Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East

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Letters

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Letters written by KBRM members

Submitted to the Timaru Herald on January 18, 2012

Goodies and Baddies
In response to Derek Burrows article, why does Mossad get the credit for events that it might not have been involved, US hypocritically spoke in strong terms against the assassination, cunningly reflecting the blame on to Israel, the CIA goodies wouldn’t be involved there, it is really a part of the ceaseless, ongoing demonization, of Israel. Of course, there are no dissidents in Iran, they all love their compassionate president, and their lovely mullahs, and are totally happy and satisfied with their totalitarian ruled lives. They don't mind or complain about being arrested, tortured, stoned to death, hung from gallows in public, on the suspicion they might be baddies, and of course Muslims wouldn't blow each other up.

Yes, there are countries with nuclear weapons, no others are on an apocalyptic mission to USE them to bring world chaos so their Mahdi will appear, and openly declaring desire to control other nations, namely expand their influence. Saddam's chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction are now part of Syria's arsenal, [research recommended] he wasn’t entirely stupid, Assad has recently threatened to use them on Israel. They were transferred there before the US started their nonsensical war, and now having pulled out, handed Iraq on a platter to Iran.

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Submitted to The Otago Daily Times on January 18, 2012

Villages not Settlements
I was disgusted to read the untruths in the Reuters sourced article World page, Wed. 18th Jan.
Jews are entitled to build on their own land which has been theirs for over 3,000 years. Lies and untruths abound, on the topic of the West Bank, Judea and Samaria, an area full of Israeli history. The Bible, ancient Greek, Roman writings, and archaeological digs, substantiate it. The PLO [Arafat] and the PA [Abbas] have turned down Israel's previous offers to give them what they want, including East Jerusalem, because it’s not really about Judea, Samaria; they want the WHOLE lot. Wipe Israel out, exterminate all the Jews. The facts are, Israel doesn't feature on maps in Arab schools. Jew Hatred is taught from Kindergarten level much of it in UN funded schools, children sing, Jews are pigs and apes, Arabs are beloved, the only good Jew is a dead Jew. Beautiful innocent Children are encouraged to become suicide bombers; Mothers gets honoured, throw a party, get a pay out, and the young men 72 virgins in Paradise, girls? Arab Peace talks [in English] are a Charade. How can you live in peace with someone who in rallies [in Arabic] swears to kill you in Allah’s name?

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on December 24, 2011

The article published about alleged donkey abuse in Israel, which was sourced from the Independent, is a classic example of deliberate misinformation parading as facts. A few examples should suffice to show readers how selective language combined with misleading photos can distort and poison.
The photo shows a miserable looking fully laden donkey in a rubble strewn field with a gold domed mosque in the distance. The accompanying caption states that this is Jerusalem where poor people use donkeys as transport because they cannot afford cars. Readers are led to believe that Israel’s Capital City is so backward that donkeys are a common form of public transport. This photo of course is not of Jerusalem, where buses, taxis and a new ultra modern light rail line operate as means of public transportation. Other loaded phrases include dusty & developing country, surly drivers and abused donkeys. The most glaring omission of course is that the owners of donkeys are Palestinian Arabs and it is those individuals who are responsible for abusive treatment of these animals. However mentioning this inconvenient fact might ruin the thrust of bashing the Jewish State. What a pity that the NZ Herald overlooked this evident truth.

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Submitted to The Bay of Plenty Times on December 20, 2011

I can understand the terror M Brooks senses as she realises at last the truth has been exposed.
I was Principal Nurse Instructor in St, John's Eye Hospital Jerusalem for 3 years and my students told me their families came from Syria and other countries surrounding Israel. They agreed with the Arab Member of Israeli Knesset MK Azmi Bishara, who said in 1994 when asked about Palestine
‘I think there is an Arab nation. I do not think there is a Palestinian nation. I think it is a colonialist invention...When were there any Palestinians? … until the 19th century Palestine was the south of greater Syria.’
Newt Gingrich was only stating what no one else dared to say.
The late Yasser Arafat called the people officially ‘Palestinians’ in 1993; I was living in Jerusalem when that happened. The word Palestinian in Arabic is ‘Philistine‘, — the historic enemies of the Jewish people who came from Crete and are no longer a people.
I suggest that M. Brooks do more research and not just react to her apparent personal antagonism to Israel the only Jewish State in the world. There has been no dissenting Arab voice to Mr Gingrich's declaration.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on December 14, 2011

MacIntyre of the Independent, in his writings on Israel, remind me of what a Soviet defector in the cold war said about Communist propaganda. He said, they showed us photographs of queues of people and told us this was Americans queuing for bread or jobs. But I asked myself, how come there are always so many cars in the background?

I ask myself how there happens to be, in this deadful, oppressive, ‘apartheid&squo; Jewish State; so many Muslim Arabs and so many mosques? Especially considering they have always been free to leave (weren't they supposed to have been ‘genocided’ and hounded out of Israel at one time anyway?), and there are plenty of perfectly logical places for them to go.

Israel, after all, has been the logical place for all the Jews (and all the Synagogues) to go, that once existed from Morocco to Pakistan — this even though it is only about the size of one NZ province. Surely it isn't also a preferable place even for its Muslim Arab population, compared to, say, Syria under Bashar Assad? Or even to Egypt under a democratically elected militant Islamist government?

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on November 23, 2011

The closure of an unlicensed left-wing Israeli radio station makes a splash in your pages as an ‘attack on democracy’. Israel has also closed several unlicensed right-wing and religious stations. Why wasn't that newsworthy?

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Submitted to the Northern News on November 22, 2011

Joey Moncarz (16 November) asserts his right to present a play that makes false statements regarding the Israel/Palestinian situation. A study of history would teach him much.
Through his characters he claims European Jews invaded Israel, stealing Arab land in the 1880s, a falsehood circulated by Israel detractors. History says they purchased the land from Arabs who stayed for the work offered, contributing to ‘making the desert bloom like a rose’ and resulting in today's one-fifth Arab population in Israel who don't want to leave. Golda Meir, in the contemporary newspaper headlines, pleaded “Don’t go, stay and together we will build a nation”. This was published around the world.
The play is historically untrue, almost none of it is fact, yet is presented as such. At worst it is anti-Semitic, at best unresearched, never mentioning Palestinian rocket attacks, suicide bombings nor that Palestinians are ruled by terrorist organizations whose sworn determination is to wipe Israel off the map. Jews are made to seem evil throughout.
Brainwashing young minds in this way should be illegal. Almost every point his characters make is just plain wrong. There is nothing light-hearted or comedic about that, contrary to some correspondents' opinion.

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Submitted to The Press on November 17, 2011

Andy Cunninghym (November 17th) is apparently unaware that it was a Likud government in Israel which returned Sinai and Gaza, even though they had no legal obligation to do so, having taken the land in a defensive war. The West Bank settlements in the disputed territories are legal for the same reason and because they had no internationally recognised ruler before 1967, being unallocated land rejected by the Palestinian Arabs and occupied by Jordan since 1948.

Furthermore, the settlements, which take up about 3% of the West Bank are not an issue in any of the previous peace accords since 1993. Adjustments to the territories are to be settled in any final status negotiations. Cunninghym would do well to remember that there was no peace when there was not a single settlement.
The Palestinians' bid for a unilateral declaration of statehood is a cynical attempt to both subvert and abrogate responsibility for any peace process. The New Zealand government is right in distancing itself from that bid.

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Submitted to the Northern News on November 16, 2011

When I requested a copy of his play, Another Stupid Wall, Joey Moncarz asked for my feedback about it. I had hoped his play could be a useful and topical teaching resource. After reading the play, I wrote to Mr Moncarz personally, giving my feedback and expressing my concerns about the historical inaccuracies and lack of political balance in his play. I concluded my letter as follows:

‘I am sorry to have to be so negative about Another Stupid Wall. … I had hoped that it would have been a play that could be widely used in schools, but I believe that its flaws outweigh its strengths. … the plot and characterisation are both subservient to the political message the play seeks to convey. It is a heavily biased partisan, political play. … I would strongly recommend that it not be performed again by school students, without serious revision.’

Mr Moncarz did not reply to my letter.

As a parent and a former English teacher, I believe that school students should be given objective and balanced teaching materials. I do not believe students should be used to promote their teachers' personal political opinions. While it may be an entertaining play to watch, Another Stupid Wall is politically biased and narrow in its portrayal of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

I do not seek to ‘discredit’ this play, but I consider that its script should be revised to be more balanced and historically accurate before being used in schools.

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Submitted to The Press on November 7, 2011

Peter Sumpter presumes to know the hearts and minds of Kiwis with regard to the Palestinian bid for statehood (November 5th). He does not speak for me. He also apparently knows little about the UNO apparatus, as the November 11^th vote will be held in the Security Council and New Zealand has no representation there. The issue of the settlements, not even mentioned in any of the previous peace accords, is a red herring. The real issue is that the Palestinians should have no recognition of their claim to statehood until they stop the terrorism, the salvoes of rockets and mortars, the incitement to hatred and their stated aim, in both the Charters of Hamas and Fatah, to destroy a UN member state, israel, and murder all her Jewish inhabitants.

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Printed in the Northern News (Submitted on October 28, 2011)

Propaganda is Bad Art
I have read the play for schools, ‘Another Stupid Wall’, which you featured in an article on October 26.
Audience members should be aware that the play consists largely of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli propaganda. The author’s thesis is that Jews have no right to be in Israel at all, and are colonialist invaders. Palestinian characters are presented as reasonable and peace-loving, Israelis as stupid, spiteful, prejudiced, arrogant and brutish. The play contains several errors of fact, all to the discredit of Israel, and repeatedly invokes negative stereotypes of Jews.
I appreciate that a play for schools must simplify issues to an extent, but presenting a wholly one-sided view of the complex situation in Israel and Palestine does a disservice to its audience and to the cause of peace. It is generally agreed that propaganda makes bad art.
The fact that the author is a teacher writing for school students gives the piece an apparent authority which, in reality, it sadly lacks. Our rangatahi deserve better than to have their minds prejudiced with this sort of material.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on October 7, 2011

A biblical promise to Abraham comes to mind when reading about Nobel prize winner Daniel Schechtman: “ … in your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice.” 2011 Nobel prize winners Daniel Schechtman, Bruce Beutler, Ralph Steinman, Saul Perlmutter and Adam Reiss are all Jewish.

As an Israeli Jew, Daniel Schechtman is one of the people Palestinian and other Arab leaders wish to see ‘driven into the sea’ and annihilated. He is a man who would not be allowed to live in an independent Palestinian state ruled by either the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. The Palestinian state sought by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, built on ancient Jewish lands of Judea and Samaria, will be Judenrein, ‘ethnically cleansed’ of any Jews living within its borders.

Modern Arab racism, bolstered by Islamic anti-Semitism, is reminiscent of German Nazism in the 1930s, when another Jewish Nobel prize winner, Albert Einstein, was forced to leave his homeland because of anti-Semitism. Which begs the question — why are western nations lending support to a bid for a state that discriminates against and seeks the destruction of people like Daniel Schechtman, Bruce Beutler, Ralph Steinman, Saul Perlmutter and Adam Reiss?

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on September 30, 2011

Tom Scott has it exactly backwards (cartoon, 29/9/11). It is not Israel that is against ‘a Palestinian state living in peace with Israel’. There is nothing that Israel wants more! It is the Palestinians who do not want to live in peace with Israel, who have waged war and terror against it, and whose eventual goal is the destruction of Israel. When they give up that goal and accept a Jewish state as their neighbour and Jewish residents within their state (as Israel accepted 1.5 million Arab citizens), then and only then should there be a Palestinian state.
The world needs another apartheid aggressor state like it needs another Nazi Germany.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on September 28, 2011

Peter Hulme's brief letter manages to make three major errors. Israel was created not because of the persecution of Jews during WWII, but as a result of the internationally-agreed British Mandate of 1922, which encouraged ‘close settlement’ of Jews in Palestine. Britain's disregard of its own Mandate was not in allowing the creation of a Jewish state, but in its policy of appeasing Palestinian Arabs by discouraging Jewish immigration. And if Palestinians played no direct part in the atrocities of WWII, it was not for lack of will. The Mufti of Jerusalem, their spiritual leader, was outspoken in his support for Hitler's anti-Jewish programme, and publicly offered to help implement it in Palestine.

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(Sent to Phil Goff with copy to Murray McCully on September 25, 2011, in response to an article in the NZ Herald on September 23, ‘Goff calls for NZ to support Palestine vote’.)

Dear Mr. Goff (cc Mr. McCully),
According to the NZ Herald, you saw Palestinian ‘humiliation’ during your visit to the West Bank. I hope you will be kind enough to let me know what you meant by this.

Is it having to go through Israeli check points when Palestinians travel? Those check points are there only because of the many attacks and suicide bombings carried out by Palestinians. To call this ‘humiliation’ when you are the cause of it is like the man who killed his parents and pleaded for mercy because he's an orphan. Besides, Israelis also go through check points when they go shopping or eat out, again because of attacks and suicide bombings by Palestinians. They don't like it, but they don't call it humiliation.

Is it because of the protective fence that Israel erected? This too was put up only to stop suicide bombings, and it has been effective. The fence and the check points could be taken down if there were no need for them.

Or is it perhaps the ‘humiliation’ of having to live with Jewish neighbours? In that case, one must wonder if people who feel that way deserve a state.

You also suggested that NZ should support the ‘underdog’, apparently meaning the less prosperous. I suggest that this is a poor criterion. NZ should support people who want to live in peace, not people who want to destroy their neighbor.

When the Palestinians are willing to accept Israel's existence, to live in peace alongside it, to agree to resettle refugees (as they are in fact resettled) and not insist on destroying the Jewish state by the ‘right of return’, to allow Jews to remain in its land as Israel has accepted its 1.4 million Arab citizens, and to accept Israel's far stronger claim to Jerusalem — that's when there will be a Palestinian state, and that's when NZ should support it.

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Sent to the contact person at National Radio NZ on September 25, 2011, to be passed this onto Chris Laidlaw

Normally I like to listen to National Radio but I was disappointed when I listened this Sunday morning to the interview with Terrence O'Brien about the possible statehood of Palestine. Talk about an elephant in the room; none of the real problems for Israel were mentioned. The only point I found interesting, or a break from the no meaningful analysis, was that Terrence O'Brien said words to the effect that Arafat had brought about what is effectively two 'states' Gaza and its extremists and the 'moderates' of West Bank and how can you have one state when the Gazans don't want a state — we know what they want — the destruction of Israel. However, according to the blurb some of the people on the street in Gaza want a state. They condemned Israel for settlements in the West Bank — of course — with no mention of the Judenrein (no Jews) policy Abbas intends for the new Palestinian State.
The PLO's representative in Washington, Maen Areikat, has stated that Jews would not be allowed to live in a future state of Palestine: A Palestinian Non-Starter

History is being distorted; The Palestinians are Jordanians. Jews were known as Palestinians before the founding of Israel in 1948.
20% of Israel's citizens are Arabs and Arabs sit in Parliament in Israel. After living under a democracy most Arabs don't want to live in a Palestinian State, which if Hamas gets its way would be under Sharia Law. Do you know what that means? Even music is banned at weddings under Sharia Law.
It is unjust that the World is only demanding compensation for Arabs who fled Israel at the time Israel's inception when the higher number of Jews who fled Arab lands at the same time are not compensated for all that they left behind. In Arab lands Jews had to live under cruel Dhimma laws (Not as equal citizens with Arabs) while Arabs live as equal citizens with Jews in Israel.
Anti-semitism has risen in recent years due to the publicity and blame put on Israel while the real cause of poverty for today's Palestinians is the hatred for Jews and the fact that it suits the likes of Hamas to keep the Palestinians in poverty for the purposes of creating sympathy throughout the World and blaming the Jews.
Israel gave the Palestinians Gaza which has become a launching pad for rockets — getting ever larger. Israel defends itself against weapons arriving in Gaza (flotilla) and the World condemns in large print, but then Goldstein retracts and the Palmer report exonerates but does it make headlines — No. Why?
There is a lot of work to be done and less pussyfooting around, not to offend the Muslims, before peace will come. The real facts need to be told before it is too late and the free Western World finds itself under the thumb of Sharia Law.

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Sent to Murray McCully (Minister of Foreign Affairs) on September 23, 2011

Dear Minister,
As the minister is aware, the Palestinian Authority has threatened to renege on its obligations under the Oslo Accords and attempt to bypass peace negotiations with Israel by asking the United Nations General assembly to recognize an independent Palestinian State.
A growing number of Western Democracies including Australia, Canada, and the United States have publicly opposed this move in the firm belief that the only way to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations, not unilateral actions.
Recent history has shown us that when one side takes unilateral actions or refuses to negotiate, the result has been an increase in violence. This was the case in 2001 when Yasser Arafat cut off negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Barak which was followed by a violent wave of terrorism that lasted years and costs thousands of lives. Similarly, when Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip without a negotiated agreement, the result was an influx of thousands of missiles fired at Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip.
As a New Zealander currently living in Israel, I sincerely hope that New Zealand will join Australia and other democracies and take a stand for negotiated peace and oppose the resolution on Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.
We all dream and pray for the day when Israelis and Palestinians can live side-by-side in peace, however if the Western Democracies are unable to stand up against one-sided actions that jeopardize any chance of negotiations, I fear that the dream of Palestinians and Israelis living peacefully together will remain a distant dream.

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Submitted to National Radio NZ on September 22, 2011

Sent in reply to a short interview repeatedly broadcast on the Morning program and the news today.

Billy Hamia's comments calling for a world-wide vote on ‘apartheid’ is hypocritical at best and outright dishonest if the facts are fairly examined.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East that affords its citizens full democratic rights — including those one million plus Moslem Arabs who enjoy Israeli citizenship.

Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have exactly the same rights as Jews or anyone else; Muslims have the same rights as Jews or Christians; Baha'is, severely persecuted in Iran, flourish in Israel, where they have their world centre; Ahmadi Muslims, severely persecuted in Pakistan and elsewhere, are kept safe by Israel; the holy places of all religions are protected under a specific Israeli law. Arabs form 20% of the university population (an exact echo of their percentage in the general population).

On the other hand, Maen Areikat, PLO Ambassador to the United States, said just last week that the future independent Palestinian state will not include a Jewish minority, calling for both peoples to be totally separated. If that isn't apartheid then whatever in the world is?

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Submitted to the Waikato Times on September 22, 2011

May I draw your attention to the following news article, published in the Lebanese newspaper ‘The Daily Star’ Interview: Refugees will not be citizens of new state * on 15 September, 2011. This side of the Palestinian bid for recognition as an independent state by the United Nations has not been reported in the New Zealand media.

Is the Waikato Times willing to tell the story of the Palestinian refugees who will not be granted citizenship in a Palestinian state?
According to this interview, Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ambassador Abdullah Abdullah, has stated that “even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens.” How can the UN support a state that refuses to grant its own people citizenship in their own country?
Is the Waikato Times willing to reveal that the Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon has also admitted that the unilateral recognition of Palestine as an independent state at the UN will not provide "a solution to the conflict", it will merely create ‘a new framework that will change the rules of the game.’? It seems that although the world wants peace in the Middle East, recognising a Palestinian state will not bring us closer to realising such a hope.

I do hope you can find space in your world news pages to give this relevant perspective on the Palestinian bid for recognition at the UN.

The article contained these words,

“…. Palestinian refugees would not become citizens of the sought for U.N.-recognized Palestinian state …. This would not only apply to refugees in countries such as Lebanon, Egypt, Syria and Jordan or the other 132 countries where Abdullah says Palestinians reside. Abdullah said that ‘even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens.’” ….
“When we have a state accepted as a member of the United Nations, this is not the end of the conflict. This is not a solution to the conflict. This is only a new framework that will change the rules of the game.”

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on September 22, 2011

Your editorial (22 Sept) supporting a UN resolution sponsored by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation to unilaterally declare a State with defined borders, overlooks and ignores at least two critical facts.

In 1947 and on numerous occasions since then, the Palestinian Arabs were offered a State of their own. In every case they rejected these offers and in fact resorted to violent aggression in order to achieve their aims. It has been a policy of ‘all or nothing’ implemented by their own leadership which has resulted in them achieving nothing and leaving their people disillusioned and frustrated.

The other inconvenient fact not mentioned is the adamant refusal of the Palestinian Arabs to acknowledge that the Jewish People in Israel have legal, historical and moral rights. Instead, on a daily basis, these rights are deligitimised and denied.

Unless realisation dawns that genuine negotiations and tolerance are the only way to go, no amount of UN resolutions and declarations will ever advance peace or the aspirations of those seeking nationhood.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on September 22, 2011

The history of ‘statehood’ among Muslim Arabs, whichever part of the Middle East they occupy, is hardly an inspiring one. Who can seriously believe that any of these "nations" are going to morph into a peaceful secular liberal democracy at any time soon?
US President George W Bush was hounded by the media for being so misguided as to try and ‘impose’ such a form of government on the ‘sovereign’ people of Iraq. Why your outbreak of optimism (Editorial 22 Sept) such a short time later, over the ‘Arab Spring’ and ‘Palestinian Statehood’ — even as Bush and the USA are still condemned and the brutal, medieval, reactionary Iraqi ‘resistance’ legitimised?
The fact that a prominent Hamas figure, Ambassador to Lebanon Abdullah Abdullah, has now said that ‘Palestinians’ in refugee camps outside of Gaza and the West Bank will not be granted the right of entry and citizenship into the new ‘State’, is another give-away, if we needed one, that the true motivation of these people is not modern, ‘pro-independenc’" pride, but medieval, ‘anti-Israel’ hatred.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on September 22, 2011

Palestinian political leaders want to have ‘Palestine’ recognised by the United Nations as an independent state.

Such recognition is sought:

• without a Palestinian state having to recognise and accept the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign Jewish state within secure borders,
• without a Palestinian state having to dismantle, and deem illegal, Palestinian terrorist organizations,
• without a Palestinian state permanently rejecting its intention to destroy the "Zionist entity", namely Israel,
• without a Palestinian state rejecting the promotion of anti-Semitism through its media and political agencies and Palestinian religious institutions,
• without a clear strategy for making Palestine an economically independent state, rather than a state that is dependent upon international aid,
• without a Palestinian state releasing the kidnapped Israeli, Gilad Shalit, from illegal custody,
• with the expressed intention that a Palestinian state would be a ‘judenrein’, apartheid Palestinian state where Jews would not be tolerated,
• despite the dysfunctional relationship between Hamas and Fatah, which would render forming a stable, long-term Palestinian government impossibile.

Blatant racism on the part of a divided Palestinian leadership, and their refusal to pursue a peaceful co-existence with Israel, should not be supported by the United Nations.

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Submitted to the Waikato Times & NZ Herald on September 22, 2011

May I draw your attention to the following news article Interview: ( Refugees will not be citizens of new state ), published in the Lebanese newspaper "The Daily Star" on 15 September, 2011. This side of the Palestinian bid for recognition as an independent state by the United Nations has not been reported in the New Zealand media. Is the Waikato Times willing to tell the story of the Palestinian refugees who will not be granted citizenship in a Palestinian state? According to this interview, Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ambassador Abdullah Abdullah, has stated that ‘even Palestinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Palestinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens.’ How can the UN support a state that refuses to grant its own people citizenship in their own country?

Is the Waikato Times willing to reveal that the Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon has also admitted that the unilateral recognition of Palestine as an independent state at the UN will not provide ‘a solution to the conflict’, it will merely create ‘a new framework that will change the rules of the game.’? It seems that although the world wants peace in the Middle East, recognising a Palestinian state will not bring us closer to realising such a hope.

I do hope you can find space in your world news pages to give this relevant perspective on the Palestinian bid for recognition at the UN.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on September 21, 2011

Mohsen al Attar's opinion piece suggests that the ‘Palestinian’ struggle is similar to that of many nations which have emerged from under colonial domination. ‘ ….Borders, passports, flags and other trappings of statehood are all powerful symbols to unite a people behind a national banner and a unitary identity…. ’

But the history of ‘statehood’ among Muslim Arabs, whichever part of the Middle East they occupy, is hardly an inspiring one. Who can seriously believe that any of these ‘nations&risqué; are going to morph into a secular liberal democracy at any time soon? George W Bush was made into an international pariah by the media for being so misguided as to try and ‘impose’ any such notion in Iraq. Why the outbreak of optimism such a short time later — even as Bush and the USA are still condemned and the reactionary Iraqi ‘resistance’ celebrated — over the ‘Arab Spring’ and ‘Palestinian Statehood’?

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Sent to the NZ representative at the UN on September 20, 2011

Dear Mr. McLay:
Following is what NZ should say in regard to the upcoming Palestinian state vote:
Sixty-four years ago the UN voted to give land for a Palestinian state. The offer was refused. Instead the Palestinians and other Arabs waged war to destroy its neighbour Israel.
Today that war continues and the Palestinians are again asking for the UN to declare a state. New Zealand believes that this request should be granted when, and only when, the Palestinians:

• (1) Accept the existence of their Jewish neighbor and agree not to wage war or terrorism against it.
• (2) Abandon the ‘right of return’, which would destroy the Jewish neighbor demographically.
• (3) Allow Jews to live peaceably within their state, as Israel has accepted its 1.4 million Arab citizens.
• (4) Agree to new borders based on realities on the ground as a result of the many wars that they waged (and lost) against Israel.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on September 11, 2011

Richard Mayson’s tirade against Israel has no basis in fact. He outrageously casts doubt on Sir Geoffrey's integrity without a smidgeon of proof; I don't believe a man of such status would make the statement Mr. Mayson claims. It seems his letter is personal angst and pure fiction. He must produce proof of his claims or remain silent.
How can anyone overlook the destruction Gaza has heaped on Israel? Controlled by Hamas, a known terrorist organization, Gaza seeks to destroy Israel while Israel's aim is self-defence.
Gazan rockets target Israeli civilians, Israel targets Hamas. If there are Israeli civilian casualties Hamas celebrates; if there are Gazan civilian casualties Israel investigates. How can Israel's blockade of Gaza be brutal when throughout it's operations there it was supplying food and all necessities despite Hamas' intention to destroy her and continuing attempts to do so?
Hamas brutality is responsible for Gazan's suffering. It is the direct result of their determination to annihilate Israel. If the rocket and suicide attacks cease there will be peace, not before. Judge Goldstone’s retraction of his initial UN report says it all.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on September 9, 2011

Richard Mayson’s letter (9 Sept) in response to your editorial about the Palmer UN report, merely illustrates once again the irrational hatred towards Israel and the USA which seems to afflict many individuals.
Conspicuously missing from his letter is any reference to the smuggling of weapons such as rockets and missiles into Gaza and their subsequent use against Israeli schools, kindergartens and other civilian targets, which is why Israel's blockade was deemed legal. His silence concerning Turkey's past history of Genocide against the Armenians and their present day campaign against Kurdish human rights is striking.

For some people only the Jewish State is guilty of any and every crime. Thank goodness the average Kiwi can see through this unbalanced and untruthful hatred.

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Submitted to the Nelson Mail on September 8, 2011

Your correspondent in his amazingly ignorant letter suggests that the Flotilla incident was all Israel's fault. I can do no better than quote from the Independent UN Panel chaired by Geoffrey Palmer:
‘Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza. The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure’ and ‘Israeli Defense Forces personnel faced significant, organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers when they boarded the Mavi Marmara requiring them to use force for their own protection …’
‘The Panel seriously questions the true nature and objectives of the flotilla organizers … If the flotilla had been a purely humanitarian mission it is hard to see why so many passengers were embarked and with what purpose. Furthermore, the quality and value of many of the humanitarian goods on board the vessels is questionable … the flotilla acted recklessly in attempting to breach the naval blockade. … there exist serious questions about the conduct, true nature and objectives of the flotilla organizers, particularly IHH. ’
‘It is clear to the Panel that preparations were made by some of the passengers on the Mavi Marmara well in advance to violently resist any boarding attempt. … The Panel accepts, therefore, that soldiers … faced significant, organized and violent resistance from a group of passengers when they descended onto the Mavi Marmara. …’

Henry Balfour's additional comments about the presence of Israelis in Christchurch during recent terrible events are equally fatuous and come from a very prejudiced imagination

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Submitted to the Press on August 28, 2011

The critics of Israel say it is unfair to accuse them of anti Semitism. I will believe it is not anti Semitism when they ask the neighbours of Israel and other Muslim countries, to adhere to the same moral code these critics ask of Israel.
I will believe it is not anti Semitism when the same, over the top campaign that erupted when nine ‘activists’ were killed in that silly little flotilla, is mounted by these critics for the thousands that are dying at the hands of the thugs who run the Muslim countries.
I will believe it is not anti Semitism when the anguish that is expressed by these critics and the Muslim countries of a few hundred thousand Palestinians displaced, is extended to the 1 million Jews expelled, with no compensation and no right of return, from Arab countries between 1948 and 1970.
No I am afraid that the idiot left has taken over from the idiot right in its anti Semitism

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on August 18, 2011

Your website reports that thousands of people have fled a Palestinian refugee camp in Latakia in Syria, some fleeing gunfire and others leaving on orders from the authorities.
Where are our professional protestors who can be relied upon to vociferously castigate Israel when she attacks and isolates Palestinians in retaliation against their rockets and suicide bombers, but have nothing to say about the Syrian persecution and killing of Palestinians. Nor have they ever expressed concern that they have been living in these Syrian camps over many decades. Thus I deduce that his protests and rantings against Israel are merely anti-Semitic and can therefore be strictly ignored as being wholly unreliable.
It’s intriguing that, considering Palestinians are Arabs, their Arab neighbours don’t seem to want them. Considering the violence they have perpetrated against Israel for so many years, why would, or should, anyone want them?

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 30, 2011

Among your reportage of the celebrated (in certain circles) ‘aid flotilla to Gaza’, I have missed any simple statement of fact and truth as blunt as THIS:

‘ . . . .we do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza. Just this week, the Israeli Government approved a significant commitment to housing in Gaza. There will be construction materials entering Gaza and we think that it’s not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves. . . . ’

Who said this? US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, last week.

There is plenty of video evidence of construction activity, commercial activity, high quality buildings, shopping malls, and bustling main streets, in Gaza. The ‘Gaza is a giant prison camp’ narrative comes from the west's loony-left inheritors of the Nazi propaganda tradition, and it is a disgrace for allegedly ‘mainstream’ media to be participating in the slightest, in such flagrant travesties of truth.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 30, 2011

The Herald shows a perverse sense of values in heavily featuring an alleged Israeli conspiracy against Gaza, which exists mainly in the reporter's imagination, while relegating the real news — that Israel invites donors to send aid to Gaza through all official channels — to a small inset. The Sydney Morning Herald has rightly castigated flotilla ‘activists’ who seek out violent confrontation to promote their political ends; your paper seems more anxious to assist their publicity campaign.

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Submitted to 'Close Up' TV One on June 20, 2011

I was disgusted with Mark's Close Up interview with the Israeli ambassador Shemi Tzur and the activist Harmeet Sooden. Twisted facts and selected video told a lie to what actually happened in the previous flotilla. Many "Peaceful Protesters" were found to be Militant mercenaries. Israel, a democracy like NZ, has 14 Arabs in Knesset (parliament). Arabs live as equals in Israel, unlike the neighboring Arab nations where the policy is Judenrein (no Jews). Ask yourself, where is the injustice and where are the uprisings occurring and why? The Islamic extremists and communists are out to destroy what we take for granted and our parents and grandparents fought and died for. Sooden is in effect supporting the militant extremist group Hamas and so was Close Up last night.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 20, 2011

What a travesty of an interview this evening on TV1 CLOSE UP programme. Mark Sainsbury showed his usual lack of people skills by his attempt at interviewing the Israeli ambassador over the Flotilla Affair.
His questioning lacked even a semblance of balance and he did not appear to notice any of the answers — let alone respond to them — and none of it helped by his bullying and clumsy manner. The script was loaded in favour of the ‘peaceful’ activists and against the IDF marines' actions in defending themselves from a murderous IHH mob on the top and lower decks of the Mavi Marmara (clearly evidenced by video footage).
However it was clear that Sainbury knew nothing of this. No fair minded and reasonably informed person could have watched this interview without squirming in discomfort at its sheer one sidedness — made that much worse by the total ineptness of the interviewer. Compare Sainsbury's efforts with the opposition's simultaneous programme — CAMPBELL LIVE from Christchurch . Campbell's careful preparation, intelligent questions and his interest and concern for people show a professionalism that Sainsbury cannot match.
This is what actually happened.
www.guardian.co.uk

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Submitted to The Press on May 23, 2011 (Printed 25th in the 'In a few words' section but words in red omitted)

Once again your cartoonist Evans reveals his blatant bias against Israel and his abysmal ignorance of Middle Eastern realities. Is he aware that the father of Syria's Assad murdered 25,000 of his own people at Hama in 1982? Or that Jordan murdered over 20,000 Palestinians in the 1970's and drove the remnants into Lebanon? On both occasions the world, the USA included, did not turn a hair.
Hama is still a ghost town.
Evans' punchline is invalid because it is the hypocritical West which waxes hysterical over every perceived Israeli misdemeanour and demands endless concessions from this state while ignoring the brutality and inhumanity of the Arab countries that surround her and constantly call for her destruction. Israel has every right to protect her borders and her citizens, Jews and Arabs. She is the only Middle Eastern country that changes governments by the democratic ballot box and has a free and independent judiciary.
Yet the West still expects Israel to negotiate with the terrorists and tyrants who callously gun down their own citizens having the courage to cry ‘Enough.’

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on May 23, 2011

For the leader of the world’s most powerful nation, Barack Obama displays an astonishing ignorance of history and international law.
When Palestine was made a Jewish homeland, under British rule, by international treaty in 1922, its Arabs were granted civil and religious, but not political, rights. This was standard for the time, and Palestine’s Jews had no political rights either. In 1948 Britain decolonised Palestine, and the new state of Israel was invaded by Arab armies. The subsequent armistice between Israel and Jordan defined a ceasefire line in the West Bank, explicitly stating that it was not to be an international boundary. Israel grants political rights to its Jewish and Arab citizens alike. The Palestinians do not want any Jews to live in their proposed state, let alone granting them rights.
It is the 1948 ceasefire line that Obama wants to make a permanent frontier, in defiance of two international treaties and the founding principle of international law, which is that territory cannot legitimately be gained by armed force. Whatever would be a fair boundary to a Palestinian Arab state, it is not this.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on May 21, 2011

President Obama believes he can tell Israel to retreat to the 1967 border in a predictable ‘blame Israel’ move. Perhaps he should be told to retreat to pre-unification days.
Israel was occupied by Jews over three thousand years ago with the Jewish King David's capital in Jerusalem, thousands of years before a Palestinian people existed.
In 1948 Arab nations attacked the fledgling state immediately after its inception. When they treacherously urged Palestinians to leave, the then-Prime Minister Golda Meir pleaded with them “Don’t go, stay and together we will build a nation,” reported in the world’s press but now conveniently forgotten.
Arab nations have since provoked Palestinian nationalism to further their own ends, encouraging them to demand their own state from tiny Israel, unwilling to provide one from their own vast lands that are 800 times larger than Israel.
The world cared not a scrap for the Palestinians when they were ruled by Syria but as soon as Israel became involved all hell broke loose. This tells its own story. And note, Jerusalem is never once mentioned in the Koran but is mentioned over eight hundred times in the Bible.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on May 17, 2011

You focus only on one side of the Palestinian refugee situation. Many Palestinians did flee Israel in 1948 — encouraged by Arab leaders — and a smaller number were pressured to leave. But we never hear that at the same time, a similar number of Jews fled or were driven out of Middle Eastern and North African Arab countries under similar conditions.
The difference is that Israel took in and settled the Jewish refugees, while Arab states kept the Palestinians in squalid camps, where their descendants remain today. These unfortunates have for decades been pawns in a political game. They could easily have been resettled in neighbouring Arab countries, many of which have significant oil wealth. Israel does not have such advantages, but nevertheless absorbed hundreds of thousands of refugees. Which was the more creditable course of action?

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Printed in The Otago Daily Times on May 17, 2011

The past weekend gave the world an exacting picture of the impossibility of peace with a Palestinian State dividing Israel. Mobs intent on violence, who have been educated since birth to hate Jews and Israel, breached Israel's borders with Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
Attacking as Israel celebrated her 63rd anniversary. Israel in 1948, once again officially became a nation, within 24 hours the surrounding Arab nations declared war, they were miraculously defeated, fleeing Arabs became then, and still are, refugees and pawns among their own Arab peoples, and in the neighbouring Arab nations. Nearly a million Jews were forced to flee all Arab lands, the difference, they were assimilated.
There has never been any evidence to believe that Arabs want peace, they constantly declare their goal, total destruction of Israel and the Jews. It is institutionalized in the education [funded by U.N.] of their children and manifest in every violent action, yet there are those who persist in assisting them to form a Palestinian state. Both Fatah and Hamas [Iranian proxy] are terrorist organizations.
Egypt is aligning with the terrorist axis of Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran, further evidence the Middle East is moving towards even further radicalization, and a catastrophic conflict.

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Submitted to the Waikato Times on May 15, 2011

It is a bitter irony that the thousands of Jordanians demanding a sovereign Palestinian state are doing so on the very land set aside for a Palestinian state over sixty years ago. Yet Jordan has not allowed the Palestinian Arabs to settle there, denying them citizenship, and forcing them to live in refugee camps.
The successful resettlement in Israel of hundreds of thousands of Jews, who were violently expelled from Muslim countries following the re-establishment of the Jewish state, demonstrates that it was humanly possible for Palestinian Arabs to have been resettled after they fled from Israel in 1948, had their Arab neighbours allowed it.
The chants of ‘death to Israel’ reverberating across the Middle East reveal the true intentions of those who masquerade as Pro-Palestinian ‘peace’ activists. The only Palestinian state they will accept will be built among the ruins of a ‘Judenfrei’ Israel. These people hate Jews and hate the idea of a sovereign Jewish state in the Middle East. They will keep the Palestinian Arabs in limbo for political leverage until Western nations allow them to commit genocide against Israel's Jews and establish a Muslim Caliphate in Israel.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on May 6, 2011

As Muslim nations throughout the Middle East reject incumbent rulers in favour of more radicalised Islamic regimes, a common theme that unites them is a hatred for Israel and Jews.
Recent months have witnessed Palestinians conducting rocket bombardments from Gaza against Israeli civilian targets, slaughtering a Jewish family at Itamar, bombing a bus in Jerusalem, and murdering a Jewish worshipper at Joseph’s tomb. In the wake of this carnage, Fatah and Hamas have struck a unity deal.
Although some may hail this as a portent for peace, these two enemies of Israel will make a show of unity just long enough for the UN to recognize a Judenrein Palestinian State in the West Bank. Such a state would follow in the footsteps of Gaza, descending into a bloody power struggle, which Hamas would win, before returning to the core business of Palestinian leadership: attempting to wipe the Jewish state off the map and establish a radical Islamic caliphate in its place.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on May 6, 2011

Your editorial (Herald May 5) reveals an ignorance of the true agenda of a Palestinian Authority/Hamas reconciliation and an incomprehension of the dire consequences of it.
Both these entities have one thing in mind: the destruction of a UN-sanctioned, lawful state, giving two violent organisations carte blanche to continue their prolonged hate campaign against Israel, with the clearly-stated mission of its destruction. You overlook the rocket attacks, suicide bombings and hate-filled rhetoric they spout daily against a tiny country that lives on permanent alert, and welcome their ‘peace’ deal which will never contain peace.
When Palestinians lived under Syrian rule nobody cared. When they crossed into Israel to attack the newly-formed state, nobody cared. But when Israel defends itself against them, everybody suddenly cares, automatically blaming Israel for doing what every normal nation must do. It is abundantly clear that the only obstacle to peace in the region is Palestinian/Hamas violence and refusal to acknowledge that the Jews have a right to the land they occupied thousands of years before either Hamas or Palestinians even existed.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on May 5, 2011

It is alarming to read that the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, a terrorist organization, intend reconciling. Judging by recent history in Gaza, Hamas will dominate the alliance, which means a redoubling of their efforts to annihilate Israel.
What is astounding is that whenever Israel reacts in self-defence, it is condemned while the true antagonists get no condemnation, only the world's sympathy. The only functional democracy in the Middle East, Israel stands alone against Islamic extremists that seek to wipe the Jewish state off the map, and terrorise Western nations.
It was not Israel that killed thousands at Ground Zero, hundreds over Lockerbie and blew up buses from London to Tel Aviv, nor does Israel employ the vile practice of suicide bombing.
The Fatah-Hamas alliance will not bring peace to the Middle East, but genocide to Israel. And as José María Aznar, ex-prime minister of Spain stated, if Israel goes down we all go down.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on May 5, 2011

Congratulations on your editorial of 5 May, welcoming the Palestinian pact between the alleged ‘moderate’ Fatah (the main group affiliated to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation) and Hamas, the Iranian supported terror group ruling Gaza. Your enlightening editorial clearly demonstrates that the blind appeasement policy towards ‘democratically’ elected terrorists has successfully graduated from the 1930's German hatred of Jews to the current hatred of the Jewish State. How else can one understand your unctuous advice that Israel must negotiate with groups whose openly stated aim is the total elimination of a member State of the United Nations, whose media pour forth on a daily basis the most vile poison against Jews, their Faith and deny their historical connection to this Land. The Palestinian Arabs have no interest in a negotiated peace. They know that the appeasers will hand them Israel on a plate, Munich style. Your editorial merely reinforces that belief.
Like the appeasement of the 1930s, opting for the easier choice will only guarantee a more costly one later.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on May 5, 2011 (Printed May 11)

Your editorial today shows a shaky grasp of Middle Eastern history. Hamas and Fatah have a history of bad blood arising from fundamental incompatibilities in their viewpoints. The last time they contested an election, Hamas trounced Fatah and then massacred its supporters — not a good advertisement for Palestinian democracy. A subsequent attempt at rapprochement failed, and the current one may well follow, if the disputes that have emerged even before the deal is signed are any guide. Hamas has been unwaveringly committed to the destruction of Israel for over 20 years. Its most ardent apologists can produce nothing better than wishful thinking that it might change its spots. Nothing is impossible, but the scepticism expressed by Mr Netanyahu and others is a sensible and realistic response in the situation. Let us see some evidence before we applaud the return of Hamas to political respectability.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on May 5, 2011

Prof Ron Smith, military expert, from Waikato University, recently chided a TV3 interviewer, and by implication, many NZ-ers, for their ‘naive pacifism’. This criticism could very well be applied to your frequent editorial tone.
Now you tell the world that we must all be prepared to ‘recognise’ HAMAS as a legitimate democratic representation of the wishes of the ‘Palestinian’ people, and deal with it ‘diplomatically’. The same goes, you imply, for the radical Islamist ‘governments’ that now look likely to be the ‘popular’ outcome of the various revolutions sweeping the Middle East.
Once again in history repeating itself, the first casualties of these ‘popular’ movements sweeping to power, going by THEIR OWN rhetoric, will be the few million Jews who happen to be in harm's way, unlike armchair pacifists in a nation tens of thousands of miles away, freeloading on the defence efforts in dollars and blood, of the rest of the free world.
Maybe this time round we will be consistent, and not even bother to stand shoulder to shoulder with our traditional allies, no matter how clear the principles of good and evil at stake. This would be all part of our natural geopolitical trend into the ‘Latin American Banana Republic’ bloc just across the Pacific to the West of us, and they never bothered to fight Naziism in the 1940's. Perhaps NZ will end up harbouring Islamist War criminals after WW3 has finished, like Argentina with their Nazis? Engaging ‘diplomatically’ with sworn Jew-genociders, harbouring them after the event, what's the difference?
Sleep well, Mr Editor. There's nothing so good for it as total lack of conscience.

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Submitted to The Waikato Times on May 4, 2011

As Muslim nations throughout the Middle East descend into a carefully orchestrated chaos, the common theme that unites them is a hatred for Israel and Jews.
Recent months have witnessed rocket bombardments from Gaza onto Israeli civilian targets, the slaughter of a Jewish family at Itamar, a bus bombing in Jerusalem, and the murder of a Jewish worshipper at Joseph's tomb (which had been recently desecrated by Muslims). In the wake of this carnage, Fatah and Hamas have struck a unity deal in Palestinian Authority controlled areas.
Although some may hail this as a portent for peace, it is simply a cynical political manoeuvre. I expect these two enemies of Israel will make a show of unity just long enough for the UN to force through a Judenrein Palestinian State in the West Bank. Such a state would follow in the footsteps of Gaza, descending into a bloody power struggle, which Hamas would win, before turning its weapons on Israel and returning to its core business: attempting to wipe the Jewish state off the map.
As Palestinian leaders seek to repeat the Holocaust, where are all the peace-loving protesters now? Their silence is deafening.

