism | Newsroom

New Zealand has had a patchy history with the Holocaust. With a recent resurgence in antisemitism, it’s time we stepped up efforts to ensure it’s given no ground here. 

The dust is settling after a flurry of commemorative events and articles, locally and internationally, marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In the days leading up to UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27), the hashtag #WeRemember circulated on social media, with encouragement to contemplate that horrific period of history.

UN Holocaust Remembrance Day falls at the height of New Zealand’s summer holiday season, when sun and surf are uppermost in many Kiwi minds. So it’s hardly surprising that Holocaust commemoration commands relatively little attention. Of greater concern, however, is that according to a poll undertaken in July 2019, New Zealand appears to suffer Holocaust amnesia. The multi-choice survey revealed that only 43 percent of respondents knew that approximately six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, 20 percent thought fewer were killed, 37 percent were unsure, and worryingly, 30 percent were unsure whether the Holocaust had been exaggerated or was a myth.

Read more: Trotter, S (3 Feb 2020). NZ must step up against anti-Semitism. Newsroom. www.newsroom.co.nz.

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→ 31 January 2020
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In New Zealand we need to recall our own links to the Holocaust | Spinoff

The crew of Armando Diaz, other fascists and the RSA rallying at Wellington’s cenotaph in November 1934 (Photo: PAColl-7081-16. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23124270)

NZFOI: This article is remarkable in that it draws together evidence that there was significant sympathy for the Nazi Fascist philosophies of the 1930s. These sympathies were more widely held than the Western world would care to admit following the discovery of the death camps uncovered toward the end of WW2. Today few recall that in the early- to mid-1930s, the world was unsure as to what to make of Fascism and Communism. There were groups on both sides of the spectrum that recognized the potential for evil both these philosophies could unleash. Equally there many that thought that either one of these philosophies would bring the longed for prosperity and happiness that had eluded society for so long. But the silent majority were undecided and only saw immigrants and refugees as additional competitors for limited resources.

Last week the discovery of Nazi symbols sprayed outside a Wellington synagogue brought shock and condemnation. But New Zealand is no stranger to antisemitism. In light of increasing ignorance about the Holocaust, we need to revisit and acknowledge our history, writes Scott Hamilton.

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Around the world, candles will be lit to honour the six and a quarter million Jews who died in Europe between 1933, when the Nazis took power in Germany, and 1945, when Hitler shot himself amid the ruins of Berlin. Last year a poll found that 29% of New Zealanders knew little or nothing about the Holocaust. When they were asked whether the Holocaust was a myth, a third of those polled either refused to respond or said they were unsure how to answer. Only 18% of young New Zealanders said they knew much about the Holocaust.

Giacomo Lichtner, an associate professor of history at Victoria University, wrote an op-ed on Stuff to explain why he was unsurprised by the findings of the poll. When he has tried to talk to New Zealanders about the Holocaust, Lichtner has often found Kiwis sceptical about the event’s relevance to their country. What, they wonder, could faraway New Zealand have had to do with the tragedy of the Jews in fascist Europe?

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→ 29 January 2020
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Wellington tradie’s ‘small deed’ sparks tears of thanks from Jewish community | NZ Herald

Swastikas deface Jewish synagogue

Eckhardt Reyneke didn’t think twice about quickly painting over swastikas graffitied outside a Jewish temple, calling it a “small deed”, but his actions have sparked tears of thanks.

Last week Wellington City Council received reports of graffiti in several locations on The Terrace and outside the Wellington Jewish Progressive Congregation on Ghuznee St.

Council contractors swiftly removed the graffiti from the various sites but when they got to Temple Sinai they found it had already been erased from the fence.

Reyneke, 20, was working on a construction site next door to the temple when his colleague noticed the swastikas while throwing away some rubbish.

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→ 29 January 2020
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Holocaust Day prompts new anti-Semitism warnings | Radio NZ

Jacinda Adern, PM of New Zealand

In New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern paid tribute to the millions who died during the Holocaust and declared anti-Semitism had no place in the world.

Ardern delivered the message at the Mount Eden War Memorial in Auckland last night to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day .

Last night, Ms Ardern acknowledged the immeasurable loss of life and pain experienced by the Jewish community around the world.

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→ 29 January 2020
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The first transport of Jews to Auschwitz was 997 teenage girls. Few survived | Stuff

Edith Friedman Grosman’s sister, Lea Friedman, second from right, with other girls from their Slovakian village on Passover circa 1936. Lea died in Auschwitz.

As world leaders gather in Poland Monday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, Edith Friedman Grosman will be far away in Toronto, Canada.

On Monday, the energetic 95-year-old, who was on the first official transport of Jews to Auschwitz, plans to live-stream the ceremony from home, but only if she feels up to it.

She’s already returned to Auschwitz four times, and that’s enough.

“I’m glad they’re doing something for Auschwitz 75,” she told The Washington Post. “But they have to do something in 100 years and 125 years, too.”

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