The Israel Institute of New Zealand (IINZ) has lodged a formal complaint to the ombudsman over funding of hate. IINZ co-director, Dr David Cumin, says it is outrageous that more than one million dollars each year goes to an organisation that uses racist teaching material in schools.
The organisation is the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNRWA) that operates schools around the Middle East. Textbooks used in some of their schools have, for decades, been shown to include material that glorifies terror and includes egregious antisemitism.
“Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials first tried to downplay the textbooks that incite violence, then they briefed the Minister that they were waiting on an EU-funded report. However, the report was only published in June and the payment was made in April.” said Dr Cumin.
The EU-funded report confirms decades of evidence that the curriculum is filled with hate and antisemitism. here are clear examples of egregious antisemitism, glorification of terror, rejection of peace, delegitimization of Israel, and incitement to violence.
New Zealand’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Paul Hunt, has noted the findings of ‘problematic content’ and conveyed to MFAT that funding such curriculum may place New Zealand in breach of international human rights obligations.
- The letter of complaint can be read in full at https://israelinstitute.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/20210823-Ombudsman-complaint.pdf
