Embassy not wanted in Wellington
A pr0-Palestinan group in New Zealand has mounted a campaign against the opening of an Israeli Embassy in Wellington later this month.
Calling themselves NIEW [No Israeli Embassy in Wellington], the new group has issued the following ‘mission statement’:
Mission Statement of NIEW
NIEW deplores the New Zealand Government inviting the state of Israel to open an embassy in Wellington.
The embassy will function as a tool to deepen Israel’s propaganda, political, economic, cultural, sporting, intelligence and military ties with New Zealand.
New Zealand will be rightly viewed as endorsing a racist apartheid state responsible for ethnic cleansing, war crimes, human rights violations and ongoing grave breaches of international law, including the building of Jewish only settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
We oppose the opening as an expression of solidarity with a growing international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. Israeli Embassy in Wellington
A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Canberra which currently deals with diplomatic matters in New Zealand told J-Wire: “We don’t have a date for the opening yet, but the new ambassador is due in a few weeks.”
NIEW’s Facebook page boasts a mere 107 ‘fans’.
Stephen Goodman, president of the New Zealand Jewish Council added: “There has been no mention of this group’s campaign that I am aware of in New Zealand’s mainstream media.”