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Printed in The Otago Daily Times on May 2, 2011

Where have all the protestors gone who normally demonstrate and agitate against Israel, at any opportunity. Why are they not taking to the streets to vent their anger against the massacres of Syrian citizens who are demanding an end to their violent oppressive regime and introduction of civil rights in their country. Why as the Syrian security forces murder, arrest, and imprison, their citizens for daring to demand freedom and democracy, those who accuse Israel at every opportunity, are remaining eerily silent. Their real agenda is quite clear — it is OK to demonise the only true democracy in the Middle East which has free and fair elections, and independent judiciary, but remain silent when these basic rights are denied and suppressed by surrounding controlling brutal regimes, whose media continually demonise Israel, with incessant calls to wipe it off the face of the earth. It's time to wake-up to the true face of these Middle East regimes and what drives them, which is currently on very public display. Are there double standards here? I think so.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on April 29, 2011

It is alarming to read that the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, a terrorist organization, intend reconciling. By its very nature Hamas will dominate which means doubling their efforts to annihilate Israel. Rockets are still fired into Israel daily. The incredible thing is that whenever Israel attacks in self-defence or retaliation, she is always blamed while the true protagonists get nothing, except the world’s sympathy.
The only democracy and our only ally among the teeming Muslim nations, Israel is all that stands between us and them. It was not Israel who killed thousands at Ground Zero, hundreds over Lockerbie and intended killing hundreds at Entebbe and Rome airports, nor does it employ the vile practice of suicide bombing.
If oil is the concern, wisdom would have us cosying up to America which, if reports are to be believed, has greater oil reserves than the entire Middle East. As José María Aznar, ex-prime minister of Spain stated, if Israel goes down we all go down.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on April 26, 2011 (Printed May 11)

I'm waiting with baited breath for all those protesters who normally demonstrate and agitate against Israel, to take to the streets and vent their anger against the massacres of Syrian citizens who are demanding an end to their repressive regime and the establishment of civil rights in that country. As the Syrian security forces murder and repress their own citizens for daring to demand freedom and democracy, those who pillory Israel at every opportunity remain strangely silent. Their real agenda thus becomes clear — bash the Middle East's only true democracy where Governments are changed in free and fair elections and the judiciary is independent, but remain mute when these basic rights are denied and brutally suppressed by regimes whose media demonise Israel on a regular basis. Double standards? You bet.

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Printed in The Press on April 23 but words in red omitted)

Does Lois Griffiths understand the meaning of "hogtied"? It means to have the feet and hands tied together, often with a pole inserted between, which is of course ridiculous in the case of the arrest of Berlanty Azzam. She was treated far more humanely than Israelis are by Palestinians, like captured soldier Gilad Shilat or the two Israelis lynched and mutilated by a Palestinian mob at Ramallah in 2000. Many Gazans, Christians for example, are treated far worse by their fellow Palestinians.
If Ms Griffiths could abandon empty rhetoric and speculate on why Israel's security laws are often seen as stringent she might, as Easter approaches, cast her mind back to Passover March 27 2002 when 30 Israelis, including elderly and children, enjoying a family seder dinner at the Netanya Park Hotel were murdered by a Palestinian suicide bomber. The PA recently awarded the family of the terrorist who masterminded the massacre, Abbas Al-Sayed, with a celebratory commemorative plaque.
Since 2008, 370 rockets and 333 mortars have landed in Israel, 127 in the last week, deliberately targeting civilians including schools and kindergartens. But Israelis being bombed on school buses, at bus stops or in their own homes does not provoke censure from Ms Griffiths.
Until the attacks, the incitement of hatred, the calls for genocide of the Jews etc stop there can be no freedom of movement around the PA and Gaza.

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Submitted to The Press — Printed April 16

Abdullah Drury's hagiography of Kemal Ataturk (April 14th) omits the fact that Ataturk instigated the final act in Turkey's genocide of the Armenian people.
It was his forces that attacked Smyrna in September 1922, burning the Armenian and Christian quarters and exiling the remnants. Thus, he completed what the Ottomans had begun: the complete eradication of the Armenian people from Anatolia.

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Submitted to The Otago Daily Times and other papers on April 11, 2011 — Printed in Timaru Herald April 13.

Rewind. Last year Britain expels Israeli diplomat over alleged passport fraud in ridding humanity of Hamas murderer Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.
Fast forward. Botched British raid in Libya finds six British soldiers and two Foreign Affairs officials carrying ‘several different passports’. What hypocrisy.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on April 10, 2011

I would like to congratulate the NZ Herald on publishing Abraham Rabinovich's informative article about the United Nations' ‘Goldstone Report’ (7 April, 2011).
As there has been so much written in unquestioning condemnation of Israel since the Gaza war, it was enlightening to read the other side of the story, to learn of the lengths Israel went to in order to save civilian lives, and the lengths to which Hamas went to extinguish them.
As Hamas attacks on civilian targets in Israel continue with increasing regularity, I look forward to reading more by the Herald's own ‘eye-witness’ Jerusalem correspondent, rather than having to rely on foreign news agencies like Reuters to learn about events in the Middle East.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on April 10, 2011

Congratulations on your nearly full-page coverage of Judge Goldstone’s reversal on Gaza. From the outset of the war Israel was roundly condemned by correspondents to the Herald, simply because it was Israel, I believe. Judge Goldstone was courageous in admitting his own bias of the time and in pointing the blame where it belonged, on Hamas and the Palestinians. Permanently under siege and threats of annihilation, Israel is denied by critics the right of defence or of counter-attack because of decades of misinformation. For example, the Palestinian’s claim on Israel is utterly groundless. They have never occupied it at any time in history, and nobody was bothered about them anyway when they were under Jordanian rule for so long. It was only when they started making claims on Israel and attempting her destruction that the world suddenly found a cause.

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Submitted to the Wellingtonian on April 9, 2011 Printed but words in red omitted.

It is curious that Israel is condemned by a correspondent as ‘the superior military force in the Middle East’, a ‘terrorist state’ with nuclear weapons. Israel has 8 million population, and has extended its territories from 18,000 square kilometers to 22,000 square kilometers for reasons perfectly justifiable under international law. The surrounding Islamic nations have 120 million population, around a million square kilometers of territory, and considerable natural resources, especially oil. Israel has no natural resources.
Any truly militaristic power with military superiority, going by the lessons of history, would surely have grabbed a few oil fields long ago, and really expanded its borders, especially given the religious significance to Jews, of many areas not currently within its borders. And any really evil state of Israel would surely have expelled its 1,500,000 Arabic population, or at least denied them the vote.
There certainly are no Jews left in the surrounding Islamic nations, nor has there ever been any redress considered for the seven-figure numbers of them that have fled long since, abandoning property and possessions.
One of the ways in which history seems to repeat itself, is that political movements that embody the worst evil in the world almost inevitably include Jew-hatred among their features. Another noticeable feature is that strange alliances of convenience form around this hatred: such as between Naziism and the Islamists in the 1940's. Today, it is the West's radical leftists who, after decades of cheerleading for mass-murderers like Pol Pot and Castro, have thrown in their lot with similarly murderous Islamofascists from Khomeini onwards.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on April 5, 2011

Judge Richard Goldstone has acknowledged that he unfairly accused Israel of war crimes in his 2009 report to the United Nations. It is not clear why he did so, but a likely explanation is that he thought it was what the UN wanted to hear.
The UN has spent much time and energy since 1967 in condemning Israel, generally on specious grounds — most notoriously in its resolution that ‘Zionism is racism’. Its Human Rights Council spends most of its time investigating alleged human rights abuses by Israel, to the virtual exclusion of events elsewhere.
Let us hope that Sir Geoffrey Palmer will take note of Judge Goldstone's recantation, and tell the truth in his forthcoming report on the Gaza flotilla, even if his conclusions might be unwelcome to Israel's enemies at the UN.

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Submitted to The Otago Daily Times on April 5, 2011

John Minto should be congratulated. His constant efforts to keep Israel and its government in the headline's has obviously encouraged the populations of Syria, Libya Egypt and Tunisia to strive for the same democratically elected model of government that the Jewish State enjoys.

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Submitted to Kia Ora Gaza (web site) April 5, 2011

Has Kia Ora Gaza formulated its response to Richard Goldstone's retraction of the UN Report in his name? Judge Goldstone has stated that with all the evidence now in, the Israeli government and military had no policy of intentionally harming Palestinian civilians in Operation Cast Lead, while the criminality of Hamas in deliberately firing on civilian Israeli targets was undeniable. He also noted that the Israeli Defence Force has undertaken extensive investigations into the conduct of its personnel, as required in the UN ‘Goldstone’ Report, while Hamas has refused to investigate any of its operatives.
Has Kia Ora Gaza publicly condemned the murder of five members of the Fogel family in Itamar (including the three month old baby who had her throat cut) or the bus bombers in Jerusalem, or the rockets that continue to fire from Gaza onto Israeli civilian targets? Or does Kia Ora Gaza consider these acts to be ‘doing something practical and powerful for justice in Palestine’? Undoubtedly the perpetrators of these deliberate acts of aggression against civilians thought they were.
Zimbabwe, Sudan, Iran, and North Korea — these are states where the people have been truly disenfranchised and brutalised by political regimes, against the will of the people. Why are you silent about these regimes, yet seek to delegitimize and dismantle the only functional democracy in the Middle East, the only place where women and ethnic and religious minorities and have equal rights and protection under the law?
What exactly does Kia Ora Gaza envision will replace the state of Israel if, as you put it, ‘legitimacy cannot be restored to the Zionist project’? Which Arab state can you point to as a stable, functional, just and democratic state that could be a role model for a Palestinian state to replace Israel? You are asking ‘good people around the world’ to support you in bringing down a sovereign, independent state — you should be able to explain exactly what you intend to replace that state with, where you expect the Israelis to go, and how you intend to ensure that there would be a peaceful and safe transfer of power from one political regime to another, and not the Jewish bloodbath that Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad propaganda promise the Palestinian people.

(Other members have have written over time to Kia Ora Gaza but we notice that they don't put comments up which are counter to their views. So much for freedom of expression!

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Submitted to The Press on March 26, 2011

I had wondered what had happened to that old racist anti semite Malcolm Evans but I see now (cartoon 23/03) that he has found a home at the Christchurch Press where he is able to continue to spread his bigotry and hatred.
You must clearly like having an heir to Julius Streicher on your payroll.
Well done!

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Submitted to The Press on March 25, 2011

Your cartoonist, Malcolm Evans, may think he is funny but his cartoon of Friday 25 March is only the latest demonstrating his visceral hatred of Israel.
At a time when Palestinian Arabs are firing rockets from Gaza at Israeli kindergartens, schools and Synagogues, murdering Jewish children including a baby in their home by slitting their throats and innocent commuters are blown up in Jerusalem, Mr. Evans has the gall to portray Israel's efforts to defend its citizens as somehow being the same as the actions of the brutal dictator of Libya. Shame on Malcolm Evans and shame on the Christchurch Press for publishing this hate filled cartoon which is something straight out of the German newspapers of the 1930's.

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Submitted to The Press on March 25, 2011

Mr Evans' latest cartoon, using Gaddafi's crimes as an excuse to blame Israel for defending itself against the same terrorism he seems to be defending, is an absolute outrage.
Even the worst Arab commentators and propagandists have not been able to make any connection between the atrocities in Lybia and Israel yet Evans has no shame whatsoever in inventing a completely non-existent parallel simply in order to slander a sovereign and legitimate state and confirm his own bigotry.
He knows very well that the only state in the Middle East that would ever protect his right to express his misguided and destructive opinion is precisely the one which he seeks to delegitimise and destroy - Israel.
May he experience Freedom of the Press as it is practiced in Lybia, Syria or Iran for that matter.

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Submitted to The Press on March 25, 2011

Your cartoonist, Evans, makes a crude attempt to implicate Israel in what is happening in Libya at present, but he misses the mark with an essentially irrational graphic. It would look right at home amongst the worst anti-Israeli cartoons I saw in the daily papers while working in an Islamic country. Does he mean that Israel massacres its own populace when they offer dissent? I hardly think so. This is exactly what the Arab regimes are doing at the moment, especially Gaddafi, mowing down their own people who are desperate for justice, freedom and shared wealth. This has nothing to do with Israel, a country which has always embraced those ideals.
Israel has been forced over the years since 1948 to defend herself against attacking Arab armies and Palestinian terrorists who use human shields and deliberately target civilians as in the recent Itamar massacre.
Does Evans have any issues with the civilian casualties in, say, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Iraq? perhaps he should have put a Russian or NATO insignia on his fighter jet. The point Evans has missed is that Colonel Gaddafi has no moral qualms whatever over blasting his own people to stay in power.

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Submitted to The Otago Daily Times on March 16, 2011 (Printed March 17 but words in red omitted)

Gwynne Dyer's views on the Assimilation of Muslims in France are fanciful and blind to the problems facing Christian European society.
You only need to look at the failed example of England; Muslims attend Muslim schools, Muslim Gyms, Muslim Community Centres. And since 1982 Sharia Law is practised along side UK law — mostly to the detriment of the female population.
It takes two female witnesses to be the equal of one male witness. Female Genital Mutilation is still carried out behind closed doors, as is general abuses against women because they are inferior!
How can a population which clings to laws that belong in the stoning age, and show no compassion when dealing out so called justice ever assimilate in a couple of generations. England had thrown of the shackles of the Victorian times when public flogging and hangings were common place only to slowly slip back into the dark ages.
Europe needs to be firm and go back to old laws based on Christian principals instead of trying to keep the intellectuals and Politically Correct Police happy.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on March 5, 2011

In Gwynne Dyer's opinion piece (Herald Saturday 5th March), he claims that what makes Arabs suitable candidates for democracy is their human heritage. This, I doubt, given that most Arabs are followers of Islam and it is Islam that demands women have no rights above that of chattels, and that they can be whipped, stoned or both, in cases of real or imagined adultery, or if she is raped. Or perhaps he does not believe that women are part of the democratic human heritage. Further, how does Mr. Dyer square his claim with the Muslim intention to enforce Sharia law throughout the entire world, to wipe Israel off the map and to take and occupy Jerusalem where the Jewish King David established his capital 1000 years before Christ.
If Mr. Dyer is a student of these complex matters he will be able to glean that democracy in the Arab world exists only in the few more-enlightened Middle Eastern nations, and even they now appear to be under serious threat of disappearing under Sharia rule.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on March 4, 2011

Columnist Gwynne Dyer must be desperate to perpetuate the absurd modern P.C. culture-blind version of political and economic history. Historians like Max Weber and Elie Halevy, had it right 100 years ago; but the modern P.C. Left still can't accept another century of evidence in favour of Halevy's thesis that peaceful democracy happens to be compatible with one culture, and one culture only.
Gwynne Dyer calls Samuel Huntington's ‘Clash of Civilisations’ thesis ‘tripe’. As if it is not the modern P.C. thesis that really IS ‘tripe’. But I am inclined to agree with the famous Daniel Pipes refinement of the Huntington thesis, that we do not actually have a clash between ‘civilisations’, but between ‘civilisation’ and barbarism.
When a violent revolution somewhere results in a peaceable democratic system of government absent Judeo-christian ethics, I will admit I am wrong. But history so far is on my side, not Mr Dyer's. The modern Leftist P.C. despisal of these ethics is descending into worse and worse bad faith and bad conscience, and Mr Dyer's latest column is just another example of such people desperately thrashing around in denial.

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Submitted to The Press on February 20, 2011

If Joel Dixon is trying to impress us with his figures for US aid to Egypt and Israel he will have to try harder. His figures are small bikkies compared to the long-term estimate that the US will eventually invest $1.88 trillion in establishing democratic infrastructures in Afghanistan and Iraq. In a typical fiscal year at the moment, the US allots $75 billion to Afghanistan and $65 billion to Iraq. So much for propping up ‘brutal regimes’. The US works hard to keep allies like Egypt and Israel in the Middle East to counterbalance the really dangerous, rogue regimes like Syria and Iran who sponsor terrorism and foment instability in the region.
But Joel wants to impugn the US and Israel so he carefully adjusts his blinkers to ensure he doesn't see the realities. Many of the oil-rich Middle Eastern countries have enormous wealth, more than enough to improve their citizens' lives, but they don't do it because the oil income is monopolised by small elites and their extended families, often styling themselves devout ‘Islamic sultanates’ to mask their secular greed. I know. I lived in one for two years.
As the repressive Islamic regimes are tearing themselves apart, Israel, that bastion of democracy, individual rights, and personal freedom has never looked so good.

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Submitted to The Press on February 17, 2011

Don't rely on propaganda It is clear from his letter (16 Feb) that Joel Dixon relies on propaganda rather than history or facts for his views on the Middle East.
To correct his assertion that Israel is the biggest hurdle to peace in the region, he could read the numerous Wikileaks-revealed requests to the USA to take action against Iran (remember Saudi King Abdullah's ‘cut the head of the snake’?), and then look at the history of Israel — how partition of the British Mandate into an Arab state and a Jewish state was recommended by the United Nations in November 1947 (and rejected by Arab states and the Palestinians); and when the British withdrew in May 1948 and Israel declared its independence, it was invaded by armies from Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Egypt. Arab enmity and aggression has continued for 63 years.
To correct his ideas about Arab democracy and development, Mr Dixon should read the Arab-written UNDP Arab Human Development Reports (2002-5 and 2009, available on the Internet) to understand how the weaknesses of the Arab world are the lack of freedom, the lack of knowledge and the lack of women's empowerment.

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Submitted to The Press on February 16, 2011

Joel Dixon's précis of the situation in the Middle East reads like a conspiracy theorist's primer. Unfortunately, his theories are both outdated and erroneous.
His claim that ‘Israel is the biggest hurdle to lasting peace in the region’ suggests that Mr Dixon has never read the history books that outline the numerous international peace deals that were agreed to by Israel, but rejected outright by Arab negotiators. He seems ignorant of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's consistently belligerent anti-western, anti-Israeli speeches to the Iranian public and the United Nations. Similarly, he appears to be oblivious to the sabre-rattling by groups like Hezbollah and the continuing rocket attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas and its allies. He’s missed the fact that the Egyptian military, and not a CIA stooge, has taken control of the country, and that since the demise of the Bush administration, Israel's relationship with America has cooled significantly.
The greatest hurdle to peace in the Middle East is not Israel, but an obsessive anti-Western, anti-Jewish ideology that squanders precious resources and puts the destruction of the Jewish state ahead of investing in the humanitarian development of Arab nations — some of the most potentially prosperous countries on earth.

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Submitted to The Press on February 16, 2011 (Published February 19)

Joel Dixon's history book (February 16th) must be titled ‘Middle Eastern Cliches, Myths and Conspiracies’ We are all accustomed to this kind of unmitigated twaddle from the Left which tries to make the US and Israel responsible for every ill in the region. Does Dixon really believe we can accept his picture of the Palestinians and neighbouring Arab states as victims when they have repeatedly tried to annihilate a sovereign state which desires only to live in peace with its neighbours and has made huge concessions to do so while quite rightly refusing to compromise its right to defend its citizens?
Dixon is merely re-fabricating the Nazis ‘stab-in-the-back’ theory which ignited their persecution of the Jews and led to the Holocaust.
Since the inception of the war on terror western nations have wrestled with the ethical challenges of using torture to save innocent lives, lives which have no value to the murderers.
Israel has never tested nuclear weapons and has never resorted to using them even when sorely pressed, as in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. In contrast, Iran issues daily threats to erase Israel as part of a religiously inspired crusade.
Islam and democracy are inherently incompatible and nothing the US or Israel does will make an iota of difference to what happens in Egypt.

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Submitted to The Press on February 16, 2011

Knee jerk Israel bashers like Joel Dixon (15 Feb) just don't seem to be able to face realities and would rather have us believe that Israel is behind every event no matter where it occurs. He is notably silent on the brutal suppression of cries for freedom and human rights in Iran and Syria. His fixation with conspiracy theories fools nobody. Persecution of women, non Islamic minorities and those advocating democracy in Moslem countries is something which should concern everyone. It is ironic therefore that the only country in the region which is a genuine democracy and guarantor of civil rights should continue to be the target of bigoted and ill informed campaigns.

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Submitted to The Press on February 16, 2011

Joel Dixon suggests Israel could become the biggest hurdle to lasting peace in the Middle East. The opposite is true. Israel, a tiny nation, is surrounded by jihadists hating her and the entire western world. Islamists murdered 3000 at Ground Zero and thousands more in suicide bombings around the world, not Israel, as Mr Dixon knows. To survive in the face of murderous millions she must remain fully armed.
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East; all that stands between us and militant Islam. She deserves of our total support unless, perhaps Mr. Dixon fancies Islamic rule with its suppression and vile punishment of women, it's beheading or stoning of dissidents and obligatory conversion to Islam.
It is Palestine that sent thousands of rockets plus suicide bombers into Israel, not vice versa. Palestine is defenseless because of its own persistent violence. Put the blame where it belongs.

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Submitted to The NZ Heraldon February 15, 2011

Your correspondent, V. West, got it all wrong (NZ Herald 14 February). Israel contracted with the Palestinians to stop building for a finite period. The end of that period meant they were free to continue building, of which the Palestinians were fully aware. But they refused to meet the only condition, which was that they recognize Israel as a nation.
As well as ignoring the condition they continued firing rockets into Israel. What would V. West do if I threw, not death-dealing rockets, but merely rocks on to his roof, numbering into the thousands, or sent suicide bombers on to his property? How long would it be before he took action against me? Not long, of that I am certain, but Israel had to tolerate eight thousand rockets over seven years. How would he feel if I published my wish to destroy him?
While the Palestinians continue to signal their hatred of, and desire to annihilate, Israel, there is no reason why Israel should give them an inch. And thus far, it is unlikely that Egypt will side with the Palestinians as they fully support the embargo against arms entering Gaza. Who wouldn't?

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Submitted to The Press on February 12, 2011 (Printed but the words in red omitted)

So on planet Martin Griffiths, courtesy of Robert Fisk, (February 12th) Arabs want ‘real democracy’ and the evil West has denied it to them. Haven't the Western Coalition forces shed their blood trying to bring democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan? Young girls in Afghanistan can now actually go to school. The more than 300 Egyptians who gave their lives in the protests died cursing Mubarak, not Israel or the US.
How does Robert Fisk think you can instantly graft democracy onto embedded, brutal, autocratic or theocratic dictatorships rife with nepotism, dynasticism (the Assad family have run Syria since 1970) and corruption, not to mention an ideology that denies equality to women, persecutes gays, minorities, Christians and Jews? Dissidents and apostates are routinely tortured and executed.
It is of course in Israel's best interest to have democracies in the Arab states that surround her, but failing that, this small nation that has weathered existential threats for 63 years, must work with what's there. Egypt supports Israel's legal blockade of Gaza because, like other Arab states, it fears the Muslim Brotherhood and its extremist cronies like Hamas. Griffiths is apparently unaware of the 1000 year conflict between Shia and Sunni muslims. 90% of Egyptians are Sunni while Hamas is part of the Shi.ite Iran, Syria, Hizbollah clique.
Only in Israel are Arabs free to use the democratic ballot box.

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Submitted to The Press on February 12, 2011

Their destiny is in their own hands
It is typical of Robert Fisk, and of those like Martin Griffiths (Letters, 12 February) who quote Fisk, to interpret world events through a consistently anti-USA, anti-West bias.
So it was with Griffiths' comments on the situation in Egypt.
Ultimately, the destiny of a nation is in the hands of its own people. That's how it was with the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and now the overthrow of the Egyptian dictator.
Despite Griffiths' criticisms, the comments from other countries, whether Israel (Egypt's neighbour) or New Zealand (16,000 kilometres away), have no influence on what is actually happening in Egypt.

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Submitted to The Press on February 12, 2011

In commenting on recent events in Egypt your correspondent Martin Griffith quotes Robert Fisk ‘Arabs want real democracy but we (the West) won't let them have it’
Very strange — can either Griffith or Fisk explain how the West is preventing democracy in Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia or the Gulf States not to mention Iran (non Arab) They all remain controlled by autocratic despots or dominated by intolerant, extremely cruel and medieval theocracies.
Fisk and GriFfith like me will have to see where Egypt's future lies — they are sure to be disappointed and wrong about the Middle East us usual.

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on February 8, 2011

Despite Murray Parker's apparent distaste for the Jewish state, Israeli government concerns about a forced change of regime in Egypt are valid. Israelis remember other popular uprisings where those directing the revolutions rapidly extinguished calls for freedom and democracy upon gaining power.
In 1979 the Iranian people exchanged political autocracy for religious totalitarianism and are now led by men who call for the extermination of Jews and the destruction of the West. After winning a questionably democratic election in Gaza in 2006, Hamas liquidated its political opponents, clamped down on human rights and channelled its resources into launching attacks on Israel.
Calls for radical political change in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Jordan could yield similar results. The power vacuum created by the fall of established Arab regimes, however flawed, would be perfect for organisations like the Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks to eliminate Israel and create a unified Islamic caliphate throughout the Middle East.
Hosni Mubarak was apparently corrupt, but I doubt that the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, with their historical connections to fascism, their policies of expansionism, and their inherent political and religious intolerance will be any better for ordinary Egyptian people, or their neighbours.

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on February 7, 2011 (Published February 10 - heading added)

Muslim Brotherhood a real threat

Murray Parker's letter (7 Feb) is another clear example of real facts being confused with fantasy and bigotry. The prospect of Egypt being governed by Islamic fanatics of the Moslem Brotherhood is real. They hate Israel, Jews, Christians and women in the same way as the current oppressive regimes in Iran and Gaza. Lebanon is in the process of being swallowed up by the same repressive groups. There is no real democracy anywhere in the Arab world nor is there likely to be any in the foreseeable future. Naturally Israel, the region's only true democracy and guarantor of civil rights is rightly worried about developments. The biggest irony is that Egypt and Jordan which occupied Gaza and the West Bank respectively from 1948 to 1967 never cared a fig for Palestinians. Today it is only Israel which provides free and fair access to the ballot box for all its Arab citizens. Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank are by contrast, examples of undemocratic repression.

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on February 7, 2011

I am completely at a loss to understand why people like Murray Parker (Feb 7), blame Israel for fearing the threat of a seriously disastrous outcome for the people of Egypt. Should the Muslim Brotherhood take over or be elected, you can be sure any hope of a future democracy, such as we in the West and Israel know it, would be gone. The history of Iran after the Shah was deposed should give pause for worry to those who care about freedom.

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on February 7, 2011

Israel has reason to worry
Murray Parker's animosity towards Israel (Feb 7) leads him to misrepresent both the views of Israel's Prime Minister and the situation following the Cairo uprising.
Mr Netanyahu, speaking to the Knesset on 2 February, said: “All those who cherish human liberty, including the people of Israel, are inspired by genuine calls for reform and by the possibility that it will take place. It is obvious that an Egypt that fully embraces the 21st century and that adopts these reforms would be a source of great hope for the entire world, the region and for us.”
He went on to point out that an Egypt which achieves independent courts that protect the rights of individuals and the rule of law; a free press; and a robust parliamentary system, would never be a threat to peace.
However, it is naïve to think that a democratic Egypt is the only possible outcome of a regime change. That is not what happened in Iran.
It is realistic to be concerned when your large neighbour (over 80 million population, compared to Israel's 7 million) has political groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, one of whose leaders, Rashad al-Bayumi, has spoken of abrogating a 30-year-old peace treaty.

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Submitted to The Otago Daily Times on February 3, 2011 (Published on February 9)

Watching history being made before our eyes can be exciting! but that may be short lived if history repeats itself in the coming months. Granted the current government was corrupt, backed and supported by the equally corrupt American government, and as the Liberals have reminded us, Israel is equally to blame for propping up Hosni Mubarak.
Time will tell if Egypt will go the way of Gamal Abdel Nasser (backed by the corrupt Soviet Bloc) cut off the Straits of Tiran and lead the country into another pointless war with Israel, or will it lead the Arab States away from the dark ages promoting women's rights, freedom of speech etc.
Given the track record of region it is highly unlikely that Egypt has the strength or willpower to overcome the decades of hate towards Israel, or the good sense to allow women to participate equally in all facets of Egyptian life and politics. The Muslim Brotherhood will see to that.
No good has ever come from excluding half the population from freedoms which is their right, and of immense benefit to any country wanting a better future for all its citizens and the citizens of the region regardless of which God they pray to.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on February 3, 2011

Egyptians will be no better off under a new, democratically elected Islamic leadership than they were under Hosni Mubarak. Reigns of terror almost inevitably follow ‘popular uprisings’, whether in France or Russia, Iran or Gaza, and Egypt will be no exception.
The populist Muslim Brotherhood has historical ties to Fascism and terrorism, and an obsession about destroying Israel. The immediate result of it gaining more power in Egypt would be a dangerously destabilised region, and an increase in violence against moderate Muslims, Christians and Jews.
Hasan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, gave a hint about what the world could expect from a ‘triumph for Islamic parties’ in the Middle East. He wrote, ‘It is the nature of Islam to dominate, not to be dominated, to impose its law on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.’ This is the vision of the organisation most likely to govern Egypt in place of Hosni Mubarak.
The New Zealand Herald may be correct about popular movements making ‘permanent change and genuine progress’, but if Muslim Brotherhood increases its influence, the Middle East will progress from anarchy into tyranny, war and attempted genocide. Not much to hope for.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on February 3, 2011

Another curious editorial from you, involving Egypt, Islamism, and Israel. You have such glaring blind spots on these issues, I really recommend you find additional sources of information to whatever biased and distorted ones you currently are relying on. I suspect ‘The Guardian’?
How ever can you continually censure Israel for ‘failure to make peace’, when the ‘popular will’ in the surrounding nations is against peace, and every ‘autocrat’ who does make peace with Israel faces assassination or revolution? And you express approval about the assertion of this popular will?
You are far too comfortable with the rise of militant Islamism, saying that the world should ‘learn to deal with it’. The lessons here are all to be derived from Neville Chamberlain and the late-1930's Nazi threat; yet you remain a benighted Helen Clark - supporting pacifist. You say that the autocrats (such as Mubarak) ‘power…is artificial and ultimately unreliable’, as if Islamist regimes are NOT? The Taleban, the Mullahs, the Al-Bashir regime in Sudan? Come ON.
You gloss over the Iranian threat to Israel, using distance as your assurance; as Iran accumulates missiles and develops nuclear warheads? And their leaders have been every bit as explicit about their intentions as one Adolf Hitler ever was.
Islamist regimes, even if they might have experienced an initial flush of ‘popular’ support, always involve a brutal reign of terror without hope for those trapped under them, just as with Leftist totalitarianisms in the 20th century. Islamism shares certain totalitarian ideologies intolerance towards people of ‘non-approved’ cultures. Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Atheists; are routinely brutalised and murdered without protection or justice from anywhere. As for the rights of women (let alone homosexuals), what a sick joke.
Your crowning hypocrisy (and that of many editors and journalists in this country) is your longstanding antagonism to ‘Christian fundamentalist’ values in your own culture; while seemingly having no argument with the worst kind of medievalism elsewhere in the world. I very much doubt you have even thought that Islam needs a few successful Luthers, Calvins, and Wycliffes of its own; better late than never. The list of martyrdoms of such people in Islam continues to accumulate, having left medieval Papism far behind long ago.
The son of Hamas leader Abbas, who converted to Christianity a few years ago (fleeing to the USA, of course) has pointed out very wisely that Western spinelessness, hypocrisy, and lack of conviction, is no help to the chances of reform in the Islamic world.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on February 3, 2011

Instead of recycling exploded myths about Israel, your editorial (3 February) would better have recognised that it is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, and a multi-ethnic, multicultural one to boot.
The record of election winners in other Middle Eastern nations is sobering. Hamas in Gaza slaughtered supporters of the Fatah opposition after it won power. Iran rigged its last poll, and brutally suppressed popular protests. The PLO in the West Bank has suspended elections indefinitely. It is too early to tell whether Iraq will follow this depressing pattern, but the sectarianism of Iraqi politics is not encouraging.
Israeli democracy could be a model for countries such as Egypt if it was prepared to learn from its ideological foe. Sadly, this appears highly unlikely, and your optimistic interpretation of events seems unjustified.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on February 3, 2011

It is a pity that your editorial (3 Feb) cannot resist the urge to bash Israel for the upheavals now taking place in Egypt. Following your logic, if Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel is the cause of Mubarak’s unpopularity, how can you blame Israel for not being able to make similar deals with neigbouring Arab countries (except Jordan which you conveniently forgot to mention)? Obviously the educated young masses in those countries would also be deeply embarrassed (your words) at making peace with the Jewish State. Furthermore your statement that settlers continue to drive Palestinians from their homes and villages in the West Bank is untrue. Glossing over the fact that terror and persecution of Christians and Jews, as well as degradation of women and lack of basic freedoms follow when Islamist terror organizations gain power demonstrates an appalling lack of understanding. Bashing Israel is much easier than facing unpalatable realities it seems.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on January 28, 2011

What a curious editorial tone, ‘Middle East Foes Blew Best Chance’. It is obvious to me who blew it, but less knowledgeable people will be none the wiser.
Israel has a parliament with members advocating ‘peace at any price’, editors and writers advocating the same, and continual healthy public debate. We take the conditions of liberal democracy for granted, so much so that we do not notice its absence in every other part of the Middle East EXCEPT Israel.
Your editorial at least mentions that President Abbas now stands accused by his Hamas opponents as a ‘traitor’ and a ‘sellout’. Israel has had a small minority of fringe fanatics who have assassinated a Prime Minister, just as extremists have assassinated or attempted to assassinate Heads of State in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere, who made a stand for ‘peace with Israel’. But where in Gaza are the ‘peace with Israel’ advocates who do not have the luxury of Presidential bodyguards? Editors, writers, artists?
Gaza is like France under ‘the great terror’ of 1789 and many similar examples. Suspected ‘Israel sympathisers’ are routinely rounded up by Hamas and most devilishly tortured to death. This is the real context in which Israel has to ‘make peace’.
You say that the chances of an agreement ended ‘in December 2008 when Israel began its assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza’, without mentioning the context that thousands of rockets had been fired into Israel from Gaza during the preceding year or 2.
You say ‘the importance of east Jerusalem to Palestinians should not be underestimated.’ Of course. Mohammed went there on a winged horse, in a dream. You don't mention the importance of Jerusalem to Jews.
Even more astonishingly, you say “Yet of even greater moment was the abandonment of the ‘right of return’ of refugees to Israel. Palestinians have traditionally been adamant that this must be recognised in any peace deal. Israel, for its part, has always insisted mass resettlement would spell its end as a Jewish state.”
And there you leave it, moving on to discuss how President Abbas' political opponents have ‘siezed on this’ ‘sellout’. Are there any grounds for doubting that millions of ‘Palestinian refugees’ descendants resettling in Israel, would indeed be the end of the Jewish State? How many Jews are living unmolested in Gaza today, or Egypt, or Saudi Arabia?

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Submitted to The Press on January 27, 2011 (Printed but the words in red omitted)

Felicien Forgues (January 27th) should recall that the fledgling UNO which authorised Israel's existence in the horrific aftermath of WW2 was fired by an idealism to create a better and more just world. It was probably also aware that the Palestinian Arabs had supported the Nazi regime during that war. Since then the UNO has been hijacked by an anti-Israel lobby headed by The Arab/Soviet bloc and their third-world sycophants who have an "automatic majority" and who pass, on average, 30 anti-Israeli resolutions a year while ignoring appalling human rights abuses in despotic and tyrannical regimes like Iran, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Syria etc. it was the UN's decision to pull its peacekeepers out of Sinai that precipitated the 1967 war in the first place.
The present UN is a joke to every thinking person, except Mr Forgues, that is.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on January 26, 2011 (Published on January 29)

Duncan Adams (Letters 24/1/11) misrepresents history by describing Jewish settlers in Israel as land-stealing ‘Polish thugs’. Palestine, now Israel, was a Jewish state from ancient times, and the Palestinian Jewish community survived in the Holy Land despite conquest by Romans, Arabs, Crusaders and Turks.
From the middle of the 19th century, Zionist Jewish settlers purchased land in Palestine from Turkish and Arab landowners, and increased the land's productivity through agricultural and industrial development.
Under the British mandate period, Jewish immigration to Palestine was severely restricted. After 1945, some Jewish survivors of the European Holocaust made their way to Palestine to help rebuild the Jewish homeland, promised in the Balfour Declaration. This Jewish state was opposed by surrounding Arab states, which also rejected options for creating a Palestinian Arab nation in the former Ottoman Empire.
In 1948 the UN declared the establishment of Israel as a Jewish homeland. Arab armies attacked Israel the day after its independence was declared, seeking to destroy the Jewish state, and many Palestinian Arabs fled the war-zone at that time.
Israel defeated the combined Arab armies in 1948, and has been defending itself ever since — from invasion, terrorism, prejudice and misrepresentation.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on January 1, 2011

I read that the Palestinian Authority intends petitioning the UN Security Council to pass an anti-Semitic resolution defining Jewish building in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem as illegal. This move dovetails nicely with Abbas's statement over the weekend that ‘The Palestinian State’ will be Jew-free, whereas Israel is not, and does not want to be, Palestinian-free. Compare this with Israel's stance on Palestinian Muslims within Israel where both peoples mix freely, despite continuing Palestinian rocket attacks and there are approximately a dozen Palestinians in the Knesset (parliament).
In comparison there are no Jews in the Palestinian government and Jews can not risk living in Gaza where, by the way, Gazans do not live in abject poverty and any hardship is caused by their own Hamas leaders withholding international aid. From this we can see that no matter how hard Israel tries to be fair and even-handed, nothing will satisfy the Palestinians but its destruction. If that happens, gone will be the only democracy in the Middle East and there will be no moderate state between the west and the jihadists. We would be wise to stand firmly behind Israel.

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Submitted to The Press on December 23

If Lois Griffiths (Dec 22nd) Googles Khaled Abu Toameh who has referred to himself as an ‘Israeli-Arab-Muslim-Palestinian’, she would find that there are Arabs who work to combat the lies and propaganda spread against Israel. Toameh stated ‘Israel is a wonderful place to live and we are happy to be there. Israel is a free and open country.’ Another extremely brave Arab, who changed sides, is Walid Shoebat an ex Hamas fighter. Walid's father was one of the founders of Hamas and his great grandfather, Abdullah Ali Awad-Allah, was a close associate of both Abdul Qader and Haj Amin Al-Husseini, who led the Palestinians against Israel. Walid lived through and witnessed Israel’s Six Day War while living in Jericho. These are brave men who give an insight into the Islamist agenda and anti-semetic lies.

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Submitted to The Press on December 23

What evidence does Lois Griffiths hold for her biased accusation of state-sponsored racism that ‘poisons Israel’? Where is the evidence for any of her views, most of which are radically incorrect?
Her comment that some of Israel's Jewish citizens are ‘bravely speaking out’ falsely inculcates the idea of citizens living in fear. Nonsense, and manifestly untrue as the huge numbers of Jews and Gentiles moving to Israel attests. People ‘bravely’ speak out in New Zealand against all manner of matters. Does this suggest our people live in fear? Has she not read of the despicable child abuse cases right here, or of the youth suicide bombers attacking Israelis around the world? How’s that for cruelty? And New Zealand too has its ‘secret’ police; has she not heard of the SIS?
Get a grip on the facts, Ms Griffiths. Israel is under attack from hundreds of millions of Islamists sworn to her destruction; a neighbour rains rockets into streets, nightclubs and stores. Before condemning by virtue of the opinions of others, go live the horror, do real research in situ. Then you can tell the truth about the marvel that is Israel.

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Submitted to The Press on December 22 (Published on December 23 but the words in red were deleted)

Never mind the stab-in-the-back theory, Lois Griffiths shoots herself squarely in the foot (Dec 22nd) All countries have internal security agencies. New Zealand has the SIS. As for Jews opposing some of their government's policies, all this proves is that Israel is a vibrant democracy which tolerates dissent and jealously guards freedom of the press. In contrast, Journalists and TV reporters are only allowed into Arab countries by invitation. Palestinian leaders state openly that any future Palestinian state will have no Jews. Israel racist?
Israelis can be stridently self-critical with the aim of improving their society, but by focussing her human rights campaign solely on Israel and ignoring more infamous transgressors Griffiths demeans the term and reveals her transparent bias. For abuse of children she could research the 1974 massacre at Ma'alot where Palestinian terrorists murdered 22 Israeli school children aged between 14 and 16.

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Submitted to The Press on December 22

In her condemnation of Israel, Lois Griffiths (22 December) fails to notice that of all the nations in the Middle East, it is only in democratic Israel that human rights groups that criticise the government can express themselves freely. Groups that seek to speak out against human rights abuses in other Middle Eastern countries are quickly silenced. Only in Israel can Jews and Arabs work together to critique government policy. In the Palestinian Authority, Gaza and a number of Arab states Israeli Jews are not welcome at all, and only Arab, never Jewish, human rights are promoted.
It is not Israel but her neighbours that produce poisonous ‘state-sponsored racism’, as Israelis are routinely portrayed in the most vicious anti-Semitism by Palestinian and other Arab media outlets. Ms Griffiths need to take her blinkers off and view Israel in the wider cultural, political and historical context of the Middle East.

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Submitted to The Press on December 19

Andy Cunninghym in his letter (18 Dec) trots out well worn and discredited accusations against Israel. Apart from Jordan & Egypt, all of Israel's immediate neighbours and quite a few others do not recognise her and are in a declared state of war with the Jewish State. Therefore holding a trial behind closed doors for someone who has broken the official secrets act is normal procedure. Mr. Cunninghym is conspiculously silent when it comes to the secret trials of human rights campaigners taking place in various parts of the world. As far as his wild assertions about abuse & murder by state security organisations and military control of millions, these are so far from reality as to be in the realm of fantasy and conspiracy theories. Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the judiciary is completely free and independent and exercises strict overview of Government actions.

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Submitted to The Press on December 19 (Published on December 21 but the words in red were deleted)

How does Andy Cunninghym (Dec 18) imagine the CIA and KGB ‘conduct their affairs’? the late Alexander Litvenenko is a good example of state-sponsored murder. At least Vanunu got a fair trial and although Israel has a capital punishment law for treason, as do other nations, it was not invoked in Vanunu's case.
Mr Cunninghym would be better employed concerning himself with human rights issues in the countries which surround Israel where torture, executions, imprisonment without trial, honour killings of women, suppression of freedom and religious persecution are daily fare. To accuse Israel of human rights abuses while ignoring the horrors in these oppressive regimes is primitive racism. The Israeli Supreme Court banned torture many years ago in 1999. Security is naturally a vital concern of this small nation which has had to fight for its survival for 62 years.
Most of us more concerned with the nuclear threat emanating from North Korea, Pakistan and Iran rather than Israel's nuclear capability when she is threatening no-one.

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Submitted to The Press and published on December 17 (but the words in red were deleted)

In her haste to impugn Israel, Lois Griffiths manages to overlook some pertinent facts by comparing Liu Xiaobo and Mordechai Vanunu (December 15th). The two situations are completely different. Liu Xiaobo is a human rights campaigner who is being persecuted by his Government for promoting human rights in China. Vanunu broke Israel's official secrets Law by babbling to the international press about his work at Dimona, Israel's nuclear reactor site. In most other countries he would have been either executed or incarcerated for life. There he was jailed and, after having served his sentence, released with restrictions on his travelling overseas and contacting journalists. His situation concerns State secrets, not human rights and the two are completely different. Look at the upheaval over the Wiki leaks and the lengths to which the authorities are going to in order to shut up Assange. Double standards again when it comes to Israel.
Finally, unlike China, Israel has not mounted a diplomatic or media campaign against Germany for awarding the prize.
The exquisite irony of Germany giving a Jew a disarmament prize is apparently lost on Ms Griffiths.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on December 16, 2010

Brian Rudman ruins his otherwise eminently sensible comments on the scare caused by the Israeli tourist praying on the inter-island ferry, by throwing in the following gratuitous remark:

• …. ‘He does, after all, come from the country that has helped trigger radical Islam's jihad against the West, and thus, raised security tensions worldwide’….

