Yad Vashem Seminar – ‘Teaching dilemmas through the Holocaust for empathy, not judgement’ Walking down the halls of Jewish history can be a daunting and emotional task, especially when you are brought face to face with those who survived some of the the worst of it. In order to truly understand, you must…
What sort of relationship does New Zealand want with Israel? Both Prime Minister Bill English and new Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee have said they want to repair the relationship with Israel in the wake of New Zealand co-sponsoring anti-Israel UNSC Resolution 2334. However, they seem to disagree on what that…
Sunday Star Times publishes vile Sharon Murdoch cartoon Fairfax media outlet, Stuff, published fake news in January 2017, which led to a stream of anti-Semitic comments on social media. Now, the most recent edition of Fairfax’s Sunday Star Times has chosen to print a vile cartoon suggesting new…
Dominion Post editor launches fanciful anti-Israel polemic Who recently stated that Israel has “warmongering tendencies” and is engaging in a “deliberate balkanisation programme aimed at sabotaging the twin-state (sic) solution”? You would be forgiven for thinking it’s Hamas, as their charter contains very similar language. But, in…
Peters slams McCully over UN Resolution 2334 NZ First leader Winston Peters has gone public with his criticism of Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully’s actions over controversial United Nations Resolution 2334. McCully’s office has confirmed he never had Cabinet approval when New Zealand promoted a United…
Guest Post: Remember. Remember. Remember. Earlier this year, I was privileged to attend the Auckland UN Holocaust Remembrance Day; on behalf of the Christian Church I offered this prayer: Our loving Heavenly Father … Mere words cannot describe the depths of our sorrow and shame…
Young Australian Greens refuse to meet with Jewish students The Australasian Union of Jewish Students invited members the NSW Young Greens to a meeting with bipartisan young political staffers at the NSW Parliament. However the NSW Young Greens co-convenor, Kleon Toffetti, refused the invitation because “We have a longstanding…
An Illusion of Paradise Dr Norman Simms has taught in New Zealand, Canada, France, and Israel for over forty years as a specialist in literature and in Jewish thought and identity. His latest work, “Jews in an Illusion of Paradise: Dust and Ashes Volume…
BSA rules Gaza blockade cannot be reported as “illegal” The Broadcasting Standards Authority has upheld a complaint concerning TVNZ’s coverage of the Israeli maritime blockade of Gaza, on the basis that it breached the required standard of accuracy by stating the blockade of Gaza is “illegal”. In doing so…
10 Questions for Bill English on NZ’s ‘longstanding policy’ After months of evasion, the New Zealand Prime Minister has finally admitted, in response to another question from Winston Peters about UN Security Council Resolution 2334 in Parliament earlier this week, that the resolution was not put to cabinet for approval….
Israel and New Zealand to do battle on the ice in April Ice sports are not usually associated with Israel, just like bobsledding wasn’t associated with Jamaica until Cool Runnings, and baseball wasn’t associated with Israel before their remarkable wins in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but Israel has one full sized…
The boundaries of responsible discourse [‘The Boundaries of responsible discourse’ by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis was one of a collection of essays on antisemitism and the lessons of the Holocaust, commissioned by the U.K. Holocaust Education Trust.] No-one enjoys being on the receiving end of…
How New Zealand pushed a trophy resolution through and scored an own goal Since the passing of anti-Israel UN Resolution 2334 on Christmas Eve last year, co-sponsored by New Zealand, there have been questions about what kind of mandate the Foreign Minister had and the level of prior advice and knowledge of the…