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We Shall Dance Again — A Review

We Shall Dance Again – A Review

Director:            Yariv Mozer
Screened:          DocEdge Festival, Christchurch
Date:                 June 25, 2024.

We Will Dance Again takes you right there into the Nova Festival.  The festival-goers could be your friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter.  It is visceral, it is raw and heart-rending.  Already, there are those who wish to deny that it happened at all.  For this reason, for those who can steel themselves, it is a must-see.

I approached this documentary with trepidation.  I had already seen footage and imagery that had been captured from the Nova Festival, including much of what had been recorded by Hamas’ attackers on the day.

What this documentary brings is the very personal, raw, and visceral experience of the festival goers. 

We are taken into the lives of several festival goers, we learn of their friendships, their loves, how they came to hear of the festival, how some had not told their parents as the festival began on a Shabbat. 

Upon arriving, one or two noted that they could see the Gaza security fence which unsettled them a little, but quickly put these concerns aside as they either put their faith in the organizers’ threat assessments or hadn’t heard or could recall any breaches of the fence in a long while.

Much has been made of the intelligence available to the authorities that a potential attack was coming.  Rehearsals had been observed for many months.  But the idea of an attack on this scale just seemed a fantasy. 

The producers of Fauda, a popular counter-terrorism drama, even considered an attack like this as a potential scenario for an upcoming season but quickly discarded it for being implausible.

It’s easy to be critical and smug in hindsight.

The first warning of trouble comes when the first rockets are launched at dawn.  Even though, we know what will happen, we agonize with the festival-goers as they try to understand what is going on. 

Just like in the Christchurch Earthquake when everyone was asked to go home rather than stay at school or work, traffic congestion quickly blocked the exit routes off-site. 

Many sat around while they waited for the traffic jam to clear. 

Meanwhile, those who thought they were fortunate to be the first to drive away and avoid the traffic jam back at the festival site, started encountering terrorists both from the north and the south of north-south running highway.  There was now no way to drive out without encountering terrorists.

Terrorists start arriving on the festival site and the sound of automatic gunfire is the first sign that evil had arrived.  And it became clear that they were in deadly danger.

Many began recording on their phones, as if realizing that they may not survive this and wanted to leave something behind.

We are taken inside the migunit or rocket shelters packed with festival-goers.   At first, an Arab farm worker, also sheltering from the rockets, goes out to talk the terrorists around, he is brutally beaten and executed. The festival goers are forced to throw out grenades thrown into the shelter by the terrorists. Horror, there is no where to go!

We are running alongside them as they flee through trees, and shrubbery only to find that they are now faced with vast open spaces where there is no cover, yet the terrorists can be heard pursuing them from behind. Run!

We sense their loss as friends fall beside them as they run, but there is no time to stop and provide assistance.  Run!

We hear a young man, who has taken a woman under his protection and though she feels she cannot run anymore, she stumbles, he supports her, he speaks words of strength and encouragement.  Run!

We follow a mother and her child who have hidden themselves inside a freezer cabinet within one of the food stalls.  She can hear the killing go on around her. Be quiet!  But there is only so much air in the freezer…

Others who have not run far, decide to hide in a rubbish skip.  Unfortunately they are discovered and the terrorists open fire.  She hears her partner struggle to breath, she is hit herself.  She knows she cannot call out. Be quiet!

Some hide under shrubs, bushes, and ditches.  Their calls to emergency services are met with incredulity, their stress makes it hard for them to give the details needed for first responders to locate them.

There is a scene that etches deeply in my mind.  Two girls run as a terrorist pursues them on the road.  They turn the corner but the terrorist catches up with them and one girl falls as she is shot from behind.  The other girl can run no more, is made to kneel and she is executed by the terrorist standing in front of her.  He sharply turns around to find more to kill.

The scene evokes an image of an Eisantzgruppen killer standing in front of a woman, taking aim with his Mauser rifle at a Jewish woman standing before him at point-blank range.  Ugh. 

Hours later emergency responders and security forces reached the festival site and the survivors began to emerge, to discover the enormity and horror of what had happened. 