A little bit of research and knowledge would have shown him that radical Islam's jihad against the West has nothing to do with Israel and everything to do with an ideology whose aim is the death of infidels, the elimination of democracies and the subjugation of those countries to a new order which denies women basic human rights and tolerates no Faith other than Islam. Israel which is a democracy, provides women with full and equal rights and guarantees freedom of worship for all Faiths is in the forefront of the fight against those who wish to plunge the West back into the dark ages. For Mr. Rudman to accuse Israel of triggering this and being responsible for raising security tensions worldwide, is at best uninformed and at worst falling into the trap of knee jerk anti Israel rhetoric.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on December 15, 2010

Brian Rudman indulges in victim-blaming with his digs at the ‘quaint religious rites’ of the ‘insensitive’ Israeli tourist who inadvertently spooked the crew of an inter-island ferry. Would he have mocked a devout Muslim prostrating himself towards Makkah? I doubt it, if only because he would be afraid of reprisals from Islamist extremists.
What the ferry farce highlights is the astonishing ignorance of other cultures that prevails in New Zealand. No-one involved had a clue about Orthodox Jews or what they do. Multicultural New Zealand? Yeah right.

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Submitted to the Capital Times, Wellington on December 2, 2010 (Printed but the words in red were deleted)

I concede Thomas Goss' point that not all inhabitants of the Middle East are Muslim Arabs. Nevertheless, the disparate tribal nature of Arab society was certainly ended by Mahommedanism in the 8th Century, otherwise Muslim Arabs would never have conquered North Africa and Spain and invaded France all within 100 years at that time.
There is such a thing as ‘Pan-Arab Nationalism’ and also the desire for the ‘restoration of the Caliphate’. Maybe it is leftwing peaceniks who have ideological blind spots on such things? I am happy to disagree flatly that there was ever any such thing as a distinct ‘PALESTINIAN Arab ethnicity’.
I am surprised that Kathleen Loncar asserts that the creation of pro-Western despotic monarchies with arbitrary borders, by the British and French victors of WW1, was something that the peoples of those nations appreciate. I thought it was the received wisdom that Western nations ‘propping up dictators’ to this day, are a major reason ‘why they hate us’.
I am also surprised that Ms Loncar comes out so strongly against the restoration of the Jews to their own nation in the Middle East on any terms. I had always thought she was in favour of redressing outstanding wrongs done to racial minorities. I would turn Ms Loncar's question back on her; are there any other identifiable races of people today who have been prevented by force from living in their ancient lands for centuries? If so, why shouldn't the UN act against the racial excluders?

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on November 30, 2010

The AP article ‘Tuk-tuks take over Gaza’ (28th November) is incorrect on several counts. Poverty in Gaza exists firstly because Hamas leaders sell the people the aid they receive; secondly because the Palestinian settlers smashed the three thousand glasshouses and vast acres of mature gardens left behind for them by the Israelis.
There was no raid on the flotilla, just one ship was stopped for legitimate search purposes as the Panorama investigation later proved to the world. The ‘crew’ was largely IHH supporters, a violent wing of Hamas, of which Israel was doubtless aware. It was not an aid ship, the only ‘aid’ on board being useless, out-of-date medicine, about as helpful as a knitted parachute.
The attack by the crew was what made the boarding ‘deadly’, not the Israeli action. Many bullet casings were found that were unrelated to Israeli weapons. Was the violent attack on the soldiers a blind for the activities of the crew as they threw the cached weapons overboard?

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Submitted to the Capital Times, Wellington on November 18, 2010 (Published with some editing)

Gaza’s border
Kathleen Loncar seems happy to provide some more illustrations of anti-Israel propaganda. Her rejoinder to my point about Gaza having a border with Egypt would be devastating if there was any truth at all in it: she says that ‘Israel has blockaded the border Gaza has with Egypt’.
The truth is more prosaic. Historically, Presidents of Egypt who have made peace with Israel have a sad tendency to get assassinated by Islamist terrorists of exactly the same kind as who currently run Gaza. Besides waging incessant internal conflict with their own Islamists, who have murdered hundreds of people in Egypt alone over the last few decades, (including Christians and other ‘infidels’) of course Egypt also has to blockade Gaza.
Gaza was part of Egypt from 1948 to 1967, and the West Bank was part of Jordan. Why is it Israel's fault if no ‘Palestinian’ State was established all that time according to the UN plan? These people are all Muslim Arabs anyway. Syria, Jordan, Iraq, ‘Palestine’; are all constructs of a bygone generation of Western imperialists, that Israel's enemies happily go along with when it suits them, exposing their bad faith on all counts.
I never said Israel has any historical claim to Gaza. It is perfectly legal under international law, to intervene in territories from which attacks are constantly launched against you, including when the apparent leadership of that territory cannot or will not enforce the peace. I know Ms Loncar will drag up the decisions of various "International Tribunals" which on a closer look, will prove to be made up of ‘judicial experts’ from North Korea, Libya, Cuba, Syria and other Kafka-esque combinations from the butt end of the needle on humanity's moral compass.
On Ms. Loncar's own terms, Israel DOES have a historical claim to most of the West Bank and even parts of Jordan. Are places like Bethlehem and Ramallah and Hebron not clearly identified with Israel in Ms. Loncar's Bible? Not to mention Jerusalem itself, which surely only is the subject of controversy because of the sheer intransigence of Israel's haters.

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Submitted to the Capital Times, Wellington on November 6, 2010 (Published November 10)

Re your article, ‘Adventures in Palestine for Kiwi Islamist’.
Do you understand the meaning of "Islamist"? The difference between a ‘peace loving Muslim" and an ‘Islamist’ is about the same as that between a ‘peace loving German’ and a ‘Nazi’. Would you publish an interview with a Nazi, that involved opinions about Israel?
I sincerely hope your interviewee Mousa Taher is not actually an ‘Islamist’, and that the one-sidedness of his comments about ‘Palestine’ actually stem from the loony Left in our society; obviously his teacher at Tawa College who gave him his ‘awareness’, was one of these. I could list dozens of points on which ‘the case against Israel’ has been fabricated by our loony Left's useful idiots. Just one is enough to show them up: Gaza has a border with Egypt as well as one with Israel. No further explanation is necessary for intelligent people.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on October 18, 2010 (Published October 22 - Portions in red ommitted)

Gwynne Dyer (18/10/10), referring to Israel's demand that the Palestinians recognise it as a Jewish state, asks, ‘Why would Mr Netanyahu make such a demand if he wants the peace talks to succeed?’
The obvious answer is: ‘Because he wants the peace talks to succeed.’
Mr Netanyahu knows, as any intelligent person should, that there can only be peace if the Palestinians accept the existence of the Jewish state. If the Arabs had accepted Israel in 1948, we would now be celebrating the 62nd anniversary of a Palestinian state. Instead they chose to wage a series of wars and attacks over the years aimed at destroying Israel.
All Mr Abbas had to say was, ‘Of course we do’. The fact that he couldn't say it speaks volumes.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on October 18, 2010

Re Israel's demand that the Palestinians accept it as a Jewish state, Gwynne Dyers asks (18/10/10), ‘Why would Mr Netanyahu make such a demand if he wants the peace talks to succeed?’
Answer: ‘Because he wants the peace talks to succeed.’
Mr Netanyahu knows, as any intelligent person should, that there can only be peace if the Palestinians accept the existence of a Jewish state — something they have never done in the past. Israel's need for security is the real stumbling block to peace, not house construction.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on October 14

The article below is from the Daily Mail — written by Peter Hitchens (younger brother of Christopher). I think it is a well-balanced article that contains current and distinctly surprising information about Gaza that most of us, including me, have never read about in any NZ newspaper. As the author says, Gaza is ‘the world's most misrepresented location.’ I think your readers will appreciate getting an insight into what is actually going on there (especially with the UN Gaza Flotilla Enquiry under Sir Geoffrey Palmer about to issue its Report).
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319157

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Submitted to the Southland Times, The Press & Otago Daily Times on October 12

The real obstacle to peace
According to the BBC, Palestinians rejected Israel's offer to extend the construction freeze if they would recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. (To see the story, which was not widely reported in the NZ press, Google ‘Palestinians reject Israeli offer’ in quotes.) This exposes the pretence that the construction of homes is an obstacle to peace.
The real obstacle, of course, is that you can't make peace with someone who wants you dead. The refusal of Palestinians to recognize the existence of Israel is seen every day in Arab media, as reported by Palestinian Media Watch. (Google ‘denial of Israel's existence’ in quotes.)

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times & The Press on October 12

According to the BBC, Palestinians rejected Israel's offer to extend the construction freeze if they would recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. (To see the story, which was not widely reported in the NZ press, Google ‘Palestinians reject Israeli offer’ in quotes.) This exposes the pretence that the construction of homes is an obstacle to peace.
The real obstacle, of course, is that you can't make peace with someone who wants you dead. The refusal of Palestinians to recognize the existence of Israel is seen every day in Arab media, as reported by Palestinian Media Watch. (Google ‘denial of Israel's existence’ in quotes.)

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on October 12

Muslims who take Israel's much-derided loyalty pledge can become fully-fledged citizens of Israel. How many Islamic states accept Jews as citizens on any terms whatever?

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Submitted to The Herald On Sunday on October 10, (Printed October 17)

The AP report in last week's edition included the phrase ‘the Israeli Government was given the choice between peace and settlements, and it has chosen settlements’. The article does not reveal that there are Palestinians living in the West Bank along with Israelis. Current reporting consistently gives the impression that this is not so.
Why did the Palestinians agree to a ten-month moratorium on building if they had no intention of allowing it to resume at the expiry? Doesn't an agreed finite term mean just that? The Arab League warns that Israel faces dangerous consequences of continuing. Does this mean thousands more rockets, more suicide bombings, more stonings, and more incidents like the very recent one where a whole Israeli family was murdered in their car by Palestinians? Nothing would surprise me.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on October 9

The latest brouhaha about construction in Israeli settlements in the West Bank illustrates one thing: the Palestinians still think that ‘give and take’ means ‘Israel gives and the Palestinians take.’ They made absolutely no reciprocal gesture that would have encouraged the extension of the construction freeze.
Areas in the West Bank have religious, historic and strategic importance to Israelis. Israel has no obligation to give the Palestinians everything they claim to want. Israel has dismantled settlements in the past and quickly discovered that it had given land not for peace, but for increased violence. The world should stop enabling the Palestinian leadership's rejectionism.

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Submitted to The Press on October 7

On 5/10//10 you printed a report that two Israeli soldiers were convicted (by Israel) for ordering a Palestinian boy to search bags that might contain explosives. The boy was unhurt. This item demonstrates three facts:
1. Israel has a very high moral code for its military, in contrast with Palestinian terrorist groups whose aim is to kill civilians.
2. In time of war, soldiers sometimes do bad things. This is true for any nation, including New Zealand.
3. The world press likes to highlight any wrong-doing by Israel, while ignoring much worse actions by other nations and groups.

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Submitted to The Press on October 4

Israel has never set preconditions for talks as the PA has (October 4th), despite being the victim of 62 years of Arab aggression and having plenty of reasons to do so. It is generous of Netanyahu to even have dialogue with Abbas, a Holocaust denier who financed the murders of the Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Meanwhile, half the proposed Palestinian state is under the control of a terrorist group committed to Israel's destruction. Palestinian media and educational institutes continue to incite racial hatred and violence against Jews.
The settlements are legal under International Law because they are on land from which an attack was launched against Israel and which was captured in a defensive war. For the security of her people, and given the disaster that followed the pull-out from Gaza, Israel must have some strategic depth at her narrow ‘waist’. If Jews can live with Arabs (1 million in Israel), why not the reverse? This is the apartheid that Israel is always being accused of and yet another example of the double standard applied to that country.
The Palestinians refused to make peace before there was a single settlement and they refused to make peace when Ehud Barak offered to end the settlements.

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Submitted to NZ Herald on October 3

Gwynne Dyer (2 October) calls the ending of Israel's 10-month settlement freeze a ‘stumbling block to a settlement’. A little thought shows how ridiculous this is — even though it is portrayed that way by the Palestinians. First, during the ten months the freeze was in effect, the Palestinians refused even to negotiate.
Second, houses can be taken down, if necessary, AFTER boundaries have been determined. Or perhaps, if the Palestinians change their mind about a Jew-free state, they could remain. After all, there are 1.4 million Arabs living in Israel. What would be the outcry if New Zealand decided it must be Jew-free? In any event, the houses are not hurting anyone, or interfering with a resolution of other issues. One might better ask, ‘Why are the Palestinians using this as an excuse to avoid negotiations?’

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Submitted to The Press on September 26

Your article on a UN Human Rights Council report on the action taken by Israel with a ship from the Gaza flotilla includes excerpts from an Associated Press report in which Israel is condemned for its action. What I find very disturbing about this report is that this UN Human Rights Council is dominated by African, Asian and Latin American countries. When it comes to condemnation of the appalling human rights violations- torture, rape, genocide often on a grand scale- in these very countries, there is a notable silence from this so-called ‘human rights council’. Instead, its members choose to pour their venom on a country like Israel which is trying to prevent weapons and missiles falling into the hands of an extremest Islamic group sworn to Israel's destruction. To my mind this is an attempt to deflect world attention away from the real human rights crises which continue to exist in their own countries. What is particularly disturbing is that it seems to be working.

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Submitted to The Press on September 26

I note Stuff's online or The Press's print versions' take where Israel is concerned. For example: Sept. 26, Stuffs online headline ‘Obama blasts Sept 11 speech’ — no mention of Israel. Compare Sept. 25, 'The Australian' headline ‘‘Arabs must work for peace’ with bold sub heading: ‘Barack Obama has called on Arab states to fall behind his bid for peace between Israelis and Palestinians and to ‘stop trying to tear Israel down’’. … used his annual address to the US General Assembly …. ‘I know many in this hall count themselves as friends of the Palestinians,’ ... ‘But these pledges of friendship must now be supported by deeds.’ …. ’Apart from Israel's enemy Iran, Saudi Arabia and Arab states — other than Egypt and Jordan — have proved to be obstacles in the peace process.’’
Why don't we see the the missing truth in The Press?

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Submitted to The Otago Daily Times on September 25 (Published September 29)

The article ‘Israeli flotilla raid roundly criticised’ (24/09/10) contained false charges. Those who want to see what really happened on the only ship that refused allow its cargo to be inspected for arms can Google ‘passengers attacking’, in quotes. The camera doesn't lie.
And to see the truth about the ‘humanitarian crisis’ in Gaza, Google ‘absolute prosperity in Gaza’, in quotes.

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Submitted to The Press on September 25

The article ‘Raid on flotilla ruled illegal’ (24/09/10) contained many anti-Israel lies (yes, lies) and omissions:
The Human Rights Council report was a recommendation, not a ruling.
There is no ‘humanitarian crisis’ in Gaza. (Google ‘absolute prosperity in Gaza’, in quotes.)
A blockade of an enemy is not unlawful. According to the UN charter it is one of the first measures to be taken.
Israel's action is not a ‘blockade’. It is an arms embargo to stop Israel's declared enemy from acquiring missiles and other weapons.
Israel did not "raid" the flotilla. Five ships voluntarily agreed to inspection. One ship chose to resist with force.
It is not ‘disproportionate’ to defend by necessary means troops who are attacked while engaged in a peaceful operation.
That's six lies in the first two paragraphs. To see the truth of what happened, Google ‘passengers attacking’, in quotes. The camera doesn't lie.

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Letter to Radio New Zealand National

Hello People (Gentlemen is not an appropriate greeting)
On the 9am Radio New Zealand news this morning there was this item (also on the RNZ website):

A United Nations Human Rights Council investigation says the Israeli military broke international law during its raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza.
The three-member panel, headed by former New Zealand prime minister Geoffrey Palmer, says Israel's military response to the flotilla was disproportionate and betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality.
Israel insists that its soldiers acted in self-defence during the raid on 31 May, when nine Turks were killed on board a ship as it tried to break a naval blockade of Gaza.
The report by the UN panel also says the blockade was 'unlawful' because of a humanitarian crisis there at the time.
Israel has not yet made any comment.

I heard it and knew there was something wrong with the report but couldn't identify exactly what. Then I checked. The the United Nations Human Rights Council panel is not the investigation headed by Sir Geoffrey. He has been appointed directly by the UN governor-General Ban Ki Moon and that investigation has not released any result. The UNHRC is demonstrably biased against Israel and is overwhelmingly dominated by Islamist countries or their fellow-travelers (to use an archaic but apposite term). This is a completely artificial lie once again intended (by whoever originated the report, not necessarily you personally) to slander a state that is already demonized and being delegitimized in order to justify its destruction. Perhaps it would be constructive to determine who did invent this story and investigate their motives. That would be worthy of true journalistic ideals. Please correct this as soon as possible and with enough emphasis to redress the damage done. Simply burying a grudging retraction is not adequate or acceptable.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post (Published September 21)

Contributor misleads
Daoud Kuttab's article (Features, Sept 10) was misleading.
Clearly Palestinian leaders have not opposed any form of violence; the killings by rocket attacks, suicide bombings and deadly incursions into Israeli territory have occurred with their knowledge and without obvious attempt to stop them.
By this, the more moderate Mahmoud Abbas is sleeping with Israel's enemy.
And when have they demanded that their people abandon the desire for Israel's destruction?
As for Israel's so-called heavy handedness in Gaza, recent rocket attacks make it clear they have no intention of stopping, so any such problem for Gazans lies in their own hands. Naturally, this has taught Israel to be antagonistic to a future Palestinian state on the West Bank.
A further insult is the claim to half of Jerusalem. It has never been holy to Palestinians and is never mentioned in the Koran. They want Jerusalem only because the Jews have got it.

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Submitted to the Waikato Times on September 13, 2010 (Published September 20)

Congratulations to the University of Waikato students who challenged Kia Ora Gaza activists at the University last Wednesday.
Kia Ora Gaza seems to be less interested in providing aid to Gaza than it is in vilifying Israel among the international community. These self-proclaimed ‘humanitarians’ appear to be little more than political ideologues, wanting to go on a subsidised anti-Israel road-trip.
I could sympathise with Kia Ora Gaza activists if they called upon the Hamas leadership in Gaza to renounce its intention of exterminating the Jewish state, its deliberate murder of Jewish civilians, and its persecution of Palestinians who do not adhere to its political agenda.
Kia Ora Gaza should acknowledge the huge amount of humanitarian supplies that already pass into the Gaza Strip from Israel every week, and the role of Hamas in creating a "crisis" in Gaza. They should lobby the Hamas government to respect the human rights of Palestinians who are discriminated against because of their political and religious convictions. They should call for the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli who has been held captive by Hamas for four years without any humanitarian visits.
Perhaps then Kia Ora Gaza activists could be taken seriously as non-partisan humanitarians.

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Submitted to The Northern Advocate on September 10, 2010

Paul Berks claims that Menachem Begin described Palestinians as beasts walking on two legs. He gives no provenance for that statement so its credibility is murky indeed. How does he explain that there are Palestinians in the Israeli Parliament and those living there have no wish to leave?
If his claimed statement by David Ben Gurion is true, perhaps it was in response to the Palestinian claim that the land was theirs and that Jerusalem was their capital but it has never been the Palestinian. It is never mentioned in the Koran but is in the Bible over eight hundred times. It was established as the capital by King David one thousand years before Christ. The land was subsequently Jewish-occupied many times before the Roman conquest in AD70. It was the Romans who named it Palestina. Arabs wishing to settle there have hi-jacked the name to give themselves credibility. The famed Palestinian Arafat was an Egyptian. There's no credibility in any Palestinian claims.
Berks ignores the seven thousand rockets, suicide bombings, threats of annihilation by Palestinians on Israel. It is Arab nations that treaten Israel in an apartheid manner occupying eight hundred times the land area of Israelis. Israel is a thriving, robust economy having brought thousands of desert acres into rich production while most Arab states, even those that are oil rich, have teeming millions living in poverty. Just one cause of their entrenched rage against Israel.

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Submitted to The Northern Advocate on September 10, 2010

To answer Paul Berks' question (8/9/10): No, some critics (and criticisms) of Israel are fair and reasonable. However when it comes to the outrageously false accusations made by Mr Berk, one can only wonder about his motives. Yes, ‘blind hatred’ or perhaps ‘extreme stupidity’ come to mind. I say this because his accusations are distortions and in most cases the opposite of the truth.
For example, Menachem Begin's reference to ‘two-legged beasts’ was not aimed at ‘the Palestinians’ but at terrorists who target children — a description that I hope Mr Berk would agree with.
From the beginning, Israel was willing to accept its Arab residents, but the Arabs refused to accept the Jews and started a war to drive them out. Today there are 1.4 million Palestinians living in Israel while the number of Jews in surrounding Arab countries is somewhere around zero. These ‘facts on the ground’ speak for themselves.
If Mr Berk wanted to be fair, he would have checked his hateful charges before making them. But we believe what we want to believe, don’t we?
I understand the desire of the editor to present both sides, but this kind of hate-mongering goes beyond the pale.

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Submitted to The Northern Advocate on September 9, 2010 (Published [11th] and prominently displayed with banner heading added, but the parts in red were deleted)

ARTICLE DISTORTS THE TRUTH
I was shocked to read the gross inaccuracies in Berks editorial on 9th September. The entire article is full of gross distortions of the truth and outright fabrications. For instance Berk quotes Ben Gurion as saying ‘we must expel the Arabs and take their place’ when what was actually said was ‘we do NOT wish and do NOT need to expel the Arabs and take their places’ –— the exact opposite meaning of Berks ‘quote’. ALL of the other quotes are taken from anti-Semitic literature and websites. They are fabricated and that can be verified by simply Googling the actual quote. One is presented with a series of websites dedicated to exposing untrue quotes from the past.
An opinion article printed becomes a weapon against a group of people when it is based on false assumptions, distortions of facts. The true facts will not change the mind of the author because his mind is already made up. For instance, by indirectly comparing the Jews to Nazis, Berks has exposed himself as a classic anti-Semite and as a responsible newspaper, the Northern Advocate has failed the public in this instance by printing an article so far from the truth.

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Submitted to The Northern Advocate on September 9, 2010

Re ‘Israeli apartheid builds conflict’ Having read this article, I am left wondering if the Northern Advocate is only an advocate for liars, or for the truth?
The fact is that Israel has a larger proportion of Arabs than the Arab nations have of Jews, and these Arabs have representatives in parliament. When surveyed, the result is always that they prefer living under an Israeli government than an Arab one.
Israel offers work and medical assistance to Arabs who need it, treating each person who attends the hospitals on the urgency of their illness, not on their national allegiance or religious beliefs.
Every one of the Arabs in Israeli custody for either criminal acts or war against Israel are accessible by the Red Cross, Corporal Shalit has been in Arab hands for four years, and has been denied this basic right.
Perhaps I should write an article that states the Palestinians have two heads, and you would be good enough to print it? It would have as much truth in it as the above article you provided ‘guest editor’ status to.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on September 8, 2010 (Published September 11)

Thank you for letting the Israeli Ambassador have his say.
I particularly appreciate that vital information like this has been conveyed by mainstream media at last
‘…. The distance between the West Bank and central Israel is about 14 kilometres — equal to the distance between the Wellington city centre and Johnsonville….’
I suggest that ordinary decent Kiwis might see this issue very clearly indeed if they were to superimpose a map of Israel and its surrounds, on their own region, to scale.
Israel could hardly be smaller or less defendable. The surrounding Muslim Arab nations have hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of territory, yet refuse to absorb ‘Palestinian’ refugees, and make a cause celebre over whether 18,000 square km Israel (approx one tenth the size of NZ's South Island) should or should not have another few km of ‘buffer territory’ between them and their children, and the rocket launchers of Hamas and Hezballah.

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Submitted to The Press on September 2, 2010

As an editor you have every right to accept or reject letters for publication. However to accept and publish a letter that clearly conveys outright lies so blatant as in Mr Harman's letter 2nd Sept. constitutes a low point in your opinion pages. A difference of opinion I accept, a re-writing of history I don't.

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Submitted to The Press on September 2, 2010

I am assuming that you published Richard Harman's odious letter on Israel especially to provide opportunity for our famous Kiwi decency to display itself by way of outrage in response. The alternative explanation is too terrible to contemplate. I for one want to stand up and be counted with the decent.
Some written works, such as ‘Mein Kampf’ and ‘The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’, go far beyond mere half-truth, misrepresentation, and exaggeration. Mr Harman's letter is in this class — pure inversions of truth that are only possible on the part of persons driven by an agenda of pure hate. The logical conclusion intended, now as then, is that no fate is too severe for the Jews or their nation. Holocaust denial, on the rise today, is merely a temporary outlet for people who really would like to say that the Jews deserved it and their accusers in the 1930's were not liars and evil men. Mr Harman is in the moral company of such accusers.
I look forward to many other decent Kiwis being granted the expression of similar outrage in print on your letters page, hopefully including a lie-by-lie rebuttal which word limits prevent me from entering upon here.

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Submitted to The Press on September 2, 2010

Richard Harman (2/09/10) falsely claims that Israel incited Syria to attack. In May 1967, Nasser received false reports from the Soviet Union that Israel was amassing troops on Syria's border, causing him to amass his own troops on Israel's Sinai border. He later closed the Tiran Straits to Israeli shipping, a declaration of war. Harman's accusation of incitement to Syria is outrageous. Israel rigorously defends its borders from hostile Arab nations that have eight hundred times the land space of Israel.
So Muslims want to live in peace? What about seven thousand rockets, suicide bombings and sworn oaths to wipe out Israel? Israel's parliament has more Muslims than Jews; all races are treated equally. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. Would he like living under a regime that oppresses women, encourages child suicide bombers, whips and stones rape victims and caused three thousand deaths at Ground Zero?

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on August 30, 2010

Sunday night's screening of the Panorama documentary on the ‘flotilla’ incident trounces the condemnatory statements of almost all correspondents to your paper at that time. None waited to discover the truth, all burst into print without evidence to support their opprobrium.
One must assume that those who consistently condemn Israel, a robustly democratic nation, without an atom of proof of the real situation, would like to live under a regime that oppresses women, encourages child suicide bombers, promotes the annihilation of a legitimate nation and aims to bring the free world under the yoke of a religion committed to conquest by violence and fear.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on August 29, 2010

This is to clarify a statement in the recent KBRM advert about the Gaza flotilla. The 28 deaths in Israel caused by rocket fire from Gaza happened since 2001, not since 2005, and the total number of rockets fired was over 8,600, not just 6,000. (To verify these figures, Google: BBC ‘rockets have killed 28 people’)

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on August 18, 2010

Columnist Gwynne Dyer got the flotilla incident wrong (Herald Tuesday17th). Citing the nine activists killed, he ignored the ten Israelis wounded or captured. He used ‘blockade’ to describe the interception when it was a planned search of the only crew flouting the rules. If innocent, they too would have accepted the search. That Mr Dyer doesn't find this suspicious casts doubt on his impartiality.
Hamas has declared war on Israel with thousands of rocket attacks and suicide bombings, killing, maiming and destroying. Based on the recent Palestinian declaration of another jihad, Israel had excellent reason to believe the Mavi Marmara carried weapons. Further Mr. Dyer should know that this incident was not a blockade it was a perfectly legal arms embargo such as that against Russia in the Cuban crisis and against Berlin after WW11.
Funny, I don't recall his condemnation of the death of three thousand at ground zero in 2001 by Muslim radicals; nor of young Muslims being persuaded into suicide bombing missions; nor of Sharia law that condemns rape victims to be lashed or stoned. Surely he is not merely anti-Israel?

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on August 18, 2010

If Tom Scott believes that Israel's blockade has turned Gaza into a prison, he should suggest to Gaza that it end its war on Israel. Blockades are an approved response to an aggressor and have been used by many nations. Gazans have it in their power to end the blockade, and any sympathy for them is misplaced.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on August 18, 2010

If Gaza is truly facing ‘dire times’ (Airport looting sign of dire times, 18/8/10), it might want to consider ending its war on Israel, which is the root cause of the blockade. Until then, any sympathy for Gazans is misplaced.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on August 17, 2010

Gwynne Dyer's rant against Israel is selective in its examples; US forces in Afghanistan have killed civilians — who, unlike the Mavi Marmara activists, didn't provoke the soldiers — but where were the demands for a UN inquiry? The Afghan deaths were apparently regrettable accidents, but if Israel is involved, a double standard comes into effect and the UN leaps into the fray. Even the convention that serving soldiers don't testify in such cases is to be ignored if they have the misfortune to be Israeli.

Dyer notes that Israel mistrusts the UN Human Rights Commission. After Operation Cast Lead, that body decided — without investigation — that Israel had committed war crimes, and told Judge Richard Goldstone to find some. Goldstone duly concocted a case against Israel, almost none of which has stood up to detailed investigation. Most open-minded people, not just Israelis, would call that bias.

Dyer is late with his claim that the Israeli blockade is about to collapse — his co-pundits said that back in June. Neither Egypt nor the Palestinian Authority, the two other parties closely involved, wants the blockade lifted. They don't trust Hamas either.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on August 16, 2010

Regarding your article Long protest leads to Gaza. Because of misinformation the New Zealand Public are left with a very onesided view of circumstances in Gaza. In July a New Luxury Mall was opened and there was no lack of commodities of any description. We are deceived by the true conditions because emotive words such as HUMANITARIAN CRISIS are used. This does not take too much effort to check. Pictures of the new Mall were featured on the Palestinian Authority Safa website and by the Associated Press. It is acknowledged by those who are aware of the true conditions that Gaza enjoys a higher standard of living than Turkey. May we have both sides please so the public are not taught prejudice because important information is not being reported. It does leave one wondering why there is a need for Kai Ora Gaza? And are they willing to have their consignment of goods go through the established and approved entry crossings?

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on August 16, 2010

The Kia Ora Gaza convoy, duped by Palestinian rhetoric, will be disappointed on observing Gaza's thriving economy and the availability of European luxury items. Gaza, sworn to annihilate Israel, is not besieged. People cross daily into Israel, particularly those seeking medical attention. Over twelve thousand tonnes of aid leave Israel for Gaza weekly plus over a million litres of diesel and cooking oil. Any deprivation in Gaza is caused by Hamas leaders' spending vast sums on weaponry for attacking Israel. Recent rockets fired on Eilat betray its evil intention of continuing violent attacks, forcing Israel to control Gazan terrorism to protect itself.
Gazan life differs vastly from what is widely believed. It has one of the highest standards of living in the Middle East. Kia Ora would be of more use in Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia or Iran, all having higher rates of poverty, shorter life expectancy and higher infant mortality than Gaza. Or why not focus on the Pacific for giving aid? Tuvalu , Vanuatu, and Samoa all have a shorter life expectancy than Gaza.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on August 12, 2010 (Published)

The letter by James Grant (10 August) exhibits a common misconception about Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East (www.kbrm.org.nz). We are not in the news business; we are in the news-monitoring business. When we find lies and half-truths that give a false picture of Israel, we present ‘missing truths’ so readers will know the whole story. We are not ‘pro-Israel’; we are ‘pro-truth-for-Israel’. It is not our business to ‘criticise or question’ Israel's (or the Palestinians') actions, nor do we believe that the media are ‘anti-Semitic’ — only that the reporting and opinions are frequently unbalanced.
Most reporting and commentary about the Gaza flotilla left the false impression that Israel was guilty of heinous crimes. Our advertisement presented facts — the reason for the blockade, that Gazans are not suffering, that Israel responded with fire only after its soldiers were attacked, etc. — that show Israel behaved in a restrained and moderate manner.
I note that Mr Grant did not find any errors in our advert. This is because we tell the truth. We believe that Kiwis will appreciate these ‘missing truths’ and will not be ‘turned against Israel’ because KBRM presents them

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Submitted to the Waikato Times, NZ Herald and The Press (Published) on August 19, 2010:

The six New Zealand self-proclaimed humanitarians, setting off to join a bunch of international activists bent on breaking Israel's non-blockade of Gaza, should reflect on the ten true humanitarians who were murdered in Afghanistan recently. Unlike the earlier Gaza flotilla activists, the International Assistance Mission workers did not seek conflict, chant slogans, or promote a political agenda, and they were unarmed.

Those ten men and women, driven by faith and compassion to help the truly poor and needy of Afghanistan, used their training and skills and quietly went about their business of giving medical assistance to Afghanistan's most vulnerable people. Their humanitarianism was personal and costly, as they left homes and families to live among the people they sought to help.

Gaza, with its smuggling tunnels, millions of dollars of international aid and flourishing new shopping malls, does not need more flotillas and grandstanding activists to help its poorest people. It needs true humanitarians who will quietly live with and care for the people of Gaza whom Hamas marginalizes and discriminates against - Gaza's dwindling Christian community and those others who do not support Hamas’ political aims. Unlike the ‘Kia Ora Gaza’ stunt, that would be a mission worth supporting.

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Submitted to The Press on August 9, 2010: (Not published)

Lee Sarson's letter (9 Aug.) is a classic example of how individuals try not to be confused by actual facts. When it comes to Israel some people assume it guilty of crimes without bothering to sift reality from preconceived prejudices. They become mute concerning the most horrendous human rights violations by the most unsavoury regimes whilst pillorying a democratic country which has been under constant terror attack for 62 years. Thank goodness the thinking public can see through this double standard.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on August 9, 2010 (Published)

I hope that the six New Zealanders who will join the aid convoy from London to the Gaza Strip will take the opportunity to take up the case of Gilad Shalit, a young Israeli, abducted by Hamas from Israel on 25 June 2006, and held as prisoner ever since in a secret location in Gaza.

Gilad Shalit will turn 24 on 28 August. He has spent a fifth of his life in captivity. Neither the International Red Cross, nor any of the other human rights organisations have been allowed to visit him, contrary to international humanitarian law. The adamant refusal of the Hamas authorities to release him has been a significant obstacle in negotiations between Hamas and Israel to ease the blockade and improve the lives of the people of Gaza.

It would be appropriate for a group of Human Rights activists from New Zealand to show concern about this young Israeli prisoner in Gaza, and by doing this perhaps help the plight of the Palestininas too.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post (Published) &Otago Daily Times on August 9, 2010: (Not published)

This month marks the 4 year anniversary of the illegal abduction of a solider in the Middle East. Since that time he has been refused all legal and international humanitarian law rights ... Wow, this sounds like a really great cause for Mr Minto. The soldiers name is Gilad Shalit. How about going into bat for him John?

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Submitted to The Press and printed on August 6, 2010 (portions in red were omitted even though the letter was under the allowed word count)

We Already Know
What a waste of time for Sir Geoffrey Palmer to head an inquiry into an incident where all the facts are not only known, but have been video-taped. This A videotape (Google ‘passengers attacking’), in quotes) was taken by the Israeli Defence Force and shows clearly that the attempted peaceful boarding of the Turkish ship was met by violence. It was only after ten Israeli soldiers were wounded or captured that Israel used armed force (as any nation would in such a circumstance). Further, it is known beyond doubt that Israel offered to send all humanitarian aid to Gaza after the cargo was inspected for arms. What more is there to know?

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Submitted to the NZ Herald (online version) on August 6, 2010:

Congratulations on publishing a story that shows the plight of children in Gaza and the indoctrination they are exposed to. How can there be peace in the Middle East when children are lied to and trained to hate and to seek martyrdom rather than peace? There are many such stories to be found in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority but they rarely see the light of day in New Zealand media. It would have been good to have seen it in the print, as well as the on-line, edition. Thank you for publishing this story.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on August 6, 2010:

Robert Fisk of the Independent, long a virulent critic of Israel, in commenting on the border fracas between Israel and Lebanon (Herald August 5) states that for the Israeli army to take on the army of one of the smallest countries in the world was preposterous. But Lebanon wasn't too small to relentlessly wage war against Israel for many years, forcing Israelis living near the border to live in perpetual hiding from rocket attacks. He also states that Lebanese soldiers opened fire into the air. How does he know this? On the word of the Lebanese, a people that is sworn to annihilate Israel ?

Fisk expresses amazement that the incident occurred because of a tree. He is wrong, it occurred because the Lebanese fired first. Seventy-five percent of his article is totally irrelevant to this specific occasion showing desperation to press his bias, not reporting that the UN peacekeeping force knew in advance about the tree removal. Surely the Herald could find a more skilled, unprejudiced columnist to publish. There must be thousands of them out there. We can only hope our journalists are more professional in their reporting.

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Submitted to The Press & NZ Herald on August 5, 2010:

You do your readers a disservice by marking a minor incident on the Israel/Lebanon border by a lengthy diatribe from pro-Lebanon extremist Robert Fisk. His report is full of wild and unverifiable claims, and gives only the Lebanese version of events, which predictably blames Israel for everything.

In two sentences at the end of the piece is the report that should have appeared; Israel removed a few trees on its side of the border, the location being confirmed by a UN commander. So all the Lebanese shooting, leading to the death of an Israeli officer, was for nothing. Israel seems to have exercised commendable restraint after being fired on by the forces of a foreign country; let's hope they continue to do so, and that Lebanon quickly stops its posturing.

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Submitted to The Press & NZ Herald on August 4, 2010:

My researches point to a carefully planned exercise in deception designed to make the Israelis look like monsters and the Turkish IHH ‘humanitarian relief fund’ (aligned with Islamist terrorist organisations) look like innocent victims. The group of 20 of the most violent ‘humanitarians’ on the Mavi Marmara came equipped with ceramic vests, night vision goggles and light weapons. They had no identity papers and each carried exactly the same amount of money.
Israel is legally entitled to enforce a blockade regardless of ‘international waters’. The protest flotilla was repeatedly warned of this and offered berthage at the port of Ashdod. This offer was rejected. ’This mission is not about delivering humanitarian supplies, it's about breaking Israel's blockade’ (Greta Berlin, AFP, 27/05/2010).
Video clips clearly show commandos rapelling down brandishing paint ball guns for crowd control. (Google: PASSENGERS ATTACK SOLDIERS). They were grabbed as they landed, dragged to the deck, and beaten brutally with metal pipes and clubs. An unconscious soldier is thrown over the side onto the deck far below. Another is shown stabbed in the back and chest whilst another is bleeding from a bullet wound. Only then was permission given to use their sidearms in self-defence.

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Submitted to The Waikato Times on August 3, 2010: (Published)

As the left-wing lobby group, Kia Ora Gaza seeks to send a group of New Zealand activists to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, I wonder if they have done their homework about the true state of the ‘humanitarian crisis’ in Gaza? Following the July opening of a modern, well-stocked shopping mall in Gaza it is ridiculous to bewail Israel's reluctance to supply Gaza with materials that can be turned into kassam rockets

If the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza is as critical as Hamas and Kia Ora Gaza would have us believe, where did the building materials required to construct a shopping mall come from, and if Gazans can build and stock a mall, why can they not build homes and hospitals?

Hamas manipulates the media and exploits the people of Gaza in order to apply international pressure on Israel. Hamas, not Israel, is responsible for any humanitarian crisis that may exist in the Gaza Strip.

If the likes of the Kia Ora Gaza ‘humanitarians’ want to help the truly down-trodden and oppressed, rather than targeting Israel, they could combat child-slavery, or lobby China and North Korea to release their political prisoners, or help in the reconstruction of Haiti.

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Submitted to Radio New Zealand (Media Watch) on August 1, 2010:

Thanks to Jeremy Rose and Simon Peacock for a more or less reasonably balanced program on a very contentious issue. One of the most powerful contrasts is that between Chris Morey's deliberate and informative answers to Jeremy's questions and Antony Lowenstein's weaseling out of answering anything he was asked.

Lowenstein simply deflected every one of Jeremy's questions with irrelevancies or appeals to conspiracy theories which he validated only by calling on people to believe him simply because he is saying it.

On the other hand it is clear that there is an easily measured and confirmed anti-Israel bias in the media. All that needs to be done is to count the column-inches of both "factual" and opinion articles appearing in the printed media, or the amount of time, imagery and invective that is broadcast on TV and radio either for or against the two sides. This has been done and the bias is almost overwhelming. When the data were presented to the Press Council, it simply ducked for cover by saying that they cannot comment on opinions. Why is continuing editorial bias exempt from examination?

The same sort of editorial biases in many newspapers prohibit publication of letters to the editor that are pro-Israel on the grounds that either too many letters on an issue have been received to print them all, or that the topics have been well canvassed and discussion is closed. But the discussion is almost magically reopened as soon as an anti-Israel letter appears. This happens so frequently as to be standard procedure and once again sidestepped or denied by the Press council.

Much more difficult to measure, though, is the suppression of factual material that would show Israel in a positive light, or compromise the carefully crafted image of Gazans as downtrodden underdogs.

This ranges from articles revealing the coordinated lies about the ambush of the Israeli commandos on the Marvi Marmara (ignoring or denying the deliberate preparations for violence which took place on the boat before the events unfolded) to simply ignoring facts which compromise other lies about the so-called horrors and devastation in Gaza. I am referring here to the huge wealth of goods available in the markets of Gaza and even the opening of a huge shopping mall with all modern luxury goods, flashy shops and grand lobby areas catering to a healthy and emerging middle class.

I know personally that editors cannot simply claim ignorance of these facts. They know very well what decisions they make. It is a sad fact that anyone who wishes to lie to the media can present a simple and compelling story; the truth is always much more complicated and difficult to follow or portray.

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on July 21, 2010:

Laurence Lowe is selective in his history and politics of the Middle East. He ignores the fact that Jordan annexed the West Bank and East Jerusalem and ran it up until the 1967 war while Gaza was occupied by Egypt but the people remained State less as they are today. why was no palestinian state proclaimed before 1967.
Geographically speaking the distance from the river Jordan to the Medditerian Sea is about the same distance as Cape Kidnappers is to the Ruahine and Kaweka Ranges to the west of Napier. Therefore access to the, or ownership of the aquifers underneath either bit of land is problematic. In the west bank they straddle Borders.
Issues such as refugees will be sorted out when a peace treaty is agreed to and the Palestinians recognise Israel. That settlement will have to include compensation to the 870000 Jews evicted by the Arab Countries of the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa between 1948 and 1972.
It's worth pointing out that in the Egypt peace treaty and the withdrawal from Gaza all Settlements were removed by Israel.

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Submitted to The Press on July 18, 2010:

Since when is an arms embargo on an enemy state considered “inhumane, outrageous, collective punishment” (Victoria Davis, 17 Jul)? Blocking arms shipments to an enemy that is vowed to your destruction is what any nation, including NZ, would do. By trying to board the ship peacefully, Israel was taking a much riskier but milder action than shooting at it. Israeli soldiers only opened fire after the boarding party was attacked and beaten.
As for the “oppressed people of Gaza”, this is an outrageous lie that the Israel-haters love to promulgate. Gazans are not oppressed (except by their own government) and there is no humanitarian crisis. Israel has been sending food and medical aid for years and Gaza is relatively prosperous. Ironically, the life expectancy is longer and infant mortality rates are lower in Gaza than they are in Turkey, where the “humanitarian aid” ship originated.

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Submitted to The Press on July 18, 2010:

Toss them a shoe (July 13). If Hamas would toss smelly old shoes instead of firing rockets into Israel, the people of Israel would not need their government to spend time and money having to maintain legal blockades at sea and inspect goods before they reach Gaza.
If Hamas didn't hold the people of Gaza under oppressive Sharia Law and indoctrinate the young to hate religions other than Hamas' version of Islam, the Palestinian people might have been able to enjoy prosperity and peace after Israel left Gaza in 2005.
Does Victoria Davis realise what Sharia Law means for a woman? What would she suggest that Israel do to protect its people from rockets?
The International Community needs to take a stand to stop Hamas from acquiring weapons (which have also been used on Palestinian Fatah supporters).

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Submitted to The Press on July 17, 2010:

Tossing prejudices
Forget about the smelly old shoes, Victoria Davis (17 July), you have given us ample sight of your smelly old prejudices.
Prejudice One — the men who died were “unarmed peace activists.” Look on YouTube and see the violence with which they attacked the Israelis, and their fervent declarations of “martyrdom or victory.”
Prejudice Two — Israel was committing a crime by preventing the Turkish flotilla from reaching Gaza. No, a blockade is allowed under international maritime law.
Prejudice Three — Gazans are oppressed by Israel. They are actually oppressed by their own extremist Hamas government, which persists in maintaining a state of conflict with Israel. The Palestinian Hamas in Gaza can't even agree with the Palestinian Fatah administration in the West Bank on how to achieve Palestinian unity and peace with Israel . The obvious conclusion is that they don't want either, and don't care if the people of Gaza suffer the consequences.

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Submitted to The Press on July 17, 2010:

Toss them a shoe July 17th
In response to letter with the above title. The Israelis are entitled as is any other Nation to do an internal investigation of the Gaza Flotilla incident, especially as the so called Activists made their intentions very clear before they departed that their objective was to break the Maritime blockade. It was International waters, however, under International Law a boat intending to run a blockade can be intercepted as stated by the UN Convention of the Law at Sea S2. (3). Reuters has been caught cropping photo's, removing knives and other weapons held in the hands of the IHH; also, the removal of blood on the IDF soldiers. The People in Gaza are not oppressed by Israel but by Hamas. Israel allowed 738000.00 tonnes of aid into Gaza by established land routes in 2009. Egypt from June 1st 2010 has reopened its border into Gaza after being mainly closed since June 2007.

