Christchurch resident Sara Green* reflects on what it was like growing up Jewish in New Zealand, and what it means to be an ethnic minority today. My initial intent with this essay was to give a personal perspective of how it felt to belong to an ethnic minority in New Zealand. Then the world as … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Massive increase in overseas teacher recruitment drive, NZ activists reject Israeli court ruling, and the horrible state of Lake Horowhenua is in focus. The government is ramping up efforts to recruit new teachers from overseas, and to lure NZ-trained teachers back home. The numbers being sought are … Read more
New Zealander Sam Bookman was working at the Supreme Court in Israel when the so-called ‘Boycott Law’ was being challenged. That law has now seen two NZ women targeted in the first ruling, over an open letter they wrote to Lorde last year. Here Bookman – no fan of the boycott movement – argues that … Read more
An Israeli court has ordered Jewish New Zealander Justine Sachs and Palestinian New Zealander Nadia Abu-Shanab to pay thousands after Lorde cancelled a Tel Aviv concert. Having being flooded with offers of financial support, the women explain here why they’re keen to raise funds – not for a foreign court, but for the ordinary people … Read more
A Jerusalem court has ruled that two New Zealand women should cough up almost $19,000 in damages after calling for Lorde to boycott Israel. The chances of that being enforceable, however, are extremely slim, explains Otago law professor Andrew Geddis An Israeli court has ordered that two New Zealanders, Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab should … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Slight rise in unemployment sparks concern, leading construction firm collapses amid building boom, and calls for more serious kauri measures. Both unemployment and underutilisation have ticked up slightly in the latest Stats NZ quarterly survey. The seasonally adjusted rise is marginal in both categories, but the unemployment rate remains … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Union leader detained while part of Gaza aid flotilla, another school ditches NCEA level 1, and the future of community halls in the spotlight. The National Director of the Unite Union in NZ has been detained by Israel, reports Radio NZ. Mike Treen was part of a Freedom … Read more
Journalist, broadcaster and former member of the press gallery Guyon Espiner analyses New Zealand’s foreign policy, and how it must look to outsiders, in the first of a new fortnightly column for RNZ. To outsiders New Zealand foreign policy must look like a riddle wrapped in a mystery, perhaps clear only to the enigmatic deputy prime … Read more
Commentary: The two women who wrote an open letter on the Spinoff are being pursued under an Israeli law designed to prevent ‘damage to the state of Israel through boycott’. But is it a serious threat, and could it really impact people living in another country? Law professor Andrew Geddis writes. For “a small, publicly-funded, … Read more
Who would threaten to burn down a restaurant in New Zealand because of the politics of the Middle East? Yael Shochat, owner of the Israeli restaurant Ima in Auckland, responds to the menacing abuse that has followed Lorde’s decision not to play in Tel Aviv. I‘m sure you’ve heard of Lorde’s decision to cancel her … Read more
Opinion: Yesterday Justine Sachs and Nadia Abu-Shanab penned an open letter urging Lorde to cancel her concert scheduled for next June in Tel Aviv. Here Dane Giraud, a member of the NZ Jewish community, offers a counterview. Dear Lorde, I’m not often asked to be the mouthpiece for political movements. Funny that. Not really. Who’d want … Read more
Opinion: Lorde has announced a concert in Tel Aviv for June. Jewish New Zealander Justine Sachs and Palestinian New Zealander Nadia Abu-Shanab make the case for her to reconsider. Read a counterview from a member of the New Zealand Jewish community here Dear Lorde, We’re writing to you about your planned performance in Israel. We’re … Read more
Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy responds to an anti-Semitic speech at an Auckland mosque. People who deny the Holocaust took place are many things, but most of all, they are liars. Whether they are visiting Iranian clerics or whether they are members of a “White Pride” group – they are all liars. Holocaust survivors are … Read more
In an engrossing radio interview, the foreign minister goes full diplomat-speak over relations with Israel, and again refuses to stand by a six-month-old UN resolution sponsored by New Zealand, writes Toby Manhire. “I’m an excellent student, a great learner,” said the new foreign minister, Gerry Brownlee, a month ago. He was relishing the opportunity – … Read more
The new foreign minister is lucky that so little fuss was made when he unilaterally abandoned the government line on Israel, writes Toby Manhire. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, Bill English voiced an age-old axiom of international relations: “In this world of diplomacy, each word matters.” He was answering a question about the newly … Read more