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The New Zealand Jewish Chronicle, as part of its election coverage, has asked our political parties a series of questions about Jews, Israel, and the Middle East process. I found this feature really interesting, and have reproduced the Greens’ below:

In view of world wide terrorist threats, and domestic hate driven attacks, how will your party guarantee the security of the New Zealand Jewish community and other minority communities in similar positions?
The Green Party believes we make our society more tolerant by upholding the human rights of us all. If all people are treated with dignity and respect they are more likely to respect the dignity of others. We support the existing legislative protection against discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or religion, of the sort we saw in the recent attacks on Jewish graves in Wellington.

We think education is vital to eliminating prejudice and toward fostering better cross cultural understanding. An education which includes gaining an understanding of the history of anti-Semitism, and which holds special reference to the Holocaust (and the rise of Fascism) should be resourced and encouraged. We feel that it is important for people to understand that anti-Semitism has been whipped up by rulers and politicians over the ages to divert people’s attention from the real causes of the problems they face. Understanding this issue will assist all minority communities who face being a scapegoat in Aotearoa/New Zealand today.

What is your party’s policy towards Israel and the Middle East peace process?
The Green Party supports an end to violence and a negotiated settlement of Israeli/Palestinian issues.

We particularly oppose violence directed against civilians. Palestinian militia and suicide bombers and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) conducting political assassinations and rocket attacks, kill many civilians. Violence begets violence, and cannot be justified by atrocities committed by either side. The cycle of violence must be broken.

There is much evidence to show that enforcing a military occupation is dehumanising for both Israeli soldiers and for the Palestinian families who are subject to enforced checkpoints and closures. We believe that a key towards resolution of this conflict is the withdrawal of Israeli military forces (and ‘settler’ communities) from the West Bank and Gaza and the establishment of a Palestinian state. For a peace settlement to be just and a Palestinian state viable, an agreement must comprehensibly support the democratic governance in the West Bank and Gaza area by the Palestinian majority. Furthermore, comprehensive economic and social relations with all the bordering nations of this area is critical to a lasting a sustaining peace.

We do not believe that building new Israeli settlements or the ‘peace’ wall (much of which is within the territory of the West Bank) are consistent with seeking a genuine Middle East Peace settlement with the Palestinian people.

We favour an Israel and a Palestine, living peacefully side by side, where Jewish and Arab peoples do not suffer discrimination in either country. We respect the vibrant political debate in Israel, and recognise that many brave Israelis and Jews of the Diaspora are active in peace and political movements which are challenging the right wing Sharon government.

How does your party state its position on relations between Israel and New Zealand, and what will it do to increase trade, academic, sporting and cultural relations between the two countries?
We support healthy and normal relations between Israel and New Zealand, and hope they will be improved. Mossad’s attempt to fraudulently obtain New Zealand passports was not the act of a friendly nation and we believe that to help us get beyond this the Israeli government will apologise. New Zealand should also foster strong cultural ties between Jewish people in New Zealand and Israel. It could be mutually beneficial for both Israel and New Zealand to accommodate anti-nuclear campaigner Mordechai Vanunu’s wish to settle in New Zealand.

How does your party see the relationship between New Zealand’s official attitude to Israel and the feelings of New Zealanders towards the Jewish community?
Very few New Zealanders think criticisms of the Sharon government have anything to do with the Jewish community here. Criticising the Sharon government does not mean we are criticising ordinary Israeli citizens. In fact, if we couple such criticisms of Sharon with support for the Israeli peace movement we can strengthen the bond between ordinary New Zealanders and Israelis.

Of course, misguided individuals and prejudiced people will sometimes take out the transgressions of a government on its people, or on a particular ethnic or religious group. It is possible that anger towards the Sharon Government’s policies (and particularly the Mossad operation) helped embolden the nasty anti-Semites who desecrated the Jewish graves in Makara and Bolton St cemeteries.

However, the solution is not for New Zealand to go soft on Sharon and his policies, any more than it would help to go soft on Osama bin Laden, in a misguided effort to reduce harassment of Islamic people here; or to stop criticising George Bush because some silly Kiwis are taking their anger out on American tourists. We have to be consistent, standing up for peace and justice in every country. The Green Party criticised the Mossad operation as an affront to our sovereignty, but at the same time we also spoke out in Parliament against anti-Semitism and in support of the New Zealand Jewish community over the desecration of the graves.

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