A New Zealand Embassy in Israel

SIGN THE PETITION -We Support the idea of a NZ Embassy in Israel

New Zealand was among the nations to vote in favour of a Jewish State at the United Nations in 1947. Since that time there has never been a New Zealand Embassy in Israel. We believe it is important that in the only Jewish State in the world (which happens to be the only true democracy in the Middle East), that our country should be represented properly. We have embassies in seven Arab/Muslim countries which have been historically hostile toward Israel, and to keep to our foreign policy of being “even-handed” and “balanced” it seems fair and logical that this should also mean an embassy in Israel.

ISRAEL IS A LIBERAL DEMOCRACY

The accusation that Israel is an apartheid state is false. In our opinion it is fabricated by people with a political agenda. There is no comparison between Apartheid South Africa in the last century to the Modern State of Israel today. Although there is tension in the region, part of that is due to Palestinian leaders refusing to recognise Israel as a Jewish State. Hamas still calls for the complete destruction of the State of Israel. However, there is still plenty which is fostering good relations between Jewish and Arab sectors of the population. Y. H. is an Arab citizen of Israel. He says:

“How dare they say that I, an Arab Israeli who served along with Jewish soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces and managed hundreds of Jewish employees, live under an apartheid regime? How can anyone say our society is living under an apartheid regime when among us you will find doctors, judges, and even lawmakers. I am not here to claim that everything in Israel is perfect. Some things need to be fixed, and now. But show me a country where everything is perfect. I look around at our neighbours in the region and thank God I was born in the State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.”

Salem Joubran was an Arab Supreme Court Justice in Israel and presided over the bench 2003-2017. Another Arab judge in Israel, George Karra, presided over the panel of judges which brought the gavel down on a former Israeli president for rape in 2011. The United Arab List (Ra’am), a political party led by Mansour Abbas, became part of the ruling coalition government in Israel after the March 2021 elections. There are Arab and Muslim diplomats, university professors, doctors, and politicians all serving the State of Israel today. These do not appear to be the occurrences of an apartheid state. Khaled Abu Toameh is an Israeli Arab journalist who calls himself an “IsraeliArab-Muslim-Palestinian”. He says:

“I am an Arab Muslim living in Jerusalem. I am also an Israeli citizen… we have no problem being Israeli citizens. I mean many of us are even proud to be Israeli citizens.

If you go to Ramallah and Gaza once, and you come back into Jerusalem orTel Aviv, you will see what I mean. Sometimes I say, ‘thank God we have Israel.’ Israel is a wonderful place to live, and we are happy to be there. Israel is a free and open country.

If I were given the choice, I would rather live in Israel as a second-class citizen than as a first-class citizen in Cairo, Gaza, Amman or Ramallah.” The sentiments of a Kuwaiti writer aired on a Kuwaiti TV channel in 2017, speak honestly of the historical record of the Middle East:

“When the State of Israel was established in 1948, there was no state called ‘Palestine.’ Like it or not, Israel is an independent sovereign state. It exists, and it has a seat at the United Nations, and most peace-loving and democratic countries recognize it. The group of states that do not recognize Israel are the countries of tyranny and oppression. There is no occupation. There is a people returning to its promised land. Are you aware that the history of the Israelites is ancient, predating Islam? Therefore, we Muslims must acknowledge that the Israelites have a right to that land, and that they have not plundered it.” In a Twitter poll run by an

Al Jazeera television host in 2020, Faisal al-Qassem asked Twitter users to vote on whether they thought Israel, or the Arab regimes were more democratic. Eighty-two percent voted that Israel was more democratic than the Arab regimes. The poll was run in Arabic.