NZ Friends of Israel Association Inc
Fighting racial intolerance in New Zealand and beyond
In a critical blow to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett‘s government late Monday, the coalition failed to pass a directive giving Israel legal jurisdiction over Israelis living in the West Bank that has been approved every five years since 1967.
Opposition MKs applauded following the announcement of the results that the vote fell with 52 votes for it and 58 against it. Failure of the bill led to immediate speculation that the government will soon fall and Israel will head to a new election.
Veteran politician Isaac Herzog was elected as Israel’s eleventh president.
Herzog, the former head of the Labor Party and an opposition leader who unsuccessfully ran against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the 2015 parliamentary elections, was selected by secret ballots among the 120 members of the Knesset, or parliament.
He defeated outsider Miriam Peretz, who is more aligned with Israel’s conservative and nationalist groups.
“I intend to be the president of everyone,” Herzog said, as reported the Associated Press. “We must defend Israel’s international status and its good reputation in the family of nations, fight antisemitism and hatred of Israel, and preserve the pillars of our democracy. “
PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21 May 2021
Prime Minister’s Office Statement (Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser)
The Security Cabinet, this evening (Thursday, 20 May 2021), unanimously accepted the recommendation of all of the security officials, the IDF Chief-of-Staff, the head of the ISA, the head of the Mossad and the head of the National Security Council to accept the Egyptian initiative for a mutual ceasefire without pre-conditions, to take effect at a time to be determined. The IDF Chief-of-Staff, the military and the head of the ISA briefed ministers on Israel’s significant achievements in the operation, some of which are unprecedented. The political leadership emphasizes that it is the reality on the ground that will determine the future of the operation.
End.
As Israel faced Arab riots and endless rocket attacks from Gaza this week, progressive Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-The Bronx) voiced his commitment to the Jewish state’s safety and sovereignty at a Zoom event sponsored by the UJA — triggering a harsh backlash for doing so. His comments appear below.
“Israel is under siege not only from relentless rocket fire at the hands of Hamas but also from an endless propaganda war that has taken on a new intensity here in the United States and elsewhere.
I am here to affirm that, as a member of Congress — one who intends to be here for a long time — I have an unwavering commitment to both the sovereignty and security of Israel as a Jewish state.
With sovereignty and security comes the inherent right of self-defense, a right that every state, including our own, takes for granted. Why should Israel be an exception to the rule? Why should Israel be held to a deadly double standard in a moment of terror?
It is unreasonable to expect a nation state to be the passive target of hundreds of rockets and then forfeit the right to defend itself amid a constant stream of terror. No right-minded person would impose that kind of self-destructive burden on any other country.
What is under siege is not only Israel. What is under siege is the truth itself. Circulating on social media is a vicious lie — a lie that deceptively reframes the terrorism of Hamas as self-defense and deceptively reframes the self-defense of Israel as terrorism. Increasingly, we seem to live in an Orwellian universe where the truth no longer matters.
Israeli soldier killed by Hamas in Gaza attacks mourned by hundreds at funeral
Now is not the time to be silent. All of us, especially those holding elected office, have to be visible and vocal — fearless and forceful — in standing up for our greatest friend in the Middle East.
Support for Israel, especially in moments like these, is not for the faint-hearted. The moment I sent out a statement denouncing the terrorism of Hamas, I was swiftly demonized by extremists as a white supremacist, as a supporter of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide. Although these comments cause great pain to my loved ones, I remain as determined as ever to speak out. And if I can speak out, then anyone can. And everyone must.
We cannot allow ourselves to be silenced by an overbearing Twitter mob, dominated by the extremes of American politics. If we, in elected office, are not willing to say and do what is right, then we are unworthy of the office we hold.
I am here to state, in clearest possible terms, that I stand with Israel, because doing so, quite simply, is the right thing to do.”
Sky News host Rowan Dean says everything people need to know about the history and future of the current conflict in Gaza and Israel can be condensed into a single photo.
The conflict in the Middle East has continued to broaden with violent clashes between Palestinians and Israelis spreading across the West Bank.
“On the right-hand side of the photo, you can see the deadly rockets being fired out of Gaza in an aggressive and deliberately offensive act of war, designed to kill and maim as many innocent everyday Israeli citizens as possible,” Mr Dean said.
“On the left-hand side of the photo, looking like something out of Star Wars or Close Encounters, you see the Iron Dome, a technological miracle that allows Israel to shoot those Iranian and Hamas rockets out of the sky in a purely defensive act designed to save citizens’ lives.