There is a profound scene where a survivor who was in the rubbish skip, shares about the loss of her partner, though despite her best efforts to maintain her composure tears begin flowing down her cheeks, and then we are shocked as the camera pans out to reveal she is in a wheelchair, unable to walk.

This was the world premier for this documentary, it is an Oscar-qualified film festival and if the documentary wins a prize, it is eligible for consideration for the Academy Awards. 

Because it is the world premiere, we were privileged to meet Yariv Mozer, the award-winning filmmaker who made himself available for questions and answers after each screening.

Mozer is an Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and film director.  He teaches at the Steve Tisch Film School at Tel Aviv University.  He is best known for his documentaries, Ben-Gurion, Epilogue; The Devil’s Confession:  The Lost Eichmann Tapes. 

Mozer approached MGM Television almost the day after and they quickly agreed to support the project.

Other partners soon joined the project including the BBC, SIPUR, Bitachon 365, and Hot Channel 8. 

There had been two documentaries already completed in the eight months about the Nova Festival following October 7, so Mozer chose to take a more personal approach.

However, the project was fraught with difficulty.  The IDF refused to cooperate as some of the information was militarily sensitive.  The footage was also material evidence required for an ongoing criminal investigation and may be required for a future indictment.

Understandably survivors were also suffering from PTSD, and many, understandably, were yet unable to talk about their experiences.  For this reason, Mozer says, there will be many more stories to come out over the next months, if not years.

Professional psychiatric and psychological support had to be provided before, during and after filming.

Various members of the team had to record, examine and select material for the documentary.  These experiences were in themselves traumatizing and all also required professional psychiatric and psychological support.

New material was constantly surfacing, and this had to be reviewed too.

The documentary hardly touches on the sexual assault aspect of the attack.  Though the evidence was there, it was deemed too insensitive to explicitly show. 

The title We Will Dance Again is inspired by Mia Schem’s tattoo, and suggests that there would be a stronger message of hope but the documentary focuses exclusively on the events of October 7, at one of the partners’ request. 

This documentary, is raw, visceral and intense.  Yet it is paced well, and the story it tells is well organized.

As a young New Zealander, going to Gallipoli was a deeply sobering experience.  Visiting Dachau and Auschwitz was even more sobering and unforgettable.  We Will Dance Again took me to a deeper level again, because it takes you right there into the Nova Festival.  You will come to connect with the people sharing their stories.  They could be your friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter.  It is so real, and your heart should bleed.  The festival goers are not just statistics.  Already, there are those who wish to deny that it happened at all.  For this reason, for those who can steel themselves, it is a must-see.

The documentary will be aired in the UK by the BBC, Hot Channel 8 in Israel and in North America on Paramount+.

DocEdge because of public demand, they have added an extra screening at the Lumiere Cinema in the Christchurch Arts Centre tomorrow on Friday, June 28 at 6pm. 

DocEdge will also be screening We Will Dance Again in Wellington and Auckland in July.

If you can’t make it to the screenings in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland, from July 15-31 you can view it online in the Virtual Cinema. 

Fri 28 Jun, 6 pm               Christchurch, Lumiere Cinemas.

Thu 11 Jul, 6pm               Wellington, The Roxy Cinema

Thu Jul 11, 6pm               Auckland, The Capitol Cinema

July 15-31                        Virtual Cinema, on-demand New Zealand

Tickets for all screenings and online viewing can be found here.

Tony Kan

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→ 12 May 2024
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Why did October 7 happen?

The Problem: Hamas’ waning support

Hamas has expressed a number of motives for planning and executing the October 7 massacre.

Revitalize Arab support for Hamas: For a number of years their Arab allies had been losing their patience with Palestinian intransigence after repeatedly rejecting offers of statehood multiple times, Over the years, Israel was becoming an economic force in the Middle East and Iran was expanding its regional influence, building a bridge of vassal states toward the Mediterranean. Improving relations with Israel would help these Arab states counter Iran’s influence and provide an opportunity for economic betterment through trade with Israel. The Abrahamic Accords gave tangible evidence that such talk had evolved into action.

