Shalom.Kiwi

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Elliott Abrams: Honor and Dishonor at the United Nations

The United States was badly outnumbered in the General Assembly. There were just 67 countries who could be said to be on “our side” in that they didn’t vote against our position. No, not this week’s vote on Jerusalem. This…

Happy Hanukkah

The word Hanukkah (or Chanukah, or other spellings) means “rededication” and commemorates the Jews’ struggle for religious freedom from the Greek-Syrians more than 2,000 years ago (c160BC). The festival lasts eight days and remembers the rededication of the Temple in…

Canterbury University’s academic credibility found wanting

New Zealand is the only Western country where a tertiary institute has awarded a degree to a work of Holocaust denial or revisionism. Joel Hayward wrote a Master of Arts thesis at Canterbury University that concluded “the weight of evidence…

Hate on the streets of Auckland and hypocrisy in the Beehive

Newshub reported that there were “at least 50”, TVNZ said there were “hundreds”, and one of the the organising groups thought they counted 400 people protesting in Auckland. In reality, approximately 150 people gathered in Aotea Square in Auckland to…

Nikki Haley: The UN has done much more damage to the prospects for Middle East peace than to advance them

Jerusalem controversy: nothing new

Donald Trump’s announcement today recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was, in itself, nothing new, nor should it be controversial. His speech was, in fact, in keeping with US legislation two decades old. It has only been threats of violence that…

An indigenous gathering in the Land of Israel

Sheree Trotter spoke to Brad Haami about the Welcoming the King of Glory conference held in Abu Ghosh/Kiryat Ye’arim, on October 10-13, 2017. A number of Pacific and Māori communities have, over a long period, spoken of a “deep sea…

What If?

Sometimes, when considering the past, it is tempting to indulge in a “what if” thought experiment. 2017 is a year of milestones in the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is 50 years since the 6-Day War, 100 years since the Balfour Declaration,…

“Newshub staff” reveal bias

Reporting on the response to singer Nick Cave’s outspoken refusal to bow to pressure from Israel boycott activists, Newshub published an article that showed clear bias in favour of the boycotters. Attributed to “Newshub staff”, the writer(s) called anti-Israel singer…

A Māori Samoan’s take on Zionism

Another strong Jewish role model: Ethel Benjamin

Golda Meir, Hannah Senesh, Helena Rubinstein, Ruth from the Bible, Joan Rivers, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barbra Streisand, Gal Gadot… history overflows with strong Jewish female role models and inspirational trailblazers. One such vanguard was from New Zealand – Ethel…

Israel a triumph over imperialism and adversity

You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts. This saying has been around for some time, but it could have been directed at Janfrie Wakim’s column, ‘Arabs betrayed in war Kiwis fought…

NZ’s role in history’s last great cavalry charge

Beersheba is a town that few New Zealanders will be familiar with. It sits on the edge of the Negev desert in southern Israel, about 75 kilometres south west of Jerusalem. On Tuesday, a small group of New Zealanders will…