“That is the story of the Gaza conflict and the history of Israel and Palestine. Pretty much everything else you will hear is obfuscation, distortion and lies, laced with the insidious moral relativism of the left.”
Mr Dean said the rockets were supplied by Iran and funded in part by the Obama-Biden administration.
“The story of the last 70 years of Israel is summed up in this one photo – a small technologically advanced democracy constantly having to defend itself from vicious assault sponsored by the Arab regimes and Islamist fanatics that surround it encouraged and funded by globalist bodies.”
The Green Party motion asking MPs to recognise Palestine as a state has failed in the House, with National and ACT MPs objecting to the effort.
Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman on Wednesday afternoon sought leave of the House to debate a motion asking MPs to recognise “the state of Palestine among our community of nations”.
New Zealand does not recognise Palestine as a state but supports a two-state solution to the conflict, which would mean the creation of a Palestinian state.
National Party foreign affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee told Stuff on Wednesday morning that, while the party supported a two-state solution, it would not support the motion.
“We have followed that two-state concept since it was first proposed in 1993 and there have been many attempts to get it together but it has not yet been achieved, and I think to leap ahead of the negotiations by recognising Palestine as a state is pretty much an act of bad faith,” Brownlee said.
NZFOI: This thought provoking letter to the Editor was published in today’s Dominion Post
Words affect our understanding of the world. Language can be poetic, describe fiction and fine reality. As a Jewish New Zealander, the language being used in New Zealand media surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is concerning.
Words such as coloniser and ethnic cleansing are being used to create an image of Israel as an out-of-control superpower, imposing its will on and seeking to annihilate its Palestinian neighbours.
Change the words, however, to homecoming and self defence, and you see a picture of Israel as a land which has seen the return of its people taken away as slaves 2000 years ago, compelled to act when attacked.
Currently, New Zealand media we see David and glass story. But what if we changed the paradigms to 1 of the feuding family, where descendants of the shed ancestor or tupuna (in this case the biblical forefather Abraham) both have manua whenua or valid claims to the land. Palestinians and Jews have overlapping interests in the Holy Land.
Jewish tino rangatiratanga in Israel, formalised in 1948, need not come at the expense of Palestinian tino rangatiratanga. The rallies this past weekend around New Zealand call for a one-sided condemnation of the violence.
Rather, Kiwis should call for co-existence and a two-state solution to be born through negotiation, not through blood.
Dr Michelle Gezentsvey Lamy, Wallaceville.
NZFOI: Most NZ media mention the Sheik Jarrah property dispute as “the Sheik Jarrah evictions” as if they had come out of nowhere and implying they were just an Israeli abuse of power and a demonstration of all that is unjust about Zionism. In fact it is the subject of a long running legal dispute that has been through several layers of the legal system over nearly forty years. Here is a background article to help put some perspective on those who have open and enquiring minds.
(May 10, 2021 / The International Legal Forum) The case of Sheikh Jarrah is a complex and long-running legal matter, subject to competing property claims by Jewish owners and Palestinian tenants over a small area of land in Jerusalem. The affair also incorporates the area’s religious significance and spans a history dating back to the pre-1948 British mandate era. The case has been subject to legal proceedings since 1972 and is currently before Israel’s Supreme Court, where a final decision is expected in the next month.
This particular case has garnered unprecedented attention in the wake of the recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing Israel of engaging in “apartheid” practices, the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation of alleged Israeli war crimes and a concerted campaign by the pro-Palestinian BDS and NGO network, as well as the Palestinian leadership, to exacerbate and inflame the currently tense situation in and around Jerusalem.
Where is Sheikh Jarrah?
Sheikh Jarrah is a predominantly, though not exclusively, Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem, located about a mile and a half from the Old City.Subscribe to The JNS Daily Syndicate
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What is the historical significance of the area?
Jews refer to the area as “Shimon Hatzadik,” “Simeon the Just,” a revered third-century BCE Jewish High Priest whose tomb is located there. The neighborhood is often visited by Jewish pilgrims.
Palestinians claim the area derives its name from Sheikh Jarrah, a physician to Saladin, the Islamic military leader who fought the Crusaders in the 12th century. His body is believed to be buried there.
What is the claim against Israel?