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Submitted to The Press on July 17, 2010:

Victoria Davis (July 17th) should save her shoes for the Turkish Government which masterminded the flotilla crisis and whose subsequent moral outrage must have had the long-suffering Kurds and survivors of the Armenian genocide falling about laughing.
Israel has every right to conduct her own inquiry into the incident which is not wholly uncritical. Coalition countries who have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan conduct their own inquiries all the time without international condemnation. Israel's blockade of Gaza, an internationally recognised terrorist enclave, is legal under International Law and is supported by Egypt among others. The US, Britain and others have intercepted ships in international waters.
The purpose of the flotilla was not to take aid to Gaza or they would have accepted the Israeli request to go to Ashdod. One of their leaders told Al Jazeera that they wanted “martyrdom or victory.” Ms Davis' ill-informed diatribe shows they got both.

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Submitted to the Te Awa (Green party magaszine) on July 16, 2010:

Hatred without a cause
Lois Griffiths' biased article was appalling. Interestingly, she included a photograph of a supposedly-poor Palestinian family, in which the eldest male is overweight.
How does listening only to Palestinians make her credible? There are more Arabs in the Israeli parliament than there are Jews.
Palestinians have equal treatment in every sector of society, even while openly plotting to annihilate Israel.
Her sycophantic embracing of Palestinians disgusts me. It is they who have sent seven thousand rockets into Israel plus suicide bombers into nightclubs and shopping malls. That's all right with Ms Griffiths is it? How many rocks could I throw on her roof before she took action? Israel tolerated thousands of rockets before building the wall.
Jerusalem was established as Israel's capital two thousand years before Christ and has never been the Palestinian capital. Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran but is mentioned in the Bible over eight hundred times.
Ms Griffiths rants about an arrest she did not observe, but believes the Palestinian version. She knows for sure this wasn't a terrorist? Her ignorance is dangerous and reinforces the dire need of genuine research before making wild statements and condemning imaginary situations.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on July 8, 2010:

How refreshing to hear from Israeli human rights group B'Tselem twice in one week.

And how interesting that we never hear from human rights groups in the Palestinian Territories. Must be because they never violate human rights there.

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Submitted to The Press on June 22, 2010:

The scathing correspondence throughout the press of Israeli troops boarding of the so-called aid ship leads me to wonder why there have been no protests against Palestinians throughout the eight-year period that Gaza was bombarding Israel with seven thousand rockets, nor when Hamas suicide bombers killed Israelis in nightclubs and streets of Jerusalem.
Egypt has blockaded Gaza for years. Where are the protests against that? Blockade is not illegal, particularly in the latest example where the ship was warned it would be stopped but continued on regardless. By its own actions the crew is entirely responsible for the deaths that occurred. Of course they got shot when they attacked with knives and iron bars.
Why did crew members gather arms when they saw the IDF coming? Why didn't they accept the search if they had nothing to hide? Why avoid UN scrutiny at the regular checkpoint?? Perhaps the whole thing was designed to trigger the jihad that Palestinians declared against Israel in October last year. This is what we should be looking at.

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Submitted to TVNZ in response to The Sunday Programme (June 20) on June 21, 2010:

Dear Sunday Team,
I have just finished watching your Sunday documentary ‘Nicola Enchmarch: In the thick of it’ on-line at nicola-enchmarch-in-thick.

Like the earlier Sunday documentary featuring the Middle East conflict, this documentary provided a clear demonstration of the Sunday team's ideological bias against the Jewish state, and its willingness to collude with Israel's enemies in giving the international community an unbalanced and partial understanding of the Middle East conflict. The only redeeming feature of this documentary was the fact that this time an Israeli official was given the opportunity to present a counter argument, even though two thirds of the documentary was devoted to presenting an anti-Israel perspective and Cameron Bennett's style of interview was aggressive and his questions were loaded against Israel.

There are a number of questions that are raised in the Sunday documentary, and I would appreciate being given answers to even some of them.

1. Why are New Zealanders fed the line that the Mavi Marmara IHH activists were peace-loving, humanitarian aid workers, when there is clear video evidence to the contrary? For example, in this video clip, an IHH leader urges ‘humanitarian aid workers’ (?) to throw Israelis overboard 30 May 2010. UTube video. This readily accessible video reveals aspects of the recent flotilla against Israel that the western media, including TVNZ, has censored.
2. Why did Sunday cut the video clip of the IDF soldiers being lowered onto the top deck of the Mavi Mamara before the footage showed the soldiers being set upon with bars and clubs? Prime News showed the full clip. And why was the later IDF sourced footage distorted with black lines, when it was able to be shown clearly on Prime News?
3. What was the source and date of the footage that supposedly showed Gazan Palestinians?
4. Why is the flotilla consistently referred to as an ‘aid flotilla’ when the ‘aid’ carried was rejected by Hamas, and was less that the amount of aid Israel allows into Gaza every single week?
5. Why was nothing said of the Israelis who were almost lynched? There have been images released of severely beaten and bloodied IDF soldiers being held down and photographed by knife wielding ‘activists’. Why was this not discussed on the Sunday documentary?
6. Why is an obviously partisan ‘peace’ activist given a sympathetic, unquestioning hearing in Janet McIntyre's ‘soft’ interview, while the Jewish official was effectively interrogated and had the validity of his testimony repeatedly called into question? Is the testimony of an Israeli Jew worth less than that of a New Zealander?
7. Why was the fact that the New Zealander carried two passports not questioned - what possible legitimate purpose could Nikki Enchmarch have had for carrying an expired New Zealand passport with her? Given the assertions made against Israel with regard to use of international passports, I would have thought this would have been a relevant line of questioning.
8. Why was Nikki Enchmarch not questioned about why the Mavi Marmara had deliberately sought conflict rather than using Israeli or Egyptian ports to deliver the much touted humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza?
9. Why was there no background information given about Viva Palestina and its founder, the populist British MP George Galloway. Viva Palestina is a controversial organisation, having raised concerns with the Charities Commission in the UK over its use of funds and mis-information about the amount of funds it had raised. Mr Galloway was deported from Egypt in January this year and on an earlier occasion publicly endorsed and gave a significant amount of money to the Hamas leadership, along with a number of Viva Palestina vehicles. The Viva Palestina group is certainly not a typical ‘charity’.

Sunday would best serve its audience by being an objective, investigative current affairs programme, not a blinkered mouthpiece for anti-Zionist activists. I would appreciate you considering the link I have given you and answering my questions.

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Submitted to The Northern Advocate on June 21, 2010:

Gwynne Dyer misses the point when he compares Iran's stance on nuclear weapons with Israel's. If Israel has nuclear weapons, as many believe, it has never threatened to use them, and has only ever taken military action against its neighbours in self-defence. Iran has on many recent occasions threatened to destroy Israel. If it is bluffing, its threats are destabilising and should be strongly discouraged by the international community. If it is in earnest, it is the No. 1 danger to world peace and should be treated accordingly.

Mr Dyer makes much of there being no hard proof that Iran is building nuclear weapons. Newspapers for which he writes were quick to blame Israel for assassinating Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in spite of evidence pointing to Arab or iranian involvement. Why did he not require the same standard of proof then as he now demands in the case of Iran's nukes?

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on June 20, 2010:

Israel's coming Holocaust
It's time for everyone, to wake up and intelligently observe the cat and mouse game presently taking place in the Middle East. Biblical prophecy is unfolding, the named countries therein are all prepared, waiting Iran's instructions. Rabbis in Israel are reported currently studying Ezekiel's Gog Magog war. Jew-Hatred speech continues. There is an obvious plot to lure Israel into firing the first shot. Lebanon, Turkey and Iran are sending more boats. The IDF will be blamed as usual, for defending their country, and starting the resulting nuclear war. 11 US warships, submarines, and Israeli submarines are currently gathered in the Persian Gulf.

HEZBOLLAH are armed with 50,000 missiles, scuds and chemicals, it's army trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. SYRIA has chemical and biological weapons, courtesy of Iraq. TURKEY is becoming dangerously aggressive. HAMAS, still firing rockets into Israel while obsessively adding armaments, neglecting it's people. Ahmadinejad like Hitler not being taken seriously. RUSSIA Iran's and proxies main supplier. Distinct possibility Iran already has nuclear weapons supplied by Russia and North Korea. Islam is BOLDLY on the march!

They have not taken into account, “He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.” Against all odds, yet again, ISRAEL WILL SURVIVE.

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Submitted to the Challenge Weekly on June 20, 2010:

Standing with Israel
I have grown up proudly as a Christian Kiwi believing that as a people we valued truth. But our country's various media and people, some calling themselves Christian, have increasingly become very virulently anti-Semitic, speaking and protesting against Israel. Sadly some Churches are also participating in this demonisation of Israel when their responsibility is praying for the ‘Peace of Jerusalem.’

It's no surprise that Israel, a tiny prophetic nation, has become the world's focus. It is the desire of many of the large Muslim Nations who surround Israel to wipe her off the face of the earth.

Recently I came across a group of committed people who have formed an organization Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East ZKBRM website] Their members monitor most of the New Zealand newspapers for one-sided, un-truthful, mis-reporting on events involving Israel. Recent example — Turkish Flotilla. They seek to inform on the missing side of the story. Including Letters to editors when news items or articles appear that are biased. Contacting Editors suggesting corrections or other remedial actions. Several articles written by members have been published. Advertisements have been placed in papers to present ‘The Missing Truth,’ Praise God for Challenge's support of Israel. Israel needs friends.

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Submitted to the Marlborough Express on June 20, 2010:

My research poins to a carefully planned exercise in deception designed to make the Israelis look like monsters and the Turkish IHH ‘humanitarian relief fund’ (aligned with Islamist terrorist organisations) look like innocent victims. The group of 40 of the most violent ‘humanitarians’ on the Mavi Marmara came dressed in bulletproof vests, night vision goggles and armed with light weapons. They had no identity papers and each carried exactly the same amount of money.
Israel is entitled to enforce a blockade regardless of ‘international waters’. The protest flotilla was repeatedly warned of this and offered berthage at the port of Ashdod . This offer was rejected. ‘This mission is not about delivering humanitarian supplies, it's about breaking Israel's siege’ (Greta Berlin, AFP, 27/05/2010).

The video clips show commandos abseiling down, brandishing paint ball guns for crowd control. They were grabbed by mobs as they landed, dragged down to the deck, and brutally beaten with metal pipes and clubs. An unconscious soldier is thrown over the side onto the deck far below. Another is shown stabbed in the back and chest whilst another is bleeding from a bullet wound. Only then was authorisation given to use their sidearms in self-defence.

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Submitted to the Marlborough Express on June 18, 2010:

Because of misinformation the Public have been led to believe that conditions in Gaza are very desperate. There are five crossing points along the Gaza strip. The northern Erez Crossing into Israel, the southern Rafah Crossing into Egypt, which has largely been closed since June 2007, when the Islamist group Hamas seized control of the coastal strip from rival Palestinian President Mahmoud Abba's Fatah movement. Egypt has announced 1st June 2010 the reopening of the Rafah Crossing. The other three crossings are mainly for cargo. In 2009 738,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid was delivered via Israel. There are approx 100 tunnels where goods and terrorists pass daily. Once more Israel has been pressured by those who do not have to live, eat and breathe this on a daily basis. Since 2005 Israel has had thousands of rockets and missles fired into the southern cities of Israel. The photo you have in the paper without the balance of both sides leds to a misconception. It has been exposed since the Flotilla incident that Reuters was caught cropping photos (removal of knives, and other weapons held in the hands of the IHH, also the removal of blood on the IDF soldiers). Please may we have both sides.

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Submitted to Radio NZ Morning Report on June 18, 2010:

Dear Morning Report,
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, in an act of good faith, hopeful to exchange land for peace. Hamas squandered this opportunity and led the people of Gaza into a drawn out war with Israel. Hamas has never withdrawn it's charter goal of annihilating the Jewish state altogether, and has used ordinary materials to manufacture rockets for attacking Israeli civilians and to build bunkers for themselves. Israel has been allowing thousands of tons of civilian supplies into Gaza every week for many months, but no one mentions the role of Hamas in the inequitable distribution of fuel and goods among the Gazan population. Equally, little is said of the total blockade of Gaza by Egypt, which has only recently been lifted.

Now so-called ‘aid’ flotillas are set to descend upon Gaza, from Hezbollah controlled Lebanon and from Hamas' major financial backer, Iran. The West, in its ignorance, will probably identify the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on board the Iranian ships as ‘peace activists’. Israel is trying to defend itself against powerful and wealthy nations who promote a militant ideology that says it should not exist. Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people are merely pawns in a much larger plan to exterminate the Jews in the Middle East.

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Submitted to TVNZ in response to The Sunday Programme (June 13) on June 14, 2010:

TO: CAMERON BENNETT or TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
I was disturbed by the interview with Ms Enchmarch regarding the Foltilla incident and the unbalanced reporting. The short snippets of apparent warfare in Gaza dotted throughout the story, only added to the falsity,suggesting that this is the daily situation there (in Gaza). The shots of Bombs falling in an Arab city (?Gaza) were doctored from Reuters and certainly not the situation today.

I am a Kiwi nurse from Tauranga, who has lived and worked in Gaza and speaks Arabic and have first hand experience over a number of years of the places you spoke about. The whole program showed the naivity and lack of preparation of New Zelaand TV to accept without question things Ms Enchmarch said, when there are well documented videos and individual photos from Turkish as well as Israeli sources, which bring into question much of what she said.

U.S. Army Col. (Ret.) Ann Wright, on a speaking tour of the United States on behalf of radical pacifist women's group Code Pink, bills herself as an eyewitness to the IDF raid on the Mavi Marmara and what she termed the ‘murder’ of ‘nine innocent civilians.’ However, in an interview with Aaron Lerner of IMRA, she admits she did not actually see the clash between the IDF soldiers and the armed passengers on board the Mavi Marmara.

I am sure that Ms Enchmarsh had a scary experience and she may not have been aware that there were some 600 armed mercenaries on board, who had been picked up in Turkish Cyprus after the Mavi Marama had sailed from Turkey.This has been well documented. None of the known terrorists taken by Israel to Ashkelon had ID, all had some $16,000 in their pockets and wore flack vests. When unpacked (well documented by UN) there was no humanitarian aid on that boat, but rather weapons and live ammunition packed between the packaging.
Hamas refused to accept the broken,second hand motorised tricyles and out dated medicines from the trucks when they arrived at the Checkpoint for transfer to Gaza.

I lived in Gaza, hosted by the PA and worked in a PA hospital. I am not Jewish and have numerous Arab friends, but even the PA stated in the Bethlehem Arab press several days ago that Gaza was not starving. It was all an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas exercise. I don't know why such a nice lady as Ms Enchmarsh got mixed up in this quagmire of tagiya and lies.

I have nursed 2009 children from Gaza in the Tel Aviv hospitals, coming for humanitarian heart surgery, one in particular was Abdullah, an 8 year old nephew of a Hamas leader. I have documentation and photos and happy memories of caring for these Arab children in the Jewish hospital.I have taught nursing at Bethlehem University and at St.John Eye Hopsital which serves mainly the Arab population and also in Hadassah Jewish hospital. I cared for Jewish and Palestinian children side by side in peace.

I write these comments to put the record straight for those who are willing to consider a balanced picture of what is really happening in Gaza.

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Submitted to TVNZ in response to The Sunday Programme (June 13) on June 14, 2010:

Janet McIntyres interview of Nicola Enchmarch was favoured to the position of the Activist. The purpose of the Flotilla was to break the blockade, under the pretence of aid. Israel allows aid into Gaza 738000 tonnes in 2009 over 2000 tonnes a day by established land routes. The flotilla carried 10000 tonnes. Israel considers herself at war with Hamas, who rules Gaza, because of Hamas's persistent acts of aggression. Israel gave Gaza as and act of sincerety for peace to the Palestinians in 2005.

America and Egypt support the blockade of Gaza to prevent arms being smuggled. Egypt shares a land border with Gaza but does not allow people or goods to cross. Civilians that take up arms against soldiers forfeit their civilian protection status (i.e. they become combatants).

Cameron Bennett was biased, supported by his prepared script, (which indicates you as a media group are slanted to one view) also supported by the fact that not ONCE did he even attempt to ANSWER any question/response by Mark Regev. He was not interested and it stood out. Also supported by the statements he said, such as ‘Video supports that the Israelis started it.’ And ‘Looking for a fight putting on a show of force.’ Rueters has been exposed as cropping photo's this week and admitted it. The Flotilla was breaching the blockade according to the San Remo Manual On International Law Appliciable To Armed Conflicts at Sea 12 June 1994, article 67:98:100:103:104:

What Mark Regev said is so true ‘Israel is held to a standard by the International community that is not required by any other Nation’. Israel like New Zealand have the right to govern itself internally and without interference.

What I find very disappointing is what you did NOT REPORT, it is unbalanced no one has heard the side of the Israeli soldier and the efforts made by Israel"s Navy to prevent the Mavi Marmara flouting International Maritime law.

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Submitted to Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin on June 12, 2010:

While visiting my brother, Roger D. Brooks, I saw the letter by Rodney Jewett (June 11). Thank goodness there is another Rodney pointing out the hypocrisy in our criticism of Israel. How can we blame Israel for trying to stop munitions from being shipped to their enemy in Gaza$ Did we not blockade Cuba when threatened by Russian missiles$ Perhaps Israel should provide escorts to make sure the munitions arrive safely, and then provide coordinates of target areas in Israel. And why do we blame Israeli soldiers for fighting back$ Do we expect them to surrender if accosted or beaten$
The only error in Mr. Jewett's letter is that Israel has, in fact, left Gaza. It did that about five years ago, only to be rewarded by 8,000 missiles fired at it.

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Submitted to The Press on June 9, 2010:

As the Press is ‘committed to accuracy’, I couldn't stop myself laughing at John Minto's Article ‘Govt leaves ordinary Kiwis to find solution’ (the Press June 8th).

‘Sometimes it is an embarrassment to be a New Zealander’, writes Mr. Minto, because F.A minister Mr Murray McCully is not falling for Mr Minto's cheap propaganda.
Mr McCully is a responsible politician. He waits for the facts to be known before taking a stand. The facts do date show the ‘Marmara’ was far from being ‘humanitarian aid’, the ‘peaceful aiders’ were known Jihadists, boarded the vessel separately to avoid security checks, and the picture of beaten soldiers in the Turkish newspapers say it all.

Latest info suggests the Turkish Intelligence and Araduan himself deliberately misled the Israeli's about the flotilla being peaceful.

Mr. Minto has a personal vendetta against Israel — even it's tennis players. Your readers will decide who is a greater embarrassment to NZ, Mr McCully or Mr. Minto.

After receiving a reply saying ‘Thanks for writing, but the issue is not being debated in the letters column at the moment’,

the writer responded with: Typical! John Minto can spread his anti-Israeli poison over a half page, and the only place your readers can comment is the letters column. Would you consider to give me also a half page on this issue which is still all over the paper?
Let's see how ‘accurate’, ‘Democratic’ and how much ‘Freedom of speech’ the ‘Press’ has.

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Submitted to The Press on June 9, 2010:

Paul McGeough's story of ‘three young Australians’ )The Press 8 June 2010) is less a story about idealistic Australian peace activists, than a story about the radicalisation of young Muslims.

McGeough claims 20-year-old Ahmed Talib's family entered Australia in 1995 from Sri Lanka, stayed 5 years then left for the conservative Islamic Arab state of Kuwait in 2000. Seven years later Talib returned to Australia and married an Australian convert to Islam. Twelve of Talib's twenty years were spent away from Australia, and his most formative years, from 10 to 17 years, were spent in Kuwait. Talib's 18-year-old sister Miryam still resides in ‘the family home in Kuwait’.

For Ahmed Talib to be shot onboard the Mavi Marmara, as he claims to have been, he must have been on the ship's top deck, among the mob of violent anti-Israel activists who used knives and metal bars to attack Israeli soldiers armed with paintball guns and side arms.

Were the young Talibs peaceful Australian victims of Israeli aggression, as McGeough asserts, or something else; and did Ahmed receive his ‘tutelage by experienced activists’ in Australia or in a Kuwaiti Madrasah Islamiyyah?>

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 9, 2010:

Robert Fisk makes the extraordinary claim that Israel is successfully manipulating the Western media in the aftermath of the Gaza flotilla. An incomplete count of articles in the Herald and Herald on Sunday yields no fewer than 25 items to date. Of the 17 news items, 13 were fair and four were unbalanced or inaccurate to Israel's prejudice. Of eight opinion pieces, six were hostile to Israel, one neutral and one positive. Most of the Herald's overseas news and comment comes from international sources, so almost certainly the entire English-language media is negative overall on Israel's involvement in the flotilla affair.

But this isn't enough for Mr Fisk. His slogan seems to be: never mind the truth, the important thing is to bash Israel. He quotes with approval the Israeli anti-Government paper Ha'Aretz, which far from being an impartial source, will say almost anything to embarrass the Netanyahu administration. Sounds right up Mr Fisk's street. But New Zealand readers deserve better than this.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on June 9, 2010:

Matt McCarten is living in fantasy-land if he believes that the leaders of Hamas can or will restrain their extremists. They themselves are the extremists. All the citizens of Gaza want is an end to the conflict, but Hamas' interest in their needs is shown by its frequent rocket attacks on the border freight terminals, which regularly disrupt the flow of humanitarian aid.

If Hamas were to renounce violence and recognise Israel, the blockade could be lifted and living conditions in Gaza improved in short order. Land-for-peace talks under UN resolution 242 could proceed, unencumbered by thorny issues such as West Bank settlements and the status of Jerusalem. Hamas' efforts could move from trying to acquire weapons of war to repairing and using the economic infrastructure left behind in Gaza by the departing Israelis in 2005. In time, Gaza might become economically self-sufficient.

But Hamas remains wedded to its vision of the violent destruction of Israel. The blockade is not an act of aggression, but Israel's attempt to keep lethal weapons out of the hands of its declared enemies.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times (Published), Timaru Herald & Taranaki Daily News on June 8, 2010:

What an achievement by my relative Chris Trotter -in one short, vicious article he managed to exemplify much of what is bad in nearly two millennia of the ‘Christian’ West's interaction with Israel's people and Israel's scriptures. Marcionsim, supersessionism, historic revisionism, and even a 21st century version of the blood libel, are all accounted for in his article entitled ‘Israeli Violence Is Proof Nation Has Lost Its Soul’.

Any charlatan TV evangelist could be proud of the way Chris wrenches scripture from its context, affirming a literal meaning when it suits his anti Israel agenda and yet, paragraphs later, denying that Israel and Jerusalem are any more than a ‘practicersquo; or ‘aspiration’. Amos, the very same Hebrew prophet that Chris so woefully misquotes, climaxes his prophecy thus: ‘I will bring back my people Israel... ...I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted’.

The UN voted to establish both a Jewish and an Arab state in November 1947. The Jews accepted the plan but it was rejected by the Arabs who immediately attacked Jewish communities throughout the land. Israel continues to struggle for survival against forces commited to its destruction. While Chris may describe as ‘evil’ Israel's 1948 national rebirth, the Hebrew prophets whom he is so willing to denigrate on one hand and exploitively misquote on the other, predicted Israel's regathering along with great controversy and conflict. The story is not over.

Again attempting to hijack a biblical motif Chris suggests ‘Let my people go!’ is a cry now more fitting of the Palestinians. In a sense, I can agree. Ask Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of one of Hamas' founders, who renounced Islam, became a follower of Jesus and served Israeli intelligence for years. Ask him what it is that oppresses his Palestinian people. It is not Israel but Hamas and its brand of genocidal Islamic fanaticism that is the oppressor. Ask Elias Issa, founder of the Palestinian Zionist Organization, or ask Syrian born psychiatrist Sultan Wafa, outspoken critic of Islam who describes the struggle as ‘a battle between modernity and barbarism’.

Israel, the Middle East's only true democracy and a nation in which Arab citizens enjoy freedoms available in no Islamic nation, provides thousands of tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza every week. Repeatedly Israel affirmed its willingness to deliver the minimal aid the Mavi Marmara was carrying. Humanitarian aid, however, was not the ship's ultimate goal. The aim was to break the legitimate and necessary naval blockade that has been imposed by Egypt and Israel upon the terrorist Hamas regime - a regime dedicated to Israel's destruction. Any fair minded enquirer can view the readily available video evidence and see that the IDF soldiers were viciously attacked with knives, bars and live fire by Islamic terrorists, some of whom, by their own earlier statements, were seeking martyrdom.

In a truly perverse attempt to create moral equivalence, Chris compares the 1946 Jewish refugee ships to the Mavi Marmara. Ships laden with the Jewish survivors of Europe's genocide bear no relation whatsoever to a well staged Islamic terrorist ploy.

As a student of ‘Christian’ antisemitism and the holocaust I am privileged to know elderly Jews who survived Europe's attempt to annihilate the Jewish people. They witnessed firsthand the gradual isolation and demonization of Jews in the 1930s. For some, articles like Chris Trotter's have an all too familiar ring.

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Submitted to the bay of Plenty Times on June 8, 2010: Published

Mary Brook's letter 8.6.10 expresses her bias and is full of inaccurate information about the ‘beleaguered’ Gazans and ‘Nazi’ Israelis.
I am a NZ nurse who has lived and worked in Gaza and fully literate in Arabic. I have many friends in Gaza and can confirm that most are not in such a dire state. Even today the Fatah Palestinians reported that ‘there are no starving people in Gaza’ (INN) provided they are supporters of Hamas. In Gaza there's no democracy!
Israel opens Gaza's borders on numerous occasions. I have nursed children from Gaza in Israeli hospitals where they received life giving heart surgery. One child was a close relative of a Hamas leader. Israel shows great mercy to all who sincerely need help. Hamas, by contrast, recently executed 3 Gazan men in front of their wives and children. Hamas is very cruel to their people.

The Flotilla's stated goal was to defy the blockade and armed mercenaries on board said they wanted Islamic martyrdom (shaheeds). Israel did request the Flotilla to change course and go to Ashdod for examination of cargo but they refused.
Any parallels Mary makes to Nazis in Germany shows her bias against the Israeli people who live daily in danger from terror attacks by Hamas Iran and even Turkey who have stated aims to destroy the Jewish state.

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Submitted to the Timaru Herald on June 8, 2010: Published

Israel needs Gaza sea blockade
Your editorial )‘High seas disaster’ 2 June( seriously contradicts itself. To start with, the editorial agreed that Israel ‘struggles to survive in an area surrounded by hostile neighbours.’ But later the editorial said: ‘The Israeli insistence that the supply convoy posed a security threat is a nonsense.’
How do you know? If Israel is indeed struggling to survive against existential threats, as it is, can't you accept the Israeli claim that any breach of the sea blockade of Gaza (which is allowed by international maritime law) raises the possibility of armament smuggling?

You seem to have forgotten the 2002 Israeli interception of the Tongan-flagged Karine A carrying 50 tonnes of arms from Iran; and the November 2009 interception of the Antigua-flagged cargo ship Francop carrying over 300 tonnes of arms from Iran, including 2000 Katyusha rockets.
Given the Hamas regime's state of armed conflict against Israel (as set out in the 1988 Hamas Charter), no flotilla trying to enter Gaza can be deemed innocent.
If it really was a humanitarian aid convoy, as claimed, they would have been happy to have their supplies sent on to Gaza by Israel , after checking for arms, instead of resisting with violence.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on June 8, 2010:

I'm not surprised that Matt McCarten is ‘inclined to believe the passengers’ of the Mavi Marmara, rather than the Israeli Defence Force video footage of soldiers being attacked with knives and metal bars by ‘peace activists’. McCarten is so entrenched in his extreme bias against Israel that he would have believed the passengers if they had claimed to have been abducted by aliens in IDF uniforms.

Matt McCarten cannot even recognise Hamas' role in creating whatever humanitarian crisis exists in Gaza. Despite Israel allowing 10,000-15,000 tonnes of food, medical supplies, clothing and fuel into the Strip every week throughout the past year, Hamas does not allow the people of Gaza free access to this aid. Hard core supporters of Hamas and the paramilitary wing of the organisation gain most from the international aid and fuel, while supporters of Fatah, Hamas' main political rival, see almost nothing of the aid provided by Israel to Gaza.

Until Hamas chooses to put the Gazan people's peace and security ahead of their desire to exterminate Jews, ending the Israeli blockade against Hamas will not improve the lives of Gaza's civilians. It will only lead to more bloodshed and heartache for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on June 7, 2010:

Matt McCarten has taken on the role of judge, jury and executioner in his virulent attack on Israel's actions in the Gaza flotilla incidents. His article reeks of the all too common attitude ‘my mind's already made up, don't confuse me with the facts’.
You ignore the fact that Israel is forced into the position of imposing an embargo because Hamas refuses to recognise her right to exist, or that Israel weekly sends 10-15,000 tons of aid into Gaza.
Most disturbing of all is your suggestion that the flotilla incident can be compared to the British attempts to prevent Jewish refugees entering Palestine in 1947. Has common decency disappeared altogether? What an insult to the victims of Nazi atrocity. What an outrage to compare the deliberate, provocative actions of Islam-inspired fanatics to a hunted, persecuted people, struggling for survival.
Put simply, if Hamas would lay down its arms and recognize Israel's right to exist there would be peace. If Israel is denied the right to defend herself, she will be annihilated. If there is one thing the Jewish people have learned from their troubled history, it is that when someone says they want to destroy you, believe them.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on June 7, 2010:

Matt McCarten's column (Herald on Sunday, 6 June) on the incident off Gaza relies more on prejudice than fact. Take his comment about Hamas being the legitimate elected government of Gaza. He ignores the bloody coup in June 2007 by which Hamas ousted from Gaza the unity government that followed the 2006 Palestinian elections.
Again, he advises the Hamas leadership to use their influence to tell the extremists to shun violence. The Hamas leaders are the extremists. Anyone reading the Hamas 1988 Charter will see that it calls for the replacement of Israel and the Palestinian Territories with an Islamic Palestinian state. If that isn't extremist, what is?
The so-called analogy with Jews on ships seeking to break through the British blockade of pre-independence Palestine is a typical perversion by the anti-Israel brigade. How can McCarten sensibly compare hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors seeking to enter the only place designated as their homeland, with a few hundred ‘peace activists’ who in fact included many violent Islamists and would-be martyrs?
Matt McCarten doesn't know what he is talking about.

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Submitted to The Press on June 7, 2010:

Cartoonist Evans (June 7th) should be aware that many of those Jews on his 1948 refugee ship who survived Hitler's death camps were subsequently murdered by Palestinian Arabs. The same Arabs and their neighbours have spent the last 62 years trying to destroy the sovereign state of Israel without success. Gaza is nothing more than a terrorist enclave where Hamas deliberately immiserate their own people and use them as political pawns, where they raise their children on a steady diet of racial hatred, and a cult of death and martyrdom, where their women are sidelined with no rights and no moderating influence.
In 1945 in the battle for Iwo Jima the Japanese death toll was three times that of the Americans, yet nobody questions the justice of that conflict. The Israelis are up against the same mentality of suicide and martyrdom that we saw in 9/11 and read about every other day in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. The blockade is necessary to prevent lethal missiles reaching those who place no value on human life.

Those who incite hatred against Israel are sowing the seeds for a second Holocaust.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on June 7, 2010:

Gaza blockade Flotilla.
The skirmish against Israel by the flotilla sailors turned out exactly as they planned!
The cycle is always the same;
Israel is accused of a monstrous crime. The international media, govts. etc whip themselves into a lather with denunciations and recrimination. Israel quickly finds itself in the eye of a media and diplomatic storm. For a day or two Israel looks guilty as sin and people become convinced they have committed a great crime. Then slowly doubt is cast on the prevailing narrative, evidence comes to light, it becomes apparent the charges are false or trumped up. But it doesn't count as the wave of media and political furore has passed. The Israel-haters who rushed to judgement never retract their initial condemnations. Guilt makes the front pages, exoneration is ignored. In the minds of the people everywhere the charges have stuck. Israel knows one thing for sure in the media they are going to lose the war.
Israel is surrounded by Islamic nations baying for blood and it's extermination. The world needs to wake up, it is the intent of world domination by Islam that we are all up against, Israel the front line.
Iran is stirring the pot, and war is imminent.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on June 7, 2010:

Gaza Bound Aid
New Zealanders lying in the streets protesting against Israel's handling of aid flotillas, carrying placards crying out for democracy and equal rights for Palestinians. I'm confused why Liberals and Students would protest against the stopping of Gaza bound convoys sponsored by known terrorist. Convoys which were not sponsored by know terrorists arrived safely with no loss of life.
Hard to understand people who obviously having taken a stand for what is right and good would support an authority that stands for the oppression of almost all human rights. Imagine a day when we see peace activists lying in the streets of Gaza , sponsored by the US and Israel. Demonstrating against the use of children as human bombs, discrimination against women, Christians, Gay rights, and the firing of rockets into Israel!

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Submitted to the Timaru Herald on June 7, 2010 Published

Like so much of the commentary that has swamped the media in the past week, Gwynne Dyer's latest anti-Israeli offering relies on presumption rather than firm evidence.

He states, ‘Just one Israeli soldier was seriously injured, though nine others apparently suffered scraped knuckles and bloody noses.’ Perhaps if he watched the footage of Israeli soldiers being overwhelmed by knife and club wielding activists, being thrown off decks, stabbed, knocked down and viciously beaten, he might revise his definition of ‘seriously injured’.

Mr Dyer may consider that the Israeli's paintball guns and side arms constituted being ‘heavily armed’, but I imagine he would prefer something rather more substantial were he to be sent into the midst of a lynch mob.

He writes with an authoritative tone about Israeli agents infiltrating flotilla organisers, about international law, and the rate of aid being sent into Gaza, but provides not one shred of evidence to support his assertions. His entire article is built on assumption, hearsay and personal prejudice.

Gwynne Dyer's column is not news; it is merely another contribution to the international media hate-fest against Israel. Perhaps the terms ‘objectivity’ and ‘proof’ have been dropped from the modern journalist's vocabulary?

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on June 6, 2010: (Response to Kerry Woodham)

High Price?
It is revealing that despite the conflicting accounts from the opposing sides in the Gaza Flotilla incident the international community immediately jumped on the Israel-bashing bandwagon, even before any official investigations had begun. In response to your three N's:

1. Israel underestimated the level of force that would be required. Western navies in similar situations are usually armed with machine guns and shotguns, not paintball guns and sidearms.
2. Israel followed proper procedures and had every right to stop a ship trying to break a blockade that is legal in the state-of-war conditions that exist between Israel and Hamas. This was no bluff.
3. It is because Israel does care about her image that, to her own existential harm, she does not take much stronger measures that are well within her capability.

I agree the activists wanted publicity for their mission. Some of the activists wanted more than publicity however. For some, the goal was to reach Gaza or become a martyr. The brother-in-law of one of the victims has said ‘he was truly worthy of shahada (martrydom). Allah granted him the death that he wished for’.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on June 6, 2010 Published

Reading David Shearer's opinion piece (3 June), readers can easily conclude that Israel is guilty of every crime known to mankind, which of course is the end result of the tsunami of distorted coverage currently swamping the media.

Permit me to pose the following: Israel is in a state of war with Hamas which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and has fired thousands of missiles at Israeli towns and civilians. Does Mr. Shearer believe that the border should be open and that Israel should just ignore this terror? Is it in order for Egypt to seal its border with Gaza? The misery experienced by Gazans is a direct result of their Government's desire to murder Israelis rather than concentrate on improving living conditions and accepting the Jewish State as a historic reality. Many Gazans have received specialist medical help in Israel and the humanitarian situation is not dire. The UN's blatant bias & double standards are self evident. Where is the demand for an enquiry over the torpedoing by Nth.Korea of a Sth. Korean ship with the loss of a large number of lives? None, because neither Israel nor Jews were involved. Doesn't that reveal something?

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Submitted to the Timaru Herald on June 6, 2010 Published

The tsunami of poison & distortions against Israel swamping the media at present is drowning out the real facts. A classic example is the use of photos which either bear no relationship to the news item or convey an entirely misleading slant. Take for example the photo you published on 2 June of a group of Jews demonstrating against Israel. Your readers would be totally unaware that this religious sect are less than miniscule and have been disowned by every branch of Judaism. The publicity they garner for their stunts is indicative of the way the media manipulates facts. Instead of reporting the real situation and the reactions of the vast majority of Israeli Jews, readers are only exposed to the most vicious unbalanced bias and photos which convey a deceiving picture of reality. This steady diet of hate and disinformation can be guaranteed to sow the seeds of anti Jewish prejudice and we should all know exactly where that can lead. As a Kiwi living in Israel I am ashamed that the NZ media has not learned the lessons of recent history.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on June 6, 2010:

Has it occurred to any of the media that the ambush of the Israeli commandos off Gaza was a direct result of Turkish betrayal and duplicity? The worst the Israelis are guilty of is hopeless naivete in not seeing the signs much earlier.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has been moving closer to his militant Islamist backers ever since his party's recent election victory. He now believes that he has more to gain from pleasing them than from maintaining an honourable if somewhat strained detente with Israel. Perhaps he feels he no longer needs Israeli friends now that he has completed a series of major arms purchases from them.

It is also clear that any investigation of the ambush will reveal many details about the link between Erdogan, the flotilla organizers and the IHH, the Turkish Islamic NGO that has many close ties to terror groups such as Hamas even while masquerading as a charity. Since he knows he will be found out soon enough, he is making a virtue of necessity — and of base dishonesty.

Once again the world is taken in by the dramatised wailing and carrying on in their rush to condemn Israel for defending itself.

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Submitted to the Timaru Herald on June 6, 2010 Published

There is a shockingly disproportionate coverage against Israel over the Gaza Flotilla. Editors were used to turn the tide of public opinion against Jews in the 1930s and I fear a frenzy of unreasonable anti-semitic hate building again. The people of Gaza are not prisoners of Israel but of Hamas and Islamic fundamentalism. Google Walid Shoebat, a former PLO terrorist who now speaks out for Israel. He wrote on his blog ‘Hypocrisy and Insanity from all sides - It is shameful to watch Turkey lead the chants and propaganda of the world against Israel with concern to the ‘peace activist’ Gaza flotilla."’

Israel rightly defends its population and fears that removal of the blockade (legal according to articles 93-104 of the 1994 San Remo treaty on maritime warfare) will allow Hamas to receive weapons from Iran. Those of double standards condemn Israel no matter how hard Israel tries, full stop. Their minds are closed against Jews and Israel. Hamas's thugs destroyed the productive glasshouses Israel left behind for the Palestinian people when they withdrew from Gaza in 2007. Hamas's violence and killings of Palestinians who support Fatah or the thousands of rockets Hamas fires into Israel civilian areas are not headlines. Why?

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 6, 2010:

The NZ Herald's recent reporting on the Gaza flotilla provides an example of what Antony Loewenstein's describes as ‘the profound disconnect between rhetoric and reality in the Middle East conflict’ (2 June 2010). The irony is that neither Loewenstein nor the NZ Herald recognise this ‘disconnect’.

While declaring himself not to be an anti-Semite, Loewenstein makes the sweeping claim that ‘The Jewish community is used to getting its way in the halls of power through the canny mix of financial backing, arm-twisting and brutal realpolitik.’ Since Loewenstein frequently parades his own Jewishness, this is hardly a flattering self-portrait. This classic piece of anti-Semitism could have been lifted from the Nazi ‘Der Sturmer’ newspaper, and reveals the hypocritical mindset of a writer who overlooks human rights violations perpetrated by Israel's enemies, while condemning Israel for defending itself.

The Herald's overt bias against Israel has been clearly seen in recent days, and the editorial decision to publish this article, which descends from tired anti-Israel slogans into blatant anti-Semitism, demonstrates how far the NZ Herald has lapsed in its editorial judgement. It would make a refreshing change to read some objective reporting on the Middle East conflict for once — something connected to reality.

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Submitted to the Waikato Times on June 6, 2010:

Like so much of the commentary that has swamped the media in the past week, Gwynne Dyer's latest anti-Israeli offering relies on presumption rather than firm evidence.

He states, ‘Just one Israeli soldier was seriously injured, though nine others apparently suffered scraped knuckles and bloody noses.’ Perhaps if he bothered to watch the footage of the Israelis being overwhelmed by knife and club wielding activists, being thrown off decks, stabbed, knocked down and viciously beaten he would revise his definition of ‘seriously injured’.

Mr Dyer might consider Israeli commandos' paintball guns and side arms constitute being ‘heavily armed’, but I imagine he would prefer something rather more substantial were he to be sent into the midst of a lynch mob.

He writes with an authoritative tone about Mossad agents infiltrating the flotilla organisers, international law, and the rate of aid being sent into Gaza, but provides not one shred of evidence to support his assertions. His entire article is built on assumption, hearsay and personal prejudice.

Gwynne Dyer's column is not news; it is simply one more contribution to the international media hate-fest against Israel. Perhaps the terms ‘objectivity’ and ‘proof’ have been dropped from the modern journalist's lexicon?

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Published in the Bay of Plenty Times on June 5, 2010:

Hamas Hypocrisy
Tonnes of aid removed from the Turkish Flotilla and collected in the Israeli port of Ashdod were trucked to the entrance to Gazato be transferred to the Gaza inhabitants this week.
According to international humanitarian agencies they are considered so needy. However the Hamas Government refused to take the aid.
The hypocrisy in this exercise glares at those willing to see it.
Truth will prevail. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 5, 2010:

Refers to ‘West Complicit in Israeli terror and oppression by Antony Loewenstein’
What a dreadfully biased and one sided view. I am reminded of the quotation (don't confuse me with the facts my mind is already made up) which indicates apalling bigorty. What a venomous tirade against a people (Israel) who are surrounded by their enemies and have repeatly gone out of their way to meet Hamas's requests. Gaza being one. The Hamas regime ruling Gaza has been officially listed as a terrorist organization by many Nations. The blockade in place in Gaza is to prevent arms being smuggled in and is supported by Egypt and the United States. Israel is not as you printed ‘flouting international law and decency’ she has the same right as every other country to protect her citizens. Under international maritime law, when a blockade is in effect, no vessels can enter the blockaded area. I am so sickened by your article in my opinion the entire content breds hatred, bigorty and prejudice and is deflamatory.

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Submitted to Taranaki Daily News on June 5, 2010

If you want unmitigated horror (‘Israel's violence is proof nation has lost its soul’ by Chris Trotter, June 4th), look at the massive slaughter of Jews perpetrated by the Crusaders, the Spanish Inquisition, the Russian Pogroms, the slaughter and forced evacuation by pretty much all the Arab countries of the Middle East and then of course there was the Holocaust.

Then look at the ships carrying Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler's Germany and how every country turned them away, forcing them back to the concentration camps where they perished. Look at the ships carrying refugees to Palestine and the way the British turned many of them back so they too died in the camps.

Israel has had to fight every inch of the way to survive as a country that can offer Jews a homeland where they are guaranteed rights and freedoms of full citizens. In Israel as a Jewish state every Jew knows he or she will never be persecuted or murdered because he or she is a Jew - and that is the first time- ever- since the Jews were forced to flee their homeland two thousand years ago.

It's time for the world to wake up to the real horror that is threatening the free world - that of Islamic Jihadism which is out to destroy Israel,using every trick in the murder book and the propaganda book to do it and is out to establish a caliphate stretching across the Middle East and Europe.

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Submitted to Taranaki Daily News on June 5, 2010 as an Opinion Piece

If Israel truly had wanted to ‘massacre’ the Hamas sympathizers and fellow travellers aboard a six-ship Gaza-bound flotilla, the operation would not have been complicated. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would have used the trusty North Korean solution: Torpedo the ships and watch them sink to the bottom of the sea. Even Israel arguably would have been within its rights to seize and destroy a ship being sent toward Gazan waters in defiance of an embargo, especially after giving abundant warnings to the leaders of the largely Turkish-based Free Gaza Movement, which had sent the flotilla, that they would not be permitted to sail to Hamas-controlled territory. An embargo is accepted in international law,
The San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994
Article 67: ‘Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they: (a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture.’ (remember the Hamas government refuses to recognise Israel in any form).

