{"id":4523,"date":"2019-10-04T08:30:11","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T19:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/?p=4523"},"modified":"2019-10-06T08:56:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-05T19:56:32","slug":"online-hate-uncovered-in-new-zealand-anti-israel-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2019\/10\/online-hate-uncovered-in-new-zealand-anti-israel-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Online hate uncovered in New Zealand anti-Israel group"},"content":{"rendered":"
A group based in New Zealand has been found to have dozens of antisemitic posts and comments on its Facebook account.<\/p>\n
The national debate in New Zealand about online hate is being had at all levels of society, with Prime Minister Ardern meeting with other world leaders to garner support for the Christchurch Call<\/a>, and investigative journalists uncovering White Supremacist hate posted by Kiwis on social media<\/a> channels.<\/p>\n The White Supremacist hate posted is xenophobic, mysogynistic, Islamophobic, and antisemitic; with adoration for Hitler and Nazi motifs abound. It is also not dissimilar to the social media comments made by Kiwis that was exposed in January 2018 that led to then-Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy to comment that “If Facebook were around during the Third Reich these posts would’ve fitted right in…<\/a>“.<\/p>\n Antisemitism online is a global phenomenon – the World Jewish Congress undertook a study of online antisemitism in 2017<\/a> and found there was an antisemitic post made every 83 seconds.<\/p>\n Such antisemitism, however, is not confined to White Supremacists. The United Nations issued its first report on antisemitism<\/a> last week, acknowledging the growth in global antisemitism and identifying its sources as including radical Islamists, the far-right, and the far-left.<\/p>\n An investigation into a New Zealand-based anti-Israel group, Kia Ora Gaza, has found that it has allowed dozens of comments that would clearly be considered antisemitic according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition<\/a>, a definition accepted by the European Union and the UN. IHRA is an organisation with representation from 33 countries.<\/p>\n For example, comments on the Kia Ora Gaza Facebook page suggested that Israel was responsible for the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, posts compared Israel to Nazi Germany, called Jews dogs, and wished for their “punishment”.<\/p>\n