Revitalize Western support for Hamas: The Russo-Ukrainian War had not only diverted the West’s attention but also diverted much of their appetite for financially supporting the Palestinians as the need to re-arm grew to meet the Russian threat.

Revitalize domestic support Hamas: Hamas like all authoritarian regimes maintains its control through intimidation and repression. Despite receiving considerable foreign aid, it diverts most of it to the prosecution of its winner-takes all, fight to the death war and into its leader’s private bank accounts. Hamas’ cruelty and deteriorating living standards meant growing public dissastisfaction.

The Solution: To start a war and survive.

To rebuild support it must win hearts and minds.

To win hearts and minds, it must build an effective propaganda campaign from a one-off attack on a scale that makes it impossible for Israel not to ignore it.

In developing an attack to solve these problems, Hamas does not need to win a conventional military victory. A conventional military victory is beyond its reach anyway.

All it needs to do is to survive to win.

Just in case the killings were not sufficient, Hamas instructed its people to record their acts and post them widely on social media.

The extensive 500-700 km of tunnels and its human shields tactic would ensure its survival.

Unlike Hamas’ attack which was over in a day or two, the tunnels would ensure Israel’s campaign would be comparatively long and arduous.

This dynamic leans into the nature of the news cycle where audiences have relatively short memories and great sympathy for underdogs and the downtrodden.

The wokes would then pick up the underdog story and amplify it.

The enduring nature of any Israeli campaign and the inevitable civilian casualties that urban warfare brings would produce more than enough nightly images of wounded, dying and dead children.

These nightly images would serve to spark, fuel and reinforce the horror and anger that Western audiences will inevitably feel over Israel’s perceived cruelty.

Teams of Hamas operatives were charged with taking photographs of wounded, dying and dead children and making them available to “accredited” Gazan photo-journalists contracted to mainstream media outlets such as CNN, BBC and Aljazeera.

Indeed, the greatest risk Hamas faced was the chance that not enough victims would be killed on October 7 to incite a war.

Hamas’ propaganda campaign looks to build the following key idea:

That Israel is callously killing civilians out of homicidal revenge on a scale that minimizes the October 7 attack.

Key ideas to support this base idea includes:

“Israel is fighting a war on children”

“Israel is callously victimizing innocent Gazan civilians through horrendous collateral damage and withholding humanitarian aid causing famine.”

“Israel has stolen our land.”

“All Jews are white settler colonialists.”

Thousands of Western citizens are being convinced that Hamas’ messaging is credible.

That credibility is built on public trust in Western media.

Unfortunately, Western mainstream media often do not inform their audiences that much of the information they present has not been independently verified and quote information supplied by the Gaza Ministry of Health without question.

So far (May 2024), Hamas’ propaganda campaign has been remarkably successful. Thousands have marched in support of Gaza’s “innocent” citizens, and in so doing fall into Hamas’ trap.

In so doing, they knowingly and unknowingly side with and enable perpetrators of tyranny, mutilation, rape, torture and massacres of innocent civilians to prolong their religious mission to destroy all Jews.

Bibliography

Hamas Says Goal of October 7 Attack on Israel Was to ‘Overthrow’ Status Quo (businessinsider.com)

The October 7th Catastrophe. Why Did It Happen? | Hillel Schenker | The Blogs (timesofisrael.com)

Memo to the ‘Experts’: Stop Comparing Israel’s War in Gaza to Anything. It Has No Precedent | Opinion (newsweek.com)

Gaza’s Underground: Hamas’s Entire Politico-Military Strategy Rests on Its Tunnels – Modern War Institute (westpoint.edu)

‘Hamas gambled with our lives’: Gazans dare to speak out – CSMonitor.com

Protests against Hamas reemerge in the streets of Gaza, but will they persist? | The Times of Israel

Proportionality Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means In Gaza (forbes.com)

How genocide is defined—and why it’s so difficult to prove (nationalgeographic.com)

How Hamas is winning the propaganda war against Israel (msn.com)

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→ 6 May 2024
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Conflicted Christians:  How to approach the Israeli-Gaza War 2023

Here we give some ideas on how to reconcile some of the issues that conflict Christians regarding the Israeli-Gaza War of 2023:

1. How do we reconcile scriptures that command us to “love our enemies” and “turn the other cheek” with ideas of justice, self defense and war?

