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.
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
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.
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.”
85-year-old Israeli hostage told Hamas chief he should be ‘ashamed of himself’
Inspiring stuff and ICYMI: An 85-year-old Israeli peace activist, who was abducted by Hamas and released in October, said she told Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar he should be “ashamed of himself” in a Gaza tunnel.
Prior to the current series of hostage and Palestinian prisoner releases, Yocheved Lifshitz met Sinwar where she was being held captive – a Hamas tunnel she described as an extensive warren.
The Economist Misleads With Flawed A-Z on the Arab-Israeli Conflict
For many, the Economist is a respected publication that gives insightful and easy to read reports of world events.
So its disappointing to see that the good people at Honest Reporting have found so many flaws in the Economist’s background briefing on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“In what needed to be a well-researched piece, The Economist recently provided its readers with an A-Z glossary on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Unfortunately, it is rife with inaccuracies, omissions, and flat-out mistakes that mislead rather than inform.”
Israel Toolkit: A quick briefing for the beginner
Hi Friends and supporters
The Gaza-Israel conflict has touched a nerve in NZ society in a way that other conflicts in the world haven’t.
Here is a toolkit resource that gives you a handy easy to read resource that briefs you on the regional history, and the talking points in this Gaza-Israel conflict.
Don’t let your well-meaning people in your circle get taken in by Hamas’ propaganda machine!
NZFOI responds to NZ Psychological Society
This afternoon we received this outrageous letter from the NZ Psychological Society.
Here is our response sent this afternoon.
To the Executive of the New Zealand Psychological Society
One of your members has sent us your open letter to the international community of Psychological Societies regarding Gaza.
We applaud your efforts to protect the civilians of Gaza from harm.
On the other hand, we deplore the absence in your letter of any condemnation of the atrocities carried out on October 7.
The absence of such condemnation leaves you wide open to the accusation that you find rape, summary executions of whole families in their homes, the beheading of babies, immolation of captives, gouging out of eyes, executing people at bus stops, and sitting in their cars, the abduction of civilians, children, babies, and the elderly, justifiable.
These are crimes against Israel, they are crimes against all Jews, and they are crimes against all humanity. They are therefore crimes against us, New Zealanders. This is evil.
The people of Gaza elected Hamas as their government.
With such power, Hamas has great responsibility.
On October 7, Hamas committed a series of atrocities on such scale that no right-thinking nation could ignore.
In so doing, Hamas has taken their people into war.
No government who carries out such an act of war can expect that there will not be any consequences for its citizens.
But Hamas’ ideology values martyrdom more than the lives of their people.
And therefore they have no regret in using their people as human shields.
Consequently they fight their war from residential apartment buildings, schools, hospitals and even designated safe zones.
This war is not a war of vengeance, it is not a war of evening up the score, it is not just about defending Israel, it is about making Israel’s people safe.
October 7, has shown the world that Hamas is prepared to throw aside its humanity in the furtherance of its cause. Their evil is revealed.
Any idea of coexistence, of living with Jews in peace and harmony, is far from Hamas’ mind.
History shows that unless evil is confronted then many more will die.
Although we sympathise with your goal of trying to protect the non-combatants in Gaza, we are deeply disappointed that your letter leaves you wide open to the accusation that you condone the October 7 atrocities as justifiable actions to further a political cause.
In doing so, you contribute rather than mitigate a tragedy.
There is also a war for the world’s heart and mind. For our hearts and minds.
Do not be taken in by the emotional messages currently before the media.
The number of casualties that was supposed to have died outside a hospital began with 500 and since then the number has steadily dropped.
There is much value in independent investigations after the conflict is over.
From past conflicts, Western news agencies have attested to Hamas’ misinformation campaigns.
You and your members are scientists, and if you as a society feel strongly enough to weigh into this conflict, then we urge you to examine this conflict and its history and the respective claims of both sides with the same forensic care you take in your professional life.
If you do, you may find that talk of apartheid practices, invasions, indigenous peoples, and colonization is not as simple as some would have you think.
We urge you to re-write your letter with these thoughts in mind.
Regards, etc.