But that's not how Israel operates. Instead, it sent commandos to seize control of the ships and bring them safely to Israeli waters. Israeli officials had even prepared air-conditioned accommodations for the activists, and had made arrangements to deliver the legitimate aid supplies to Gaza. According to the IDF, not all of the activists on board the ships were the pacifists they claimed to be. Though the Free Gaza leaders said they would not resist Israeli enforcement of the embargo, some of them fought the Israeli boarding parties with iron clubs as confirmed by video that has been made available to the media. More seriously, it is claimed that at least one of the activists took two handguns from the Israelis and fired at the soldiers. In the melee, at least 10 activists were believed to have been killed, and several Israeli commandos wounded. ‘They beat us up with metal sticks and knives,’ one Israeli commando told the Los Angeles Times. ‘There was live fire at some point against us. ... They were shooting at us from below deck.’ Based on the same source, the Times also reported that ‘activists tossed some of the soldiers from the top deck to the lower deck and the soldiers jumped in the water to save themselves. Activists grabbed some soldiers and tried to hold them hostage, stripping them of their helmets and equipment.’ If this narrative stands up, then every drop of blood spilled on that Monday morning rests on the hands of those activists who initiated the deadly exchange. When you attack Israeli soldiers ‘or at any soldiers’ with lethal force, they will respond in kind. As for the events that unfolded after the deadly exchange commenced, we don't know how much of the ensuing bloodshed was avoidable. Like all civilized nations, Israel likes to conduct its anti-terrorist operations in a measured, deliberate fashion. But that's difficult in the close confines of a crowded ship, where combat takes place at the range of a few metres ‘especially, in the case of the Free Gaza flotilla, which was populated by a diverse mob spanning the gamut from naive Jewish grandmothers to full-fledged Islamist radicals. For most of the world, of course, these facts won't matter: Like the bogus Jenin massacre, this episode will be used as just another stick to beat the Jewish State’ even by those same pundits and activists who can't be roused to say a single word when genuine ‘massacres’ unfold in other parts of the world, such as the slaughter of more than 90 members of the Ahmadi sect in Pakistan. On sea, as on land, this is the double-standard that Israel always must battle when it acts to defend itself against terrorists and their media-savvy enablers.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 5, 2010:

The media's distortion of the ‘Gaza Flotilla’ incident has been truly shocking. Despite ample, unambiguous and freely available video evidence proving that the MM was not on a peaceful humanitarian mission but rather intent on breaking a legal, justifiable blockade imposed by Israel AND Egypt, Israel is still made the villain.

The lie still persists that Gazan's lives have been devastated despite the fact that Israel sends in 15,000 tons of humanitarian aid weekly. The six ships in the flotilla were attempting to bring in only 10 tons. I agree with Fran Sullivan that the blockade has not stopped Hamas, but it has successfully reduced the number of attacks on Israeli civilians. Surely the role of responsible governments is to protect the lives of their citizens.

Most disturbing of all is the suggestion that the flotilla incident can be compared to the British attempts to prevent Jewish refugees entering Palestine in the Second World War. Has common decency disappeared altogether? What an insult to the victims of Nazi atrocity. What an outrage to compare the deliberate, provocative actions of Islam-inspired fanatics to a hunted, persecuted people, struggling for survival. Misinformation, biased reporting, propaganda, truth twisting; it.

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Published in the Nelson Mail on June 4, 2010:

Sir, I belive Victoria Davis, wrote ‘Israel must be stopped’ (mailbox, June 2) didn't consider all the facts before writing her letter. The flotilla to Gaza wasn't for humanitarian supply, it was orgenized by Islamic organizations that support terror activities and done on purpose to breach the Israeli law.
No country would allow any activity that will treath her population.
The ‘supply’ wasn't food or medication, it was supply to make bombs and missiles that will be used to attack Israeli cities borderd with Gaza.
The number of innocent Israeli victims killed by those missiles or bombs from Gaza are higher than those in this case.
Calling Israel a rogue state is just a weird way to call the only democrcy in the Middle East, will be interesting to hear the name she will call Iran or Syria.
Israel doesn't hold the Palestinians in jail, they get 20,000 tons supply every week, electricity and water and every other supply that was delivered by land transport.

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Submitted to Taranaki Daily News on June 4, 2010:

I live up here in Whangarei and occasionally go by the library to have a squizzy at the regional papers. Very rarely do I ever write to any of them. However the letter by Chris Trotter demands a reaction.
His letter is pure incitement against a people. The letter is based on blatant anti-Semitic lies as perpetuated by the Nazis.
I am equally disgusted by you, the editor of a respected paper (up until now) for publishing such a letter here in New Zealand, which amounts to racial incitement and gives voice to someone's personal anti-Semitic feelings against the Jews. As a ‘responsible’ editor this letter should never have been published.

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Submitted to Taranaki Daily News on June 4, 2010 Published

Freedom of the Press is a fundamental right in any democracy but it carries with it a heavy responsibility to ensure that stereotyping, defaming and distorting facts are not disseminated in the name of ‘opinions’. It is therefore with horror that I read a column by Chris Trotter (4 June) which was guilty of all these very things. As a Kiwi now residing in Israel, whose parents arrived in New Zealand as refugees from Nazi Germany and whose extended family was murdered in the concentration camps of ‘enlightened’ Europe, I never thought I would see the day when a reputable NZ newspaper would open its columns to something straight out of Der Sturmer and other such Jew hating publications. Chris Trotter's diatribe is so venomous and dripping with hatred that it does not even deserve a reply. Your readers should be made aware that his obvious hatred for the Jewish People and its ancient homeland is a disgusting abuse of freedom of expression. His poisonous accusations are part of a concerted campaign to rewrite history and deligitimise the Jewish State. It is more than regrettable that his hate filled words should be propagated by your newspaper. The same sort of articles in the 1930s prepared the ground for the demonisation of the Jews of Europe and we all know what resulted.

The least you can do is allow me to write a column in rebuttal which will at least give your readers a balanced and fair understanding of the actual situation in the Holy Land.

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Submitted to The Press on June 4, 2010:

What is most striking in Paul McGeough's emotional account of the Israeli assault on the Gaza activists' flotilla is the darkness (4 June 2010). ‘In the blackness ... all that could be seen of the Israelis around us were pinpoints of light.)
Although it was dark and Mr McGeough was aboard a small boat 150 metres away from the Mavi Marmara, he writes with the authority of an eye witness about events that took place on the chaotic top deck of the ‘big Turkish passenger ferry’.
IDF night vision footage revealed what Mr McGeough could not see through the darkness and clouds of tear gas: Israeli soldiers being ambushed, stabbed, savagely beaten with clubs and metal bars and fired upon by an angry mob, before acting in self defence.
Until the accounts from Israeli soldiers are heard and given as much credence in the international media as those of the flotilla activists and their tame journalists, news editors, commentators and readers are all, like Mr McGeough, adrift at sea in the dark, seeing, only what their own political agendas and prejudices want to see. They should refrain from condemning Israel until all the facts are brought to light.

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Submitted to The Press on June 4, 2010:

Fridays' front page headline ‘Israelis hunted flotilla ships ‘like hyenas’, wow what a read! Discovery channels’ got nothing on this, your Fairfax correspondents writing skills are wasted - such talent for descriptive writing should be channeled toward Hollywood. ‘Then, the tightening noose. Sneaking up and around every boat, there were bullet-shaped hulks.....’, lots of sneaking, hunting, pushing and lunging - great stuff. Unfortunately Mr McGeough then turned to the facts as he saw them (even if he was reporting as an observer, at sea, - in the dark), not so entertaining but much more informative. While his piece is a riveting read one is left wondering, is there any other way to board an illegal vessel at sea, that has refused to cease its course or head any warning of impending consequences? I shall be viewing all Coastguards in a more anthropomorphic way from now on. I am surprised also that Fairfax media would want one of its correspondents part a venture so closely linked to Turkeys' IHH, an entity with documented links to Al Qaeda.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on June 4, 2010:

My researches point to a carefully planned exercise in deception designed to make the Israelis look like monsters and the Turkish IHH ‘humanitarian relief fund’ (aligned with Islamist terrorist organisations) look like innocent victims. The group of 40 of the most violent ‘humanitarians’ on the Mavi Marmara came dressed in bulletproof vests, night vision goggles and armed with light weapons. They had no identity papers and each carried exactly the same amount of money.

Israel is entitled to enforce a blockade regardless of ‘international waters’. The protest flotilla was repeatedly warned of this and offered berthage at the port of Ashdod . This offer was rejected. ‘This mission is not about delivering humanitarian supplies, it's about breaking Israel 's siege’ (Greta Berlin, AFP, 27/05/2010).
The video clips show commandos abseiling down, brandishing paint ball guns for crowd control. They were grabbed by mobs as they landed, dragged to the deck, and beaten brutally with metal pipes and clubs. An unconscious soldier is thrown over the side onto the deck far below. Another is shown stabbed in the back and in the front whilst another is bleeding from a bullet wound Permission was then given to use their sidearms in defence

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 4, 2010:

Video footage available in recent days and initial expert investigations show that the Israeli commandos in the Gaza flotilla were heavily armed - with paintball guns, suitable for crowd dispersal. The usual practice in similar situations by other western navies is to brandish machine guns and shotguns. Indeed the IDF soldiers carried handguns for their own personal defense. It soon became obvious as each soldier boarded the Mari Mamara that their lives were in danger. Knives and metal bars may be unsophisticated, but are potentially lethal at close range in the dark, especially when wielded by people who glorify martydom.

In her desire to not be accused again of ‘overkill’ Israel fell into the carefully planned publicity trap of the Turkish Islamic group ICC, a group who funds terrorist activities. Evidence shows that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza and that Israel weekly sends in thousands of tons of aid. The embargo imposed by Israel AND Egypt in 2007 has led to a reduction in the thousands of rocket attacks Israeli civilians endured following Israel's unilateral withdrawal in 2005. Israel regularly intercepts Hamas and auxiliaries attempting to smuggle bomb-making equipment into Gaza.

When the greater context is considered It seems the world demands of Israel what is expected of no other nation.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 3, 2010:

Before more condemnation is expressed of Israel's blockage of the flotilla, New Zealanders should recall that in October last year the New Zealand Herald reported that the Palestinians had declared a jihad, holy war, against Israel . Assuming that report was correct we must consider that Israel may well have received intelligence that this shipment was at least partially an arms consignment, destined to supply the promised jihad. It sounds highly possible.
Gaza's citizens have not been impoverished except by their own actions of initially destroying the vast glasshouses and equipment left behind at Israel's withdrawal. Fifty thousand tonnes of food, medical supplies and necessities enter from Israel each week so why did the ships go directly there rather than accept Israel's offer of UN inspection at Ashdod before permitting delivery to Gaza? Why were the activists armed with iron bars and knives? Who wouldn't shoot someone who was beating and stabbing a comrade? Every one of us would probably do the same.

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Submitted to the Timaru Herald on June 3, 2010 Published

In response to your editorial 'High seas disaster' (June 2), Israel did try peaceful means. The commander was in radio contact and asked that all 6 ships carrying supplies dock at an Israeli or Egyptian port. Five obeyed; one the Mavi Marmara owned by the Turkist IHH did not.

The Mavi Marmara masqueraded as on a peaceful humanitarian aid mission but it carried mujahideen of IHH (a supporter of Hamas and Sharia law) which has sent jihadists to Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan, where Australian soldiers serve. They were equipped with knives, metal pipes and clubs. Video footage on TV and UTube show they lynched and viciously beat up the soldiers as they dropped on board. This ship came with the intention of causing a propaganda stunt and the Israelis and the world fell right into the trap set up by a variety of Islam which far from peaceful, threatens democracy and freedom to practice religion. As a woman I value my freedom.

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Submitted to The Press on June 2, 2010:

With regard to the debate over Gaza and aid, it might be useful to know what the standard of living is like in Gaza: I see that life expectancy in Gaza is over 73 years. This is higher than Russia, India, Ukraine, Estonia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Bulgaria and Glasgow East. The Infant mortality rate is 17.7 per 1000. This is lower than Mexico, Angola, Iran, India, Egypt and Brazil. Literacy stands at 92 percent, higher than India, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Over 20% of households have a computer, this is more than Portugal. 70% of Gazans have a TV. 81% of households have access to a cell phone. Hmmmm...

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Submitted to the Marlborough Express on June 2, 2010:

Regarding your article ‘Dubious defence’ and the comments made concerning Israel has no defence in the killing of nine activists, how do you know they were activists and not terriorists??? There are consequences to actions as one New Zealander is finding out at the moment in Japan. Israel was not trying to prevent aid reaching the Palestinians as you reported, Israel has always put forth a hand of friendship to Hamas and Hizbullah. Israel gave away the Gaza as and act of sincerity and committment to peace with her enemies. What did Israel receive in return? Certainly not peace. Israel affords all her citzens every constituional right without discrimination no matter what ethnic group. How can the commandos’ reaction be out of proportion when Israel knows from experience the tactics there enemies employ with infiltration of suppossedly innocent activities.

I would like to make a point that goes back further to the six day war. The Arab Nations warned their citzens who lived within the borders of the newly created state of Israel to get out and they could return later when Israel had been defeated the problem is Israel won the war and not one of those Arab Nations took responsibility for their citzens and tried to absorb them in their own countries, hence the displacement. But Israel allowed them to live peaceably amongst them. So Israel has not for many years as your article says been abusing the rights of Palestinian people.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on June 2, 2010 Published

Your editorial ‘Lost at Sea’ (2 June) could more aptly be entitled ALL at sea.

May I be permitted to point out a few salient points which the media and others conveniently overlook. Israel is in a state of war with Hamas, which since it violently took power in Gaza has fired thousands of missiles at Israeli communities and has its aim the destruction of the Jewish State. It has kidnapped an Israeli soldier and held him for several years without any access to the International Red Cross. The so called humanitarian aid flotilla was anything but that and its sole intention was to cause mayhem and martyrs. Turkey, one of the main instigators, a country which illegally occupies half of Cyprus and has never acknowledged its culpability for the Holocaust of Armenians, acts as though it is a beacon of righteousness and virtue. Other countries, many of whom have appalling human rights records, have hopped on the bandwagon of Israel bashing. Egypt, which also blockades Gaza somehow escapes attention. There is a blockade because both Egypt and Israel know that Hamas is smuggling weapons and missiles. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

These and other facts, too numerous to mention, are usually ignored. Knee jerk condemnations of Israel's lone fight against terrorists and terror organisations seem to be preferred. It makes one wonder why.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on June 2, 2010:

May I be permitted to point out a few salient points which the media and others conveniently overlook. Israel is in a state of war with Hamas, which since it violently took power in Gaza has fired thousands of missiles at Israeli communities and has its aim the destruction of the Jewish State. It has kidnapped an Israeli soldier and held him for several years without any access to the International Red Cross. The so called humanitarian aid flotilla was anything but that and its sole intention was to cause mayhem and martyrs. Turkey, one of the main instigators, a country which illegally occupies half of Cyprus and has never acknowledged its culpability for the Holocaust of Armenians, acts as though it is a beacon of righteousness and virtue. Other countries, many of whom have appalling human rights records, have hopped on the bandwagon of Israel bashing. Egypt, which also blockades Gaza somehow escapes attention. There is a blockade because both Egypt and Israel know that Hamas is smuggling weapons and missiles. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

These and other facts, too numerous to mention, are usually ignored. Knee jerk condemnations of Israel's lone fight against terrorists and terror organisations seem to be preferred. It makes one wonder why.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on June 2, 2010:

Once again we note the media falling over themselves to report the latest Islamist propaganda exercise which has no regard of mortal consequences. The Herald Sun's (Aust.) ‘Don't fall for Islamist hype about flotilla attack, says Andrew Bolt’ told it how it was.
Hamas are holding the people of Gaza in a prison, not Israel. Egypt also has a blockade against Gaza because of Hamas, which only has to recognise Israel's right to exist and stop firing rockets into Israel for Israel to remove its blockade.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 2, 2010:

So Israeli commandos armed with paintball guns is ‘overkill’ and activists attacking soldiers with iron clubs ‘poses no real threat’. When we do get to hear the other side of the story?

Why do we not hear that of the six aid ships in the flotilla the one in which the violent incident occurred is owned and supported by the I.H.H., an organisation tied to Islamist terrorists and a long-time supporter of Hamas? The activists on this ship prepared for their trip by chanting intifada phrases and praising martyrdom in the frenzied manner typical of preparation for jihad. The Israelis commandos who boarded the ship were obviously unprepared for the attack that awaited them. Apart from their paintball guns they had handguns for their personal defense, which they needed to use after being attacked with knives and metal rods.

Israel does not ‘occupy’ Gaza but withdrew in 2005 only to be met with an onslaught of nearly 10,000 rockets targeted at Israeli citizens. A blockade was imposed by Israel and Egypt in order to control the in-flow of weapons and bomb-making materials and has been effective in reducing the number of attacks on Israel. A blockade under these circumstances is considered perfectly legal. Israel vigilantly maintains the blockade because she values the lives of her citizens and knows that Islamist terrorists have a fanatical, irrational desire to annihilate them. If Hamas cared about its citizens it would take the necessary steps to have the blockade removed: recognise Israel's right to exist and stop firing rockets into Israel.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 2, 2010:

Let me get this straight.
Turkish organisation IHH, which even the Muslim-friendly Danes say is a terrorist front, sends ‘humanitarian aid’ to Gaza. Its spokesperson spoils the good impression by saying ‘this mission is not about delivering humanitarian supplies, it's about breaking Israel's siege.‘ Activists aboard the flotilla depart chanting slogans commemorating massacres of Jews. Its leaders refuse Israel's offer to let it land the supplies under UN supervision, which (as you point out) was a reasonable compromise. When warned to stop by the Israeli navy, one ship refuses, and when boarded by Israeli forces armed with paintball guns, its crew attack with knives and metal bars, causing serious injury. In this life-threatening situation, Israeli commandos seek and get permission to use live fire. They fire at their attackers' legs. Very regrettably, a few activists are killed.

You describe the Israeli actions (only) as ‘overkill’. Many people would describe your spin on the story as hypocrisy.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on June 2, 2010 Published

Your report of the Gaza flotiila omitted some important facts.
Israel does not ‘bar’ building materials from Gaza; they are admitted if certified to be used for peaceful purposes. UN agencies in Gaza provide this certification. The only goods barred outright are weapons and munitions.

Israel facilitates the supply of foodstuffs and other goods to Gaza as required, either paid for by Gazan earnings or donated by other countries. If the organisers of the flotilla had really been concerned for the welfare of Gazans, they would have delivered the goods through the established channels, which are subject to the oversight of the UN. But organiser Greta Berlin had another agenda. She is quoted as being ‘disgusted’ with Israel's actions, but her statement that ‘this mission is not about delivering humanitarian supplies, it's about breaking Israel's siege’, was not mentioned.

Much play is made of Israel carrying out the interception at night. This happened only because the flotilla chose to travel by night; the organisers knew their actions were illegitimate. And why were they armed with clubs and knives of they were really on a humanitarian mission?

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Letter sent to Radio NZ's afternoons programme on June 1, 2010

This supposedly ‘peaceful humanitarian aid’ flotilla included well prepared, armed men who ambushed the Israeli commandos with knives and metal bars as they boarded a ship, and then fired upon the Israelis with live ammunition. The Israeli commandos held their fire until they were themselves in a life-threatening position — being beaten, stabbed and thrown overboard by a lynch mob.
The flotilla's self-proclaimed ‘humanitarians’, some of whom were simply anarchists and militants masquerading as peaceful protesters, deliberately put themselves in harm's way, and by their own provocative actions escalated this incident into an international hate-fest against Israel and the Jewish people. In doing so, they got what they wanted.
Such false ‘humanitarians’ ignore the total Egyptian blockade of Gaza and the constant flow of humanitarian, medical and food supplies from Israel to Gaza. They seem to be more interested in spreading hate and misinformation against Israel than ending the hardships inflicted upon the ordinary people of Gaza by their Hamas leadership. They even sailed from Turkish occupied Cyprus, but failed to note the irony of their own banners, which read, ‘End the Occupation!’
Anti-Israel protesters, such as those on the flotilla, actively promote the isolation, demonisation and, ultimately, the attempted annihilation of the Jewish people in Israel by nations and organisations devoted to destroying the Jewish state — completing the task that Hitler and his Middle Eastern ally, Amin al-Husseini, grand Mufti of Jerusalem, left unfinished. And yet they have the nerve to call Israelis ‘Nazis’?
Israel will defend its people from its enemies, whether those enemies comply with international rules of engagement or disguise themselves as baton and knife wielding ‘Militant Humanitarians’.

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Submitted to the Herald on June 1, 2010

Your report of the Gaza flotiila omitted some important facts.
Israel does not ‘bar’ building materials from Gaza; they are admitted if certified to be used for peaceful purposes. UN agencies in Gaza provide this certification. The only goods barred outright are weapons and munitions.
Israel facilitates the supply of foodstuffs and other goods to Gaza as required, either paid for by Gazan earnings or donated by other countries. If the organisers of the flotilla had really been concerned for the welfare of Gazans, they would have delivered the goods through the established channels, which are subject to the oversight of the UN. But organiser Greta Berlin had another agenda. She is quoted as being ‘disgusted’ with Israel's actions, but her statement that ‘this mission is not about delivering humanitarian supplies, it's about breaking Israel's siege’, was not mentioned.
Much play is made of Israel carrying out the interception at night. This happened only because the flotilla chose to travel by night; the organisers knew their actions were illegitimate. And why were they armed with clubs and knives of they were really on a humanitarian mission?

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Letter to The Dominion Post June 1, 2010

Gaza Flotilla v Israel's side of the story. Is Israel allowed to have one? Some facts that should be shared with the NZ public. Are you prepared to print it?
I am one of many well informed gentile Kiwis who recognise the overwhelming Anti Israel bias in most of the NZ media and its UK news sources. I support the right of Israel to exist and I am opposed to those that state their intention of ‘wiping Israel off the map’. I do not regard Jews as a threat. The real danger to The West is militant Islam and its holy jihad against all non-believers and Infidels (who the Koran-and-hadiths offer the generous choice of conversion or death). This, by definition, includes both my progressive Christian, atheist and agnostic friends. And, more to the point, ME. Religious crazies — all of em — screaming Muslims, fundamentalist Chistians, murderous Sri Lankan Buddhists, class conscious Hindus and orthodox fussy-food Judaists should be packed off to Mars in the first available space ship. (Meanwhile to any remote one metre high Pacific coral atoll...). Western Europe is awash with the ancient legacy of antisemitism energised with the need to appease increasingly vocal, fast growing Muslim populations and predicated with its grovelling deference to the Arabs and their oil — a heady cocktail which is being regularly stirred. And shaken.

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Letter to The Press June 1, 2010 Published

Filling a vessel with politicians, camera crews and ‘aid’ and then sailing it into a war zone in contravention of a military naval blockade, is nothing more than a cynical action that needlessly risked human life just to manipulate world opinion.

Under international maritime conventions, a military power can board any ship in international waters, if it has grounds to believe that they intend to breach a blockade. The Royal Navy did it in both world wars.

Before the ship left Turkey the captain said that if the Israelis boarded they would not violently resist arrest. Taking this seriously the commandos were only armed with paintball guns and conventional sidearms. Within seconds of being boarded the first Israeli commando is stabbed and thrown overboard.

No risk to life was necessary: The Israelis had already offered to include it with other international aid passing through alternative channels that were observing the usual protocols.

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Letter to The Press May 28, 2010

The four letters published about Noam Chomsky's aborted visit to Israel have all missed the point. Israel has been fighting against Arab terrorists and armies for 61 years. Part of this fight is a propaganda war in which Mr. Chomsky is a prominent leader. Every nation has the right, if not the duty, to bar from its shores those who would aid and abet its enemies. Many countries have denied entry or expelled people for less anti-government activity than Mr Chomsky's. To take an admittedly extreme example, would New Zealand have allowed Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda for the Third Reich, to enter its shores during WWII?
While Israel has been criticised for guarding the security of its borders, it is the country most in need of that security. Even within Israel almost every restaurant and shopping mall has a security guard to stop suicide bombers.

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Letter to The Dominion Post May 25, 2010

Having just read the article ‘Closer ties with Israel put NZ out of step with the world‘, I am appalled that you printed such a one-sided, biased diatribe against a country and a person. Was any investigation done at all concerning the claim put forward regarding Israels complete lack of respect for her Arab citizens? The claim is completely false. Israel affords all her citzens every constituional right without discrimination. I find your headline personally offensive.
Israel does want peace and has extended the hand of friendship many times, but Hizbullah and Hamas will not meet Israel halfway. Look at the last 4 years and the havoc and chaos they have caused, firing scud missels at Israel's cities, building underground tunnels etc. America and every other Nation is allowed the freedom to decide its destiny (internally) without interference. Should not Israel be allowed the same freedom?

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Letter to The Press May 25, 2010 This letter was printed but abridged

Despite Lois Griffith's effort to portay him as a fragile, elderly victim (22nd May) Israel had every right to deny entry to Noam Chomsky. Singling out Israel for criticism over a common practice amongst all nations says more about Ms Griffiths.
Chomsky has openly called for Israel's demise and has defended and supported the findings of notorious and utterly discredited antisemite and Holocaust denier, Robert Faurisson. Harvard Law Professor, Alan Dershowitz, has repeatedly challenged Chomsky to open debate over his attacks on Israel and Chomsky has repeatedly and predictably declined.
When I went to Israel I was working in an Islamic country hostile to Israel. My work visa was clearly stamped on my passport. Immigration at Tel Aviv were courteous and helpful, issuing me with a loose-leaf visa so that I would not be barred re-entry to my place of employment. Noam Chomsky knows he will always find eager recipients for his hate speech against Israel, providing him with a quick road to fame. On the subject of Palestinian terrorism, though, he is deafeningly silent.

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Letter to The Press May 25, 2010

Lois Griffiths (May 22) complained that Noam Chomsky was denied entry to Israel for the purpose of giving an anti-Israel lecture at a Palestinian university. She calls his treatment ‘exhausting’ and an example of Israel's ‘contempt’ for Palestinians.
Israel is also exhausted. It has been fighting Arab terrorists and armies bent on destroying it for 61 years. It is also fighting a tirade of propaganda that tries to delegitimize the state, and Mr. Chomsky is a prominent leader in this campaign. Would New Zealand have allowed Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda for the Third Reich, to enter its shores during WWII? I don't think so.
I wonder if Ms Griffiths has any sympathy left, after crying over Chomsky's ‘ordeal’, for the thousands of Israeli soldiers and civilians who have been killed by Arab forces in their unremitting attempt to drive it into the sea.

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Letter to The Dominion Post May 25, 2010

Serena Moran (May 13) says that Israel has spent all its diplomatic and military efforts to avoid 60 years of UN resolutions. Yet it was the Arabs that started the trend of ignoring UN resolutions. UN Resolution 181 establishes a Jewish state by way of a partition plan in 1947. The Palestinians rejected the UN Resolution and immediately started a civil war. The 1948 Arab-Israeli war started when Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Iraq invaded the day after Israel's declaration of independence. UN Resolutions themselves can lack moral authority: The anti-Israel states have excelled at hijacking the agenda of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) so that one-third of all its country-specific resolutions between 1946-2002 censure or sanction Israel. Is it credible to believe that one-third of all world human rights infringements were carried out by Israel during that period? Hardly. In 2004 any criticism of the stoning of women, honour killings, mutilations and apostasy laws was rejected by the UNCHR as interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. Clearly, the UN is itself open to political manipulation and its resolutions are a weak basis for assessing Israel's behaviour amongst the family of Nations.

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Letter to The Dominion Post May 24, 2010

Selena Moran (May 13) says she represents the Palestinians — the partners for peace with Israel . However, the tone of her writing is that of an anti-Israel combatant.
I am one of many New Zealanders who stand with Israel in her right to exist and who welcomed the new Israeli ambassador with excitement. I know from experience that Ms Moran's opinions are unfounded on fact and full of prejudice. Any ‘suffering’ by the Palestinians is not the fault of Israel. I refer, for example, to the UNHCR refusal to allow Palestinians in ‘Refugee Camps’ to be settled in more dignity.
I lived among Arabs for many years. Palestinian Arabs are a warm, generous and friendly people. I enjoyed many happy meals in their homes. I have seen Jews and Palestinians praying together and have nursed both groups side by side in Jewish and Arab hospitals in Jerusalem . I have lived in the Old city with Arab families and spent time with my many Israeli friends.
Israeli Ambassador Shemi Tzur rightly compared New Zealand with Israel . It is the lies and myths like those promulgated by Ms Moran that are one of the impediments to finding peace in the Middle East.

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Letter to The Dominion Post May 24, 2010

Sorry for the lateness of this, but I just received a copy of the article by Selena Moran that you published on May 13. What a slap in the face to the ambassador from a friendly state, and what complete disrespect for truth and accuracy. To call Mr Tzur's statement that "minority groups [in Israel] enjoy all the rights and privileges of every Israeli citizen" grotesquely inventive is only to show one's ignorance and perhaps prejudice. The statement, in fact, is accurate, as could have been easily checked with a little research. (This is not to say there is no racism or discrimination in Israel, as there is in every country, including New Zealand. However what little there is infinitesimal compared to what exists in Arab nations.) Shame on you, DomPost, for printing such nonsense.

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Letter to The Listener on May 22, 2010

Antony Loewenstein is one of those Jews who are so desperate for peace for Israel, they delude themselves with ‘rational’ solutions. ‘One state with Jews as a minority’: that is delusion to the nth degree and ignores history. Every other middle eastern country with minority Jewish populations has slaughtered and expelled Jews, every European country has either treated Jews as second class citizens or expelled them or murdered them.
The Palestinians teach their children that the only good Jew is a dead one. Would it make Loewenstein feel better to see this happen yet again in an Israel where they are once again a minority group and does he want to see another 1000 years of the ‘wandering Jew’? Israel is the only country, ever, where Jews are free to live as citizens with full rights and don't have to cross the street for fear of being beaten up because they are Jewish. No, sorry Mr Loewenstein, Israel has to remain a strong Jewish state and certainly never give that away to people committed to their destruction.

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Letter to The Listener on May 17, 2010

For readers confused by the conflicting views about Israel expressed by Michael Kuttner and Eva Rawnsley (May 22), the reason is simple. The former, who is there, knows the facts; the latter, unfortunately, doesn't. It was the Arabs who attacked Jews in 1948 with the intent of killing or evicting them, not the other way around. Israeli forces fought back in self-defence — and yes, in the resulting war (won by Israel) there were refugees, most of them Arabs who fled voluntarily from the war they started, but some who were forced from their homes when their villages lay in strategic locations. If only the Arabs had accepted the UN partition instead of trying to eradicate Israel, there would be not one refugee today. This is a fact that can be looked up in any reputable history. If Ms Rawnsley knew this, and other truths about Israel, she could hold her head up high and defend Israel, instead of being embarrassed because she is Jewish.

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Letter to The Listener on May 16, 2010

Antony Loewenstein claimed, ‘Israel is racist and brutal if you are unfortunate enough to be living there and not Jewish.’ (Listener, May 15-21, 2010). The Listener feature article by Joanne Black that contained this statement was strong on anti-Israeli rhetoric, but weak on facts to support such a serious charge.

Non-Jewish citizens in Israel have the same human, civil and religious rights as Jews. Their religious freedoms and sites are respected and protected by the state. Non-Jews have equal status under the law and are represented in the highest levels of Israel's judiciary and political system.

In other Middle Eastern countries, racism and brutal discrimination have become a routine experience of religious and political minorities. In Gaza and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, Christians are harassed and intimidated by Hamas and PA officials, anti-Semitism is actively promoted and religious Jews are vilified. The persecution and ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Iraq's ancient Christian community has been widely reported, as has the brutal suppression of political dissent in Iran. In Saudi Arabia public expression of Christianity is illegal and Israelis are banned.

Ms Black and Mr Loewenstein appear unconcerned by such systematic racism and brutality perpetrated by Israel's neighbours against Jews and other minorities.

Although Israel has consistently sought peace with its neighbours, it has had to defend itself against hostile nations and political and terrorist organisations that have actively sought Israel's annihilation since before 1948. Israelis have experienced brutality and racism from their neighbours, yet Ms Black and Mr Loewenstein seem oblivious to this.

Mr Loewenstein should consider the appalling consequences of unleashing the extreme racism and brutality that are actively promoted among and by the Arab Palestinian leadership, before calling for Israel to ‘give up the concept of a Jewish state’.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on May 12, 2010:

Your correspondent Andrew McCosh comments that Israeli agents violated our national sovereignty through identity theft which was pursuant to the commitment of further international outrages. To what does he refer?
Since this tiny nation is surrounded by vast and violent nations sworn to her destruction, who can wonder at such antics being necessary to protect itself and its citizens?
I suggest Mr McCosh do some in-depth research into the facts surrounding Israel's struggle to survive, not relying on media reports that are generally biased against her in favour of the very nations that have caused huge loss of life in Jerusalem and other cities. If our country were constantly under such attacks and threats, I'd expect to see it taking whatever steps necessary to keep it safe. In this case the end justifies the means. I ask Mr McCosh and others who denigrate Israel: given the reaction to a Hamas terrorist leader's purported but unproved assassination by Israel, can we expect stark raving international moral indignation should anything befall Osama bin Laden?

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Letter to The Listener on May 12, 2010

What balderdash! Your three-page tirade against Israel (‘Cry the promised land’, May 15) boils down to three charges.
Yes, there is racism in Israel. There is racism in most countries, including New Zealand.
Arabs in Israel are treated far better than were Germans and Japanese in New Zealand during the wars. And any racism in Israel is infinitesimal compared to what exists in Arab countries.
Yes, there are Arab refugees who fled from (or in some cases were forced out) from the war that they had started. Israel accepted the UN partition. If the Arabs had accepted it and not tried to destroy Israel, there would be not one refugee.
Yes, Gazans have problems, but Israel withdrew completely five years ago. Any remaining actions, including the partial blockade, are because of continuing attacks on Israel from Gaza. They would end if Gaza decided to let Israel live in peace.
May I now look forward to a three-page article about what is wrong on the Palestinian side? For example, the ‘Letter to Gaza’ by Nonie Darwish (easily found by a web search) would be most illuminating.

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Letter to The Listener on May 12, 2010

Joanne Black gives anti-Zionist Antony Loewenstein an indulgent platform to air his opinions of Israel. His view is held by a vocal minority, both in Israel and outside, and is one we hear quite often in New Zealand.

Perhaps we could now have the testimony of one of the Palestinians who want to live in peace and mutual respect with Israel, and are prepared to say so? Don't look for them in the Palestinian Territories, because they will have been hunted down and killed by the authorities there. But there are Palestinian voices in exile who are well worth hearing, and never make the mainstream media. We could also learn a lot from the views of one of the 1.5 million Israeli Arabs who live in Israel with full civil and political rights, 77% of whom told a Harvard University survey that Israel was the country they most want to live in.

Publishing either or both of these would bring more credit to Kiwi journalism, and a better understanding to the New Zealand public, than just adding one more to the catalogue of Israel-bashing articles in the New Zealand media.

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Letter to The Listener on May 11, 2010

I was absolutely amazed to read the most unbalanced demonisation of Israel (‘Cry the Promised Land’ by Joanne Black). Swallowing every generalisation, stereotype and distortion made by Antony Loewenstein, she managed over three pages to deligitimise the Jewish State and its struggle to survive the unrelenting efforts of terrorists, backed and financed by members of the United Nations, to murder and kidnap its citizens. The media, in a democratic society such as New Zealand, have a responsibility to ensure that free speech and dissent is balanced by truth and facts. This interview and article, falls well short of anything that could be called fair and balanced. As a Kiwi living in Israel I can testify that far from being the war mongering, murdererous apartheid like society portrayed, Israel is in fact a bastion of human rights for all citizens regardless of race, creed or ethnic origin. Readers should also know that after the murder of six million of their brethren and the incessant call by Iran and its paid terrorists to repeat this Holocaust, the overwhelming majority of Jewish Israelis prefer action rather than meaningless resolutions & declarations, to thwart this evil intent. If this upsets Mr. Loewenstein & friends, that's too bad. The Listener has an obligation to present the real facts and not the half baked fantasies of someone who sees everything that Israel represents as an unmitigated evil.

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Letter to Kim Hill, Radio New Zealand National on May 8, 2010

Subject: Great interview last week, Kim

Dear Kim
Can I compliment you Kim on your interview style] You can be aggressive/assertive when you interview someone that is pro-Israel, and last week you wonderfully proved how flexible, soft and accommodating you can be when you interview someone anti-Israel. Keep up the great work Kim. We would not want those mean Jewish people to think that in the future they can keep their own state that by law they are entitled to, do we!!!!

It is not clear if the sarcasm was understood, given the following reply:

Dear ________, Thanks for your email. I'll pass it on to Kim. Cheers MARK
Mark Cubey, Producer, Saturday Morning with Kim Hill, Radio New Zealand National

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on May 3, 2010:

In the last two months, the ODT printed at least 18 items that referred to Israeli construction in East Jerusalem as an obstacle to peace negotiations. Many were large articles with banner headlines. Then when Israel agreed to a construction freeze on April 28 as a concession to get peace talks started, you didn't print the story. And on April 29 when Israel destroyed illegal Jewish buildings in a further effort to help peace talks, you didn't print that story.

The irony is, this house-building protest is only a pretext. There are deeper problems that stand in the way of peace, like the acceptance of Israel's right to exist, or the Palestinian ‘right of return’ that would destroy the Jewish state via the population bomb. Nevertheless 18 items of criticism and not a mention of the change in policy carries one-sided reporting to a new height, or rather, depth.

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Submitted to The Press on April 27, 2010:

Should the editor abridge letters in order to print more, he asks (Postscript, April 24) — running the risk of mangling the writer's opinion or leaving out the main point? My answer is no. If a writer stays within the 150 word guideline, let him say what he wants to say. 150 words (length of this letter) isn't a lot. And if over-length letters are abridged, say so, as other newspapers do.

In particular, if a letter is in response to an earlier attack, allow the writer the same number of words to respond. Recently, a 236-word attack on me and KBRM was printed, yet my response was abridged (emasculated) to 90 words! This outrageous act of unfairness forced KBRM to pay for an advert to get our desired response printed.

Editor, hold us to 150 words if you will, but within that limit, let us speak with our own voices.

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Submitted to the Waikato Times on April 18, 2010:

Congratulations to Jeff Neems of the Waikato Times for the excellent human-interest story about Sehai Orgad's return to Israel and Eastern Europe. (17 April) It was interesting to read about a New Zealander's connections with ordinary life in Israel, and the journey of a family into their extraordinary past. It was refreshing to read a story involving Israel that was not dominated by the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was also interesting to read about Sehai's work with the organisations Honest Reporting and the Middle East Media Research Institute, both of which strive to present a balanced, informed view of the events in the Middle East. Thank you for producing such an informative article, bringing local and international news together. It was a pleasure to read.

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Submitted to the Nelson Mail on April 14, 2010:

If your correspondent Paul Bieleski believe that Israel, or Jews, control US Government policy, he hasn't been following the news recently. Relations between the US and Israel are at their worst for decades. Supposed ‘quotes’ of the sort he presents are two-a-penny on the Internet, and nearly all of them are spurious.

There are both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian lobbies in the US. Why does he complain only about the pro-Israel one? And why should the number of ‘Israeli loyalists’ in the US Government have anything to do with the population of Jews in America? Mr Bieleski cannot be aware of the range of views, some strongly-critical of Israel, expressed by Jews, both in Israel and in the Diaspora. To imply that Americans of Jewish ancestry are necessarily ‘Israeli loyalists’ is racist, and should not pass unchallenged.

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Submitted to the Nelson Mail on April 14, 2010:

Paul Bieleski's letter (April 5) about an alleged international Jewish conspiracy controlling the United States would not have appeared out of place in a 1930s edition of the poisonous Nazi rag, ‘Der Sturmer’. Using unsubstantiated claims and a fabricated ‘quote’ from Ariel Sharon, Mr Bieleski has created a piece of classical anti-Semitic propaganda.

It is a bitter irony that the Nelson Mail chose to publish such a letter in the week leading up to Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day.

Although Mr Bieleski is entitled to hold his unpleasant anti-Jewish, anti-Israeli opinions, history has demonstrated that society gains nothing by having such erroneous opinions published.

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Submitted to the Nelson Mail on April 14, 2010:

Israelis and Jews worldwide, have this week been honouring the 6 million Jews (including 1 million children) who were murdered in the Holocaust between 1933 and 1945. As the 2 minute siren wailed and the whole of Israel stood in silent tribute to their memory, I not only remembered the many members of my extended family who had been murdered but also pondered the events leading up to this murderous programme being implemented. Whilst a silent world did nothing, the deligitimisation of the Jews of Germany and then other countries commenced, first with conspiracy theories and lies spread via the media, then boycotts and book burnings, exclusion from public places and ultimately deportations, gassing and total destruction.

Imagine my disgust, therefore, when I read the letter by Paul Bieleski (5 April) in which he repeats the same sort of conspiracy fables against the Jewish State. The same methods of deligitimisation which was used so successfully by the Nazis and their willing supporters are now being employed by those whose who wish to not only blame Israel for every ill in the world but who also would love to see Israel excluded from the family of nations and ultimately destroyed. Who says that history does not repeat itself?

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Submitted to the Nelson Mail on April 13, 2010:

Paul Bieleski repeats many untruths in his recent letter. The comment attributed to Ariel Sharon was proved at the time to be untrue — a complete fabrication — yet Bieleski repeats it. I have been unable to verify the alleged statement of Senator Fullbright — it may again be another figment of the writer's imagination.

US grants Israel $3B - not trillions as alleged by Bieleski which is complete nonsense. The £3B represents 1.5% of Israels GDP of approx. $200B ( less than the amounts given to Jordan and Egypt. ) 70% of the $3B must be spent in the US providing employment for US workers.
It would be more worthwhile if Bieleski checked his facts rather than voice his unbalanced prejudices against Israel.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on April 9, 2010

The group opposing the establishment of an Israeli embassy in Wellington has a serious credibility problem when its spokesperson, Alistair Reith, is a youngster who claims to be a Marxist and is best remembered for being disenrolled from Victoria University after burning the New Zealand flag and declaring that he had no ‘respect for the New Zealand state.’

Alistair Reith's public support for the internationally recognised terrorist organisation, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, suggests that he has bought into the extreme anti-Israel propaganda of the radical ‘left’.

Israel is an internationally recognised democratic state and as such it is fitting that it should have an embassy in this country. If Mr Reith and his friends really want to protest about something, perhaps they should picket the Wellington embassies of countries such as the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose track records for human rights abuses against their own citizens are long standing and well documented.

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Submitted to Otago Daily Times on March 29, 2010
The letter was printed on April 12 with the heading Jerusalem, but abridged with words in red omitted.

The United Nations and President Barrak Obama seem blind to Jerusalem's history (ODT,23.3.10). When has Jerusalem ever been a Holy city that belonged to the Arabs/PLO/Hamas. Why then do Muslims pray facing Mecca and not Jerusalem?
The PLO does hold Jerusalem as a special place because the PLO was founded in Jerusalem on June 2, 1964.
The Israeli's gave up Gaza for peace but what was returned? If Jerusalem is given up, new demands for more will follow until Israel is no more. Appeasement never worked when the British were dealing with Hitler and it will never work now dealing with an evil government whose only goal is the complete destruction of Israeli people.
So why would a US president take Palestinians seriously, were they not dancing in the street after 9/11? Did the US troops not stand in-front of its women and children to protect them from more attacks after 9/11? As the Israelis do now.
Unlike many Arabs who place the Women and children in front of the troops because they lack the value of a Man, and for political purpose.
Peace at any price was the catch phrase in 1939; in 2010 it will be Oil at any price.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on March 16, 2010:

Israel is surrounded by hate-filled terrorists sworn to destroy her, suffering over eight thousand rocket attacks, numerous suicide bombings in malls, theatres and nightclubs. Yet Matt McCarten castigates her for the unproved murder of a man sworn to destroy her, and for building a self-protection wall. How many times could I throw merely rocks on his roof before he took action? Eight thousand? More like twenty.
Israel's oft-touted past is different in the reality from what we're told. Palestinians have never occupied current Israel. It was named Palestina by the Romans in BC44 and invaders from the west, the Plishtim, repeatedly tried to conquer Israel from the coastal land. In 1948 the Palestinians threatened to leave the newly-formed Israeli state. The then-government issued this plea: ‘don't go, stay and together we will build a nation’. This is recorded fact. They only stayed because their Arab brethren rejected them.
Jerusalem is mentioned 667 times in the Bible but never once in the Koran and we're expected to believe it is their holy city? They only want it because the Jews have it.
I fully support Israel and urge others to do their own research before giving their opinions.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on March 11, 2010

I have become used to the regular anti Israel diet fed to the readers of your newspaper.
However your management of serious world current events is very obvious.
Recently there was a major religious killing outrage in Nigeria — The Press (Christchurch) headlined ‘Muslim attackers claim 500 lives’ and The Southland Times .... ‘Gangs butcher 500 Villagers’ in the ODT unless I missed something, nothing. Instead we were able to enjoy 1-1/2 pages of your usual Israel bashing including a generous dollop of the ever reliable and hateful anti semite John Pilger. What has happened to the ODT? For many years it deserved the reputation for balanced, fair and well reasoned journalism. When did it descend into its almost weekly ritual of criticism of Israel and its management of the news as exhibited above. It brings you no credit and does great harm to what was a well respected New Zealand newspaper.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on March 11, 2010:

I am writing about your ‘political columnist’ Matt McCarten's latest opinion piece entitled ‘Assassination latest act in nightmare without end’

While I am not surprised that a McCarten piece is full of hate and prejudice and lacks balance, I am surprised that you countenance the contempt for facts that is the hallmark of this McCarten column in particular.