In Romans 12 and 13 we have clues to the answer to this question:

In Romans 12 it says:

“Be patient in tribulation” Romans 12:12
“Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse you” Romans 12:13
“Repay no one evil for evil” Romans 12:17
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” Romans 12:18

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will hea burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

These exhortations are right and true at an individual level.

Paul then takes the conversation up to a whole new level when he discusses the role of our governing authorities in Romans 13:1-6:

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.”

In these verses, governing authorities bear “the sword” to:

• Protect the vulnerable;
• Punish wrongdoing; and
• Prevent further wrongdoing.

This framework can help you to make sense of Hamas and the Israeli government’s objectives and conduct in this war.

That is, how is Hamas or the Israeli government, protecting the vulnerable, punishing wrongdoing and preventing further wrongdoing?

2. From a biblical perspective, should we take sides?

There are a number of perspectives that can inform the Christian on this question.

We are to do justice: Micah 6:8 requires Christians to “do justice.”

Justice is rightly symbolized by a statue of a woman who is:

• Blindfolded: This is to show that justice is impartial. Christians should not take sides.

• Holds a set of scales: Good justice should be based on good evidence. But not all evidence is good and must be weighted or tested. In war, the first casualty is the truth. Thus we should not jump to conclusions. Information must be tested. Where has it come from? Is it verified?

• Holds a sword: Justice must punish wrongdoers and deter wrongdoers from further wrongdoing.

Christians are connected to Israel, and the future of Israel and Jews are tied up with the future of Christians: There are many Christians who connect Israel to Christianity from a eschatological (or prophetic) perspective. Inevitably these discussions take enquirers into realms of much speculation and conjecture. For this reason, we won’t go into this topic at all.

Paul says:

* Christians should call Abraham their father (Romans 4:16-17).

* Christians are fellow heirs of the Promises (Eph 3:6). And those promises relate directly to the Land of Israel (Gen 15:7).

* Christians are adopted into the family of God (Gal 4:4-7).

* The gifts given to Israel are irrevocable (Romans 11:26ff).

* The dividing wall between those with a Jewish heritage and non-Jewish heritage is broken down, united as one (Eph 2:13ff)

* Christians are in some way grafted in to the Jewish metaphorical tree (Romans 11:11ff).

Taken together, there is sufficient there to suggest that the future of those with a Jewish heritage, Israel and Christians are in some cosmic way tied together.

Though connected, Christians must still “do justice.”

3. OK, I get that we have to do justice, so but it seems unfair and tragic that over 35,000 Gazans have died when only 1,200 died on the Israeli side of the border on October 7?

First, we must weigh the evidence. The 35,000 figure is produced by the Gazan Ministry of Health. This organization is governed by Hamas who administer Gaza at the end of a deadly weapon. The figure doesn’t different differentiate between civilians and combatants, nor natural casualties such as death from old age, car accidents or cancer.

Secondly, we have already said that the Israeli government has a duty to protect the vulnerable, punish wrongdoing and prevent further wrongdoing. It’s the third leg that requires a war. Hamas has already promised that however long it takes, it is committed to carrying out more October 7-like attacks. The Israel government therefore has no choice but to eliminate Hamas otherwise other groups such as Islamic Jihad will be emboldened to copy these attacks too.

The UN has carried out research on urban warfare in recent history throughout the world. They found that for every combatant killed, about 9 civilians are killed too.

The IDF estimate they have killed over 10,000 Hamas combatants. If this and the 35,000 figure is to be believed, then the ratio in Gaza is about 1 to 3.5. A figure much lower than the UN’s historical finding of 1 to 9.

How is it so low? Because Israel is giving away the element of surprise and warning where it will attack in advance so that civilians can evacuate. But of course, this allows Hamas to evacuate too as civilians are no good as human shields if they are not nearby. Unfortunately, that also means that the war will be prolonged.

4. Is Israel targeting children?

War is hell. And civilians, especially in an urban battlefield, are tragically put in harm’s way.
In the first four months of the war it seemed like the majority of news items had a dead, dying or wounded children on display.

