John McCormick
Chairman Hawkes Bay Friends of Israel

Kiwi girl Killed in Israel.

In what I believe to be our first victim of terrorism 19-year-old Miss Judith Sinton of Auckland was shot dead on Kibbutz Shamir in northern Israel on June 13 1974.  She was a tourist working on the Kibbutz as a volunteer like hundreds of kiwis have done over the years.  She and two kibbutz women, one who was pregnant were shot dead around breakfast time. The PFLP Terrorists had infiltrated from Lebanon.

Judith was shot on her way back to work in the apiary. Her body was returned to Auckland and a Memorial has been built at the kibbutz for the 3 women killed. All the terrorists were killed by armed Kibbutznics.

Entebbe Hijacking. June 1976

Another PFLP Terror attack affecting Kiwis was Air France 139 flight from Tel Aviv to Paris via Athens from where it was hijacked first to Libya where it refuelled and flew to Entebbe Uganda. This incident was reported in my local paper under the headline of “5 NZers on Hijacked Airliner flown to Uganda”. Hawkes Bay Herald – Tribune, Monday June 28 1976.  The Hijackers were both Arab PFLP members as well as German extremists. 

On arrival at Entebbe, the 216 passengers were divided into Jew and Gentile groups NAZI Style. I have the names of two of the kiwis being Mr Colin and Nola Hardie of Christchurch where Colin was manager of the Christchurch Star Newspaper. He made notes writing on his arms under his shirt and wrote about it on his return. The 5 kiwis were released with the other Gentiles and flown to Paris while all the Jews were held hostage until rescued by the Israeli Military. 

Both the killing of Judith Sinton and the Hijacking were widely reported in the New Zealand Media with many of the stories sourced by NZPA-Reuters.

Gantz bans 6 Palestinian NGO’s. 

The 6 NGO’s were banned on the 19th of October by Executive order by Minister of Defence Benny Gantz.  The reason for banning these groups is they are part of the terror organisation The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. PFLP.  They are responsible for hundreds of terror attacks inside Israel and around the world using bombings and Aircraft Hijackings.

I have provided you with two examples involving New Zealanders and I fully support Minister Gantz’s action to pressure the PFLP.

We don’t need the PFLP operating in the West Bank openly or via front NGO’s. I call on our Government to support the Israeli position on the PFLP.

Below is a statement from the Israeli Ministry of Defence. It is a translation from Hebrew to English.  Below that I provide links to Articles about the banning of the 6 NGOs.

The Minister of Defense declared six organizations of “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” as terror organizations

In a joint activity of the General Security Service (GSS) and Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF), an activity which began in early 2021 and was approved by the legal factors; six organizations belonging to the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” were declared as terror organizations because they constitute a network of organizations active undercover on the international front on behalf of the “Popular Front”, to support its activity and further its goals. 

Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), ADDAMEER  – Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Al-Haq Organization, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), and the Union Of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC).

Those organizations were active under the cover of “Civic Society Organizations,” but in practice belong and constitute an arm of the Organization’s leadership, the main activity of which is the liberation of Palestine and destruction of Israel.

The declared organizations are controlled by the senior leaders of the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” and employ many Popular Front activists in field and management positions, including activists who participated in terror activity. 

Those organizations present themselves as acting for humanitarian purposes; however, they serve as a cover for the “Popular Front” promotion and financing.

Moreover, following the Organization’s headquarter instructions, their ascription to the Organization is concealed for security reasons related to the apprehension that enforcement steps against them will be initiated by security organizations in Israel and the world. 

From financing aspects, those organizations, controlled by the Popular Front, serve as a central source for the financing of the Organization’s activity in general and take a significant part in building the Organization’s force and the growth of the terror organization.

In addition, the declared organizations received large sums of money from European countries and international organizations, using a variety of forgery and deceit ways. Those funds served the Popular Front for payments to security prisoners’ families and the “Shaheeds,” wages for activists, enlistment of activists, promotion of terror activity and strengthening, promotion of the Popular Front activity in Jerusalem, and distribution of the Organization’s messages and ideology.


Reference.

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