Examples:

1/ The man who died in Dubai was ‘tricked’ or ‘entrapped’ into going to Dubai.
Untrue
He was a frequent visitor to Dubai and there is no evidence to suggest that this was nothing other than one of his ongoing shopping trips for weapons.

2/ Israel ‘has the fourth largest military machine in the world’
Untrue.
Israel is not in the first fifteen of military powers.

3/ McCarten calls for ‘murderers to be extradited to face justice’
Inaccurate.
Three have been, all Palestinian muslims.

4/ ‘Theft of the land’ and ‘Indigenous people’
Untrue. Factually incorrect.
Israel was established by the UN — nothing was stolen and the ‘original inhabitants’ of the land were the jews — you do not need to be an historian to know that if you walked the streets at the time of Jesus, there were only two groups of people in view — jews and occupying Roman troops. There is ample Roman historical record to establish the conquest of the indigenous people — the jews of Judea — by the colonisers from Rome.

5/ Gaza ‘nothing goes in and nothing out’
Untrue. Complete fabrication.
Every day trucks carrying many tonnes of food, medical supplies and other necessities are taken to the Gaza border from Israel for transfer to Gaza and many Gazans are treated in Israeli hospitals every day.

6/ ‘Fatah would do anything for a deal with Israel’
Untrue.
It is Fatah who is refusing to enter negotiations with Israel.
I acknowledge the intractability of the problem but McCarten's simplistic view that everything is Israel's fault is indicative of his bigotry and his racism

I am sure that you cannot be happy to have such a hysterical hatemonger — surely a successor to Joseph Goebbels — on your pay roll.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on March 11, 2010

On March 8, the ODT devoted 1 1/2 pages in World Focus to articles critical of Israel. On March 10, when other newspaper headlines screamed ‘Muslim attackers claim 500 lives’, the story was not even mentioned in the ODT. One wonders, whence this emphasis on the supposed sins of Israel? (I say ‘supposed’ because despite the stories, there is far from universal agreement.)

Ironically, an answer was suggested by the March 10 ‘thought for today’: ‘What one Christian does is his own responsibility. What one Jew does is thrown back at all Jews.’ — Anne Frank. The situation is not the same, of course, but the thought is the same: Misdeeds (real or imagined) of Jews are magnified.

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Submitted to the Sunday-Star Times on March 8, 2010

J Wakim's letter starts reasonably enough by saying ‘whether or not Israel is proven guilty’ of killing Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, but then goes on to castigate Israel for having done it. Israel can certainly be said to have had a motive, but so did a number of moderate Arab states — a fact that has been covered in world media but downplayed in New Zealand. If he's concerned about extra-judicial killings in the Midddle East, why does he not mention the Palestinian suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, ordered by the Palestinian leadership on political grounds, which have claimed hundreds of lives?

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Submitted to the Sunday-Star Times on March 7, 2010

J Wakim (7 Mar) advocates boycott, divestments and sanctions against Israel. Wakim's opposition to Israel is based on its policy of assassinations and extra judicial killings. New Zealand has armed forces who have presumably killed members of the Taleban yet we have not declared war on anyone nor sought to bring them to trial for alleged terrorist activities. Other Western nations have also conducted a policy of assassination in modern times. Yet we do not object, nor is anyone else calling for New Zealand or these other countries to be subjected to a campaign of boycott, divestment or sanctions. Nor should they. Israel is defending itself from terrorists, who wage war, but refuse to comply with the Geneva Convention but take every opportunity to criticize Israel for any perceived transgression

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Submitted to the Sunday-Star Times on March 7, 2010

Your correspondent, J. Wakim (7 March) is so obsessed with bashing Israel that he loses sight of the real facts. The scourge of international terrorism calls for concerted action on the part of democratic countries to eliminate this threat from overwhelming the freedoms and human rights New Zealanders and Israelis hold to be fundamental to our way of life. This will not be achieved by passing useless resolutions which condemn those countries prepared to take action to safeguard their citizens. One wonders why Mr. Wakim does not realise that terrorist instigators cannot be truthfully classified as political leaders and why he singles out only Israel when the USA and other countries are also engaged in eliminating terrorists. Unfortunately his hatred of the Middle East's only democracy merely demonstrates the sort of bigotry so prevalent in certain circles. It is a pity that the media in many cases aids and abets this campaign of disinformation.

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Submitted to the Sunday-Star Times on March 7, 2010

How can J Wakim (Mar 7) castigate Israel for its presumed role in killing a Hamas leader, and not mention the Israelis killed by Hamas in its relentless war on the Jewish state? Every state has the right to defend itself and strike back at its enemies. To call this man a political opponent is like calling Hitler a ‘political opponent’ during WWII. When Mr Wakim calls for a boycott on American goods because of the targeted killing of al Qaeda leaders, perhaps we could take him more seriously.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on March 3, 2010

Matt McCarten's anti-Israel rant is riddled with errors.
Mahbouh was not ‘tricked’ into going to Dubai. He booked the trip himself, thereby breaching Hamas' own security rules.
Israel does not have ‘the fourth largest military in the world’. It is not in the top 15 military spenders, and has the 35th-largest regular forces.
Israel was not built on ‘theft of land’, but was established by the United Nations on the basis of international treaties.
Gazans are not being ‘bled into submission’ nor does ‘nothing go in and nothing out’. Significant humanitarian aid enters Gaza, as does fuel. Gazans can and do leave Gaza for humanitarian reasons.
Palestinians ‘fight back’ not with ‘home-made bombs’ but with increasingly-sophisticated missiles, which Mahbouh was reportedly travelling to buy.
Palestinian civilians have never been ‘massacred and their homes levelled’. Widely-circulated massacre stories are at best dubious, at worst proven hoaxes.
Hamas was not created by Israel, but broke away from the PLO to pursue a radical Islamic agenda. Its Charter commits it to the destruction of Israel.
The author's rage has apparently blinded him to well-known facts. This is advocacy-journalism gone mad.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on March 1, 2010:

Could Matt Mcarten please tell your readers how he got his ‘Alice in Wonderland spectacles?’ For some years he's been unable to stop wearing them but the poor fellow needs reminding that there is a real world out there in the Middle East — one that bears little resemblance to the distortions and untruths he perceives. If he got rid of the glasses and opened his eyes he'd find that the delusions he suffers from and his obsessive need to distort Middle East reality will fade away.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on March 1, 2010

Matt McCarten's anti-Israel rant is riddled with errors. A few of them:

• Mahbouh was not ‘tricked’ into going to Dubai. He booked the trip himself, thereby breaching Hamas' own security rules.
• Israel does not have ‘the fourth largest military in the world’. It is not in the top 15 military spenders, and has the 36th largest regular army.
• Israel was not built on ‘theft of land’, but was established by the United Nations on the basis of international treaties.
• Gazans are not being ‘bled into submission’ nor does ‘nothing go in and nothing out’. Significant humanitarian aid enters Gaza, as does fuel. Gazans can and do leave Gaza for humanitarian reasons.
• Palestinians ‘fight back’ not with ‘home-made bombs’ but with increasingly-sophisticated missiles, which Mahbouh was reportedly travelling to buy.
• Palestinian civilians have never been ‘massacred and their homes levelled’. Widely-circulated massacre stories are at best dubious, at worst proven hoaxes.
• Israel did not create Hamas. Hamas broke away from the PLO to pursue a radical Islamic agenda. Hamas' Charter commits it to the destruction of Israel.

The author's rage has apparently blinded him to well-known facts. This is not responsible journalism.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on March 1, 2010:

In the space of a short opinion piece (28 Feb), Matt McCarten managed to distort history, demonise a democratic country and condemn those fighting terrorism — no mean feat ! Without the slightest shred of evidence he accused Israel of eliminating a terror leader. This knee jerk reaction is typical of those who believe in Israeli conspiracies. Furthermore his moral bankruptcy in elevating someone responsible for murder & terror to hero victim status whilst attacking those responsible for making the world a bit safer makes sorry reading. The Jewish People's sovereignty in Israel & Judea (renamed Palestine by the Romans) predates by a long way Islam & Arabs and his distortion of this fact merely demonstrates his own skewed agenda. In the war against terror & its accomplices there can be only one winner. As the only democratic country in the Middle East facing threats to its very existence, Israel has no need to apologise for its actions.

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Submitted to the Southland Times and The Press on March 1, 2010:

What an amazing story (26/2/10)! The son of a Hamas founder couldn't live with Hamas's culture of hate and went over to the Israeli side. What a different picture from the usual blame-Israel accounts, and told by one who knows. When Mosab Hassan Youssef says, ‘Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis; that is against what their God tells them’, he shows the foolishness of thinking that Israel 's house-building is the impediment to peace.

Coincidentally, a story appeared the next day that reinforced this message. A Frenchman who was held hostage by Muslim militants in Mali reported, ‘they want to Islamise the whole world in their own way.’

Because of this mission, Israel is forced to fight for its life and for the lives of its citizens. Peace can come to the Middle East only when Hamas and other terrorist organisations either give up their goal of destroying Israel or are quashed.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on March 1, 2010:

Why did you not print one of the most important stories to come out of the Middle East (26/2/10)? The son of a Hamas founder left Hamas in order to help Israel as a spy and prevent dozens of Islamist suicide bombers from finding their targets! When Mosab Hassan Youssef says ‘Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis; that is against what their God tells them’, he reveals the real cause of the conflict, not the foolish notion that Israel's house building is preventing peace. (This is as silly as thinking in 1938 that peace would come if Germany was given the Sudetenland.) Peace will come when Hamas and similar terrorist organisations either give up their goal of destroying Israel or are quashed, and not before.

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Submitted to the Herald On Sunday on March 1, 2010:

Matt McCarten (28 Feb 2010) hasn't the foggiest idea what Hamas is about. Of course they wouldn't steal passports and try to assassinate Israeli leaders; that's much too sophisticated. They simply launch rockets and send suicide bombers to kill as many men, women and children as they can. With his lies about Israel, Mr McCarten has interchanged aggressor and victim. Readers who are confused about who is to blame should read the story (reported in other papers) about the son of a Hamas founder, Mosab Hassan Youssef, who went over to the Israeli side because he couldn't live with Hamas's mission of destruction. This amazing man acted as a spy, preventing dozens of suicide bombers from reaching their targets. When he says, ‘Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis; that is against what their God tells them’, he knows what he's talking about. Peace can come to the Middle East only when Hamas and similar terrorist organisations either give up their goal of destroying Israel or are quashed.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on February 25, 2010

John O'Neill has it wrong. No-one - Dubai, Britain or the EU — has claimed that any passport details were stolen by, or in, Israel. Reports show that passports aren't taken away from travellers at Israel's international airport — they're just checked, like everywhere else - and the alleged copying is a beat-up by sections of the media. As for the supposed ‘lenders’ of passports, the smart word is that the comments made to Fran O'Sullivan were strictly tongue-in-cheek. Don't believe all you read, John

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on February 22, 2010

By screaming ‘murder’ in the headline (19 Feb, p. A13) and showing a portrait placed over a gathering of ‘Palestinian supporters’, the Herald has glorified a terrorist and led readers to think that Israel (if it was responsible) did something heinous. In the almost full-page about the killing, the victim is described only as ‘a Hamas commander and arms smuggler’ and Hamas is described only as Israel's ‘opponent’.

The fact is that these Hamas terrorists (as the world knows them) are at war with Israel and are sworn to its destruction. The Hamas leader who was killed had himself killed two Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped while standing guard. Israel has as much right to go after him as the Americans do to go after al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan or Iraq - even more, because the Hamas threat to Israel is more ongoing and immediate.
But while the US actions are condoned or praised, Israel gets hit with a charge of ‘murder’. Please stop your Israel-bashing.

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Submitted to The Southland Times on February 22, 2010

Sir
It is disappointing to see so many errors of fact in Martin Mcgregor's letter Feb 17 concerning the League of nations and Israel.
It is correct to say that the League appointed Britain as Mandatory to carry out the Leagues intentions in Palestine.

Article 2 shows the Leagues intention, the mandate document states ‘The Mandatory (Britain) shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish National home.’

Article 4 says ‘an appropriate Jewish agency shall be recognised as a public body for the purpose of advising and co-operating with the British.’ The second paragraph of Article names that organisation as the ‘Zionist Organisation.’

Article 6 instructs the British to ‘facilitate Jewish immigration’ and the settlement of land by the Jews.

Articule 22 provides that ‘English, Hebrew and Arabic will be official languages ’ and that ‘statements or inscriptions on stamps will be in Hebrew and Arabic’.

The other articles cover many issues including the protection of the non Jewish population, defines antiquities and protects religious freedom.

On Feb 18 1947 the british handed back the mandate to the United nations to sort out. This resulted in partition in 1948.

The UN does not recognise States, other countries do by recognition. New Zealand gave de facto recognition to Israel on February 29 which was 3 days after the first Israeli general election. De jure (in Law) recognition was given in december 1949.

Egypt never annexed the Gaza strip. Its citizens travelled on UN documents, more recently Palestinian authority documents.

Population as a subject does not appear in the document at all.

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Submitted to The Southland Times on February 19, 2010 (Published)

Sir
Your correspondents Martin McGregor and Maryana Rooney both present distorted views of Israel and Palestine.

Far from Jews driving the Arabs out of Palestine, the United Nations partition plan was accepted by Israel. It was rejected by the Arab states, which then invaded Israel. The flight of Palestine's Arabs was encouraged by their own leaders, who spread tales that men would be massacred and women raped. There is no evidence that these fears were justified.

The state of Israel was not unilaterally-declared, nor presented as a fait accompli. It had been adumbrated as far back as the San Remo Treaty of 1920, and its creation was supported by the League of Nations, and later by the UN.

Ms Rooney's assertion that most Palestinian children don't reach adulthood, or die in the conflict, is highly implausible. Even the severe fighting in 2009, civilian casualties were about 1,000. Even one civilian death in conflict is regrettable, but what of the many Israeli victims of Palestinian suicide bombers? She is right that (nearly) all we hear, read and see in the media is persecution of the Palestinians. This is a false picture painted by sections of the media; those courageous enough to report the whole story usually don't get reported in New Zealand.

I regret that Ms Rooney feels that Jews and Christians persecute Muslims. A large Muslim population, and a smaller Christian one, live peacefully in Israel, with full civil rights. Could the equivalent be said of the Palestinian Territories? Her invocation of colonialism and imperialism is straight out of the Charter of the Palestine Liberation Organisation - ruler of the Palestinian Territories. The same Charter demands the destruction of Israel, a fact which is rarely publicised in Western media, but is essential to an understanding of the conflict.

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Submitted to The Southland Times on February 19, 2010

Wittingly or unwittingly, Martin McGregor in his letter (17 February), has misrepresented the situation surrounding the Jewish connection to Israel and its establishment. Hopefully the following historical facts will help readers to understand the situation.

Jews maintained a connection even after they were exiled from Roman Palestine, the remains of their ancient home. Prior to the Crusades the Jewish community numbered as many as 300,000. The Arabs of Palestine identified themselves as Arabs, Syrians etc. and there was no nation or nationalist entity other than the Jews who claimed it as their homeland.

The decision to establish the British Mandate by the League of Nations, contained the following declaration: ‘the Mandatory shall be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative & economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish National Home. Recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country (i.e. Palestine).’

Mr. McGregor has also conveniently forgotten that the Arabs rejected the partition plan of 1947 which would have given them an Arab Palestinian State and elected instead to try and wipe out the newborn Jewish State of Israel. They failed and as a result of their continuing refusal to recognise Jewish historical rights, their people are still suffering. Meantime Israel absorbed hundreds of thousands of destitute Jewish refugees from Arab countries — a fact ignored by critics of the Jewish State.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on February 9, 2010

Yet more biased journalism from the UK Independent, this time on the Gaza zoo. Gaza is not under ‘siege’, which implies efforts to capture it. On the contrary, Israel left Gaza to Hamas rule in 2005 — and Hamas responded by intensifying its rocket attacks on civilians in Israel (the Sderot school has had to build a rocket-proof playground). Claims of the ‘desperation’ of Gazans don't square with reliable reports of returning prosperity there. And if Gazan children ‘haven't been allowed to travel to Israel’, how many Kiwi kids have never been abroad? Anyway, why would Gazans wish to travel to a country they want to wipe off the map?

Your correspondent reports that there are four zoos in Gaza, one of which is in financial difficulties. If true, this small enclave is emphatically ‘over-zoo'd’ by world standards. And the zookeeping standards described would fit most zoos in developing countries.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on February 3, 2010

Mike Walker (Jan 31) errs in saying Israel didn't cooperate with the UN commission because it didn't like its findings. The reason was that Israel didn't trust the commission to do a fair job. As it turned out, that fear was justified.

Mr Walker repeats charges about schools and ambulances being attacked without mentioning that Hamas used schools and ambulances for military purposes.

In fact (and it is a fact), Israel made great efforts to minimise civilian casualties, while fighting an enemy that operates from civilian areas. Nevertheless, in war every soldier is not a saint, every bomb does not hit its target, intelligence is not always correct, and mistakes are made. In WWII, for example, over 4 million (!) innocent civilians were killed by Allied forces, and that was a war where the enemy didn't hide among civilians.

Bad things inevitably happen in war. Gaza should have thought of that before it declared war on Israel and launched its rocket attacks. If you throw stones at a lion, you should expect to be bitten.

Incidentally, the ‘liberation of Palestine’ goal of Mr Walker's group is another way of saying ‘destruction of Israel’. So much for wanting peace.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on February 3, 2010

Dear Editor,
Your paper appears to show an anti-Israel bias, after following the publications tendency to allow more space to articles and letters that critisize Israel (many with factual errors), it seems unfair that KBRM has had to pay for the facts to put in print. Mike Walker (Jan 31) must only have access to the mistruths frequently given in a disproportionate amount of newspaper coverage. I would challenge the SST to promote truth over popular fiction.
KBRM Member

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on February 2, 2010

Mike Walker, Jan 31 2010, should be aware that Israel refused to co-operate with the UN and Mr Goldstones Inquiry team because most of its members had made public statements condemning Israel's actions in Gaza 2009 before being appointed to the Commission of Inquiry.

As Solidarity Campaign Co-ordinator for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in New Zealand Mr Walker has blood on his hands.
On June 13 1974 3 women were killed in an attack at kibbutz Shamir. One of the three was Miss Judith Sinton of Auckland who was on holiday in Israel.

On November 27, 1974 Mr Graham Clark of Blenheim along with Mr and Mrs Mawdley, a couple immigrating to New Zealand and Miss Bunty Condon of Sanderingham were on a British Airways VC10 flight which was hijacked to Tunis. In the end all were released.

A third incident involving the PFLP was the hijacking of the Air France Airbus aircraft to Entebbe Uganda on June 28 1976 where 5 New Zealanders on board including Mr Colin and Mrs Nola Hardie He, Manager of the Christchurch Star newspaper were released by hijackers after being separated from the Jewish passengers with the rest of the Gentiles.

This is but three incidents involving the PFLP, just another terror group like Hamas who don't want Israel to exist.

Israel's point of view is available on its ministry of foreign affairs website or by contacting the Embassy of Israel in Canberra Australia.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on February 2, 2010 (Publoshed on February 7, 2010)

Sir,
There is a Yiddish word ‘Chutzpa’, defined as someone who murders his parents and then pleads for the mercy of the court because he is an orphan.
Mike Walker's letter published on January 31 seems to be an equally valid definition of the term when he criticizes Israel for attacking ambulances in Gaza (an unsubstantiated charge), but fails to mention that Hamas regularly uses ambulances to transport arms and militants in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the neutrality of the Red Cross Symbol (for video evidence, search for "Hamas Ambulance" on YouTube).

To add insult to injury, Mr. Walker represents himself as a coordinator for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine one of the most hard-line factions in the PLO which has rejected any type of negotiated settlement with Israel and has been responsible for dozens of terror attacks which specifically targeted civilians.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on February 2, 2010

The campaign co-coordinator for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in his letter (31 Jan) complains about the recent advertisement which appeared in your newspaper concerning the situation in Gaza. Mike Walker conveniently omits to mention that Hamas, the terror group controlling Gaza, used hospitals as command centres for their attacks against Israeli civilians, stored ammunition in schools and Mosques and fired rockets from these places as well as private homes. In other words Gazan civilians were used as human shields by the terrorists. Is it any wonder therefore that these places suffered collateral damage?
Readers should also be made aware that the organisation which Mr. Walker proudly represents has been responsible for horrific acts of terror against innocent civilians and has as its aim the elimination of the Jewish State. Need one say more?

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on February 2, 2010

Mike Walker recycles allegations of Israeli war crimes in Gaza, based on the unsupported statements of Hamas leaders who see themselves as locked in a fight to the death with Israel. In a rare case where analysis is possible, Palestinian figures show that the large majority of ‘civilians’ of fighting age killed were male, casting doubt as to whether they were civilians at all. Most identifiable alleged violations of the rules of war by israeli soldiers have proved to be baseless, and the rest due to human error. Every life lost is a tragedy, but independent observers testify that Israel's armed forces go to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.
As for damage to public services, Mr Walker neglects to say that Hamas fighters based themselves in public buildings, and used civilians as human shields - both admitted by Hamas leaders - thereby inviting damage and casualties. This shows reckless disregard for the effects on the people of Gaza, from those whom Mr Walker wants to rule Israel and the West Bank as well.
The Goldstone report criticised both Israel and Hamas, and the UN subsequently required both parties to investigate. Israel is about to release its response to Goldstone. Where is that of Hamas?

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Submitted to The Press on February 1, 2010

To answer ___________ request for information (Jan 30), KBRM has grown in three years to 75 members. Member names are not released because of the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic element in New Zealand (see Bigotry Box at Feedback, kbrm.org.nz). One card I received was so threatening that the Postal Service attached a note suggesting I contact the police.
We have a 17-member Action Group that formulates our articles, appeals, and advertisements. We do business by email because of the geographical separation. We have no connection with any Zionist lobby. All funds for advertisements come from Kiwi pockets.
KBRM commiserates about Mr McRobie's rejected article. We also have had articles rejected, forcing us to advertise if we want to get our ‘missing truths’ across.
Despite his continued belief, I did not say, ‘all that needs to be done to end conflict in the Middle East is for Palestinians to accept the existence of Israel’. That was the headline. What I said was, ‘If Gaza wants to end the Israeli 'oppression' (i.e., the blockade), all it has to do is accept the existence of Israel.’ This is a true statement, and I'm happy to repeat it.
I apologise for the abusive letter Mr McRobie received, and will rebuke the sender if he will forward it to me. As for our advertisement, I assume he has read it by now and invite him to notify me of any errors if he finds any. They will be corrected.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on January 30, 2010

‘Accurate or not’, says the article, ‘a monstrous picture has emerged... of how the... wife of the hardline Prime Minister (of Israel) handles her domestic staff’. The question of accuracy — and the story was denied by the PM and his family — didn't stop the Herald from displaying it prominently with a large colour photo (p. A18, Jan 28).
I say, ‘Accurate or not, a monstrous picture has emerged in the NZ press of Israel.’ In this article, for example, aside from featuring a questionable and ridiculously minor charge, the words ‘bully’ and ‘hardline’ were applied to a PM who publicly accepts a two-state solution, and who placed a freeze on settlement building as a concession to Palestinians, while Palestinians made no concessions.
‘Accurate or not,’ there is a story about an Israeli tourist who saved a child from a vicious dog. A reporter who saw the attack said he would write a news report. ‘I can see the headline,’ he said, ‘Heroic Tourist Saves Child From Vicious Beast. Where are you from?’ When the tourist answered Israel, the reporter said, ‘Oh, then the headline will say Vicious Israeli Kills Family Pet.’

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Submitted to The Press on January 26, 2010 (Published)

Abdullah Drury (Jan 167#41; accused me of being simplistic and overlooking facts in regard to ‘the need for Palestinians to just accept Israel.’
The trouble is, I didn't say that — that was the headline inserted over my letter. What I said was, ‘If Gaza wants to end the Israeli 'oppression', all it has to do is accept the existence of Israel’. This is a true statement. If Gaza gave up its attacks and its aim of destroying Israel, there would be no need for Israel's partial blockade (the only act of supposed ‘oppression’).
As for overlooking facts, Mr Drury''s statement that the Palestinians, ‘even Hamas’, have accepted the existence of Israel is not a fact, as the residents of Sderot can well testify. Besides these continuing attacks, there is the Hamas charter and recent statements by Hamas officials reaffirming their goal of destroying Israel.
Nor is it true that common Palestinian folk are imprisoned in their homes. The check points and security barriers in the West Bank are there to stop suicide bombers and other attacks. They cause inconvenience to travellers, but they do not imprison anyone in their home.
Alan McRobie (Jan 20), besides making the same accusation based on the false headline, belittled KBRM as a ‘small group that styles itself as Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East’. Actually, we're pretty big, and our name was carefully chosen by vote.
His implication that we're part of an Israeli lobby is also untrue. We have no connection with Israel or any other group. Nor does our funding come, even in part, from anywhere other than our own pockets, plus contributions from other Kiwis who want to see the truth in their newspapers.
KBRM does not believe ‘Israel, right or wrong’; we believe that Israel has the right to have the truth told about it.
The fact is, neither writer found errors in our advertisement. It is unfortunate that some people choose to see truths favourable to Israel as ‘Zionist propaganda.’

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January 28, 2010
Letter sent to Radio NZ National (edited)
As I listened to ‘The Panel’ with Rosemary McLeod and Finlay MacDonald yesterday afternoon, for a fleeting moment I thought I was going to hear radio history being made. The topic was the Haitian earthquake and its horrendous aftermath and a comment was made about the need to praise the work of one particular nation that was offering aid and relief in Haiti, particularly as this nation was one that the we all ‘love’ to criticise. This nation was apparently in Haiti right from the outset, offering search and rescue and medical assistance, in fact this nation was always one of the first to offer practical assistance in time of disaster and tragedy.

With such an introduction I thought, ‘finally, some one on Radio NZ has had the decency to give credit where credit is due and pay tribute to the work of the Israeli Defence Force personnel, Israeli relief organisations like ISRA-Aid and the Israeli orthodox-Jewish search and rescue team, ZAKA, all of whom have contributed enormously to the relief efforts in Haiti.’

But no, you were referring to the United States of America. While America should be commended for its efforts in Haiti, when you consider the population of America and its geographical proximity to Haiti, it should come as no surprise that the Americans were among the first to offer and provide assistance to the Haitians. But the Jewish state (the nation the international media and the UN fall over themselves to criticise) with its tiny population and geographical distance from Haiti, provided the only field hospital equipped to undertake surgery in the days immediately following the Haitian earthquake. The Israelis quietly got on with the job of rescuing survivors, providing relief, delivering babies and performing life-saving surgery while American President Obama was still promising to ‘not abandon’ the Haitians. It was also the Israelis who got a communications network set up so international reporters could send their stories from Haiti to the world.

Yesterday I thought, erroneously, that the NZ media might be able to demonstrate the old fashioned New Zealand value of ‘giving credit where credit was due’, and put in one good word for a small, beleaguered nation that offers help to any who will receive it. I was disappointed.

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Submitted to The Southland Times on January 18, 2010

K L Marks (Jan 23) is right to be outraged at the loss of life of innocent life in the Middle East. But outrage isn't enough. Civilians are killed in every war. The question is how to stop the war, and for that it is necessary to understand the root cause.
A clue may be found from the fact that all of Israel's military and security actions, whether well-advised or not, are made in self-defence, whereas the Palestinian attacks are made with the goal of killing Jews and driving Israel into the sea.
This war cannot possibly end until the Palestinians either accept, or are made to accept, the existence of Israel.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on January 18, 2010

While international political leaders make big promises of aid for the distressed population of Haiti, 220 Israeli Defence Force personnel are quietly getting on with the job of providing specialist search and rescue and medical help to survivors.

The IDF has established a field hospital in Haiti, which can treat approximately 500 people per day. Other Israeli relief operations currently in Haiti include a six-man search and rescue team, a 15 member medical team and a plane load of food and medical supplies sent by IsraAID.

While it is becoming common practice for some in this country to vilify Israel and its Defence Force, if New Zealand was ever hit by such a catastrophic disaster as has devastated Haiti, I hope Israel and the IDF would be willing to help us, as they have quietly helped victims of disasters across the world for the past sixty years.

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Submitted to The Press, Otago Daily Times, Dominion Post, Manawatu Standard & Southland Timeson January 18, 2010

The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem reported last Thursday that Israel was one of the first countries to send practical help to Haiti.
Over 120 specially trained medical and relief personnel were on the ground rescuing and treating the wounded while most other countries were still getting organized. A field hospital has been set-up which includes an intensive care unit, two operating theatres, a pharmacy and X-ray unit.

Other Israeli emergency and rescue teams, despatched by humanitarian group IsraAID, have arrived with food and medical supplies and include ZAKA volunteers and a 12-man search-and-rescue team equipped with sonar locaters and sniffer dogs trained to search for people buried under the rubble.

Those who vilify Israel and hurl baseless, hate-filled accusations against the Jewish State should ask themselves how this tiny, embattled country is so often among the leaders in search and recue emergencies, whilst its richer and better endowed neighbouring States are nowhere to be seen.
This kind of positive news about Israel rarely gets reported. Fair minded Kiwis need to know.

Printed (on line) in the Waikato Times on January 25

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Submitted to The Press on January 18, 2010 (Published)

I am defending my challenge to your headline ‘Protest Against Israeli Player Anti-Semitic’
How could anyone infer that from what I wrote? I did not claim that Mr Minto or his protest was anti-semitic. I have never met him or any of his mates. What I did say was that ‘Minto and his friends prefer to go after Israel because they believe all the distortions, libels and lies that are being spread by PA propaganda’. This was my inference based on Minto's beliefs summarised in his 12 January ‘What-do-we-want’ blog.

After clarifying my thoughts I realise that it is not unreasonable to suspect that The Press Letters Column has an anti-Israel bias .
. The initials PA (Palestinian Authority) were deleted from my letter.
The thrust of my letter was to shine a little more light behind the headlines and give Kiwis a glimpse of what the Middle East is really all about.
My last two paragraphs were intended as an ‘epilogue’ to widen the focus to include the secular West and to point out to your readers that it is not Jewish suicide bombers that threaten them...
These paragraphs were deleted.
I leave your readers to make your own inferences.

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Submitted to The Press on January 18, 2010

Abdullah Drury (Jan 16) is correct that ‘just accept Israel’, in general, is too simplistic a solution. My statement referred to Gaza, where the only ‘oppression’ is Israel's blockade. And yes, this blockade would end if Gaza, which bombards Israel with rockets almost every day, would only accept Israel's existence.

As for Israeli Arabs, Israel's laws apply equally to all citizens (except that Arabs are exempt from compulsory military service.) Israeli Arabs would rather be part of Israel than a Palestinian state — so much for ‘persecution’/

Mr Drury says Palestinians don't want a Jew-free land. Can he tell me how many Jews there are in Gaza and the West Bank, outside of protected settlements? However he hit the nail on the head when he said they want a Zionist-free land. Yes, their goal is to destroy the Zionist state of Israel, and that's the fundamental problem.

Finally, it is not true that Palestinians are ‘persecuted, harassed and imprisoned in their own homes.’ This is a weird way of describing check points and security barriers, whose only purpose is to stop terrorism.

Every nation is entitled to self-defence, or does that not apply to the one Jewish nation in the world?

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Published in The Listener on January 18, 2010

Marilyn Waring's contribution to the ‘20 Ideas for a better world’ (December 26) deserves comment. The 61-year-old Shatila refugee camp member quoted should complain to the UN about the state of the camp, which it built and runs. As to the rest of his comments, he has only his fellow Arabs to blame, as they failed to accept partition in 1948. failed to set up an Arab state in the west Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, and who turned down every attempt to make a Peace Deal since 1967. By presenting this man's views as hers, Waring appears not to believe that the Jewish State has any right to exist.
I challenge her to clarify her position.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on January 18, 2010

The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem reported last Thursday that Israel was one of the first countries to send practical help to Haiti.
Over 120 specially trained medical and relief personnel were on the ground rescuing and treating the wounded while most other countries were still getting organized. A field hospital has been set-up which includes an intensive care unit, two operating theatres, a pharmacy and X-ray unit.

Other Israeli emergency and rescue teams, despatched by humanitarian group IsraAID, have arrived with food and medical supplies and include ZAKA volunteers and a 12-man search-and-rescue team equipped with sonar locaters and sniffer dogs trained to search for people buried under the rubble.

Those who vilify Israel and hurl baseless, hate-filled accusations against the Jewish State should ask themselves how this tiny, embattled country is so often among the leaders in search and recue emergencies, whilst its richer and better endowed neighbouring States are nowhere to be seen.
This kind of positive news about Israel rarely makes the newspapers. Fair minded Kiwis need to know.

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Submitted to The Press & Timaru Herald on January 18, 2010 (Publioshed)

Western countries are responding to Haiti's plight in the wake of the terrible earthquake, but for a small nation constantly having to defend itself against militant groups and critics, Israel shines. It provided practical help when the tsunami stuck Indonesia and is already assisting in Haiti.
The International Christian Embassy (ICEAJ) in Jerusalem, has reported that Israel is sending 40 doctors and 24 nurses to set up a relief hospital ‘capable of treating 500 patients, which will include an intensive care unit, two operating rooms, a pharmacy and an x-ray lab'’. Over 200 people will be involved.
Another report is of a non governmental Israeli rescue organisation ZAKA, most of whom are Orthodox Jews and have already rescued 8 students alive from a collapsed university.

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Submitted to Dominion Post on January 17, 2010 (Published)

As the full horror of the Haiti earthquake is revealed it is heartening to see most of the international community rallying around to provide aid and succour. One of the first countries to send practical help was Israel, which had a field hospital staffed by over 120 experts on the ground and treating the wounded while most other countries were still getting organised. In addition to the field hospital, Israel also sent a team with trained sniffer dogs to search for people buried under the rubble. Those who vilify and hurl baseless accusations against the Jewish State should ponder for a moment how it is that this small country can be one of the leaders in search and rescue, whilst its richer and better endowed Arab neighbouring States are nowhere to be seen.

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Submitted to The Press — paragraph in red deleted by editor

Like all who are benighted by weak arguments, Denis O'Connor (12th January) has to open his letter with insults. His ‘renowned’ Goldstone Report is certainly that: renowned for the piece of politicised bias that it is. It may have been taken seriously had the UN also condemned Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, but during eight years of unremitting salvoes aimed at Jewish civilians, it said nothing.

Mr O'Connor thinks Hamas terrorists are ‘freedom fighters’. Freedom from what? Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gazan territory in 2005, yet the rocket attacks continued (and still do). Furthermore, security fences are reversible, deaths from suicide bombings are not.

As for the apartheid accusations, they are nothing more than vacuous sloganising masquerading as fact and, as someone who spent three years living in South Africa in the 1970s, I can easily refute them. One of the first things that strikes you when you go to Israel is the religious, cultural and racial inclusiveness of the country.

I was in Jerusalem during Ramadan and saw thousands of Palestinians streaming to the Al-Aqsa Mosqe for Friday prayers. Before 1967, Jews were banned from their holy sites and their synagogues were desecrated.

Finally, a question for Mr O'Connor. If Hamas' agenda is ‘freedom’ or a Palestinian state, why does its Charter openly call for the murder of Jews everywhere, not just in Israel?

published on January 16, 2010

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Submitted to The Press on January 11, 2010

Congratulations on an excellent editorial (January 8). Not only is John Minto's tennis protest inappropriate, it is misdirected. As you say, there is blame on both sides. You might have added that while Israel has accepted 1.5 million Palestinians as full citizens, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank want their territories Jew-free. So much for Minto's apartheid charge/
However, your editorial was undermined by Evans' atrocious cartoon that showed a Palestinian mother holding a dead child. The Gaza war was waged to protect Israeli children from being killed by rockets launched from Gaza by terrorists who hide among civilians. To show sympathy for Gazans killed in this war, rather than for the dead Israeli children killed by Gazan rockets, is to turn morality upside-down. If Gaza wants to end the Israeli ‘oppression’, all it has to do is accept the existence of Israel.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on January 11, 2010

Saying something, even very loudly does't make it true.
A case in poInt: Mr Minto's assertion that Israel practices apartheid; it simply does not.
What is true is that 1.5 million Arabs live and enjoy full citizenship in Israel.
On the other hand no Jews live in Gaza!!!

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Submitted to the Southland Times on January 11, 2010

Pauline McIntosh appears to model her arguments on the foolishness and distortions of John Minto.

In the same way that Minto pretended his loud hailer wasn't disturbing the Auckland tennis players and spectators, McIntosh blares her distortions through the Southland Times letters column, pretending that Israel is like the former South Africa.

She is unaware of (or hides) the fact that 1.5 million Arabs are Israeli citizens, equal under the law to Jewish Israelis.

She also blames everything on Israel as if the Arab invasion of 1948; the Arab aggression of succeeding years (never heard of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Ms McIntosh?); PLO terrorism (never heard of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre?); and thousands of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza )when Israel had totally withdrawn in 2005) had never happened.

She should take her lesson of (love thy neighbour as thyself) (Leviticus 19:18) to the Arabs; or apply it to herself, before falsely condemning Jewish Israelis.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on January 10, 2010 (Published)

Pauline McIntosh's attack on Israel contains so many errors that it's hard to know where to start:
— Palestinians don't live in ‘intolerable slave-like conditions’. The West Bank is enjoying unprecedented properity, and Gaza is not far behind. West Bank businessmen don't want independence yet, because they don't trust the Palestinian Authority to preserve peaceful conditions
— if any Palestinians in Gaza are ‘scrounging in rubbish tins’ and ‘sheltering in Israeli-bombed rubble’, they chiefly blame their own rulers for failing to improve their living conditions, while prosecuting an offensive againt israel which most Gazans don't want
— Israel doesn't enjoy ‘unbridled power and insatiable greed and privilege’. The 1.4 million Arabs living within the undisputed borders of Israel have full citizenship and civil rights. In independent opinion polls, over 75% of them don't want to live anywhere else, and few wish to be citizens of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile, in Gaza Hamas is independent in all but name, and in the West Bank the Palestinian Authority has wide authority. Far from displaying greed, Israel supports Palestinian economic efforts with technical and financial assistance, as well as humanitarian aid.

Ms McIntosh invokes the Christian doctrine of love for one's neighbour. Is she aware that Christian organisations flourish unmolested in Israel, but in Palestine, Christians are routinely harassed and maltreated as ‘unbelievers’? Or that Israel has offered peace terms on a number of occasions, but significant factions of the Palestinian leadership demand Israel's complete destruction? — a prospect to which Ms MacIntosh looks forward with approval.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on January 10, 2010

Pauline McIntosh's letter contained so many false accusations against Israel that are not supported by the actual facts that one wonders what her real agenda might be. She has however provided the answer by wishing that Israel should disappear as a Jewish State. As a proponent of the age old campaign of Jew cleansing and scapegoating, readers can now draw their own conclusions as to her real intentions.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on January 9, 2010

Janfrie Wakim (6 Jan) claims that Palestinians have no chance of being involved in sport. The reality is that they are free to, and do, play sport at all levels up to the international. Their leaders will not let them play Israelis, and Islamic dress codes make it unlikely that we shall see a female Palestinian tennis player in Auckland any time soon. Left to themselves, Israeli and Palestinian youth happily play soccer together. But FIFA forces Israeli soccer teams to play in its European group, because Arab states object to their teams sharing a field with Jews in regional tournaments. What price apartheid?

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on January 9, 2010 (Published)

BBC World Service reported on a video showing the Sri Lankan army murdering hundreds of naked young Tamil males with a bullet in the back of the head. (In the camps on the Jaffna Peninsular).

Untold thousands of Africans in southern Sudan and Darfur, Christians and animists, have been killed by Muslim Arabs from the north of Sudan What about Tibet, Myanmar, Chechnya, DR Congo, Chad, Rwanda? Has anyone heard of John Minto publicly protesting about any of these on-going atrocities?

Minto and his friends prefer to go after Israel because they believe all the distortions, libels and lies that are being spread by PA propaganda and enthusiastically embraced by the western left wing media and academics where virulent antisemitism is back in fashion.

How many Jewish suicide bombers have you read about? Not one. Why? Because Jews, like us, do not believe the claims of Islam about Paradise. Western values and culture are very close to that of the Jewish world. Holy wars are all about, hatred, destruction and death but evil can be halted when even a few honest men refuse to shut up!

The threats of Ah-ma-dinner-Jad to ‘wipe Israel off the map’ are not hollow.

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Submitted to The Press (Published),Otago Daily Times(Published), Southland Times (Published), The Dominion Post & NZ Herald on January 8, 2010

I genuinely wonder how Mr Minto could label Israel a racist state practicing apartheid. Such an allegation is downright silly.
Perhaps we get an understanding of how Mr Minto's mind functions when, after being warned three times outside the ABS tennis centre that he would be arrested for creating a public disturbance; he seemed surprised when it happened.
If Mr Minto were really concerned about individual freedoms, rather than target tennis pro, Shahar Peer, at the ABS tennis centre he could have used his time and mega phone more wisely by visiting a number of Middle East embassies. The abuse of freedom that occur in these countries would indeed be worthy of protest, as opposed to the waste of time and resources that Mr Minto put our country to, over his unfounded allegations against Israel; the only sovereign democratic state in the entire region.

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Submitted to The Press on January 8, 2010

What a perceptive cartoon in this morning's Press! It was so refreshing to see a cartoonist portraying an Israeli mother holding a wounded child to represent the many Israelis who have died and been wounded by terrorist activity originating from the West Bank and Gaza - whilst at the same time he emphasizes the separation of sports and politics. Some readers may chose to see the mother and child as Palestinian, but they need reminding that deaths by Muslim on Muslim and the policies of their leaders are by far the major cause of Palestinian misery.

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Submitted to The Press on January 8, 2010 (Published)

Congratulations on a well rounded, insightful editorial highlighting the intricasies of the controversy surrounding protests of Shahar Peers' playing at the ASB Classic. It is however, a distinct shame that your newspaper chose to print such an emotionally manipulative cartoon which gave an overly simplistic picture of the tension that exists between Israel and its neighbours. No doubt John Minto will love it. I will assume only that all other available cartoonists of worth are on holiday at the moment.

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Submitted to The Press, The Otago Daily Times (Published) and The Southland Times (Published) on January 7, 2010

I see that chief loonie John Minto has gotten eight other loonies to protest against an Israeli tennis player. I call them loonies because only a lunatic (one out of touch with reality) could so invert the facts, which are:
Israel accepted 1.5 million Palestinians as full citizens; the Palestinians want their territory to be Jew-free. Israel withdrew from Gaza; Gaza responded with 7000 rocket attacks. Israel turned over administration of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority; in return the West Bank is a hotbed of terrorist activity. Israel's actions in the West Bank (check points, barriers, etc.) are only to stop terrorist attacks; if a terrorist is killed, the PA embraces them as ‘martyrs’. Israel wants to live in peace with its neighbours; its neighbours want to annihilate Israel.

Yet Minto accuses Israel of oppression and apartheid. I hope most Kiwis will understand how ridiculous this is.

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Submitted to the Timaru Herald on January 7, 2010 (Published)

John Minto and his friends are protesting against an Israeli tennis player taking part in an Auckland tournament. The irony is that neither Minto nor his fellow protesters have been demonstrating against the grossest violations of human rights taking place in Iran, Syria, Gaza and other such places.
Instead their misplaced ire is directed at the Middle East's only true democracy which faces genocidal threats from Iran and terror attacks from Arab Palestinians.
As to the alleged treatment meted out to Palestinians by Israel (your editorial) I presume you and Minto have overlooked the fact that Israel has provided life saving medical care in Israeli hospitals to Palestinians, despite having thousands of rockets fired at its civilian population by terrorist groups based in territory under the control of Hamas & Fatah.
Incidentally 1.5 million Arabs living in Israel as citizens have overwhelmingly rejected the idea of becoming citizens of the Palestinian Authority. There must be a message in that fact.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on January 7, 2010 (Published but with but with the references to ‘loonies’ eliminated.)