Yet there were three other major conflicts under way in the world, in the Ukraine, Myanmar and Yemen. There are children dying in those conflicts too, but they aren’t being covered in the same way.

The pictures and video footage are coming from Gazan photographers and videographers. Many of whom are affiliated or even controlled by Hamas.

Hamas knows that they cannot win a conventional military war, so this is a war to win hearts and minds after the Ukraine sucked the oxygen away from the Palestinian cause and Arab nations were tired of funding them when they were repeatedly rejecting offers of statehood.

Therefore, they are intentionally putting children in front of cameras to undermine support for Israel, promote the underdog story and reinforce their victimhood.

You are being played.

6. But why has Israel destroyed so many civilian structures, and fought in schools, hospitals and UN facilities?

The London Underground has some 160 km of tunnels. The NYC subway has 420 km of tunnels. Gaza is the size of Ashburton. Yet there are 500-700 km of tunnels dug under there. If there are so many tunnels, what percentage of civilian blocks have no tunnels? Very few. Putting tunnels and exit holes in residential buildings turns them into legitimate military targets.

Returning hostages and soldiers have said the tunnels are often some fifty feet deep or more. This is why Israel has used very large bombs to destroy them.

Under international laws of war, if a civilian structure is used for military purposes, it loses its immunity. Hamas believes it is acceptable to fight from residential apartments, and use schools, UN facilities and hospitals for weapons storage and operational command posts.

There are several interviews of captured Hamas operatives who have explained that they do so because Israel by and large, does not bomb schools, hospitals and UN facilities.

6. Has Israel committed genocide?

Nearly all independent commentators have examined this issue and decided that in the context of the October 7 attacks, and Hamas’ public statements that they intend to repeat them, then the measures Israel has taken to prevent further attacks, is justified and not an attempt to commit genocide.

Most people misinterpreted the International Court of Justice’s ruling earlier in the year. In fact, they said that its plausible for South Africa to have the right to bring a case, and that the Gazans had a plausible right to be protected from genocide.

They did not rule that the claim of genocide was plausible.

7. Are the Palestinians victims of colonisation?

At its heart, two tangata whenua cherish the same land. Both were offered statehood. One was willing to give coexistence a shot, and accepted. The other rejected the offer, and opted for a winner takes all, fight to the death. And there has been dying ever since.

Settler colonisation is about foreigners displacing tangata whenua from their homeland, not tangata whenua returning to their homeland.

The land was never stolen from them as the Arabs never had manu whenua over the Land. They gave up their opportunity for much of the land when they gambled on winning their winner takes all, fight to the death, and lost.

The Nakba is the basis for their victimhood, and it is a lie, a falsehood.

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→ 26 April 2024
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Talking to Family, Friends and Loved ones about the Middle East Conflict


The other day, a mother shared with me how her daughter was shocked to think that her parents sided with Israel amidst “the genocidal massacre of Palestinian children.” They have since agreed that this topic is off-limits. This mother talked about how much anxiety it caused her, know that there was this rift be-tween them. How can we talk to our family, friends and loved ones? Here’s a guide to ensure that your conversations will be constructive.

