NZ Friends of Israel Association Inc
Fighting racial intolerance in New Zealand and beyond
Today marked the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp and the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The day is an opportunity to reflect on anti-semitism in Aotearoa New Zealand.
In 2019, a UN independent human rights report by Ahmed Shaheed found that anti-semitism has increased globally. Shaheed defined the term anti-semitism to mean prejudice against, or hatred of Jews.
We are not immune here in New Zealand.
Baruch haba from NZ Friends of Israel, your Excellency.
NZFOI: When this story broke, curiously, NZ mainstream media made no mention that anti-Semitism was involved: NZ Herald, Stuff.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Three players from Argentina’s national rugby team were suspended after anti-Semitic and other hateful messages from a decade ago were discovered on Twitter and spread on social media.
Two days later, however, following pressure from members of the national team and other Argentine rugby clubs, the Argentina Rugby Union reinstated the players, who were allowed to play in the squad’s next match on Saturday.
The messages, also against Black people and immigrants from neighboring countries, were made in 2011-12 by Pablo Matera, the team’s captain, as well as Guido Petti and Santiago Socino, and discovered last week.
NZFOI: As many of our members and supporters were unable to attend the farewell gathering in Christchurch, here is the full text of the Ambassador’s address on November 12.
BEGINS
Dear Friends of Israel
Kia Ora and Shalom,
The highlight of the past few weeks was the peace agreement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain. This historic agreements named “Abraham Accord” represents a meaningful landmark and historic breakthrough combining forces and finding common ground in the Middle East has never been more urgent than now especially in the midst of a global pandemic.
The Abraham Accord is set to generate immediate results and is essential in order to create normalization as well as real peace and security in our chaotic region.
In fact this is a historic diplomatic breakthrough that will advance large scale collaboration while unlocking a great economic potential. For instance the Health Ministers of Israel and the UAE have already agreed to cooperate on healthcare issues, particularly covid19 and set up businesses and student exchange programs.
Emirati investment firms and Israeli Hi-tech companies already signed agreements on collaborations and joint research and development; together we all will gain from the expansion of trade and commercial ties in fields such as cyber security, clean energy, medicine, finance, communications, and agriculture.
I hope that the Abraham Accord will pave the way for more countries in the region to realize the vast potential that exists in peace. Unfortunately, the Palestinian do not support the Abraham Accord despite the fact that this could be a big opportunity for them and they continue refusing to recognize the state of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.
Additional key concern of the UAE and Bahrain, other Sunni countries and Israel is the common threat of Iran. Iran is a rogue country with nuclear ambition as well as hegemonic regional goal and therefore Israeli missile defence systems and Israeli cyber security are of interest to the Arab Sunni Gulf countries.
Make no mistakes Iran wants to wipe out the state of Israel and is deeply meddling in Lebanon Syria and Iraq with their proxy terror organizations. Israel is acting in self-defense and in compliance with international law against internationally recognized terror organizations.
Iran has lately exceeded the limits of 300 kg. enriched uranium, builds up advanced centrifuges, and is developing medium and long-range missiles that can strike Israel as well as other Arab Gulf states. Iran also continues to support the terrorist organizations of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza strip and lately ammunition nitrate that was stored by Hezbollah in Beirut caused two giant explosions killing hundreds of people.
The U.S. made a decision to enforce all previously ended sanctions on Iran (which is called snap-back sanctions). Israel supports those sanctions because we see it as a necessary tool against Iranian nuclear capability, aggression towards Israel as well as a threat they impose against peace in the Middle East, not to mention the human rights abuses that are regularly conducted in Iran.
Last year we saw further growth in anti-Semitism, anti-Israeli sentiment and de-legitimation of the State of Israel, which are all derived from antisemitism that was transformed into Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.
Together we must fight antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and BDS against Israel.
On a more positive note I’m glad that the Arab Gulf countries have understood that Israel is not the problem in the Middle East but rather a prominent solution to the regional problems and we do expect other Arab countries like Oman, Kuwait, Morocco and Saudi Arabia to follow.
The challenges we – as well as the entire world – are facing today know no boundaries and it is essential that we combine our capabilities.
We call on all counties to voice their support for the “Abraham Accord”. Although New Zealand has not yet officially supported the “Abraham Accord”, has repeatedly failed to condemn terrorism against Israel and has not designated the military wings of Hezbollah and Hamas as a terrorist entities we certainly expect them to do so, not to mention the fact that the government has continued the pattern of imbalanced approach towards Israel in its voting record at the UN as it was demonstrated by New Zealand sponsorship of the anti-Israeli resolution 2334 and when N.Z. failed to take the opportunity to ensure that Hamas terrorism would be condemned at the UN.
On the other hand, there was a very positive development in our bilateral relationship when an agreement on technology and innovation was signed between New Zealand and Israel.
Israel and New Zealand enjoy friendly relations, these relations are based on common democratic values, friendship between people to people, the history of ANZAC in Israel during the first world war as well as mutual interests led by the idea that we need to transform our challenges into opportunities.