John Minto and his friends are protesting against an Israeli tennis player taking part in an Auckland tournament. The irony is that neither Minto nor his fellow protesters have been demonstrating against the grossest violations of human rights taking place in Iran, Syria, Gaza and other such places. Instead their misplaced ire is directed at the Middle East's only true democracy which faces genocidal threats from Iran and terror attacks from Arab Palestinians. As to the alleged treatment meted out to Palestinians by Israel (your editorial) I presume you and Minto have overlooked the fact that Israel has provided life saving medical care in Israeli hospitals to Palestinians, despite having thousands of rockets fired at its civilian population by terrorist groups based in territory under the control of Hamas & Fatah. Incidentally 1.5 million Arabs living in Israel as citizens have overwhelmingly rejected the idea of becoming citizens of the Palestinian Authority. There must be a message in that fact.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on January 6, 2010

In attacking Israeli sportswoman Shahar Peer, John Minto makes the mistake of seeing everything in terms of political symbols. Ms Peer was invited here to play tennis, not to represent the Israeli Government. Pillorying her for her nationality is a racist act and contrary to the New Zealand spirit of fair play. Perhaps Mr Minto could explain how his small-minded attack advances the cause of either global peace or justice, as his organisation claims to do.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on January 4, 2010

Your editorial, ‘Silence wisest response to Iran protests’ (4 January) is a sad reminder of the editorial opinion of the London Times during the 1930s.
Then, The Times supported appeasement of Hitler's Nazi regime, despite clear evidence of the human rights abuses which led inexorably to World War 2, the Holocaust of Jews, and the deaths of millions of other innocent people.
The arguments used were the same as the Herald's — political expediency.
The world, using similar arguments, has held back from speaking out strongly against other human rights abuses which have led to genocides — such as in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur.
The United Nations Human Rights Council (formerly Commission) has cynically avoided doing anything in all of these cases.
The Herald should recall nobler Fourth Estate traditions and speak out for those suffering human rights abuses and persecution by their own government, instead of following the immoral attitudes of the 1930s London Times and the UN.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on January 4, 2010

I read your editorial of 4 Jan. entitled ‘silence wisest response to Iran protest’ with great interest and incredulity. Silence in the face of human rights denial and persecution of citizens because of political and religious differences can never be condoned. That is what happened in the 1930's while the Jews of Germany and other countries were treated in a similar fashion. The media was also advising silence then so as not to upset the evil policies of a regime intent on eliminating citizens deemed dangerous. We all know where that ended. Today silence is cautioned whilst a dangerous regime gallops full speed towards developing nuclear weapons with the declared aim of wiping a fellow member of the UN off the face of the earth. Haven't we learnt anything from recent history?

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Submitted to Southland Times on January 3, 2010

Answering Wynton Cooper's false charges (Dec. 31) is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

The Arab rejection of the UN partition in 1948 had nothing to do with boundaries. The Arabs refused to accept any Zionist state and waged war to drive it into the sea. This is still the goal of Arab terrorist groups today (not to mention Iran).

Palestinians who left their homes in 1948 mostly did so voluntarily, fleeing from a war that they had started. Two-thirds left without seeing an Israeli soldier. 1.4 million Palestinians who didn't leave (including descendants) live happily in Israel, while those who left have new lives in Arab territories. They are not ‘fighting for their lives’. It is only Israel that is fighting for its life.

While Col. Richard Kemp and Sir Harold Evans were not ‘in Gaza at the time of the Israeli invasion’, they clearly have a lot more knowledge of it than does Mr Cooper. To accuse them of merely parroting ‘the Israeli version’ is to insult two men of high character.

As to bias, I leave it to readers to determine who is biased - those who present lies about Israel, or those who rebut those lies.

Answering protests against the Gaza blockade (Jan. 2, p. B2) is also easy. The UN charter says a blockade is one of the first actions to be taken against an aggressor nation. If Gaza would abandon its continuing rocket attacks on Israel, the blockade would end.

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Submitted to The Press on January 3, 2010

When the Middle East conflict is discussed, the tendency in the media, and of many Kiwis, is to blame Israel. However there is one, and only one root cause, and that is the unwillingness — indeed, the active, violent resistance — of many Palestinians to accept the existence of a Jewish state. If this resistance were to end, if the Palestinians would allow Israel and Israelis to live in peace, all other disagreements could be solved. And until that happens, there can be no peace.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on January 1, 2010

Sir,
It is unfortunate that the self-described Pro-Palestinian organization IWPS took Auckland student ‘Majdoleen’ on a propaganda tour that focuses on extending the conflict rather than working towards a peaceful solution.
They made a point of taking her to a Mosque that was damaged by arsonists, but for some reason she didn't stay until the following day when Israel's Chief Rabbi and other prominent rabbis and politicians came to personally express their outrage and disgust over the horrific act of vandalism and to donate new books and money to replace or repair the damage.
The overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians want to live in peace together. Yes there are extremists on both sides, including the IWPS which defines itself as ‘non-violent’ but regularly takes part in demonstrations where stones and firebombs are fired at security forces.
If ‘Majdoleen’ really wants to work towards Peace in Israel/Palestine, maybe she should volunteer for an organization that encourages dialogue, instead of one that focuses on extending the conflict.

Printed January 5, 2010 — The editor printed IWPS in full (International Women's Peace Service), left out the sentence in red and made other small changes.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on December 31, 2009

Professor Waring's contribution to ‘20 Ideas for a better world’ deserves comment. The 61-year-old shatila refugee camp member who was interviewed should complain about the state of the camp to the United Nations, who built it and run it. As to the rest of his comments, he has only his fellow Arabs to blame, who failed to accept partition in 1948. failed to set up a Palestinian state in the west Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, and who turned down every attempt to make a Peace Deal since 1967.
Professor Waring, by presenting this man's views as hers, appears not to believe that the Jewish State has any right to exist. I challenge her to clarify her position on this point.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on December 31, 2009

The article ‘Student on a mission in West Bank’ is a shoddy piece of pseudo-journalism which somehow got past your quality control. This ‘interview’ with a NZ-based Palestinian activist consists solely of letting her air her opinions — alternately prejudiced and banal — with no attempt to analyse or even to get the facts right. Israeli settlements in the West Bank aren't ‘illegal under international law’ — under one legal interpretation, they are even encouraged! This question has been discussed so much in the media of late that any competent journalist should know the basics, even if the subject of the interview didn't.

But the most alarming error is the report of a mosque ‘set ablaze’ at ‘Yousof’. There is a village called Yousof in the West Bank, but no report of any trouble there since ‘scuffles’ involving the Israeli Army in 2001. It's incoceivable that in the current media climate, any recent arson of a West Bank mosque has gone unreported. So it's more likely that the story is a badly-garbled version of the recent attack on a mosque in Yasuf — an exceptional event which was reported worldwide, and one which was rightly condemned by Israeli leaders, both secular and religious. If so, it's a pity that ‘Majdoleen’ didn't stay around to witness the visit of the Chief Rabbi to the mosque, or to see the replacement copies of the al-Koran donated by israel. But in any case, for someone based in the Middle East, your correspondent seems extremely ill-informed.

It's disappointing to see material like this appearing in your pages, especially since your recent coverage of Middle Eastern affairs has generally been fair and professional.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on December 30, 2009

The article ‘Gaza conflict provokes new generation to pick up guns’ suffers from a glaring mismatch between headline and text. Just one young Palestinian is quoted as having joined an armed resistance group which ‘sometimes’ co-operates with Hamas. But the bulk of the article shows the inhabitants of Gaza increasingly disillusioned with Hamas' hard line. Were two articles run together under a single headline? — if so, they could have been kept separate, and readers could decide whether the present Hamas regime was likely to inspire Gazans to "take up arms" in its cause.

It's a pity you didn't pick up on the recent Wall Street Journal article on life in the Palestinian Territories. The author, a respected Middle East correspondent, paints a compelling picture of cities ‘bursting with energy, life and prosperity’, in large part founded on horicultural enterprises set up with Israeli technical assistance. The Palestinian economy grew by 7% in 2009, when many countries were in recession. Gains in Gaza have been less than in the West Bank, but are still significant, and any blame for Gaza's failure to deveop economically should be placed squarely on the leaders of Hamas - as ordinary Gazans are now starting to do.

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Submitted to The Press on December 28, 2009

In keeping with the usual ‘blame Israel’ reporting, The Press recently devoted 1415 sq cm to articles critical of Israel for house constructions and demolitions, complete with colour photographs. Then when an Israeli rabbi was killed in a terrorist attack, you allowed 25 sq cm to a cursory report (Dec. 26) with headline ‘West Bank death’. The casual reader wouldn't even know it was an Israeli who was killed. Here is a more complete account (see Jerusalem Post, Dec. 25):

A father of seven was killed in a drive-by shooting attack Thursday. The victim was identified as Rabbi Meir Chai, a 45-year-old resident whose children range in age from two months to 18 years. Chai was the fourth person killed by terrorists in the West Bank this year, including a 13-year-old boy stabbed to death near his home. The Imad Mughniyeh Group, affiliated with Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigade, claimed responsibility.

I thank the letters editor for allowing me to present this additional information to readers.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on December 24, 2009

May I correct two misunderstandings in Wynton Cooper's letter (December 23)?

First, it is not my job, nor that of KBRM, to file balanced reports on the Middle East; that is what we expect from the media. We are aware that there are two sides to the story, and when the media present only or primarily one side, we supply the missing truth. Nor do we quote ‘the official Israeli line’ — if there is one. Our last advertisement contained extensive quotes from a British expert on anti-terrorism warfare and a distinguished British editor, both of whom commended Israel for its conduct in the Gaza war.

Second, while loss of life is always regrettable, the necessity or morality of a war cannot be judged on that basis. Over 12 million people were killed by the Allies in WWII, including over 4 million civilians. When you're fighting for your life, for the right to be free, you do what you have to do.

As Amos Oz, an Israeli author who has often been critical of Israel, wrote (in reference to the 1948 war), ‘War was a terrible thing, of course, and full of suffering... but who asked the Arabs to start it? After all, we had accepted the partition compromise that was agreed by the United Nations, and it was the Arabs who had rejected any compromise and tried to butcher us all.’

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Submitted to The Listener on December 23, 2009

Prof. Flynn's solution for the Middle East (Dec. 26) is the best idea I have heard in years. The international community will never step in to settle the conflict, any more than it did in 1948 when it's new baby, Israel, was attacked by five Arab armies. Nor is negotiation the answer, given the fundamental disagreement about Israel's right to exist.

Instead, Flynn calls on Israel to act unilaterally and declare a Palestinian state in the West Bank. The boundaries would be close to the 1967 cease-fire line, but with some land swapping permitted (my interpolation). Jewish settlements would not be removed (after all, 1.4 million Palestinians live in Israel), but there would be no new construction.

A key part of his proposal is that ‘Israel would reserve the right to act against anyone who attacks Israel or its citizens on the West Bank.’ This is critical because history has shown that Israel cannot rely on a Palestinian government to stop terrorist attacks. (When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, it was rewarded by 7000 rocket attacks that continue to this day.)

Of course the Palestinians would not accept the plan. For one thing, it doesn't include the "right of return", something which Israel cannot grant if it wants to remain a Jewish state. But it would be, as Flynn says, ‘the best chance for violence to recede in the long term.’

The funny thing is, it's not that much different from the present situation. Palestinians in the West Bank have their own government (not a puppet one), and Israel just announced a 10-month freeze on construction. It would seem just one small step to declare it a permanent arrangement.

Since KBRM's mission is fighting unbalanced reporting, not proposing solutions, this is only my opinion, not that of KBRM.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on December 20, 2009

On December 13, you printed a story headlined ‘Mosque attack escalates conflict over settlements’. You accompanied it with unrelated images of two heavily-armed Israeli soldiers and an angry or fearful Arab woman, with the caption ‘Demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem is another source of tension’. Whatever the merits of house demolition in East Jerusalem — and the full story of Palestinian rent strikes, and protracted efforts on the Israeli side to try to settle matters without the drastic step of demolition is hardly ever mentioned — it has nothing whatever to do with the printed article, which did not mention demolitions at all. Nor is there any evidence that the images have any connection with the caption — they appear to have been chosen merely to suggest Israeli brutality and Palestinian suffering, and lack any news value. This is irresponsible journalism and you should know better.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on December 17, 2009

Let's see if I understand this. Hamas is a terrorist group founded with the aim of destroying Israel. It rules Gaza and has conducted many attacks on Israel, including 7000 rocket firings. In 2006 it kidnapped an Israeli soldier who was standing guard inside Israel's border and has been holding him incommunicado, in violation of international conventions. In return for the safe return of the soldier, Israel offered to release hundreds of prisoners being held for committing or abetting acts of violence against Israel. Hamas doesn't feel this is good enough, so they blame ‘Israeli intransigence’ for a breakdown in negotiations.

This carries chutzpah (nerve) to a new level! It is worse than the man who killed his parents and pleaded for mercy because he's an orphan.

Yet the Southland Times, probably through no fault of its own, published this report with a headline ‘Israel blamed for breakdown’ (December 17, p. 17). And the misinformed public once again gets the message ‘blame Israel.’ Readers may want to visit www.kbrm.org.nz to see other examples of biased reporting.

A letter was also sent to The Press, where the same news item appeared. The first two paragraphs were essentially the same, but the third paragraph was:

Of course The Press was just printing a news item from Fairfax, but once again the public gets the same one-sided ‘blame Israel’ message. Another example occurred on 18 December (‘Settlers rebuild’). For worse examples, visit www.kbrm.org.nz.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on December14, 2009

The article about the burning of books at a mosque (December 13, p. A17) exemplifies the way NZ media present only one side of the Middle East conflict. In this case, non-violent attacks by ‘Jewish extremists’ and the demolition of homes built illegally were reported as ‘sources of tension’. Of course right-thinking people, including most Israelis, felt revulsion over the mosque attack, but...

Where are the articles about how Jewish extremists who commit acts of violence are brought to justice, while Palestinian terrorists who kill Jews are hailed as heroes or martyrs?
Where is the story about the young Jewish woman stabbed by a terrorist while standing at a bus stop last Saturday?
Where are the stories about the almost-daily attacks on Israelis from Gaza and the West Bank?
Where is an article about the inconsistency between the Palestinian desire to keep the West Bank and Gaza Jew-free while 1.4 million Palestinians live in Israel with equal rights?
Where is the story about the real source of tension: the refusal by Palestinian groups to recognise the right of Israel to exist?
With this kind of one-sided reporting, it is no wonder that many New Zealanders have anti-Israel feelings.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on December11, 2009

Your article ‘Al Qaeda death cloud hangs over Baghdad’ returns to an ignoble theme which hasn't disfigured your pages for some time. The source of this article, which adds nothing to the news already carried of the recent suicide attack in Baghdad, seeks to paint a picture of an ungovernable state under terrorist control and on the brink of collapse. This picture is at odds with other reporting from Iraq which shows a state making a healthy recovery from the genocidal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, a foreign-led coup and a civil war with religious overtones.

The same source carries a stream of articles of equally-doubtful news value, some of which you have published, including the egregious and racist assertion that Iraqis, or any Arabs, are not capable of exercising or living under democratic government. Material from such a tainted source has no place in a serious newspaper.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on December 7, 2009

While I'm pleased to see that you've recently cut back your attacks on Israel, conflating together two stories on separate subjects under an anti-Israel headline (4 December) is an unprofessional trick. This is especially misleading because the second article (on Israeli action to restrain its more militant citizens from defying the freeze on settlement-building) provides a partial corrective to the image of Israel ‘oppressing’ the Arabs of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, conveyed by the headline and the first part of the article. If you were short of space, you could have omitted the file picture (only tenuously connected to the story) of a skullcap-wearing Jew evicting an Arab family. Would you print a similar picture of a white bailiff evicting a Pasifika family from their Otara home for non-payment of rent? I very much doubt it.

Those with the time and willingness to consult the original sources can see how the stories were manipulated, but the average reader can't do this. On 19 November you were pleased to cover at length an Israeli plan to build more houses in Gilo (which is not even in the West Bank) as an example of Israel's intransigence on ‘settlements’. It's regrettable that a a story demonstating Israel's conciliatory approach is hidden under a headline, article and picture saying the opposite.

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Submitted to The Listener on November 30, 2009

Michael Cranna (Letters, Dec. 5) is spot on about the ‘we've got blood, we've got body parts’ school of TV journalism. This is exactly what happened when TVNZ sent a news team to Israel to get a story about Kiwi immigrants, but instead were led to a ‘blood and body parts’ show about Palestinian evictions and home demolitions (Sunday programme, Channel 1, Nov. 1). Without checking with Israeli authorities, TVNZ turned an eviction over non-payment of rent into Israeli ‘oppression’ (ignoring the thousands of Palestinians who paid their rent and were not evicted) and turned a house demolition because of illegal construction into more Israeli ‘oppression’ (ignoring the fact that rules apply to Jews and Arabs alike and demolitions have occured in equal numbers in Jewish and Palestinian neighbourhoods). Viewers of this programme might want to read KBRM's formal complaints (Nov. 1 and Nov. 24 posts at kbrm.org.nz).

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on November 30, 2009

If Marwan Barghouti, serving five life sentences for multiple murder, represents the Palestinian idea of a ‘regular guy’, what hope is there for peace in the Middle East? He may think he's a resistance hero, but in any civilised society he would be seen to be the terrorist that he is.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on November 26, 2009

In response to Wynton Cooper's letter (Nov. 25), I am not ‘Israel's spokesman’ and I resent the accusation. My only concern, and that of Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Middle East, is truth. Our job is to combat falsehoods such as those in Mr Cooper's letter.

The Palestinian woman he refers to is probably Jana Hanoun (featured on TVNZ's Sunday programme) who was evicted with her family because of non-payment of rent. The suggestion that her ‘true crime was to be a Palestinian living in an area desired by Israelis’ is contradicted by the thousands of other Palestinians who pay their rent and who were not evicted.

If he was referring to the other family featured in the programme, their house was demolished because it did not have a permit (resource consent), not because they ‘were Palestinians’. This happens also in New Zealand (e.g., headline in the Wanaka Sun, ‘Family faces demolition’). Jewish buildings are also destroyed if they are built illegally. Statistics for the Jerusalem Municipality show that as of June, 20 demolitions orders had been issued in (Jewish) West Jerusalem and 21 orders in (Palestinian) East Jerusalem.

The ‘900 new Jewish homes’ mentioned by Mr Cooper are not ‘in the same area’. They are in the Jewish neighbourhood of Gilo and they will not deprive any Palestinians of their homes.

Finally, Mr. Cooper should have mentioned that the West Bank and East Jerusalem were seized by Jordan between 1948-1967 and its Jewish residents were murdered or expelled. After Jordan attacked Israel in 1967 the territory was taken over by Israel, which protected the rights of Arab residents and greatly improved their living standard.

The real question is why people like Mr Cooper insist on turning a few instances of building disputes into condemnations of Israel, while ignoring the continuing Palestinian intent and actions to destroy Israel.

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Submitted to The Press on November 23, 2009

Felicien Forgues' (Nov. 19) grasps at straws to support his opinion that Palestinian life worsened when Israel took over in 1967. Following this takeover, the life expectancy rose from 45 years to 72 today, the infant mortality rate dropped from 17% to 2.4%, and the literacy rate rose from 54% to 92%. If that's not improvement, I don't know what is.
Yes, there are walls, checkpoints and border controls, but they were erected only after repeated suicide bombings and other attacks by Palestinian terrorists. They would come down if these attacks were to cease. Such measures are not unusual. They are a nuisance, but travellers put up with check points at airports every day, for similar reasons.
Yes, there have been'house destructions, mostly for legal and security reasons, but not ‘to suit settlers' housing and roads’. Any resulting inconvenience is small when compared with the huge benefits enjoyed by the entire populace.

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Submitted to theSouthland Times on November 22, 2009

Israel's house building in East Jerusalem has received much criticism, with Arab leaders saying it destroys any chance for peace. This is a phony charge. If Israel were to place a total freeze on construction, we would soon see that the houses are not the obstacle to peace. They cause no harm to anyone, especially compared with the Palestinian rocket and bombing attacks. Anyway, the time for houses to come down is after borders have been agreed on, not before.
The real obstacle to peace is the Palestinian refusal to accept Israel's right to exist which, unfortunately, will not go away, freeze or no freeze.
There also is the matter of Jerusalem, which Israel will never give up, freeze or no freeze. It has good reason for this, considering the way Jews were killed or expelled and Jewish sites desecrated when Jordan captured Jerusalem in 1948. When Israel won it back in the 1967 war after being attacked by Jordan, it scrupulously protected Muslim sites and the right of Muslims to live and pray.
The houses in themselves are not an obstacle to peace.

Published unabridged on Nov. 25

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Submitted to The Press on November 20, 2009 (Published)

Felicien Forgues (November 19th) tries to sever cause from effect. The fence, checkpoints and buffer zones are all necessary aspects of Israel's right to protect her citizens from the savagery of terrorism. After 1967 when Israel took responsibility for health and medical services in the Territories, Palestinian infant mortality dropped from 150 per 1000 live births to 25 and 90% of all children were immunised.
What other nation would truck in thousands of supplies every day to an enemy sworn to its destruction?

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Submitted to The Press on November 16, 2009

If Felicien Forgues wants Orwellian propaganda, he need look no further than the Goldstone Report (14th November). Not only does it equate a democratic nation with a terrorist organisation, but all four of its members publicly expressed anti-Israeli views before commencing their Mission. So much for impartiality.
Forgues speculates on what Palestinian life was like before 1948. It didn't exist since the term ‘Palestinians’ only came into use after 1967. Before that there were Arabs, mainly of Syrian and Lebanese origin, living in a provincial backwater of the Ottoman Empire and latterly, in the British Mandate. They carried out terrorist attacks and massacres on Jewish inhabitants during the 20s, 30s and 40s and never sought their own state while under Jordanian or Egyptian occupation for 19 years.
Perhaps Mr Forgues should ask himself what life has been like for Israelis since 1948. They have endured 60 years of repeated attacks and invasions, all unprovoked and by up to seven Arab armies at one time seeking to annihilate their tiny state, the size of New Jersey. In the 1948 war they suffered 6,000 casualties, one percent of their population.
The arithmetic of death has since been mastered by the Palestinians who willingly sacrifice their citizens to dupe people like Mr Forgues. To quote Hamas leader, Fathi Hammad, ‘We desire death while you (Jews) desire life.’

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Submitted to The Press on November 16, 2009

In a letter printed in Saturday's Press, letter writer Felicien Forgues recommended that we ‘compare the life of Palestinians now with how they lived before 1967, or 1948.’ I agree that this is an excellent suggestion, and is a good indication of how the Palestinian population has fared under Israeli rule.
Here are a few basic statistics for the Palestinian population in 1967, at the end of almost 20 years of Egyptian and Jordanian rule:
Life expectancy at birth: 44 (males), 46 (females)
Infant mortality rate: 170 (per 1000)
Adult literacy rate: 72.2% (males), 34.9% (females).
According to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, these are the figures for 2004, after 37 years of Israeli rule:
Life expectancy at birth: 71.4 (males), 72.9 (females)
Infant mortality rate: 24.2 (per 1000)
Adult literacy rate: 96.5% (males), 88.0% (females).
Sounds like the Palestinians have done pretty well under Israeli rule.

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Submitted to The Press on November 16, 2009

Excuse me, Mr Forgues (Nov. 14), but the following facts are beyond question:
(a) Israel has no intention of destroying a neighbouring country, and never has. In 2005 it removed its soldiers and citizens from Gaza, hoping to ‘live and let live’.
(b) Hamas has repeatedly declared its intention of destroying Israel and carried out 7000 rocket attacks after Israel withdrew.
(c) Israel attacked Gaza in December after trying to persuade Hamas to stop its attacks. It withdrew after destroying some (but not all) of Hamas' military capability. (d) The life of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank did not deteriorate in 1967 when Israel took over administration from Jordan and Egypt (which had seized them in 1948). It actually improved.
To deny these facts and attack an advertisement that consisted of quotes by recognised authorities as ‘Orwellian propaganda’ is only to show one's ignorance.

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Submitted to The Press on November 15, 2009

Felicien Forgues' letter (14 Nov) demonstrates clear Orwellian double speak. Israel has never destroyed any neighbouring country. Gaza is a terrorist entity controlled by a terrorist organisation, not a country, and its continuing efforts to ferment terror against Israel's population is hardly a sign of total destruction. The claim that Arab Palestinians were better off prior to 1967 and 1948 is another example of myths masquerading as truth. The standard of living and life expectancy of Arab Palestinians is now considerably better than it was prior to 1967. I guess we should blame the dastardly Israelis for this shocking statistic.

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Submitted to The Press on November 15, 2009

The key to Felicien Forgues' letter of 14/11 is the phrase ‘the Palestinians have little means of killing Israeli civilians’. The true objective of Hamas in Gaza is not peace but to kill Israeli civilians.
The minute stage of Israel is filled with puppets controlled by shadowy masters in Iran and Arabia who operate in a theatre of war that stretches from Turkey to Pakistan. Islam surrounds Israel from every direction except the sea and it suits it to keep this conflict going because it provides a reliable fulcrum on which militant Islam is gradually levering western civilization apart.
It is truly Orwellian! Orwell claimed that ‘all war-propaganda, all the screaming, lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting’.
Colonel Richard Kemp pointed out that Hamas and Hizbollah are expert at driving the media agenda and are adept at staging and distorting incidents.

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Submitted to The Press on November 14, 2009

Mr Forgues might do well to wonder where the billions of US dollars in aid from mostly Western countries (including Israel), that have poured into ostensibly improving the life of Palestinians, have gone. He would find the answers the off-shore bank accounts held by Palestinian officials and into the weapons which are stacked high in tunnels in Gaza and elsewhere. The Palestinians' leaders have litle interest in the health, education and economic development of their people but continue, as they have done since the creation of the State of Israel, to devote themselves to a single mission: that of the destruction of Israel. Until that sick culture of hatred instilled by Islamic Jihadists has somehow been overcome, the lot of the Palestinian people will not change.

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Letter to TVNZ on November 13, 2009

Subject: Congratulations to the SUNDAY TEAM on its recent success at the ‘Global TV Journalist Awards’ held in Gaza last week

And... the winner this year in our very biased/half truth/no truth category goes to ..... THE SUNDAY TEAM from NZ for their programme ‘Across the Divide’.

Judges' Comments:

Congratulations to the team from down under on an excellent effort in this sought after category.

the SUNDAY TEAM showed even more bias than the BBC, something the judges thought nearly impossible. The ability to screen for over twenty minutes just one side of a story, avoiding the facts that could have brought balance and objectivity to the programme, is heartily commended. The judging committee acknowledges that this takes some doing.

The judges further commented:
A brilliant display of ‘don't confuse us with the facts’, ‘we've made up our mind journalism’ and ‘we want to ensure that viewers also come to the same twisted conclusion.’

The Judges concluded by saying they are looking forward to seeing SUNDAY's next programme entitled ‘A Triumph of Democracy’ (the story of the building of the new synagogue in downtown Gaza.)

Accepting the award for the SUNDAY TEAM, its spokesman Jonathan Quartertruth praised the efforts of all involved in the making of the programme.

TO THE SUNDAY TEAM

Seriously, fair go guys!

I had always enjoyed your programme BUT in this case you should have done so much better. You let the NZ side down. Your presentation was so biased it was hardly believable.

You asked at the end of your programme for viewers' opinions so you have mine.

I conclude by wishing you all the best and the season's greetings.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on November 12, 2009

Derek Rouse should expand his reading of history beyond Ilan Pappe’. Try reading some of the writings of Professor Sir Martin Gilbert of Mertin College, Oxford University. His writings include the Atlas of the Arab - Israeli conflict, The 8 volume Biography of Sir Winston Churchill, histories of the 2 world wars and The Atlas of Russian History — also the Childrens Illustrated Bible Atlas.
The Reason for the 1948 war was the Israeli declaration of Independence, May 15. The countries of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon declared war and invaded the mandate Territory to aid the Palestinians by defeating the Jews. They failed. The Jordan Arab Legion commanded by General Sir John Glubb gained control of the West bank and East Jerusalem, while Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip.

That's why there was no Arab state created in Palestine. The refugees created after the invasion are the responsibility of the invading Arab states.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on November 12, 2009 (Published with the heading ‘Double standard’)

Mr. Cooper in his letter (Southland Times 10 Nov) obviously believes that Israel has no right to intercept a vessel carrying tons of weapons for terrorist groups whose aim is the destruction of the Jewish State. What would his reaction be if a terrorist organisation in Otago acquired enough weapons to murder the civilian population of Southland? I presume he would also condemn any attempt by NZ authorities to disrupt the flow of weapons in that situation. Perhaps his double standard applies to those whose hatred of Israel blinds them to the real truth of the situation.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on November 12, 2009

It's amazing how my article on Christian support for Israel can be converted by Derek Rouse in his letter (ODT 10 Nov) into a litany of false accusations against the Jewish State. I suggest that Mr. Rouse make the effort to read 2 books (‘1948’ & ‘One State, Two States’) recently published by historian Benny Morris, in which the author admits his previous mistaken version of the same lies and now explains exactly what the real facts are about refugees, expulsions and nakba. This will reveal that contrary to the fables about Jewish massacres & ethnic cleansing, any disasters incurred by the Arabs during Israel's re-establishment, were totally self inflicted and as a result of their own clearly stated desire to finish the job that the Nazis had failed to accomplish.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on November 11, 2009 (Published with the heading ‘Self-preservation’)

Wynton Cooper (10.11.09) seems to be unaware that Iran, Hizbollah and Hamas have all proclaimed their intention to wipe Israel off the face of the map. When Israel stopped a shipment of arms to Hizbollah, this was not a ‘double standard’, it was common sense in the interest of self-preservation. Would Mr Cooper have yelled ‘double standard’ in WWII as the Allies tried to prevent Germany from acquiring or producing weapons?u to have the courage to report the facts. To do anything less is to be complicit in a lie and in this case slander.

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Letter to TVNZ on November 11, 2009

Regarding the ‘Across the Divide’ program which screened on 01.11.09, I would like to express my dismay at the lack of investigative journalism done by your reporting team into the facts of the evictions in East Jerusalem.
The housing complex in question is located in the Sheik Jarra neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem. The home was originally Jewish, but its Jewish occupants were chased out during countrywide anti-Jewish Arab riots in 1929. Arabs then squatted on the property.
Authentic documentation proves the complex is owned by Jews and that Arabs have been squatting on it illegally for almost a century.
Israel's court system, not exactly a friend of Jewish ‘settlers’ twice now ruled the property undoubtedly belongs to Jews.
The slanderous charges made by the representative of the Hanoun family (more than once!), that Israel practices ‘ethnic cleansing’ were never investigated or challenged. This libel can easily be refuted by checking the current population statistics for Jerusalem which clearly show that there are far more Arabs living in east Jerusalem in 2009 compared with 1967.
No checks were done of building permit applications or the details of the long running court disputes with tenants who were evicted because of unpaid rent. The program was not an impartial commentary on the situation in east Jerusalem, but an emotional pro-Palestinian piece that gave an inaccurate portrayal of the events in question. The emphasis made in the program that the family were evicted at gunpoint and then the showing an armed guard in Efrat overseeing work done by Palestinians was sensational and ignores the daily reality for all Israelis - that armed guards are everywhere in Israeli cities, mixed communities, check points and airports. Unfortunately it is a fact that to be a Jewish person in your own country is to be a target for assassination by your Arab neighbours. It would be more unusual to show someone doing their grocery shopping without an armed guard at the Supermarket entrance!If you take journalism seriously and earnestly desire to give a fair representation of the truth, I would encourage you to have the courage to report the facts. To do anything less is to be complicit in a lie and in this case slander.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on November 11, 2009

I have a pathetic feeling that Wynton Cooper's comments of ‘Double Standard’ (10.11.09) only reflected the biased media coverage of Israeli-Arab issue and the lack of discernment, which resulted in ungrounded imprudent judgment, of some citizens. Indeed, if one had ever done some humble research on the literature of this middle-east problem, which we can agree is more reliable and authentic than the present overflooded fast-food news, he wouldn't have been so audacious to jump to the conclusion without any backing facts.

Mr. Cooper's comments totally ignored many facts, one of which being that Lebanon, Hizbollah or Hamas (his original word) are trying all their efforts to eliminate Isreal, a peace-longing nation legitimated by UN and ordained even before human history. This is more than what we call ‘invasion’. Let alone Hamas is a well-known organization which promoted violence and vowed to wipe Israel off the map by whatever means. I will leave the other facts to his history teacher.

Adopting Mr. Cooper's metaphoric way, when the terrorists are plotting something against the legal rights of the public, it is fully justified and necessary for the authority to take actions preventing it. It should also be the public's responsibility to support such a movement. Unfortunately we've seen too much abuse of the so-called ‘human-rights’ trampling the basic principle of compliancy, righteousness and justice. And I do wonder who is adopting the ‘Double Standard’ after going through Mr. Cooper's comments...

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on November 6, 2009

Thursday's Herald demonstrates graphically the difference between professional journalism and opinion masquerading as news. The article ‘Hamas tests rockets that can reach Tel Aviv, Israel claims’ quotes both Israeli and Palestinian authorities, and provides ample background and context. Contrast this with ‘The fight for homes in East Jerusalem’, emotive, lacking facts and with no attempt to explain — just a portrayal of Israelis as mindless bullies who enjoy smashing up other people's homes. The truth: Arabs living in Jerusalem properties forcibly taken from Jews in 1948, although technically squatters, are generally protected by Israeli law, provided they pay a fair rent. The evictions are of those who won't pay. This is now now well-documented, and the writer's failure to mention it is either very sloppy journalism or deliberate bias.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on November 5, 2009

You seem unaware that HRW's credibility is virtually nil. Following revelations of one executive's obsession with Nazi memorabilia, and another's praise for the killers of israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, comes a trenchant critique of anti-Israel bias in its reporting, from its founder and Chairman Emeritus Robert Bernstein. Printed at length in the New York Times, it has apparently sunk without trace in your pages, perhaps in favour of non-stories like Israeli ‘kosher lifts’ Your readers deserve better than this.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on November 4, 2009

Benefits of interfaith
Readers of Michael Kuttner's article about the Feast of the Tabernacles in Jerusalem (ODT 3 November) may not know that for many years groups of Kiwi members of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) have traveled to Israel to take part in the observance.
This gives much pleasure to members of the New Zealand Jewish community who often feel beleaguered by the largely negative comment on Israel that pervades our media — bringing us news and images of confrontation and violence and ignoring the uplifting or constructive things that happen as much in Israel as in any other country.

Christians and Jews sharing the spirituality of the Holy City of Jerusalem is a form of the interfaith activity which, whether in Israel or here in New Zealand, is an excellent way of developing constructive networks within communities.

Dunedin's Abrahamic Group is a shining example of this to the rest of the country.

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MTV Networks Entertainment Group, Comedy Central, and Stewart's Daily Show on Oct. 27, 2009

Congratulations to MTV Networks Entertainment Group, Comedy Central, and The Daily Show for raising the flag of the Palestinian cause high. The power that you wield raising consciousness around the world is awesome.

I'm sure that your family, parents and grandparents included, as well as John Stewart's family and the families of David Javerbaum, Kahane Corn, and Josh Lieb are all kvelling [Jewish word for ‘getting pleasure’] over your political position.

History, as you well know, does repeat itself — especially where the Jews are concerned. Your influence will certainly contribute to our march toward the inevitable. I hope you realize that no matter what your political position is today, when the time comes, the Herzogs and the Stewarts and the Liebs, etc. will be counted as they board the 21st century equivalent of the trains to Auschwitz.

You should all be proud of yourselves for doing your part while at the same time disseminating so little accurate information.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on October 29, 2009

Your article ‘Israelis deny Palestinians water’ is a model of unbalanced journalism.
Israel's water authority has issued a point-by-point refutation of the claims made by Amnesty (which clearly didn't bother to seek Israeli views before publishing its report) and identifies numerous abuses of water and sewerage rights on the Palestinian side. This was dismissed in a few lines of a lengthy article.
The fact that your source — the UK Independent — chose to publish only one side of the story doesn't free the Herald from responsibility for carrying out normal journalistic checks. Even a cursory search of published sources would have revealed the whole truth.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on October 29, 2009

The article about 'kosher elevators' (Oct 25) is a NON-news event. The vast majority of Orthodox Jews in Israel — of whom I am one, having emigrated from Auckland in 1991 — have dismissed it as nonsense. The fact that you feel compelled to reprint it speaks volumes about your agenda. You generally refuse to publish positive news about Israel (medical discoveries. etc.), but have no difficulty in printing this rubbish. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to see that the process of ridicule, deligitimisation and accusations (the ‘water’ article on the same day being an example) is a drip-feed process to influence the public to see Israel and Jews as not a normal State/people. This is the same tactic used by the Nazis in the 1930's with great success. That the media and other groups have climbed on this bandwagon is a sobering reminder that history does repeat itself.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on October 28, 2009

Why was the article ‘Rabbis' ban elevated to include even kosher lifts’ included as news (Oct 28)? Granted it may be an offbeat ‘human interest’ story, but it gives a completely false picture of what mainstream Israel is like. Every culture has its fringe groups, but even most Orthodox Jews find this story a bit outlandish.
My concern is that stories like this become part of a media tendency to portray Israel and Israelis as eccentric, aggressive, strange, ‘others’, rather than portraying them as ordinary people who happen to be living in an extraordinarily difficult situation, and have been for 61 years.
When read alongside the other Middle East story in the Herald that day, ‘Israelis Deny Palestinians Water’, and alongside other articles about Israel in recent months (Gaza, Goldstone report, etc.) it adds up to a picture of a state that is decidedly ‘out of step’ with the rest of the world, something that may be true of many Muslim countries, but is certainly not true of Israel. This troubles me and causes me to ask, ‘why?‘

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on October 28, 2009

Yet again the New Zealand Herald clutters up its pages with another unbalanced, anti-Israel piece by Donald Macintyre. Macintyre's article is based entirely upon accusations made in a report by Amnesty International, an NGO that is well known for its anti-Israel bias.

Why is Amnesty International spending its donations on investigating water use in Israel rather than working to free political prisoners like Israeli Gilad Shalit who has been held prisoner by Hamas for years, without a single humanitarian visit?

It could also be asked, considering all the international aid monies being channelled to Palestinian organisations, why Israel is expected to provide infrastructure and supply water to people living in disputed territories, who consistently call for the destruction of the Jewish state and the murder of the Jewish people?

Buried in Macintyre's article is the fact that Syria, Lebanon and Jordan all draw water from the over-exploited Jordan River, yet only Israel is accused of ‘denying water’ to Palestinian Arabs in the NZ Herald headline.

Macintyre's article, built on disputed and unsubstantiated ‘accusations’, ‘claims’ and ‘suggestions’ is not news; it is propaganda, and should be treated as such.

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Submitted to the Waikato Times on October 20, 2009

Hamas‘ Fawzi Barhoum has asserted that the U.N. Human Rights Council's 25 to 6 vote (with 16 abstentions) in favour of endorsing the ‘Goldstone Report’ on Gaza was ‘... the outcome of the determination of Arab and Islamic countries, and other countries around the world to ensure the prosecution of Zionist war criminals at the International Court’. However, this endorsement disregards important considerations, such as truth and justice.

Palestinian Authority Justice Minister Ali Al-Khashan has admitted that there is no hard evidence of any Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, testified before the UNHRC that ‘... the Israeli Defence Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.... ’.
Even Richard Goldstone has expressed disappointment that, following the endorsement of his report, Israel alone stands condemned by the U.N.

Hamas seeks the annihilation of the Jewish state and the creation of a ‘Judenrein’ Middle East. They have used the UN ‘Goldstone Report’ to promote Hamas' version of anti-Semitism on the world stage.

Incredibly, twenty-five members of the UNHRC seem to share Hamas‘ genocidal vision.

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Submitted to the NZ Herald On Sunday on October 20, 2009

I ask Mr John Putt, Letters October 18 these questions. If the Palestinians were serious about having a state of their own, why did they not form it between 1948 and June 1967, when the West Bank and East Jeruslem was under Jordanian contol and Gaza was under joint UN and Egyptian control?
Why after Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, did Hamas start to and continue to attack Israel with rockets attacking towns and other civilian sites if they wanted a state of their own? The answer is the Palestinians don't want the state of Isarel to exist at all. Read the Hamas constitution documents and what is said by West Bankers, Mr Putt! Its all there for you. DO you believe that Israel should be there Mr Putt?

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on October 19, 2009

Why not just print the facts?
Mike Palin (19.10.09) quarrels about who said or did not say the world hasn't warmed for nearly a decade. Here is the actual data from NASA [[click here to see Monthly Mean Global Surface Temperature from 1996 to 2008].

Why not print it and let readers see for themselves?
Tremain (19.10.09) refers to the squabbling Arabs and Israelis as an insoluble problem. That may be his opinion, but why not print the truth: that the ‘squabble’ consists of efforts by Arabs (in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon) to destroy Israel and Israel's desire to defend itself? Would Tremain have referred to the ‘squabbling’ Germans and Allies during WWII?

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Submitted to The Press on October 10, 2009

It is disconcerting that Palestinian zoos show children donkeys disguised by paint to look like zebras. (Oct. 10) Donkeys lives are cheap in Palestine and they are fed to other zoo animals when not wanted and often beaten, abused and abandoned by their owners. Perhaps this is a result of fundamentalist Muslims justifying cruelty by a medieval religion which teaches that the devil got in Noah's ark on the tail of a donkey (Tabari I:360 ‘... When Noah brought the donkey in, Lucifer attached himself to its tail, ...’). A UK registered charity for donkeys (www.safehaven4donkeys.org) from both Palestine and Israel is located in Israel, the much maligned, multicultural, democratic, single Jewish State. Faking zebras is just a tiny reflection of the treachery practiced by Hamas and Iran to deceive and destroy Western values.

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Submitted to the New Zealand Herald on October 9, 2009

Those who criticise Israel for restricting access to the Al-Aqsa mosque, after Palestinians threw stones at tourists, should remember that during the 19 years that Jerusalem was controlled by Arabs, Jews were not permitted to be there and Jewish holy sites were desecrated. Yet no outcry was raised by the international community.

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Submitted but rejected by The Press on October 6, (Thn sent to Dominion Post, Otago Times, NZ Herald, Northern Advocate, Timaru Herald and Waikato Times (Published))

The streets of Jerusalem, Israel's eternal Capital, are currently thronged with thousands of Christians from every corner of the globe celebrating and marching in solidarity with Jews during the annual Feast of Tabernacles.
It is a heartwarming sight for me as a Jewish Kiwi living in Israel to witness this outpouring of love and support for the Jewish State.
What a stark contrast to the hate filled Palestinian Arab mobs who pelted Jewish worshippers with rocks at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, during this religious festival week.
In the current climate of double standards no doubt Israel will be condemned for protecting its citizens rather than supported for protecting freedom of worship for all.

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Submitted to Otago Dialy Times on October 5, 2009

On Oct 2, Gaza launched a mortar and rocket attack on Israel, aimed at civilian areas. In response, Israel precision-bombed a weapons workshop and two weapons-smuggling tunnels in Gaza. No one was hurt in either action. The next day Israel complained to the UN about the escalation in attacks (as if the UN cared!). Yet the headline in the ODT (5.10.09) read ‘Israel attacks Gaza’. Readers who only read headlines (and there are many) are left with the impression that Israel is ‘once again’ beating up Gazans without reason — the exact opposite of what happened. No wonder there is so much anti-Israel feeling in New Zealand.

Rejected

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Submitted to The Press on October 4, 2009

I am sure that Stephen Meikle knows better and if he does not perhaps he should do some more research.
It is not necessary to be a Bible believer. There is ample evidence from other sources to prove that the Jews were sovereign in their own land well before the advent of Islam and Christianity & despite expulsions and pogroms they maintained a continual physical presence in Israel. Legal recognition of the Jewish People's right to their ancient homeland was given by the international community after the First World War and later by the United Nations. That is more than can be said for the British Colonial authorities when they claimed NZ for the Crown. All Israeli citizens regardless of their ethnic or religious origins have full protection of civil rights, which is more than exists in most Arab regimes.

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Submitted to The Press

Stephen Meikle's criticism of Israel is misplaced. His assertion that the Jewish people's claim to Israel is based solely on the Bible demonstrates an ignorance of the continuous Jewish presence in the Holy Land, spanning three millennia, despite the efforts of successive historical empires to dispossess them of their sovereign territory. Even following the Roman expulsion, thriving Jewish communities continued to exist in their ancient homeland, renamed ‘Palestine’.
In more recent times, Arabs destroyed many ancient Jewish communities, such as those in Hebron and East Jerusalem. Despite this, Arab Israelis have full rights as Israeli citizens, making 20 % of the population and demonstrating the kindness to ‘aliens within the land’ commanded in the Bible.
The Jewish people have a Biblical, an historical, and even a 1947 United Nations mandate to possess the land of Israel. Not even Mr Meikle can claim such a strong mandate to dwell in his homeland.