  1. Find out how much they know first. Listen. We’ve noticed that most pro-Palestinian advocates, actually don’t know the facts behind the conflict. For example, when they chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”, often they say the river is the Nile, or the Euphrates. The Sea is the Red Sea or even the Indian Ocean. From experience about two-thirds of people we encounter don’t know and they’ve just jumped on the bandwagon based on propaganda. Listen more talk less.
  2. Don’t get frustrated, angry, or upset.
    If you catch yourself getting grumpy, then you’re starting to try to win them to your way of seeing things. Don’t. They will probably feel threatened or pressured and the discussion will end with neither of you any wiser.
  3. Formulate your answer from what you find out.
    In the above example, if you have the opportunity, show them a simple map and point out the sea and the river, and ask what’s in between. Then you can ask if they intended that Israel should be done away with. 2/3rds say no. Let me rethink this.
  4. Look for common ground.
    When I was confronted by an angry young man, he was quite disarmed when I compli-mented him for his passion for justice. The conversation stopped being combative immediately.
  5. Don’t lecture.
    Keep your answers short. In this day and age, where everything comes in short articles, attention spans can be really short. Think about how to phrase what you want to say effectively and efficiently.
  6. Invite them to read widely and do their own investigations.
    None of this happened under a rock. Finding articles, and books should be easy. But reading widely means reading material that look at both sides of the controversy. Otherwise they are just in an echo chamber.
  7. Don’t try to convince them of your view. Don’t debate. Don’t try to win.
    Let the facts speak for themselves. There are plenty of them. Don’t raise your voice. Don’t make their conclusions for them. Let them make up their own minds.
  8. Be prepared: Read widely yourself
    So much of the pro-Palestinian movement relies on re-writing history and jumping to conclusions without the facts. Do the opposite. Read wisely. Reflect.
  9. Don’t wait until you know everything.
    You don’t have to know everything. Each conversation is an opportunity to learn from the other person. Listen to how they support their argument. If you don’t know about it, you can go and research it and circle back.
  10. Every time you have a conversation with someone, it is an opportunity to learn and refine your messaging.
    That’s right. Don’t wait until you know everything and/or your messaging is perfect. Learning by doing is an essential way to improve.
    —
    NZFOI. This article was first published in the March 2024 issue of our newsletter.
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→ 26 April 2024
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What is Antisemitism — R Lord Jonathan Sacks

Within living memory of the Holocaust, after which the world said it would never happen again, antisemitism has returned.

But what is antisemitism and why should its return be cause for grave concern, not only for Jews but for all of us?

Historically, antisemitism has been hard to define, because it expresses itself in such contradictory ways. Before the Holocaust, Jews were hated because they were poor and because they were rich; because they were communists and because they were capitalists; because they kept to themselves and because they infiltrated everywhere; because they clung to ancient religious beliefs and because they were rootless cosmopolitans who believed nothing.

So what is antisemitism? Let’s be clear – not liking people because they’re different isn’t antisemitism. It’s xenophobia. Criticising Israel isn’t antisemitism: it’s part of the democratic process, and Israel is a democracy.

Antisemitism is something much more dangerous – it means persecuting Jews and denying them the right to exist collectively as Jews with the same rights as everyone else.

It’s a prejudice that like a virus, has survived over time by mutating.

So in the Middle Ages, Jews were persecuted because of their religion. In the 19th and 20th centuries, they were reviled because of their race. Today, Jews are attacked because of the existence of their nation-state, Israel. Denying Israel’s right to exist is the new antisemitism.

And just as antisemitism has mutated, so has its legitimisation. Each time, as the persecution descended into barbarity, the persecutors reached for the highest form of justification available.

In the Middle Ages, it was religion. In post-Enlightenment Europe it was science: the so called scientific study of race. Today it is human rights.

Whenever you hear human rights invoked to deny Israel’s right to exist, you are hearing the new antisemitism.

So, why has it returned? There are many reasons but one root cause is the cognitive failure called scapegoating.

When bad things happen to a group, its members can ask one of two questions: “What did we do wrong?” or “Who did this to us?” The entire fate of the group will depend on which it chooses.

If it asks, “What did we do wrong?” it has begun the process of healing the harm. If instead it asks, “Who did this to us?” it has defined itself as a victim. It will then seek a scapegoat to blame for all its problems.

Classically this has been the Jews, because for a thousand years they were the most conspicuous non-Christian minority in Europe and today because Israel is the most conspicuous non-Muslim country in the Middle East.

The argument is always the same. We are innocent; therefore they are guilty. Therefore if we are to be free, they – the Jews or the state of Israel – must be destroyed. That is how the great evils begin.

Why then should we all care about this? After all, if we’re not Jewish, what has it got to do with us?

The answer is that antisemitism is about the inability of a group to make space for difference.

And because we are all different, the hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews.

It wasn’t Jews alone who suffered under Hitler. It wasn’t Jews alone who suffered under Stalin. It isn’t Jews alone who suffer under the radical Islamists and others who deny Israel’s right to exist.

