Some really profound statements in his introductory remarks.
New Zealand, Cyprus to also boycott Durban IV conference | JPost
New Zealand and Cyprus are the latest countries added to the list of those that will not take part in this month’s event marking 20 years since the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, which identified Israel alone as a racist state.
The conference was studded with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiments.“
New Zealand remains strongly committed to combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Wellington said on Thursday.
“Consistent with our long-standing position, New Zealand will not attend the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration conference in New York on 22 September 2021.”
Durban IV will be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Minto claims NZ Jewish Council is deeply racist | The Daily Blog
[NZFOI: Really?!]
Suggesting Palestinians use their children as human shields and that Arabs hate Jews more than they love their own children is appalling and deplorable racism. Dr Cumin’s remarks are a particularly vile statement of anti-Palestinian racism and a repugnant slur on all Arabs.
Chief Rabbi launches scathing attack on China’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims | Times of Israel
The Chief Rabbi has launched a scathing attack on China’s persecution of its Uyghur Muslim minority, in an intervention that will add further pressure on governments, companies and consumers to take action.
Writing in The Guardian on Tuesday, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said that, having heard several accounts from Uyghurs who had escaped, “and reflecting upon the deep pain of Jewish persecution throughout the ages, I feel compelled to speak out”.
He said speaking out was a duty, particularly at Chanukah, “when we recall attempts ‘to cause the Jewish faith to be forgotten and to prevent Jews from keeping their traditions’… These words refer back to the cruel oppression of Jews”.
No, Israel isn’t a country of privileged and powerful white Europeans | LA Times
Along with resurgent identity politics in the United States and Europe, there is a growing inclination to frame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of race. According to this narrative, Israel was established as a refuge for oppressed white European Jews who in turn became oppressors of people of color, the Palestinians.
As an Israeli, and the son of an Iraqi Jewish mother and North African Jewish father, it’s gut-wrenching to witness this shift.
I am Mizrahi, as are the majority of Jews in Israel today. We are of Middle Eastern and North African descent. Only about 30% of Israeli Jews are Ashkenazi, or the descendants of European Jews. I am baffled as to why mainstream media and politicians around the world ignore or misrepresent these facts and the Mizrahi story. Perhaps it’s because our history shatters a stereotype about the identity of my country and my people.
Jews that were expelled from nations across the Middle East have been crucial in building and defending the Jewish state since its outset.
Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, was not established for just one type of Jew but for all Jews, from every part of the world — the Middle East, North Africa, Ethiopia, Asia and, yes, Europe. No matter where Jews physically reside, they maintain a connection to the land of Israel, where our story started and where today we continue to craft it.
The likes of Women’s March activist Tamika Mallory, Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill and, more recently, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) falsify reality in their discussions of Palestinians’ “intersectional” struggle, their use of the term “apartheid” to characterize Israeli policy, and their tendency to define Israelis as Ashkenazi Jews alone.
Dark Days | AIJAC
New Zealand’s Jewish community has opened up its arms and heart to the country’s Muslim community in the wake of the devastating Christchurch mosque terror attacks.
On Friday March 15, a lone gunman armed with semi-automatic rifles killed 50 people who were worshipping in two separate mosques in the country’s third largest city. The killer, who posted an extremist manifesto which identified him as a white supremacist moments before embarking on his murderous rampage, filmed and live streamed the attacks on social media.
It was the deadliest attack in New Zealand’s history, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern describing it as “one of New Zealand’s darkest days” and an “extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence”.
As a nation, New Zealanders were left shocked, horrified and grieving. However, most people soon rallied to support the Muslim community and also to present a strong united front against the attack and all that it symbolised.
Among them was the Jewish community, which was quick to condemn the attacks as well as to show its support for, and offer its assistance to, the Muslim community.
Israeli PM defends Jewish nation-state law after protest | NZ Herald
Benjamin Netanyahu
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister is defending a divisive new law enshrining the country’s Jewish character after tens of thousands of people demonstrated against it in Tel Aviv.
Benjamin Netanyahu said at Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting that the law doesn’t harm any citizens, and is needed to “ensure the future of Israel as the state of the Jewish people for generations to come.”
Members of Israel’s Arabic-speaking Druze minority, which is known for supporting the state and serving in the military, organized a major protest Saturday against the law. Opponents say the law passed last month relegates non-Jewish citizens to a second-class status.
Netanyahu said the “deep connection with the Druze community” was essential and that a ministerial committee would “advance the connection and these commitments.”
