{"id":4249,"date":"2019-05-02T10:48:53","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T22:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/?p=4249"},"modified":"2019-05-03T15:59:32","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T03:59:32","slug":"new-zealand-labour-mp-continues-extreme-anti-israel-stance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2019\/05\/new-zealand-labour-mp-continues-extreme-anti-israel-stance\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand Labour MP continues extreme anti-Israel stance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A New Zealand Labour MP is actively promoting the <a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/01\/the-seven-serious-bds-flaws\/\">discriminatory BDS campaign against Israel<\/a>. Dr Duncan Webb has recently tweeted that &#8220;[BDS]&#8230; is a concrete way to express a political view&#8230;&#8221;.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Boycott Divestment & Sanctions is a form of non-violent protest. It is a concrete way to express a political view condemning the policies adopted by the Israeli govt towards Palestine.  We need to ensure that free speech rights like this are not shut down. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/A25Jo37RDv\">https:\/\/t.co\/A25Jo37RDv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Duncan_Webb_ (@Duncan_Webb_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Duncan_Webb_\/status\/1123381674086002688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 1, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In trying to frame the argument as a free speech issue, Dr Webb makes three serious errors of judgment. First, he ignores the fact that <a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/01\/the-seven-serious-bds-flaws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the BDS campaign spreads discriminatory lies in order to demonise the Jewish state and seek its destruction<\/a>. The BDS campaign is more than a simple expression of opinion &#8211; it is a call for concrete action that is comparable to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jpost.com\/Diaspora\/Major-German-university-students-BDS-a-continuation-of-Nazi-boycotts-501624\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">German boycott of Jewish businesses<\/a> or the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org\/background-and-overview-of-the-arab-boycott-of-israel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arab boycott of Jews in British Mandate Palestine<\/a>. For this reason,<a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/01\/the-seven-serious-bds-flaws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> BDS has been outlawed in some democratic countries because it is discriminatory and anti-semitic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, his tweet was in support of preventing a musician from playing at an event. His tweet was, therefore seeking to stifle freedom of expression &#8211; an expression that could help bring people together, in fact. The hypocrisy should be clear to anyone who takes a moment to consider it.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, supporting freedom of speech does not mean one should support discriminatory messages. People should be free to speak their minds and Nazi marches are also an expression of a political view. However, supporting the right of Nazis to protest is different to support for their message. And Dr Webb certainly supports the anti-Israel agenda of BDS.<\/p>\n<p>In August last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/08\/israel-institute-calls-on-government-to-distance-itself-from-terrorism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dr Webb, hosted a lunch so a recently returned activist<\/a> could talk about his experience on the anti-Israel &#8220;international freedom flotilla&#8221;. The aim of the &#8220;flotilla&#8221; was to <a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/08\/eight-things-the-media-may-not-tell-you-about-the-freedom-flotilla\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">breach a legal blockade designed to prevent terror attacks<\/a>. Thus, the &#8220;peace flotilla&#8221; is an act of support for violence.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, the Israel Institute of New Zealand called on his party and the government to <a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/08\/israel-institute-calls-on-government-to-distance-itself-from-terrorism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">distance themselves from this action and condemn Hamas terror that the &#8220;flotilla&#8221; supports<\/a>. There has been no response. And in June, Dr Webb said he was <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Duncan_Webb_\/status\/1006632523349221377\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;happy&#8221; to present a petition<\/a> that called for the New Zealand Government Superannuation Fund to divest from Israeli banks.<\/p>\n<p>The goal of the BDS campaign that Dr Webb is actively supporting is <a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/01\/a-samoan-maori-on-bds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the destruction of Israel<\/a>. Norman Finklestein, a prominent Jewish critic of Israel, is <a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/122257\/unpopular-man-norman-finkelstein-comes-out-against-bds-movement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quoted as saying<\/a> that he &#8220;loathes the disingenuousness [of BDS] \u2013 they don&#8217;t want Israel (to exist)\u2026 they are a cult&#8221;. This is partly based on what BDS leaders have publicly stated themselves. For example, The founder of BDS, Omar Bargouti, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.creativecommunityforpeace.com\/about-bds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">opposes the two state solution and has said<\/a> &#8220;Definitely, most definitely we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine&#8221; and <a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/01\/the-seven-serious-bds-flaws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BDS activists oppose dialogue and \u2018normalisation&#8217; projects<\/a> which bring Jews and Palestinians together for better understanding and the dialogue that is required for a negotiated solution.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"BDS Explained Part I HD\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/252606409?h=e9c0516051&dnt=1&app_id=122963\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The New Zealand government and Labour party have previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mfat.govt.nz\/en\/media-and-resources\/news\/un-security-council-adopts-historic-resolution-on-israeli-settlements\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stated that they support a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2018\/07\/nz-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-and-trade-promotes-bds-event-featuring-supporter-of-terror-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">despite MFAT promoting a BDS event that featured a terror supporter in July 2018<\/a>. Support for BDS is, therefore, contrary to the official position as it does not accept a two-state solution.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Webb&#8217;s continued active support for BDS and his entertaining of &#8220;flotilla&#8221; activists suggests either New Zealand Labour is changing their stance over the two-state solution or that he is acting contrary to an official position. Neither the Labour party or Dr Webb have responded to request for comment on this matter.<\/p>\n<p>[FB_IINZcomments]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A New Zealand Labour MP is actively promoting the discriminatory BDS campaign against Israel. Dr Duncan Webb has recently tweeted that &#8220;[BDS]&#8230; is a concrete way to express a political view&#8230;&#8221;. Boycott Divestment & Sanctions is a form of non-violent protest. It is a concrete way to express a political view condemning the policies adopted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[448,34,447,446],"tags":[40,482,459,463,460,582,263,269,203],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4249"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4256,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4249\/revisions\/4256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}