5. Mr Minto tells Jews to stand against Israel and “reclaim” the symbols of Judaism
Mr Minto devoted the last 350 words of his speech attempting to tell Jews that they are “bad” if they support Israel and “good” if they speak out against Israel.
The vast majority of Jews are Zionists – they believe that Jews should self-determine in at least part of their historical, indigenous land. Mr Minto, who couldn’t even pronounce the Hebrew words in his speech, would like to see Jews abandon the historic, cultural, and religious links to Israel and any ongoing self-determination in those indigenous lands. This is grossly insulting.
Imagine if Mr Minto were to tell Christians to reclaim the cross because it is on the British flag (and others) and is seen as a symbol of oppression and colonisation by some people; or that Muslims should reclaim the crescent because it is on the flag of many countries that really have barbaric policies. Those countries have far worse records on human rights (historic or current) than Israel and yet Mr Minto singles out the Jewish nation for his opprobrium.
Mr Minto also suggests that the New Zealand Jewish Council is not supportive of freedom or justice because it reflects the majority Jewish position of support for self-determination of Jews in their indigenous lands. That the majority of Kiwis also support Israel makes Mr Minto’s position even more egregious.
Finally, Mr Minto claims to be against antisemitism because he condemns Jewish grave desecrations and neo-Nazis. Unfortunately, there are many forms of antisemitism, and fighting one type while engaging in another still makes someone antisemitic.