As you know, Israel is a hub of Hi-Tech and innovation with over one thousand one hundred and fifty start-ups based on artificial intelligence. I anticipate the collaboration between New Zealand and Israel in the fields of High-Tech, cyber security, advanced and precise agriculture, clean and renewed energy as well as adaptation to climate change, usage of drip irrigation, restoration of biodiversity, green houses with mitigation of gas emission, plant species with resistance to diseases, land rehabilitation, water management, reduction of water loss, food alternatives, storage and saving of agricultural products.
So the sky is the limit. I believe that this is the time that NZ opens an embassy in Israel and for that, we need your support.
I would like to use this opportunity and thank each and every one of you for your support, true friendship and concern towards Israel, that helps us fulfill the prophecy of prophet Ezekiel (chapter 36 verse 24) ” For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your home land”.
Last but not least – soon I will be leaving NZ back home to the holy land and I would like to thank you all for the friendship you have showed me and my wife. We had a great time in New Zealand, mainly because of your friendship.
Toda Raba, Tena koutou-Katoa and Kia Kaha,
God bless New Zealand,
God bless Israel and
God bless you all.
ENDS
Last Thursday we held a farewell reception for H.E. Ambassador of Israel, Yitzhak Gerberg and his wife Shifra.
Many of our members were unable to attend, so here is the full text of the Anglican Bishop of Christchurch Peter Carrell’s speech.
BEGINS
Your Excellency, Ambassador Gerberg and Shifra, your wife , the rangatira of Ngai Tahuriri, Mr Grant Close of the Christchurch Hebrew Congregation, and NZ Friends of Israel, greetings!
I am glad to be here tonight. As Anglican Bishop of Christchurch I believe I should be available to be with the NZ Friends of Israel just as I am available to meet with those outside the building who are demonstrating tonight. To be Anglican is to be inclusive.
Many years ago, in 1983, I made my first and so far only visit to Israel. It took place while I lived in Egypt for a year. It was a very memorable visit. This year, 2020, Teresa and I had hoped to visit Jerusalem for what would have been Teresa’s first visit and my second visit. Unfortunately Covid-19 put paid to that. Perhaps we will make it in 2022.
One of my memories of the 1983 visit is that one moment I could look up and see a farmer making his way down the road driving a tractor – just as if I was back in Canterbury – and the next moment I could look up on a hillside and see shepherds as though I was back in the days of the Bible.
I visited Israel out of my interest as a Christian and because of my study of the Bible.
Israel’s story is a shared Jewish and Christian story. Together we share sacred scriptures, the writings which are known as The Tanakh. We have a shared commitment to the well-being of Jerusalem as the holy city of God and a shared commitment to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And we share a commitment to peace between nations and to justice between communities.
Nevertheless there are and have been testing moments in the shared history between Christians and Jews as well as tragedy and trauma through the Holocaust. A Christian commitment to Israel is a commitment to never again have such trauma and tragedy visited against the Jewish people.
Your Excellency, I wish you and your wife well as you leave these shores. As you know, there are two Promised Lands in the world, and New Zealand is one of them. You leave one Promised Land to go to the other. You are always welcome back.
ENDS
During the recent Covid 19 lockdown, a small hui (meeting) was held in Northland between members of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe) and outgoing Israeli Ambassador, HE Dr Itzhak Gerberg and his wife Shifra. This was the culmination of a number of engagements with Ngāpuhi, in the time that Ambassador Gerberg has been in New Zealand.
The beginning of Gerberg’s appointment in New Zealand was marred by New Zealand’s role in co-sponsoring UNSC Resolution 2334. He was recalled to Israel in a diplomatic spat that lasted several months.
Upon the ambassador’s return, Ngāpuhi kaumatua (elder), Pat Ruka felt compelled to organise a special powhiri (welcome ceremony) for him. Joined by many Māori from around the nation, a moving ceremony of apology, called a whakapāha was held at Hoani Waititi Marae (meeting house) in West Auckland. Its purpose was to express regret for New Zealand’s actions in standing against Israel at the UN and to seek forgiveness.
Opponents of an Auckland art exhibition which featured neo-Nazi flags and symbols of white nationalism have received an apology from one of the exhibition’s co-facilitators, but say it doesn’t go far enough.
The exhibition by Mercy Pictures gallery closed last week, but has come under intense scrutiny by locals and activist group Tāmaki Anti-Fascist Action which believes the display, which did not include context or justification, was deeply hurtful.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the group said many of the images used were clearly symbols of oppression, disguised as art.
NZFOI: Naturally we are interested in the background of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs for New Zealand.
Nanaia Mahuta’s appointment as the Foreign Minister in the new cabinet stunned even the political insiders but a closer look at her 24 years in parliament reveal her to be a person of depth and ambition with a record of quiet achievement.
Today, The Detail’s Sharon Brettkelly looks at the political career of Mahuta and how it was shaped by her early years spent with her father, Sir Robert Mahuta, the key negotiator in the Tainui treaty deal.
