Shalom.Kiwi

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Exploring the Kiwi connection as Israel turns 70

Last week Israelis began a series of events in celebration of 70 years of statehood since the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. While New Zealand’s relationship with Israel has in recent years been frosty,…

Michael Wood’s 2018 Yom HaShoah Address

Tonight is about remembrance. Recalling the evil barbarism of the Shoah. Remembering the courage and humanity of those who suffered and were murdered, along with those who heroically resisted. Also I think, it is about remembering and acknowledging the collective…

Green MPs Davidson and Ghahraman show selective concern for human rights

Green MPs Marama Davidson and Golriz Ghahraman demonstrated selective outrage last week, suggesting that their concern for human rights in the Middle East extends only so far as Israel can be blamed. In the space of one week they stridently…

Dayenu

Passover has always been my favourite festival. It’s not eating a cardboard-like substance, sinus-clearing horseradish and other artery-clogging food that makes it so. Even as a child, I recognised intuitively that there was something special and rich in meaning in…

From Paris to Auckland: “I’m very happy that we’re here. I’m breathing again”.

Last Friday, 85 year old Jewish Parisienne and Holocaust survivor, Mireille Knoll, was murdered in her home, allegedly by her neighbour and an accomplice. The attackers stabbed her 11 times and then set her and her apartment on fire. Two…

Use of ‘Polish’ camps objectionable but should not be outlawed

Karl du Fresne has been a staunch supporter of free speech: opposing the phenomenon of “no platforming” on university campuses, expressing dismay at Facebook users threatening violence and bullying people into silence, and confronting the idea of New Zealand Police…

International law expert: New Zealand made a terrible mistake at the UN

Professor Alan Dershowitz needs little introduction in legal circles. A preeminent civil-liberties and constitutional lawyer and recently-retired Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, he has also been described as “the best-known criminal lawyer in the world” after taking on…

Is Marama Davidson a dogmatic street activist or serious political leader?

A day before Marama Davidson’s announcement that she was putting her name forward as a candidate for the Green Party’s co-leadership she attended an anti-Israeli protest organised by the Palestinian Solidarity Movement and Kia Ora Gaza – the same group…

When stakes are high we must take a stand

We often question the purpose of learning about the past. How can history be relevant in an ever changing world? As the political poles move further apart, there are few issues that can cross the bridge of partisanship. Remembrance must…

Gideon Levy’s sell-out tour of New Zealand

I’m no biblical scholar, but if I was asked to name great Jewish prophets off the top of my head, Moses, Abraham and Jonah would likely get a mention. Gideon Levy, the Israeli commentator, would not. Nevertheless, on Levy’s visit…

Dear Lorde, don’t give BDS the Green Light

Put in the same position, I don’t think I would have been able to make a different decision to the one Ella made regarding the cancelling of her Tel Aviv concert. For that reason, I find it difficult to be…

Fairfax takes extremist line on Lorde controversy

Media interest in Lorde’s recent decision to cancel her planned concert in Tel Aviv has been intense, and New Zealand has been no exception. Over the holiday period, newsrooms are sparsely staffed and sometimes juniors are left to run the…

‘Lorde takes a bow to the bullies’

Lorde has announced that she has decided to cancel her show in Tel Aviv, Israel, after predictable calls for her to do so. She was told that to perform there would be to “break the boycott”. A boycott that is…