NZFOI ADDRESS TO RALLY ON OCT 29, 2023
FOLKS
I’M TONY KAN,
PRESIDENT OF THE NEW ZEALAND FRIENDS OF ISRAEL
TO THE ORGANIZERS OF THE MARCH
TO THE OTHER MEMBERS OF NEW ZEALAND FRIENDS OF ISRAEL
TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE SACRIFICED THEIR TIME TO BE HERE
WELCOME
I HAVE SAID THIS BEFORE AND WILL SAY IT AGAIN:
FOR DECADES NEW ZEALANDERS HAVE HOSTED ISRAEL TRAVELLERS
TRAVELLED THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST OURSELVES
SERVED AS PEACEKEEPERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
WE HAVE EATEN WITH ISRAELIS
LAUGHED WITH ISRAELIS
ARGUED WITH ISRAELIS
CELEBRATED WITH ISRAELIS
EVEN MARRIED ISRAELIS
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ISRAEL
IS A CRIME AGAINST ISRAEL
IS A CRIME AGAINST JEWS
IS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
AND IT HAS BROKEN OUR HEARTS
NO MATTER WHAT DIFFERENCES ONE MAY HAVE ON A POLITICAL ISSUE
IT IS EVIL TO INVADE SOMEONE’S HOME
TO COLDLY SHOOT PEOPLE IN THEIR BEDS
TO COLDLY MAKE THEM KNEEL ON THE GROUND AND EXECUTE THEM
TO COLDLY KILL PREGNANT WOMEN BEFORE THEIR PARTNERS AND CHILDREN
TO COLDLY BEHEAD BABIES
NO MATTER WHAT YOUR CAUSE MIGHT BE
NO MATTER HOW RIGHT YOU THINK YOU ARE
THIS IS EVIL
THIS IS EVIL AND IT MUST BE CONFRONTED
ISRAEL’S MILITARY OPERATIONS TODAY
ARE NOT ABOUT VENGEANCE
ARE NOT ABOUT EVENING THE SCORE
IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT DEFENDING ONE’S COUNTRY
IT IS ABOUT ENSURING THE SAFETY OF THE ISRAELI PEOPLE
THE TRAGEDY IS THAT THE PEOPLE OF GAZA
ELECTED HAMAS TO BE THEIR LEADERS
AND WITH SUCH POWER COMES MUCH RESPONSIBILITY
AND HAMAS HAS CHOSEN TO ORGANIZE AN ATTACK
ON A SCALE THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED
THAT CONSTITUTES AN ACT OF WAR
AND IN SO DOING
THEY HAVE BROUGHT WAR UPON THEIR PEOPLE
BECAUSE ISRAEL MUST ACT BOLDLY AND COURAGEOUSLY
TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF HER PEOPLE
PEOPLE
THAT WE KNOW AS FRIENDS
AND THEIR RELATIVES
GRANDPARENTS
UNCLES
AUNTIES
COUSINS
FATHERS
MOTHERS
BROTHERS
AND SISTERS;
BOYFRIENDS
GIRLFRENDS
THE TRAGEDY IS THAT IN SO DOING
MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE HAVE DIED
AND EVEN MORE WILL DIE
BUT THIS WAR WILL BE NO DIFFERENT THAN OTHER PREVIOUS CONFLICTS
THERE WILL BE A FIGHT FOR THE WORLD’S HEARTS AND MINDS
FOR OUR HEARTS AND MINDS
HAMAS OWES ITS EXISTENCE TO FOREIGN AID
THEY HAVE WATCHED THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR JEOPARDIZE EUROPEAN AID
THEY HAVE WATCHED THEIR ARAB ALLIES RECOGNIZE
THAT ISRAEL BRINGS TECHNOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS
TO THE REGION
AND SEVERAL ARAB COUNTRIES HAVE CHOSEN TO RECOGNIZE ISRAEL
AND A BRISK TRADE HAS BEGUN
NOW THEY HAVE CALLOUSLY STARTED THIS CONFLICT TO
RE-IGNITE THE FLAME OF SUPPORT
TO REINVIGORATE THEIR GRIEVANCE INDUSTRY
BY ENSURING THAT INNOCENTS
WOMAN,
CHILDREN AND
THE ELDERLY
ARE PUT IN HARMS WAY
UNLIKE OTHER WARRING NATIONS
ISRAEL WILL NOT INDISCRIMINANTLY BOMB CIVILIANS
THEY WILL USE ALL THEIR INTELLIGENCE RESOURCES
TO IDENTIFY HAMAS’ OPERATIONAL CENTERS
AND MUNITIONS STORAGE SITES
CARPET BOMBING IS NOT ON THE TABLE
BUT THEY HAVE AN ENEMY
WHO VALUES DEATH BECAUSE
THEY HAVELUE MARTYRDOM MORE THAN LIFE
AND SO THEY ARE WILLING TO PUT THEIR CIVILIANS AT RISK
BY FIGHTING THEIR WAR FROM HOSPITALS