The pro-Palestinian community is claiming that Israel is unjustly evicting four Palestinian families from their homes in the neighborhood and that this exemplifies accusations against Israel in the context of the broader conflict with the Palestinians.
In response, the owners of the property (a private Israeli NGO, Nahalat Shimon), claim they have the legal title to the property in question and that, in the absence of rent being paid by the tenants, the tenants ought to be evicted for breaching the law.
What is the chronology?
Sheikh Jarrah is an Arab neighborhood that developed outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem in the 19th century.
According to Israel’s Supreme Court, the land in question was purchased by the local Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities from its Arab owners in 1875, primarily because of the area’s religious significance in housing the tomb of “Simeon the Just.” The property was registered in the Ottoman land registry as a trust under the name of rabbis Avraham Ashkenazi and Meir Auerbach.
A small Jewish community lived there peacefully in co-existence with the local Arab community until 1948, when the War of Independence broke out.
The Jewish owners had tried to register ownership of the property with the authorities of the British Mandate in 1946.
When the War of Independence broke out in 1948, the Old City of Jerusalem and its surrounding area, including Sheikh Jarrah, was captured by Transjordan (now Jordan) and the Jewish families were forcibly evicted. Custodianship of the property was transferred to the Jordanian Custodian of Enemy Properties. In 1956, the Jordanian government leased the property to 28 families of Palestinian “refugees,” while maintaining ownership of the property.
After the Six-Day War in 1967, when Israel regained control of Jerusalem, it passed a law allowing Jews whose families were evicted by Jordanian or British authorities in the city prior to 1967 to reclaim their property, provided they could demonstrate proof of ownership and the existing residents were unable to provide such proof of purchase or legal transfer of title.
In 1973, ownership of the property was registered by Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesset Israel Committee with Israeli authorities pursuant to the above law.
Subsequently, in 2003, the owners sold the property to “Nahalat Shimon,” an Israeli NGO that seeks to reclaim property for Jews evicted or forced to flee as a result of the 1948 War of Independence.
Beginning of legal proceedings
In 1982, the Jewish owners (Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesset Israel Committee) sued the Palestinian families residing in Sheikh Jarrah and demanded their eviction on the basis that they were squatters on the property. The Magistrate Court determined that the Palestinian families could not demonstrate their ownership of the property, but that they enjoyed Protected Tenant Status. As protected tenants, they would be able to continue living on the property as long as they paid rent and maintained the property. This arrangement was agreed upon mutually in an agreement signed by the parties, in which the tenants recognized the trusts’ ownership in exchange for protected tenant status.
Beginning in 1993, the trusts began proceedings against the residents based on their non-payment of rent and of illegal changes to the property.
In 1997, Suliman Darwish Hijazi, a Palestinian man, attempted to challenge the trusts’ ownership of the property, based on a kushan (Ottoman title) that he allegedly purchased from a Jordanian man, al-Bandeq, in 1961. The court ruled that Hijazi failed to demonstrate that the kushan refers to the claimed property in Shimon HaTzadik, and that forensic evidence raised the likelihood that the kushan had been altered or forged. Furthermore, Hijazi failed to prove that al-Bandeq had ever owned the property and thus had the right to sell it.
Finally, Hijazi had never acted to protect his property rights, both during the Jordanian and Israeli periods, by registering it, charging rent, or paying property tax.
Prior court rulings
Key points:
• The residents are protected tenants and must pay rent to the property’s owners.
• The residents never paid rent and carried out illegal construction on the property. The court previously ordered the residents to pay the outstanding rent and to immediately evacuate the illegally constructed additions.
• The court rejected claims that the Jordanian government had committed to transferring ownership to the residents and that this commitment never came to fruition due to the outbreak of the Six-Day War. The only document ever provided as evidence was a copy of an unsigned standard Jordanian Department of Housing form, that did not contain any agreement regarding the transfer of rights.
• The court rejected claims that a resident purchased ownership rights from a man named Ismail. The claimant could not demonstrate that Ismail had been the property’s owner, that he had purchased the property from him or that the claimant had ever been a protected tenant at the time of the alleged sale.
The current state of legal proceedings
Following the judgment of the Jerusalem District Court in February 2021, upholding an earlier court decision that, in the absence of payment of rent, the Palestinian residents must vacate the premises, the tenants appealed to the Supreme Court, with a final verdict expected in the next month.