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Submitted to The Press

Stephen Meikle (Sept 29) may claim not to be anti-Semitic, but he certainly spread a lot of falsehoods about Jews. His statement that Israel's claim to the land comes ‘only from the Bible’ ignores the documented, continuous presence of Jews well past Biblical times. It also ignores the international authorisation for Israel's creation. (Incidentally, New Zealand has neither of these justifications for its existence). The Palestinians who left in 1948 fled from a war started by the Arabs, while the Jews in Arab-controlled areas were driven out or killed. The 1.4 million Arabs (today) who didn't leave are indeed treated fairly and with ‘kindness’ — a lot better than NZ's ‘aliens’ were treated during the world wars. Finally, to say the German ‘crime against humanity’ was simply to drive Jews out of their homes is beyond ludicrous.
It's a shame that the letters column, which should be a forum for informed debate, is being used as a vehicle to spread insidious lies about the one Jewish nation.

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Submitted to The Press

Stephen Meikle's factually bereft and overblown attack on Israel (29 Sept) is astonishing. If he wants to talk ‘irony’ he should be mindful that the ‘Hebrew God’ he uses to chastise Israel is the very same invoked for centuries by Christians to justify their persecution, ghettoization and massacres of the Jewish people.
His attempts to delegitimize and demonise Israel, while toying with the semantics of genocide, reveal a distressingly naive evaluation of current Middle Eastern realities as well as a dearth of historical perspective.
Jews returned to Palestine, where a de facto Jewish homeland had continuously existed, following the vicious Russian and Eastern European pogroms of the 1880s and early 1900s and subsequently the Holocaust. It was a sanctuary, not a Biblical fantasy. Their right to live in Palestine was enshrined in International Law, first by the League of Nations and then by the UNO. Other massacres, e.g of the Armenians, convinced post WW1 leaders like Woodrow Wilson that all peoples must have a homeland. The Holocaust, which Palestinian Arabs condoned, supported this conviction.
The Palestinians who lost their homes did so within a context of war initiated by them and their Arab neighbours. At the same time almost a million Jews were expelled from their homes in neighbouring Arab states and Israel absorbed them all. None ever received compensation for the loss of their homes and livelihoods.
At least the Palestinians need have no moral qualms. Their holy book exhorts them to ‘kill Jews wherever they find them’.

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Submitted to The Press on September 26, 2009

The article ‘More troops or war is lost’ (22.9.09) illustrates New Zealand's moral (not to mention military) support of the US war on terrorists — despite the 12,000-31,000 civilian casualties (estimate from Wikipedia). This war was launched by the US in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attack that took 3,000 US lives. I think most of us are proud of this support..
Israel is fighting a similar war on terrorism that began in 1948. On a per capita basis, Israel has suffered the equivalent of many 9/11's, and its existence is more seriously threatened than is America's. Yet the NZ press is mostly filled with articles that criticise and blame Israel, taking umbrage at every civilian casualty.
Why is not NZ equally supportive, at least morally (if not with troops), of Israel's battle against terrorism?

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Submitted to The Press on September 26, 2009

Marc Fibbens (23.09.09) doesn't seem to understand that the true lesson of the Holocaust was that Jews cannot depend on the international community to defend them. And so Israel has had to fight for its life for over 60 years.
There can be no equating the morality of those who want to destroy a neighbouring nation and deliberately attack its citizens with those who defend their nation while trying, not always successfully, to avoid civilian casualties.

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Published in The Press on September 25, 2009 (In a few words)

Marc Fibbens seizes upon the Lincoln students' insensitivity to imply that the Israelis are the new Nazis (Sept 23). Not only does this ploy of Holocaust reversal ignore the evidence of history, it founders on the reality that the only group in the Middle East calling for genocide is Hamas.

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Submitted to The Press on September 25, 2009

This letter was submitted to The Press in response to a false accusation contained in a previous letter to the editor. However the Editor decided that because one letter had already been received no further letters would be published. Despite asking him to reconsider, his original decision stands. This effectively means that anyone could write denying the Holocaust and he would only print one letter in rebuttal, his excuse being that the subject had been ‘adequately dealth with’. Is this fair and balanced reporting? Has The Press never ever published several letters on the same subject? Do they not have an obligation to enable at least some of their readers to express their opinions on any given subject?

Marc Fibbens (The Press 23 Sept) unfortunately misses the point completely. The only injustice being perpetrated on the Palestinians is by their own leaders whose obsessive desire to cleanse Israel of Jews has caused untold misery. If the Palestinian Arabs would have accepted the state offered to them in 1947 they could by now have a flourishing country. Instead they have spent 61 years engaged in terror and mayhem which has gained them nothing. The Israelis meantime turned the arid dessert into flourishing fields and built & defended a modern democratic society, something our neighbours will never achieve because they are too busy trying to kill Jews and educating future generations to hate rather than co-exist.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on September 20, 2009

What exactly have the Jews done to deserve the treatment now handed out to them? Two thousand years of repeated persecution in the Muslim and Christian worlds, but apparently they only have themselves to blame. Finally, they are given permission to build a nation in which to protect themselves, but before they can do so, six million are wiped out in the most hideous crime in history. Then, when the United Nations voted for a state of Israel, five Arab armies, calling their war jihad and their motives pure, tried to wipe them out again; that, of course, was the fault of the Jews and is called the Nakba, a (self-made) disaster for the Arabs of the region. In 2005, Israel leaves the Gaza strip; in return there are cries of a phantom ‘occupation’ and thousands of rockets land, mainly in Sderot.
After years of this, the Israelis decide on some pro-active self-defence and launch an attack on Gaza that leaves many dead. Mostly, they kill Hamas fighters. Now, according to this week's UN report, the Israelis (read, the Jews) are to blame for that as well. They are the aggressors, their vigorous efforts to warn citizens, Hamas's equally vigorous efforts to use their civilians as human shields are all ignored. The real truth, that the Palestinians prefer to see their children die than to make peace and that the world still thinks the Jews are to blame for everything and that we're wallowing in our own self-righteous support for terrorists while we rebuild the structures of anti-Semitism some of us thought we'd left behind, all that is left unsaid.
One wonders why the DomPost (Editorial 17.09.09) spent 500 words lambasting Israel, with only a slap on the hand (28 words) for the Gazan attacks on Israel that were the reason for Israel's defensive action. One wonders if the DomPost was equally concerned about civilian damage to Germany during WWII and ‘stunting’ and thinness among German children, while the free world was fighting for its very existence, as is Israel today.
Today, as the world moves on to whatever destiny it may have, a small country of no little genius and humanity goes to the wall. A truly independent report is called for, but don't hold your breath.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star-Times on September 20, 2009

What exactly have the Jews done to deserve the treatment now handed out to them? Two thousand years of repeated persecution in the Muslim and Christian worlds, but apparently they only have themselves to blame. Finally, they are given permission to build a nation in which to protect themselves, but before they can do so, six million are wiped out in the most hideous crime in history. Then, when the United Nations voted for a state of Israel, five Arab armies, calling their war jihad and their motives pure, tried to wipe them out again; that, of course, was the fault of the Jews and is called the Nakba, a (self-made) disaster for the Arabs of the region. In 2005, Israel leaves the Gaza strip; in return there are cries of a phantom ‘occupation’ and thousands of rockets land, mainly in Sderot.
After years of this, the Israelis decide on some pro-active self-defence and launch an attack on Gaza that leaves many dead. Mostly, they kill Hamas fighters. Now, according to this week's UN report, the Israelis (read, the Jews) are to blame for that as well. They are the aggressors, their vigorous efforts to warn citizens, Hamas's equally vigorous efforts to use their civilians as human shields are all ignored. Even Israel's ongoing blockade of Gaza, imposed after Hamas (a group dedicated to Israel's destruction) took over, is criticized for ‘hindering reconstruction’ (SST, 20.8.09), despite the Gazan rockets that still rain on Israel.
The real truth, that the Palestinians prefer to see their children die than to make peace and that the world still thinks the Jews are to blame for everything and that we're wallowing in our own self-righteous support for terrorists while we rebuild the structures of anti-Semitism some of us thought we'd left behind — all that is left unsaid. The world moves on to whatever destiny it thinks it may still have, and a small country of no little genius and humanity goes to the wall.

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Submitted to the Southland Times on September 20, 2009 (not related to the Goldstone report):

In the Southland Times (17 Sep) we read that Israel said the Gaza attack was launched to stop Hamas rocket attacks. Why the qualifier 145;Israel said’? What other reason could there have been? Does anyone think Israel sent its soldiers to risk their lives to kill Palestinians for the joy of it? If New Zealand had been subjected to rocket attacks over a period of years, would it have done less?
As to differing reports of civilian casualties, in a war where the enemy doesn't wear uniforms and where mosques are used to launch rockets, it can be hard for both soldiers and after-the-fact analysers to determine who was a civilian and who wasn't. I have examined both Israel's and Palestinian reports of casualties and found compelling evidence to substantiate Israel's.

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Submitted to the Dominion Post on September 18, 2009

The editorial ‘Israel's war on humanity’ (17 September) accuses the Jewish people, having suffered centuries-long persecution from both Christendom and Islam, of indifference to the suffering of Palestinian Arabs since the Jews returned to their ancestral homeland and declared their own state, Israel, in 1948.

Firstly, as the editorial itself says, there are other far larger-scale humanitarian crises — Zimbabwe, Sudan, Sri Lanka - than the Israel-Arab conflict.

Secondly, they are not indifferent, as shown by the many Israeli and Jewish voices against continued occupation of the West Bank (Israel withdrew completely from Gaza in 2005), and the many Israeli and Jewish groups working constructively with Palestinians for mutual benefit.

Thirdly, the history of the last 100 years shows that the Palestinians are themselves greatly responsible for their own present unhappy situation, having repeatedly rejected compromise and peaceful settlement over that time; as shown by the actions of Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Amin Al-Husseini and Yasser Arafat.

Fourthly, many Jews and objective observers see the present geopolitical situation, including the many anti-Israel actions of the United Nations, as a continuation of the ancient persecution of the Jewish people in attempting to delegitimise and obliterate Israel as the Jewish homeland.

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Submitted to the New Zealand Herald on September 17, 2009

Israel's war on humanity (Dom. Post Editorial 17. Sept) is totally misnamed. Israel is waging war against terror organisations who deliberately use women & children as hostages in the confident expectation that the resulting casualties will bring down the wrath of the UN on the Jewish State.
Once again a UN appointed body produces a highly biased report on Israel's alleged ‘war crimes’. Can any reader really believe that a report which glosses over years of terror rocket attacks against Israeli civilians by Hamas & equates a democratic country's effort to defend its citizens with an organisation dedicated to Israel's elimination, is fair and balanced? Does it not seem strange that the UN & its Human Rights Commission, dominated as they are by dictatorships & despotic regimes,where human & civil rights are trampled underfoot, should be so fixated on the Middle East's only democracy, that they ignore the most blatant crimes against humanity perpetrated by those demonising Israel? That is where your editorial wrath should be directed.

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Submitted to the New Zealand Herald on September 17, 2009

Once again a UN appointed body produces a highly biased report on Israel's alleged ‘war crimes’ (NZ Herald 17 Sept). Can any reader really believe that a report which glosses over years of terror rocket attacks against Israeli civilians by Hamas & equates a democratic country's effort to defend its citizens with an organisation dedicated to Israel's elimination, is fair and balanced? Does it not seem strange that the UN & its Human Rights Commission, dominated as they are by dictatorships & despotic regimes,where human & civil rights are trampled underfoot, should be so fixated on the Middle East's only democracy, that they ignore the most blatant crimes against humanity perpetrated by those demonising Israel?

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Submitted to the Sunday Star-Times on September 13, 2009

REf. the 2 items which appeared in your world section (13 Sept), I wonder which is really the greater obstacle to peace between Israel and her Palestinian Arab neighbours. Prior to 1967 there were no settlements and still there was no peace because the Arab States refused to recognise the right of Jews to live anywhere in Israel and engaged in terror against Israeli civilians. Today nothing much has changed. Rockets being fired by Arab terror groups against Israeli civilians constitute a far greater obstacle to peace than the building of 500 homes. How can someone honestly claim that houses are a greater threat than rockets?

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Submitted to the Sunday Star-Times on September 13, 2009

An interesting juxtaposition of items appeared in the World Section (13 Sept). While the Guardian cited 500 homes being built by Israel as an obstacle to peace negotiations, a small item below read ‘Rockets strike Israel’. Anyone with common sense can see that houses built in Jewish neighbourhoods are far less a threat to peace than rocket and other attacks (many of which are foiled). The true obstacle to peace is the Palestinian goal of ultimately destroying Israel as a Jewish state.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on September 12, 2009 (not published as yet)

Uri Davis and Neve Gordon (World Affairs, 31/8) live in a country besieged by Islamic Jihadists whose sole purpose in life is to see Israel destroyed and her Jewish citizens driven out or annihilated. Yet Uri Davis and Neve Gordon and their families live in safety because their country has a strong security and defence system which is maintained with the sole purpose of keeping her citizens safe from harm from a people who are mired in a culture of hate and violence. These same people have had hundreds of millions of dollars in aid yet their leaders have chosen to squander it on weapons or to squirrel it away in private accounts, condemning them to a life of poverty and oppression by the Jihadists.
Uri and Neve also live in a democratic country where they enjoy total freedom of expression. I can't think of any single other country in the Middle East where such criticism of their country would be tolerated; indeed, these two people would very likely disappear, never to be seen again.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on September 11, 2009 (not published as yet)

After publishing a two-page attack on Israel (World Focus, 31.8.09) as an ‘apartheid state’ (it is less apartheid than New Zealand), you found it necessary to abridge a single letter of rebuttal to only 85 words (‘Israeli conflict’, 11.9.09). Is that your idea of balance?

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Submitted to the NZ Herald on September 8, 2009

US President Obama's attempt to halt Jewish settlements in Palestine focuses on a sideshow and neglects the main issue. This is the Palestinian Arabs' demand — repeated to anyone who cares to listen — that the whole land of Israel should become an Islamic state, from which Jews will be ethnically-cleansed. It is inconceivable that the international community will allow such an outcome. Until this fundamental issue is addressed, negotiations over side-issues are a waste of time.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on September 8, 2009 (published on 9 September with the paragraph in red deleted)

I was dismayed to ready your heavily biased ‘World Focus’ feature page about Israel (31/08/09). Rather than publishing two articles that balanced one another, allowing readers to gain an understanding of both sides of Arab-Israeli conflict, your paper presented only one side of the debate.

Both Neve Gordon and Uri Davis are controversial figures in Israel and neither reflects the opinions of the majority of Israelis or the Israeli government. However, their views do support the anti-Zionist position of Fatah, Hamas and their international allies. Anti-Zionism, which vilifies the Jewish state, is a modern re-branding of traditional anti-Semitism. History is replete with the disastrous consequences of tolerating anti-Semitism, in any form.

The Otago Daily Times cannot pretend to be an objective or reliable source of news and information about the Middle East while it provides a soapbox for anti-Zionist apologists, rather than a forum for even handed debate and analysis.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on September 8, 2009 (not published)

I wish to protest your quite unbalanced World Focus section in last Monday's newspaper. Although you gave comprehensive coverage to the myth that Israel is an "Apartheid state," there was no counter-argument from a mainstream Israeli source. In the interests of fairness and free speech the ODT should give an equal amount of coverage to the Israeli point of view.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on September 1, 2009 (not published)

Those accusing Israel of being an Apartheid State (ODT 31 Aug) are either totally ignorant of the real situation or deliberately distorting the facts to suit their own extreme political agenda.
As a kiwi born resident of Israel for the last 18 years, I can attest that the allegation of ‘apartheid’ is patently false. Having worked in one of the Capital's leading hospitals, I witnessed patients & staff from every sector of Israeli society being treated and providing treatment without the slightest hint of discrimination based on grounds of ethnicity, religion or skin colour. Arabs & Jews share wards and clinics on an equal basis, as is normal in any democratic society. Driving to work I share the roads with citizens of every background and on public transport I can vouch that nobody is denied access. Israel's Parliament contains members who are Moslems & Arabs and they are free to express their antipathy towards the Jewish State. That is the criteria of a democracy. Likewise freedom of worship which is a fundamental right in Israel.
I, as a Jewish Israeli, however, would be lynched if I dared to venture into Palestinian Arab territory. The civil rights enjoyed by all Israeli citizens certainly do not exist in Arab countries of the Middle East. So who are the real Apartheid States then?

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As I was loading the letter above to the web site an alert to a news item on the nzherald.co.nz site arrived that substantiated this letter: ‘Hundreds of Africans seeking asylum and jobs try to reach Israel every year,...’ ‘Migrants shot in Egypt’... Read More Web Manager

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on September 1, 2009 (not published)

Uri Davis is using the apartheid link to discredit Israel and hopefully gain support for a global uprising which was so successful in bringing about South Africa's downfall. The apartheid policy as operated by South Africa has no relevance to Israel and to keep calling for world sanctions against the Jewish state, because of this lie, is a sinister attempt to hide what is really going on in the Middle East. Israel stands alone against Islamic oppression, terrorism and expansionism. Uri Davis, himself a Jew who has defected to Islam for his own reasons, knows full well the history of the Jewish state and the aggression Israel has suffered and continues to suffer at the hands of militancy which is allowed to flourish in Palestine. Davis is himself an active member of Fatah having been elected to the Revolutionary Council so we can hardly expect an unbiased view of the Israeli-Palestinian problem from him.

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Submitted to The Press on August 8, 2009

Andrew Nichols (Aug. 7) claims that Moreu's cartoon of Aug. 6 was ‘baseless caricaturing’. While caricaturing is usually a cartoonists stock-in-trade, Moreu's cartoon was spot on in its depiction of Pres. Ahmadinejad of Iran holding a sign saying ‘Death to Israel!’.

At a 2005 conference titled ‘The World Without Zionism’, Ahmadinejad said ‘...I need to thank you for choosing this valuable title for the conference... They say it is not possible to have a world without the United States and Zionism. But you know that this is a possible goal and slogan.... Our dear Imam said that the occupying regime [referring to Israel] must be wiped off the map [removed from the pages of history may be a better translation] and this was a very wise statement. We cannot compromise over the issue of Palestine... The issue of Palestine is not over at all. It will be over the day a Palestinian government, which belongs to the Palestinian people, comes to power.’

If this is not saying ‘Death to Israel!’, I don't know how much clearer he could be. New Zealanders should not close their eyes to this evil.

P.S. The reference for the quote is Here

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Submitted to The Press on August 5, 2009

Kudos to your cartoonist Mike Moreu (5 August) for succinctly encapsulating the dire danger we all face if Iran is permitted to acquire nuclear weapons. As a kiwi now living in Israel it is comforting to know that this is also recognised as far away as New Zealand.

(published without alteration on August 7)

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on on July 25, 2009

Dear Sir
The Associated Press report (Herald, 24 July) about building in Jerusalem was sensationalized and deeply hypocritical.

It stated, correctly, that Jordan ruled a Jerusalem physically divided (by a wall) from 1948 to 1967, and denied Jews access to their holy sites. But the report omitted to say that the Arabs expelled all Jews, destroyed 54 synagogues in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, and used Jewish gravestones for paving.

Israel does indeed, as stated, protect the holy sites of Judaism, Christendom and Islam, in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the country — unlike the Arab record of destruction in Jerusalem noted above, and the desecration of Joseph's Tomb in Nablus in 2000.

The report also repeated the nonsensical Palestinian claim that Israel is attempting to ‘Judaise Jerusalem’ — as if the Israelis have no right to build in the city of King David which has been the spiritual centre of Judaism for 3000 years.

Jews have as much right to turn an abandoned East Jerusalem hotel into apartments, as Arabs have the right to buy apartments in West Jerusalem — which many have done.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald On Monday on July 20, 2009

The NZ Herald failed to verify whether or not the ‘Breaking the Silence’ report, on which ‘Israeli soldiers give accounts of Gaza war’ (July 16, 2009) was based, was factual, reliable or credible.

An IDF response to the ‘Breaking the Silence report noted numerous fundamental flaws with the document. The report is based primarily on anonymous testimonies. Unless the IDF can identify and question those who gave their testimonies, the accusations cannot be investigated, verified or refuted.

It is impossible to know when and where the incidents allegedly occurred as there is no mention of date, time or specific locations in the testimonies.

The report makes no mention of the way in which the testimonies were gathered — it is unclear whether they were gathered directly via personal interview or indirectly via mail or e-mail. There is also no mention of how the credibility of the testimonies was checked. There is no way of knowing whether a testimony was given by a soldier or someone claiming to be a soldier.

For more information see: ‘Reaction to Breaking the Silence Report’

Newspaper reports should be factual and thoroughly investigated. The NZ Herald failed the test of good journalism by recounting a story built on rumour and hearsay.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald On Friday on July 17, 2009

It is a pity that the NZ Herald keeps reprinting knee jerk anti Israel unproven accusations without first ascertaining the veracity of their facts (or lack of them). Readers should be aware of the following important points:
No identities were used for those giving testimonies as is usual practice in the media.
No mention of rank or position or unit (regular or reserves).
There is no way to verify whether the testimony was given by a soldier or someone purporting to be a soldier.
No mention of time period or specific location of the alleged incidents.
In other words the whole story is hearsay eagerly disseminated by those whose sole aim is the besmirching of Israel in its attempts to protect citizens from terror initiated by those who seek its elimination as a Jewish State.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald On Thursday on July 16, 2009

The article ‘Israeli soldiers give accounts of Gaza war’ is strong on innuendo but short on facts. The lack of any detail in the allegations makes them almost impossible to evaluate. However, in one case where enough detail was given for it to be checked, it has been found that the soldier making the allegation wasn't even in combat at the time. Other allegations are attributed to unnamed third parties, i.e. they are hearsay. Others again seem to have been recycled from a similarly unsubstantiated report published several months ago.

Col. Richard Kemp, a British Army office who knows the Israeli Army and has studied the current conflict, is on record (on BBC TV) as saying ‘I don't think there has ever been a time in the history of warfare when any army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties and deaths of innocent people than the Israeli Defence Force is doing today in Gaza.’ Why is this view not given similar prominence to those expressed in the article?

Although the Israeli Army has publicly called for soldiers who have witnessed alleged atrocities to come forward, none of the anonymous accusers reported in the article appears to have done so. This must cast doubt on the allegations in the mind of a reasonable person.

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Link to Col. Richard Kemp speaking on BBC and quoted in above letter

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Submitted to The Herald On Sunday on July 8, 2009

Matt McCarten portrays the Israeli Defence Forces as cold blooded killers. This is not how they are regarded by other professional soldiers who know just how difficult it is to conduct a counterterrorist war like Gaza and to behave in a moral way, minimizing civilian casualties. They recognize that nobody tries harder to achieve this than the IDF (which operates under a Strict Code of Conduct).
Colonel Richard Kemp ex Afghanistan pointed out in a BBC interview 18 January that Hamas deliberately position its fighters and rocket launchers behind the human shield of civilians and also force men women and children to stay put in places that they know are about to be attacked (deliberately trying to lure the IDF into killing innocent citizens).
Hamas, like Hizbollah, are expert at driving the media agenda and always have people ready to condemn the IDF for war crimes and are adept at staging and distorting incidents. Their people have to go along with these charades in front of the world's media, often on pain of death.
The international media and human rights groups invariably presume that the IDF are in the wrong and that they are abusing human rights. Check BBC YouTube.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on July 8, 2009

The murder of Muslim Marwa al-Sherbini in Germany was a terrible crime. However, Egyptian media claims that this murder is an example of how ‘hate crimes’ against Muslims are overlooked in the west is erroneous, as is the suggestion that ‘if the victim had been a Jew, there would have been an uproar’.

Media around the world consistently ignore the discrimination and persecution many Christians suffer from Muslims in Islamic nations. There has been minimal coverage in the western media of the plight of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli Jew kidnapped and held captive by Islamic ‘extremists’ since June 2006. The western media glossed over the 2008 torture and murder of Jews at Mumbai's Chabad House, who were deliberately sought out by Islamic ‘extremists’.

Islam is a religion, not a nationality or racial group. The West mutely accepts Islamic religious and racial discrimination that prohibits all non-Muslims from entering Mecca and Medina and all Jews from entering many Muslim nations. Muslims in the West should accept that they are not the only religious group that experiences discrimination, and be grateful that they receive more tolerance and protection in the secular West than any religious minority does in any Islamic nation.

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Submitted to Herald On Sunday on July 7, 2009

When Matt McCarten quoted selectively from Amnesty International's report on the recent conflict in Gaza, he failed to mention Amnesty International's finding that ‘Hamas has continued to justify the rocket attacks launched daily by its fighters and by other Palestinian armed groups into towns and villages in southern Israel during the 22-day conflict. ... These [Palestinian] attacks ... violated international humanitarian law and cannot be justified under any circumstance.’

In the eight years preceding the Gaza conflict, Hamas and Islamic Jihad launched 5107 mortar attacks and 4322 rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, forcing Israel into a military conflict it did not want, in order to protect its citizens.

Although he is swift to denounce Israel for defending itself, Mr McCarten has not published a single harsh word condemning these Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.

The Israeli people and their government deeply regret the loss of innocent civilian lives in Gaza, yet Hamas and their international allies celebrate the death of every ‘Zionist Jew’ they kill.

Mr McCarten would be more credible as a commentator if he demonstrated that he understood both sides of this conflict.

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Submitted to The NZ Herald on May 28, 2009 (Published but edited)

Sir,
Gwynne Dyer's article of May 27 compares the reaction of Israel and South Korea to the nuclear threat from Iran and North Korea. Mr. Dyer points out that ‘Both Israel and South Korea have a security guarantee from the United States’, yet wonders why Israelis are ‘more hysterical’ than South Koreans.
Maybe recent history would show why these countries respond to threats of annihilation in different ways.
In 1950, when North Korea attacked South Korea, the UN sprang into action. Within hours they had passed a unanimous resolution condemning North Korea for the aggression and within a few weeks US and other UN-backed soldiers (including many New Zealand soldiers) were risking their lives to defend South Korea.
By contrast in both 1956 and 1967 when Egypt threatened Israel, the UN sprang into action by withdrawing all soldiers and leaving Israel to defend itself.
This apathy towards aggression against Israel is sadly not just history. In spite of Mr. Dyer's claim that ‘Israel and Iran, have never fought a war’, Iranian purchased rockets are fired against Israeli cities almost every day from Iranian-backed militias in the Gaza Strip, yet I don't recall any articles from Mr. Dyer condemning those attacks and assuring Israel that UN soldiers are lining up to protect Israel against this aggression.
Sincerely,

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Submitted to The Nelson Mail on May 24, 2009 (Published)

Dear Editor
Well done your cartoonist for his spitting images of Obama and Netanyahu.
In the BBC HardTalk programme in 2006, Netanyahu was faced with a querulous interviewer who ignored his answers. In spite of persistent provocation Netanyahu maintained a calm and dignified manner and answered the questions directly and with good humour. He pointed out that Israel's response to Hezbollah's 2,000 rocket barrage was justified in the same way as the RAF's response Germany's Rachenwaffen, to locate the launch sites and target them, but far more difficult when faced with an enemy that operates out of civilian areas with mobile launchers. I know what it is like to undergo indiscriminate air attack. As a child in London I survived bombs, doodlebugs and silent V2 rockets.
Mr Moreu portrays Netanyahu as a cynical liar. My impression was that of a confident, articulate leader who doesn't shrink from labelling Islamic extremists as the real threat and who regard Israel as an outpost of the ‘Decadent West’.
I warmed to Bibi Netanyahu. I feel I could trust him to follow an honourable path in the coming peace talks with Obama. Arabs respect strength. This man has it in spadefulls.

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Submitted to The Press on May 24, 2009

Mike Moreu's cartoon (21 May) about the meeting between Barak Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu is a distortion of the truth.
‘Ethnically cleansing’ the West Bank of Palestinian Arabs is not Israeli government policy and Prime Minister Netanyahu has not given any statement promoting such an idea. For Mr Moreu to suggest that this is Mr Netanyahu's or the Israeli government's position is libellous.
When Jordan occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967, they ‘ethnically cleansed’ the area of Jewish communities, many of which had existed for centuries. Jordan denied Jews access to their holy sites, including the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem. Despite this, when Israel regained control of East Jerusalem in 1967 they allowed Arabs to maintain their control of the Jewish Temple Mount.
It is Israel's Arab neighbours, not the Jewish state, who have a long history of ‘ethnically cleansing’. It is the leaders of these same Arab states, not Benjamin Netanyahu, who have publicly declared their intention to repeat that history.

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Submitted to The Nelson Mail on May 24, 2009.

Mike Moreu's cartoon (21 May) about the meeting between Barak Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu is a blatant distortion of the truth and an inversion of history.
‘Ethnically cleansing’ the West Bank of Palestinian Arabs has never been Israeli government policy and Mr Netanyahu has never made any statement as Israeli Prime Minister promoting such an idea. For Mr Moreu to suggest that this is Mr Netanyahu's or the Israeli government's position is libellous.
When Jordan occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem between 1948 and 1967, they ‘ethnically cleansed’ the area of Jewish communities, many of which had existed for centuries. Arab forces killed or expelled Jewish residents, desecrated synagogues and cemeteries, and destroyed Jewish homes and businesses. Jordan denied Jews access to their holy sites, including the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem. Despite this, when Israel regained control of East Jerusalem in 1967 they allowed Arabs to maintain their control of the Jewish Temple Mount.
It is Israel's Arab neighbours, not the Jewish state, who have a long history of ‘ethnic cleansing’. It is the leaders of these same Arab states and authorities, not Benjamin Netanyahu, who have publicly declared their intention to repeat that history.

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on May 23, 2009.

Dear Editor
Tom Scott is entitled to hold an opinion about the relationship between American foreign policy and Israel. However, his recent cartoon (21 May), portraying the Jewish state as an aggressive dog wearing a kippah, or yarmulke, is deeply offensive.
The kippah is an article of clothing, with both religious and cultural significance, that is worn by Jewish men. By placing an emblem of Jewish faith and culture on a mad dog, Tom Scott is not being satirical, he is being insulting.
Israel's regional enemies make no secret of the fact that they want to destroy Israel and eradicate Jews from the Middle East. Sections of the Arab and Palestinian media frequently depict Israel and Jews in the most inflammatory and offensive ways imaginable.
Responsible cartoonists and commentators are able to express opinion without resorting to racial and religious slurs.
Tom Scott should realise that although racist and denigrative cartoons are popular in some sections of the Arab world, they have no place in New Zealand.

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on May 23, 2009.

In his cartoon (May 21), Tom Scott missed the point of the meeting between US President Obama and Israeli PM Netanyahu by projecting his own antipathy toward Israel onto President Obama. Israel and the US share a common goal: to find a peaceful solution while preserving Israel's existence as a Jewish state — a goal that New Zealanders should also share. They may differ on the details, but neither is biting the other's tail.
If Mr Scott was referring to Jewish settlements, he should remember that houses don't kill people; terrorist attacks kill people. Houses can be torn down. In fact Israel just demolished an illegal outpost in the West Bank on Thursday, stating ‘evacuating unauthorized settlements, particularly on private Palestinian land, is the obligation of Israeli society to itself’. There is no disagreement on that.
If there is a mad dog in the peace process, it is the Palestinians who can't stop ‘biting’. On Friday another terrorist attack from Gaza was prevented — unreported, of course, in the NZ press.

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on May 23, 2009 ( Letter printed )

I agree with M. Dando (May 23). The nerve of Israel, thinking it has the right to exist in a homeland that goes back two millennia and more! How dare it insist on defending itself against constant attacks for 61 years? Let's get rid of it.
Let's also get rid of New Zealand, which took over its land by force, the United States, which drove Native Americans into reservations, and other countries in the world that were established by conquest, without any historical justification.
Wait, I've got a better idea. Maybe the Jewish people have the right to a homeland — their only one — like everyone else. Maybe the problem lies not with Israel, but with those Arabs (notably, not the 1.4 million Arabs who live peaceably within Israel) who want to eradicate it.

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Submitted to The Press, Nelson Mail on May 23, 2009

Mike Moreu's cartoon (21 May) is a gross misrepresentation of actual reality. He implies that Israel wishes to engage in ethnic cleansing. This is an untruth which is on a par with the numerous other false accusations leveled against Israel and Jews over the years. Perhaps he should study the charters of Hamas and the PLO, which call for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State and then he will realise just who the real ethnic cleansers are.

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on May 23, 2009. (Published in ‘To the Point’)

Obviously Tom Scott thinks that portraying the Jewish State as a mad dog, complete with a religious head covering (Thursday 25/5) is funny. I wonder if he will be doing a similar cartoon showing hate filled Islamic terrorists in the guise of an animal wearing a traditional Arab head covering. Hardly likely of course given previous violent reactions by Moslem States to such representations. Jews are fair game however it seems.

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Submitted to The Press on May 22, 2009, and rejected in less than four hours.

As usual, Mike Moreu (cartoon, May 21) doesn't understand the Middle East conflict; in fact, he has it upside-down. It is not Israel that wants a land free of Palestinians — there are 1.4 million Palestinians living peacefully within Israel. It is the Palestinians who want a land free of Jews and who have conniptions every time a house is built in a Jewish village (which they also don't want). Regardless of whether this house-building is a good or bad idea, houses don't kill people; rocket attacks kill people. Houses can be torn down, but people cannot be brought back to life. The Middle East conflict will end only when the Palestinian terrorist groups give up their attacks and their goal of destroying Israel.

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Submitted to The Press on May 21, 2009

I congratulate your cartoonist Mike Moreau on his excellent likenesses of Obama and Netanyahu - identified with a Star of David to remove any doubts — and the latter's ‘creative answer’ to his own assistant's questioning about what Obama had said. Can you trust any of these Jews? Notice how the lackey had managed to steal Obama's tie? Appreciate the subtlety Mike. Thieves as well as liars eh?
I played back the BBC HardTalk interview of Natanyahu (aka Bibi) in August 2006 during the Israeli incursion into Lebanon.
What struck me about Bibi was that, in spite of the querulous interviewer, he was calm and dignified, answered the questions directly and with humour, put up graciously with the constant interruptions and pointed out that Israel's response to Hezbollah's 2,000 rocket barrage was entirely justified. He reminded the interviewer that the RAF response to Hitler's vengeance weapons was to locate the launch sites and target them — pretty difficult when Hezbollah and Hamas operate out of civilian areas with mobile launchers. But that is not a reason to do nothing and putting up with years of rockets intended to kill indiscriminately.
I know what it is like to be attacked randomly from the air. As a child in London I survived bombs, doodlebugs and silent V2 rockets. Two of my school friends did not.

Mr Moreau wants you to think that Netanyahu is a cynical liar. My impression is that of a strong, articulate leader who states his intentions straightforwardly and doesn't shrink from labelling Islamic extremists as the enemies of Israel — which is regarded as an outpost of the ‘Decadent West’. Bin Laden demands that The West converts to Islam and Ahmadinejad calls for the State of Israel to be ‘wiped off the map’.
It would appear that many western journalists (and cartoonists) enthusiastically agree, judging by their consistent demonising of Israel — branding it (of ALL things ! ) a ‘Nazi’ and ‘apartheid’ state and reserving their special odium for all its attempts at defending its inhabitants or at making peace with its dog-in-the-manger Arab neighbours.
I warmed to Bibi Netanyahu. I feel I could trust him to follow an honourable path in the coming peace talks with Obama. Arabs respect strength. This man has it in spadefulls.

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Published May 4, 2009. Waikato Times

Return of Hitler (Heading by Waikato Times editors)

I agree with Glywn McInnes (Waikato Times letters, April 27) about the threat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad poses to world peace.
Iran's President abused his position as keynote speaker at the Geneva ‘anti-racism’ conference to vent his hatred for Israel and the Jewish people.
Although representatives of the European Union states walked out during his tirade, it was sobering to see how many delegates from other nations remained to hear and applaud his racist invective.
The United Nations' Secretary-General's censure of Ahmadinejad was as mild as Neville Chamberlain's criticism was of Adolf Hitler.
After reviewing Ahmadinejad's performance in Geneva, Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli Knesset's Speaker, gave a solemn warning:
‘Yesterday, ...the world witnessed the return of Adolf Hitler ... If there is one lesson to be learned from the destruction and devastation the first Hitler brought to the world, it is to be found in the realisation that anyone who remains silent, anyone who ignores evil, he too in the final analysis pays the price. I therefore call upon you, my colleagues around the world, not to remain silent, not to turn away and above all not to think for one moment that Ahmadinejad is not a threat to you too.’

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Submitted to The Press on April 28, 2009 (Published but the last sentence was missing)

Anybody who actually believes the Iranian President, of all people, is correct in calling Israel racist (Stephen Meikle, 28 April), has obviously never been there to see reality. As a kiwi now living in Israel I can say that despite the difficult circumstances Israelis face, there is far less racism here than that experienced by minorities in New Zealand. The irony is that if Jesus the Jew was living in Israel today, he would also be branded as a racist by those same people. who now defame the Jewish State.

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Submitted to The Press on April 27, 2009

___ may condemn anti-Semitism, but his words are the very embodiment of it. He calls facts favourable to Israel (as presented in KBRM ads) ‘propaganda’ from the Israeli lobby. Facts are facts, it is lies that are propaganda. Or perhaps he feels that only criticism of Israel should be allowed. By the way, KBRM is not part of any ‘Zionist lobby’; we are simply a group of people who believe that the truth about Israel needs to be told. Some of our most ardent and active members are Christian.
___ says that ‘any justified criticism of recent Israeli war crime... is branded as anti-Semitic’. KBRM has never made such a claim.
The next charge really goes beyond the pale. ___ thinks that Israel should not attack Iran — a country sworn to Israel's destruction that is on the verge of having a nuclear bomb — because it would cause ‘soaring oil and food prices’ in New Zealand. In other words, let the Jews die, as long as we have our food and oil. But no, this is not anti-Semitic.
___ calls the occupation of the West Bank ‘one of the longest, most cruel, brutal oppressions the world has known’. In fact, the West Bank is largely self-governing and the only ‘oppressions’ are the security barrier and checkpoints, both of which would be gone if there were no suicide bombings and other attacks. Every day millions of travelers pass through airport checkpoints without complaint, but when Israel (whose terrorist threat is infinitely greater) installs them, ___ calls it ‘oppression’
The charge that ‘journalists are banned by the Israelis from the West bank’ is a real whopper.* Perhaps ___ doesn't read the newspapers.
After all that, ___ says that condemning Israel war crimes and violations of international law and human rights are different from anti-Semitism. To me, blaming the only Jewish nation for ‘war crimes’ and violations of human rights, while ignoring evidence to the contrary and also ignoring deliberate war crimes and human rights violations by its enemies, is about as anti-Semitic as you can get. But isn't it nice that the writer ‘wholeheartedly condemns’ anti-Semitism?

read full report

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Submitted to several newspapers on April 26, 2009

During WWII, 1 1/2 million German civilians were killed, not counting Dresden. In the Vietnam War, 5 million civilians were killed, not counting My Lai. Yet there was little hue and cry about war crimes. After suffering 7000 rocket attacks from an enemy determined to destroy it, Israel attacked Gaza. Despite the army's best efforts to minimise civilian casualties, several hundred civilians were killed (depending on which report you believe) — an amazing record when the enemy doesn't wear uniforms and operates from civilian areas. Yet Israel, the only Jewish nation in the world, is vilified in the headlines for ‘war crimes’, while the real and flagrant war crimes of its enemy are ignored. Why the double standard?

Published in the ODT on April 28, 2009

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Submitted to The Press on April 25, 2009 (Published)

What a shocking personal attack on me and Kiwis for Balanced Reporting on the Mideast (_________ , April 25) — full of inaccuracies and insinuations. To set the record straight: I am not a ‘self-styled’ chairman; I was elected.
Our advertisements were written and paid by members of KBRM.
KBRM does not claim there is prejudice on the part of most editors; we believe most editors are fair-minded.
Most material in our advertisements does not come from ‘Israeli sources’. The material is selective because it is facts not usually seen in newspapers. If _________ finds any errors (and he didn't cite any), he should drop us an email (Feedback, kbrm.org.nz) and they will be corrected.
KBRM has no constitution, but we have over 50 members from Whangarei to Invercargill and a 14 member Board who communicate by email.
Member names are not made public is because of the venom and hatred of the anti-Israel crowd, exemplified by _________ letter. (far worse examples may be seen on our website).

read full report

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Submitted to The Dominion Post on April 24, 2009

Dear Editor,
I had a strong sense of deja vu when I saw Iran's President Ahmadinejad depicted as a clown in Tom Scott's recent cartoon (23 April). Before the full horror of Nazism was understood by the wider world, people were inclined to portray Adolf Hitler as a bit of a clown and dismiss him as a bombastic buffoon.

Israeli Knesset speaker, Reuven Rivlin described his sense of deja vu upon witnessing President Ahmadinejad in Geneva, and issued a sombre warning we should all heed:

‘Yesterday, ... the world witnessed the return of Adolf Hitler. ... If there is one lesson to be learned from the destruction and devastation the first Hitler brought to the world, it is to be found in the realization that anyone who remains silent, anyone who ignores evil, ... he too in the final analyses pays the price. I therefore call upon you, my colleagues around the world, not to remain silent, not to turn away and above all not to think for one moment that Ahmadinejad is not a threat to you too.’ Yours faithfully,

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Submitted to The Southland Times on April 22, 2009

Congratulations to the NZ government for making a correct and courageous decision to boycott the Durban 2 conference. The best way to show ones disdain for racism is to refuse to associate with racists. It didn't take more than the opening speech at the conference to vindicate New Zealand's decision. In this speech, Pres. Ahmadinejad of Iran called for the destruction of the only Jewish state in the world — a tiny blip among 44 Muslim states. You can't get more racist than that.

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Submitted to The Press on April 22, 2009 (Published)

I'm afraid that your cartoonist Moreu got it backwards (April 21). By refusing to attend the racist conference in Geneva (along with nine other countries), New Zealand is indeed ‘walking the walk’ of abhoring racism and fighting discrimination. For one thing, the conference itself is nothing but talk, but more importantly, the talk is racist talk, as was evidenced by the opening day hate speech by the Iranian President Ahmadinejad, which caused 25 European leaders to walk out. If calling for the destruction of the only Jewish state in the world is not racist, I don't know what is. The best way to ‘walk the walk’ is to walk out of such racist activities.

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Submitted to the Sunday Star Times on April 19, 2009

In a week that featured more Palestinian attacks on Israeli homes and stories debunking the false claims of Gaza casualties, what does the SST choose to print (19.4.09)? A complaint that ‘Israel's treatment of Palestinians is worse than what blacks suffered during the apartheid era in South Africa’. What hogwash!
First, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are governed by Hamas and the PA, not by Israel. Second, the Israeli ‘treatments’ being complained of are the security barrier and checkpoints, both of which were installed to prevent attacks on Israelis. Every day millions of travellers go uncomplainingly through airport checkpoints, where the security risk is minuscule compared to Israel's.
If the Palestinians would give up their nonsensical desire to destroy Israel and allow it to live in peace, these security measures would be removed. But it seems the Palestinians would rather blame Israel than accept responsibility for their actions.

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Submitted to the Press on April 14, 2009 (Published)

Ashley Robinson (April 13) claims that Israel's investigations of alleged war crimes are a sham. In fact, the Israeli Defence Force takes morality seriously (Google ‘purity of arms’). In one of the cases investigated it was found that the soldier who supposedly shot a mother and two children had fired only a warning shot; the rumour developed because other soldiers overheard his officer questioning him and misunderstood. In the other case, it was found that the ‘elderly woman’ was a suspected suicide bomber who was approaching an Israeli installation and didn't stop. This is not to say that every soldier was a saint, but the civilian casualty rate (25%) in Gaza was amazingly low, given an enemy that doesn't wear uniforms and hides among civilians. I suggest that Dr Robinson might better concern himself with the immorality of Palestinians who send axe-wielding murderers into play areas to kill children (Google ‘axe-wielding Palestinian’).

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Submitted to the Otago Daily Times on April 12, 2009

In the absence of a considered argument, Peter Basquin (11.4.09) instead gratuitously insults Israelis by suggesting they have become ‘Holocaust deniers’. Let's examine the facts behind this charge: In a discussion about the Gaza operation, some Israeli soldiers said they had heard of possible misdeeds by fellow soldiers. In the spirit of ensuring proper conduct, an officer