BY FIGHTING THEIR WAR FROM SCHOOLS
BY FIGHTING THEIR WAR FROM RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
BY FIGHTING THEIR WAR FROM BEHIND THEIR WOMEN, CHILDREN AND CIVILIANS
BY FIGHTING THEIR WAR FROM UN FACILITIES
AND EVEN BY FIGHTING THEIR WAR FROM SAFETY ZONES
IN 1938 THE BRITISH OFFERED THE ARABS STATEHOOD
ALONGSIDE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE
THE ARABS REJECTED IT THEN
IN 1948, THE UN RECOGNIZED THAT THERE WERE TWO ETHNIC GROUPS
THAT HAD A DEEP HERITAGE IN THE REGION
WHICH WAS ONCE PART OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE
THEY VOTED TO CREATE TWO NATIONS
THEY MIGHT LIVE SIDE BY SIDE AT PEACE WITH ONE ANOTHER
THE ARABS REJECTED THE OFFER OF NATIONHOOD THEN TOO
IN 2000
STATEHOOD WAS AGAIN OFFERED TO THE ARABS
AND THIS TOO WAS REJECTED
EVEN THOUGH 90% OF THE ARABS’ DEMANDS WERE MET IN THE OFFER
IN FACT THE ARABS WOULD REJECT OFFERS OF STATEHOOD TWICE MORE
EACH TIME THE DEAL WAS SWEETENED WITH EVEN MORE CONCESSIONS
IN THE TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
THE ARABS HAVE REJECTED STATEHOOD A TOTAL OF FIVE TIMES
THE ONLY GOAL THEY SEEK
IS THE COMPLETE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL
YOU WILL HEAR
ACCUSATIONS OF JEWISH COLONIZATION
ACCUSATIONS OF DISPLACED INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
AS IF THERE IS ONLY ONE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
BUT HISTORY TELLS US THAT FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS
BOTH JEWS AND ARABS
HAVE LIVED IN THE REGION
SO WE IN THE WEST MUST TAKE ONE OF THE KEY STRENGTHS THAT WE BRING TO CIVILIZATION
AND THAT IS THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
AND CAREFULLY SIFT THROUGH THE INFORMATION WE RECEIVE THROUGH THE MEDIA
AND WEIGH THE EVIDENCE
BEFORE WE JUMP TO ANY CONCLUSION
THE TRUTH WILL NOT EASILY COME TO YOU
WHEN EVIL WILL SEEK TO MISINFORM
WAIT FOR INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS AFTER THE CONFLICT BEFORE JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
YOU WILL HEAR HOW GAZA IS ONE OF THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED AREAS OF THE WORLD
IMPLYING THIS IS THE SOURCE OF THEIR POVERTY
BUT IF YOU RESEARCH IT
FOR EVERY GAZA THERE IS A SINGAPORE
FOR EVERY DELHI THERE IS A TOKYO
FOR EVERY JAKARTA THERE IS AN AMSTERDAM
DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR
THE SOURCE OF THEIR POVERTY IS THEIR GOAL OF WAGING WAR OVER BUILDING A NATION
FINALLY OVER 200 HOSTAGES WAIT TO BE RETURNED
AND WE ARE EXTREMELY FEARFUL FOR THEIR SAFETY
BECAUSE WE KNOW IN TRYING TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THE MAJORITY
ISRAEL IS PUT IN THE IMPOSSIBLE DILEMMA OF JEOPARDIZING THE SAFETY OF THE HOSTAGES
THANK YOU FOR COMING OUT TO SUPPORT ISRAEL TODAY
IN DOING SO, YOU SUPPORT
THE RIGHT OF AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TO BE SAFE IN THEIR HOMELAND
YOU SUPPORT THE IDEAL THAT HUMANITY SHOULD NOT SETTLE THEIR DIFFERENCES THROUGH VIOLENCE
THAT IF WAR IS INEVITABLE THAT HARM TO WOMEN, CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY SHOULD BE MINIMIZED.
YOU SUPPORT TRUTH OVER MISINFORMATION
THAT YOU SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT GOOD PEOPLE SHOULD NOT STAND ASIDE LEAVING EVIL TO TRIUMPH
THANK YOU