Arsen Ostrovsky is chairman and CEO of the International Legal Forum, an Israel-based legal network of more than 3,500 lawyers and activists in 30 different countries committed to the fight against anti-Semitism, terror and the delegitimization of Israel in the international legal arena.
Folks,
Please find attached their latest press release on the current violence in Israel:
UPDATED PRESS RELEASE AND FACTSHEET – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 14 May 2021
In Light of the Continued Wave of Terrorism from Gaza
Israel is protecting its citizens from a wave of terrorism instigated by Hamas. Israel has taken steps to restrain and de-escalate the situation for a number of weeks. These steps have been answered by a wave of rockets and acts of terrorism from the Gaza Strip.
Israel is currently experiencing a large-scale wave of terrorism that is being directed entirely at civilian population centers throughout the country. No country would tolerate such extreme levels of terrorism and aggression.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations are committing double war crimes. Hamas is indiscriminately launching rockets at civilian population centers and is launching them from within civilian population centers. Every rocket that is launched at Israel is an act of terrorism and a war crime. Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations have carried out over 1,500 war crimes in the past three days.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations have situated their terrorist infrastructures (launch bases, weapons arsenals, manufacturing sites, headquarters) in the heart of the civilian population, including within multi-story buildings. In doing so, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations have turned the civilian population of Gaza into a human shield. Between 20-30 percent of the rockets launched by Hamas and the terrorist organisations fall in the territory of the Gaza Strip. Indications suggest that at least nine Palestinian children were killed by these rocket landings.
The IDF is only acting against terrorist targets in Gaza that are directly connected to the rocket fire on Israel’s cities and civilians. Israel is acting against the terrorist attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations in a measured and accurate manner and on the basis of unequivocal intelligence information, adhering to the principles of international law.
Strengthening of Hamas is a mistake. The strengthening of Hamas is destructive to the effort to achieve regional stability. Hamas instigated the escalation in the current situation in an attempt to seize control of the Palestinian agenda and to weaken and replace the Palestinian Authority. Hamas’ strength in the face of the
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Palestinian Authority opposes Palestinian interests, harms Palestinian society and is not in the international community’s interests, and certainly harms the State of Israel’s interests and security. Hamas is exploiting the heightened religious and nationalist sentiments surrounding the holy days in Jerusalem in order to encourage terrorism and violence. Unequivocally condemning these acts of terrorism and supporting Israel’s steps to protect its citizens will help to prevent this radical terrorist organisation from being further emboldened at the expense of pragmatic and moderate actors.
The internal tension in Israel arising from the current situation is indeed worrisome. The State of Israel is a law-abiding country and the police will maintain law and order throughout the country. These are difficult days of polarisation and violence within Israeli society. The President, Prime Minister, and other public leaders have condemned the violence on all sides and have called for de-escalation. The Prime Minister called on the country’s citizens to unite in order to reinstate governance, neutralize the anarchy, and preserve and restore the security and calm that we all deserve.
It is important to note that Sheikh Jarrah is not the story. Hamas is attacking Israel for its self-declared goal of eliminating Israel. Hamas has exploited the tensions surrounding the Sheikh Jarrah legal matter and turned it into a nationalist and religious issue in order to bring about an escalation, violence, and terrorism. Whoever links Hamas’ terrorist attacks and hundreds of rocket launches against the civilian population in Israel to the issue of Sheikh Jarrah is playing into the hands of the terrorist organization and granting legitimacy to terrorist activities. We condemn these acts of terrorism in the strongest terms and hope to return to our lives of coexistence and peace soon.
End.
NZFOI: No surprises here.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday postponed planned elections amid a dispute over voting in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem and divisions in his Fatah party.
Abbas, 85, issued a presidential decree postponing the May 22 parliamentary and July 31 presidential elections, the official news agency WAFA said.
He blamed Israel for uncertainty about whether it would allow the elections to proceed in East Jerusalem as well as in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
But many Palestinians regarded the Jerusalem issue as an excuse to avoid elections that Fatah might well lose to its Islamist rivals Hamas, as it did in the last parliamentary ballot in 2006.
The delay drew immediate criticism from opponents and from would-be voters – no Palestinian under 34 has taken part in national elections.
It also came on the day that campaigning was due to begin – preparations were already well under way, with thousands of new voters and three dozen party lists registered.
“As a young Palestinian citizen, I call for conducting elections, and I want my right to elect so I would see new faces, young faces, and see new political stances,” said Wael Deys, from Hebron.
