In the heart of a liberal, democratic nation like New Zealand, one might assume that all communities enjoy equal rights to identity, expression, and protection. But the reality for Jewish New Zealanders in 2025 tells a different story — one of contradiction, erasure, and fear.
Today, Palestinian supporters march through our streets — many wearing keffiyehs, waving flags, and chanting militant slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” It is a slogan that Hamas uses because it calls for the destruction of Israel, a country with over seven million Jews and the world’s only Jewish state. And yet, here in New Zealand, these marches are not only tolerated but sometimes promoted by student unions, academics, unions, and city councils. They are portrayed in media coverage as peaceful protests for human rights — even when speakers glorify terrorist groups or deny Jewish nationhood.
Meanwhile, New Zealand Jews are being told — by security advisors, community leaders, and sometimes their own instincts — not to be too visible. Not to wear religious symbols in public. Not to linger outside synagogues. Not to draw attention to their Jewishness in certain university campuses or activist spaces where being Jewish is seen as synonymous with being complicit in Israeli policy.
This contrast is not just symbolic — it is structural. It reveals the uncomfortable truth that antisemitism is being normalised in New Zealand, particularly when it comes from the political left, and especially when it is masked as advocacy for Palestinians.
The Faces of Antisemitism: From Conspiracies to Campus
Antisemitism is often caricatured as the exclusive domain of the far right — neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and conspiracy theorists. And indeed, right-wing antisemitism still exists in New Zealand. White nationalist groups have targeted Jews alongside other minorities. Online forums spread age-old lies about Jewish control of banks and media. The Christchurch mosque attacks were a sobering reminder that extremist ideologies are not foreign to our shores.
But this is not the kind of antisemitism most Jews in New Zealand face on a daily basis.
Today’s dominant and more socially acceptable strain of antisemitism in this country is left-wing antisemitism. It dresses itself in the language of justice, human rights, and decolonisation. It claims to speak for the oppressed, but often ends up erasing Jewish history, identity, and trauma in the process.
It appears on university campuses, where Jewish students are excluded from diversity events unless they disavow Israel. It appears in protest movements, where signs equate Zionism with Nazism and chants call for intifada, glorifying violence against Jews in Israel and beyond. It appears in council chambers, where city councillors — elected to fix potholes and manage rates — feel entitled to declare foreign policy positions that single out the world’s only Jewish state for boycott and condemnation.
This form of antisemitism is more dangerous precisely because it is less recognisable to the average New Zealander. It is cloaked in righteousness. But scratch the surface, and it too rests on the belief that Jews are uniquely malevolent — a colonial project, a foreign interloper, a people whose right to national self-determination is illegitimate.
The Hypocrisy of Public Expression
Consider the following contradiction:
- Palestinian identity is proudly and loudly expressed in New Zealand — with public marches, art exhibits, community events, and widespread political support. Activists wear their cause as a badge of honour, even when their slogans call for the destruction of Israel or glorify groups like Hamas.
- Jewish identity, meanwhile, is quietly self-censored. Security at synagogues and Jewish schools is a fact of life. Wearing a Star of David in public, speaking Hebrew on the bus, or discussing a recent trip to Israel can attract harassment or worse. Jews are told not to “provoke” others with their visibility.
This is not a hypothetical. The New Zealand Jewish Council, Federation of Islamic Associations of NZ, and the Human Rights Commission have all documented a rise in religious and ethnic hostility since October 7, 2023. The majority of these incidents were not linked to neo-Nazis or white nationalists. They came in the wake of pro-Palestinian rallies, where the legitimate anguish over Gaza was often interwoven with deeply hostile rhetoric against Jews and Israel.
And yet, it is Jews who are being told to stay invisible for their own safety.
Where is the outrage?
When Councils Overstep and Consciences Sleep
It is within this climate that institutions like the Dunedin City Council are considering symbolic motions to boycott Israel. Ostensibly non-binding, these motions achieve nothing for peace but serve one clear purpose: to paint Israel — and by extension, its Jewish supporters — as uniquely evil.
Some claim that this motion has nothing to do with Jews. But how can that be, when a majority of Jews worldwide, and here in New Zealand, identify with Israel and have family and spiritual ties to it? To say “we support Jews, just not the Jewish state” is like saying “we support Māori, just not the concept of tino rangatiratanga.”
These motions are not harmless expressions of solidarity. They embolden those who already view Jewish identity as a threat. They deepen divisions and invite intimidation, particularly for those who are visibly or vocally Jewish. And they lie far outside the mandate of local governance.
If Cr. Marie Laufiso or Cr. Christine Garey genuinely believe councils should engage in foreign policy, one wonders why they have not tabled motions condemning China’s treatment of Uyghurs, Iran’s execution of protesters, or Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. Why only Israel?
The double standard is glaring. And the moral cost is high.
Reclaiming Moral Clarity
The time has come for New Zealand’s leaders — political, academic, media, and civic — to draw a firm line. Not a line between “left” and “right,” or between “Palestinian” and “Israeli,” but between genuine advocacy and hate masquerading as justice.
Jews should not have to hide who they are to be safe in New Zealand.
Support for Palestinian rights should not require the denial of Jewish rights.
And those who claim to fight oppression should not ignore antisemitism when it comes wrapped in their own colours.
There is a better way forward — one that affirms the dignity of both peoples, and which rejects all forms of bigotry, even when they are politically fashionable.
Until then, New Zealand cannot claim to be a safe place for all minorities. Not when Jews must walk softly and carry panic buttons, while those calling for Israel’s annihilation carry megaphones in the street.
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