Antisemitism is the world’s most reliable early warning sign of a major threat to freedom, humanity and the dignity of difference.

It matters to all of us. Which is why we must fight it together.

[NZFOI: And today in 2024, with the trending ideas around Settler Colonialism, Critical Race Theory and Neo-Marxism, the destruction of Israel is falsely justified with ideas that Jews are White Settler Colonialists who are Oppressing the Palestinians. The Palestinians lean into this thinking, portraying themselves as underdogs. They are adept at re-spinning the narrative into supporting their victimhood, while conveniently ignoring the amount of foreign aid, they have received, diverting most of it toward righting a winner takes all, fight to the death war, and graft.

It is often argued that anti-Israel and anti-Zionism is not Anti-Semitism and semantically this should be true. However, NZFOI has observed that whenever the level of conflict flairs up between Israel and the Palestinians, acts of Anti-Semitism also become much more prevalent throughout the rest of the world.]

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→ 26 April 2024
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What is Genocide — The Economist

On January 11th South Africa will bring a case before the UN’s International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza. Palestinians have accused Israel of the same crime, as have the country’s long-standing enemies, such as Iran. But it is a sign of the mounting outrage at Israel’s offensive in the territory that the allegation is being heard increasingly from other countries.

Protesters and commentators in the West use the term too. Craig Mokhiber, director of the New York office of the un High Commissioner for Human Rights, wrote on October 28th that “This is a text-book case of genocide.” Israel has both denied committing genocide and accused Hamas of the crime. Gilad Erdan, Israel’s permanent representative to the UN, said on October 26th that “This is not a war with the Palestinians. Israel is at war with the genocidal Hamas terrorist organisation.” The president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, calls the South African allegations “preposterous”. What exactly is genocide, and how, if at all, is the term applicable to the current conflict?

In December 1948, in the aftermath of the Second World War, the un adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The convention defines a genocide as acts intended “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Contrary to the common understanding of the term, the un says not only killing counts. “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction” does too, as does inflicting “serious bodily or mental harm”, “measures intended to prevent births”, and “forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”. Categorising atrocities as genocide has legal implications. The International Criminal Court is able to indict someone for the crime, for example.

Interpretations of the convention differ because it is so broadly framed. So which atrocities constitute genocide? The systematic murder of 6m Jews by the Nazis was genocide. The organised butchery of perhaps 500,000 ethnic Tutsis by Hutu militias in Rwanda in 1994 was too. In both cases the intent, to destroy a people, was clear. Yet the case of Darfur, in Sudan, where about 300,000 people died in the years after fighting broke out there in 2003, is less clear. America called this a genocide. But in 2005 a UN commission concluded that Sudan’s government had “not pursued a policy of genocide” (although some individuals may have acted with “genocidal intent”). Donald Trump’s administration called the Chinese government’s treatment of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang a genocide but others disagreed. This newspaper concluded that China’s persecution of the Uyghurs was “horrific”, but not genocidal.

By the UN definition, Hamas is a genocidal organisation. Its founding charter, published in 1988, explicitly commits it to obliterating Israel. Article 7 states that “The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them”. Article 13 rejects any compromise, or peace, until Israel is destroyed. Hamas fighters who burst into Israel on October 7th and killed almost 1,200 Israelis (and other nationalities) were carrying out the letter of their genocidal law.

Israel, by contrast, does not meet the test of genocide. There is little evidence that Israel, like Hamas, “intends” to destroy an ethnic group—the Palestinians. Israel does want to destroy Hamas, a militant group, and is prepared to kill many civilians in doing so. While some Israeli extremists might want to eradicate the Palestinians, that is not a government policy.

Neither do the Israelis display any obvious intent to prevent Palestinian births. But those who accuse it of genocide, such as South Africa, point to the large number of civilians killed, at least 23,000 so far, and claim its blockade of the strip meets the “conditions-of-life” criterion. The Israelis have clearly inflicted “serious bodily or mental harm” on the Palestinians. They have also displaced large numbers of people from the north of the strip. If those people are not allowed to return, this could be considered a partial destruction of their territory or, as Jan Egeland, a former un head of humanitarian and relief efforts, has warned, a forcible population transfer.