He’s declared 5G a bio-engineered virus and that the United Nations is inspired by Satanic teachings. But as Billy Te Kahika’s wilder conspiracies grabbed headlines, his rhetoric touched on a darker subject.
On June 4, Billy Te Kahika took to Facebook live, as he regularly does, to deliver a sermon to his devotees.
By now these “prayer studies” are nothing new. In May, Te Kahika went viral with videos that weave scripture, 5G, Covid-19, Harry Potter, vaccines, the Labour government, Bill Gates and the UN into narratives of sinister plots to corrupt and control the world…
…in a video seen by more than 5000, the leader of the New Zealand Public Party spins a story about the Jewish nation. Using historical half-truths and debunked documents he enlightens his audience about its connection to a Satanic conspiracy, and a global plan to engineer a third world war.
He’s at pains to coat the language, expressing love for his “Israeli whānau”, and asserting that although the Jews killed Jesus, it’s only the Zionists, those Jews behind the nation of Israel, that are the real threat.
“It’s a Satanic deception.”
By Doug Davidson
Daniel and Shani are two Israelis caught out by Covid-19 and are currently living and working in Whanganui. The RCP caught up with them to discuss their backgrounds; life as young people in Israel and their future plans and hopes. In many respects, they are representative of young Israelis today.
Daniel’s grandparents came to Israel from Morocco and Shani’s family on her mother’s side came from Uzbekistan while her father is from the Czech Republic. Both speak fluent English.
Both were raised in the Orthodox Jewish community in Be’er Sheva to the south of Israel. At Daniel’s secondary school, called ‘Yeshiva,’ he studied only ‘Jewish Studies’ for three years – “no Maths or English.” In his last year, “I had to catch up on four years of study to pass the Ministry of Education’s school diploma,” he says.
Yeshiva belongs to a sub-stream between Ultra-Orthodox and Orthodox Judaism. If you don’t know much about Orthodox Judaism, watch the series ‘Unorthodox’ on Netflix.
Daniel, as an Orthodox Jewish male, wore a ‘peot’ – long curls of hair frequently wrapped around the ears because of a Biblical injunction against shaving the sides of one’s head. “After school, you are expected to go into the army for three years, although the Orthodox can choose to continue studying Jewish Studies.”
Daniel joined the army for five years, becoming an officer. He says, “I enjoyed it very much. As a commander, you test yourself, your abilities, and your character.” Orthodox girls don’t’ go into the army, however. “They object to working alongside boys and having to wear trousers.”
Instead, they can opt to do National Service, which is not compulsory. Shani says, “It is seen as a parallel service to being in the army. You work in education, health, supporting the Community.” Shani worked for the Government for two years as a tour guide for students.
“Once you have completed your army service, many young Israelis want to travel,” says Daniel. “Most will choose Asia or South America as they are not so expensive. As I was an officer, I had saved up for us to come to New Zealand and Australia. We were attracted by the different cultures and also Shani’s brother had been here in 2017. He recommended New Zealand very much.”
They arrived on January 10, bought a car and were travelling in the South Island before Covid-19 struck. “We tried selling it but couldn’t. Fortunately, a family offered to host us for the lockdown period.” Their hosts are part of H.I.T. – Host Israeli Travellers, who will host travelling Israelis either for free or minimal cost. “It was great to be part of a family again,” Shani says.
Once level 4, then 3, was over, they moved to the North Island and are being hosted in Whangaehu by the Rev David Berberfield, who also hosts visitors through the ‘Couch Surfing’ connection. Shani describes him as “the most nicest person.”
They applied and received New Zealand work visas and soon found evening work – Shani at Stella and Daniel at The Red and they are planting kiwifruit at Mangamahu during the day. Working hard is part of their way of life. As they say, “We are taught to know what you want out of life, to be competitive, work hard and reach targets.”
Neither of them is orthodox or even religious in their approach. “But,” as Daniel explains, “We feel Jewish. We are connected to our religion and culture.” He gives the example of commemorating the destruction by the Romans of the second temple in 70CE. Religious Jews will see it as a punishment from God because the Jew were fighting between themselves. He and Shani will see it as “a need to love each other.”
They are enjoying life in Whanganui and recently explored the possibility of studying at Massey – Shani in biology and Daniel in history. But they would need to be New Zealand residents as it would cost them approximately $28,000 each as International Students – a figure they can’t afford. In Israel, University study is much cheaper for them.
You can’t discuss life in Israel without bringing up the Palestinian question. Shani says, “I would be concerned about future plans for “Samaria.” (The Israeli term for the West Bank). She lived there while doing her national service, learning the history and feeling connected to the place. She would be “very sad if she could not go there in the future.”
Daniel explained that why he wants to study history is to focus on the history of the Middle East and Islam to understand better the conflict. He says, “I have no specific opinions but I recognize that the Palestinians have had a very bad time and something has to happen.”
Source: Davidson, D (20 August 2020). Young Israelis stuck in NZ during COVID, now living and working in Whanganui. River City Press. Pages 1-2.
[NZFOI: Thanks to Elizabeth Green for sharing the article with us.]
