Hehe generally we tend to go the opposite way to Australia.
We have had numerous legal encounters with Israel over the past twenty or so years especially around areas of identity theft, stolen passports and they failed to convince even our most right wing government against sponsering a UN resolution so I dont rate their chances of threatening the left wing government we have now.
We are a relatively stubborn bunch to the louder the noise the more support will move away from them, their best course of action now is to shut up and let the matter die, but I am not sure they are that smart.
In my best Kiwi accent “Yeah… nah”.
This is a pretty standard case of shooting ones self in the foot, the ruling is not enforceable, it has drawn people’s attention to the region which will never work out in Israel’s favour and best of all the two are using the media attention to raise money for Gaza.
It is a very hard mindset to break but it only has 20-30 years left, I think once the current generation starts to assume power Israel will have a great deal of trouble controlling the narrative.
Fortunately, Israeli actions are ultimately alienating and as such self-defeating, however, it may be far too late to be of any benefit to the Palestinians in terms of a state.
What would justify the stance by our government at the UN more than an Israeli cyber attack?
At this point, I would rate New Zealand as generally sympathetic to the Palestinian plight but we still have a large percentage of the population (Generally older folk) who buy into the “Islam = Terrorism view and these same people are trapped into a post WW2 mindset, the one thing that would change that rapidly would be an idiotic reaction from the Israeli government.
I think people are reading far too much into Nutty’s words, he is clearly shooting his mouth off as a display of strength to his supporters meanwhile here in New Zealand we find it amusing but on the whole we give more air time to the road toll.
I suspect our indifference is driven by several factors:
1. Most people here have no idea who he is and we are used to tirades by middle eastern dictators.
2. New Zealand has never been overly fond of Israel ever since we started catching them stealing identities.
3. We understand logistics and the benefits of being miles from anywhere.
My guess is that he is simply trying to deflect attention from his own issues and has no problem coming across like a petulant school boy in the process.
It will be interesting to see what Trump does but given most people see him as an irrational lunatic I doubt too many are worried about him either.
In short I doubt anyone in New Zealand is losing sleep over this but it has provided hours of mirth in an otherwise run of the mill xmas holiday.
I am somewhat amused that a person who’s allegiance is to a country other than his own could call anyone a traitor.
On the bright side the benefits of this deal are already beginning to show:
Hopefully this is a promise he will carry through on, but I suspect he will content himself by teaching those Iranians a lesson and building some more settlements.
Hang on a sec I have been to the Middle East and I haven’t read the deal so I have no idea whether it is a good or a bad one but I am assuming it is a deal everyone can live with or it would not have been signed.
On the whole I hope this normalises Iran’s relations with the world as it is a country I would love to visit one day.
If gay marriage rights were a legitimate issue at the school then I think it would be a valid question.
People have a right to know who they are voting for and what they stand for otherwise it is impossible to make an informed choice.
Bumblebye April 20, 2015, 2:47 pm
@ An American Critic
Time and time again that solution has been suggested.
Time and time again the zionist commenters describe it as the destruction of Israel.
Sadly, the Israel they love is the racist, expansionist, thieving, ethnic cleansing entity that exists now.
– See more at: http://mondoweiss.net/2015/04/understanding-jewish-national#sthash.kaehkNP2.dpufBumblebye April 20, 2015, 2:47 pm
@ Bumblebye
Time and time again that solution has been suggested.
Time and time again the zionist commenters describe it as the destruction of Israel.
Sadly, the Israel they love is the racist, expansionist, thieving, ethnic cleansing entity that exists now.
This is my argument though, the one thing that may bring Israel to the table looking for an end to this farce is the knowledge that it will not have the choice to maintain the status-quo and be forced to give Palestinians equality within and all encompassing Israel thus bringing about the destruction of the “Jewish” state.
I think the only genuine fear Israel has is in having to accept Palestinians as equal citizens and it may be enough of a fear for Israel to cut its losses and accept a Palestinian state.
Gotta love the extremists. Only they would say that entire pro-Palestinian set of pieces should be suppressed because the author favors peace between Jews and Palestinians.”
Surely you are going to extremes when you claim there is conflict between Jews and Palestinians wouldn’t it be more accurate to say Israeli’s and Palestinians as I am not aware of any issues between Palestinians and Jews outside Israel.