Even if an army’s actions do not pass the threshold of genocide, they can still be wrong. As the un concluded during its report into Darfur, “crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed…may be no less serious and heinous than genocide”.

This article was published as part of the “Economist Explains” series on January 9, 2024.■

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→ 21 April 2024
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Hope Presbyterian Panel Discussion on Israel – April 2024

Tonight we were part of a 90-minute discussion on what a Christian response to the Israeli-Gaza war should be.

The other panelists were fantastic and helped round out the coverage, they were:

  • Mark Ambundo, Pastor.
  • Roy Warren, an expert in protestant evangelical eschatology, who had covered the history of Israel over the previous two weeks from a Christian perspective.
  • Stephanie Gutschmidt, a member of Hope Presbyterian, and is fluent in many languages including Hebrew.
  • Tony Kan, President of NZ Friends of Israel.

We covered New Testament passages that conflict Christians like:

* Love your enemies
* Turn the other cheek
* Don’t reward evil with evil

We talked about the reliability of information provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health and how that is shaping the world’s perceptions of the war and how it is being conducted.

We covered how to talk to family, friends and loved ones about Israel-Gaza and the Middle East Conflict.

It’s clear that there was a lot for people to process and some of it will require people to let go of long-held “truths” planted by Hamas.

On the other hand, many came up to us and said they had learned a lot they didn’t know before.

Thanks to everyone’s support, prayers, and well-wishes. Special shout out to Paul and Gillian for recommending us to the Hope Presbyterian leadership.

The audio recording can be downloaded in a couple of days from here: https://www.hopechurch.net.nz/sermons

The slides that we showed and other resources can be downloaded from here: https://tinyurl.com/HopeCh24

Hag sameach!

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→ 15 April 2024
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The latest billboard campaign is launched: Let my people go!

The latest billboard campaign is up! It’s on the corner of Hagley Ave and Moorhouse Ave. Just along from the netball courts.

One of the busiest streets in Christchurch, plenty of eyeballs see this one!

Great location and getting lots of positive feedback.

Kol hakavod to Shalom New Zealand and all the donors! There are billboards in Auckland and Wellington too but ran out of funds for Hamilton.

If you want to get behind this, follow the instructions on our website (www.nzfoi.org) how to make a donation.

Don’t forget to email us your details to get a tax receipt if you’re in New Zealand.

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→ 26 March 2024
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Sheree Trotter: Indigenous Peoples and Israel

Dr Sheree Trotter

Last week we had Dr Sheree Trotter as a guest to our Christchurch meeting.

Today, one hears that the Palestinians are an indigenous people that is having their homeland stolen from them by the white settler colonialists, the Jews.  Is this true?

The events of October 7 have divided New Zealanders.  The connection to indigenous rights has created fault lines for our Maori community.

On Thursday, we were delighted to welcome Dr Sheree Trotter to talk to us about the establishment of the Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem and her views on how the Middle East Conflict has impacted her Maori Community.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr Sheree Trotter is a researcher, writer, and co-director of the Indigenous Coalition For Israel. She also co-founded the Holocaust and Antisemitism Foundation, Aotearoa New Zealand (formerly Shadows of Shoah). Sheree is Māori (Te Arawa) and earned her PhD in History at the University of Auckland.

Here is an audio recording from the meeting.

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→ 29 January 2024
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Protesters Regret ‘From the River to the Sea’ Chant Upon Learning Meaning – Newsweek

A new survey found many potential protesters couldn’t explain the meaning behind the controversial phrase. UC Berkeley professor Ron Hassner hired a survey firm to poll 250 college students from across the country, and a majority, or roughly 86 percent, said they supported the phrase, a common protest chant to express support for Palestinians in the ongoing conflict against Israel.

Still, only 47 percent could name the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, which historically encompassed Palestine and today includes both Israel and Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

And even more surprising, once students learned more about the region, 67.8 percent of those surveyed no longer agreed with the sentiment.

Read more: Protesters Regret ‘From the River to the Sea’ Chant Upon Learning Meaning (newsweek.com)

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