new zealand 2007

 

The year 2007 was a relatively quiet one in terms of antisemitic activity, with 11 incidents reported compared to 32 in 2006. Seventeen individuals were arrested in an anti-terrorism sweep in October.

 

the jewish community

According to the 2006 census, there were almost 9,000 Jews in New Zealand out of a total population of 4.5 million. The New Zealand Jewish Council represents the community’s interests to the government. The community works with the New Zealand police via the Community Security Group (CSG) to facilitate the fast resolution of threats and protect the community. There are two Jewish Day Schools (in Auckland and Wellington). In addition to various community publications, the NZ Jewish Chronicle is distributed nationally.

 

extremist organizations

As reported in previous years, the most public extreme right-wing group in New Zealand is the National Front. In 2007 it maintained a low profile.

            “Increased vigilance” against terrorism and counter-terrorism continued to be the biggest single component of the activities of the Security Intelligence Service, which noted in 2005 that there were strongly anti-Western individuals in New Zealand sympathetic to al-Qa`ida and with links to extremists living overseas (see ASW 2005, 2006). In early October during nationwide police raids (the “anti-terror raids”), 17 people were arrested on terrorism offenses. The charges, which related to participation in training camps and other activities, were subsequently reduced to possession of firearms and other weapons. The case was ongoing. Most of those arrested were New Zealand-born. While there are no reports suggesting that the end targets were to be Jewish people or facilities, one of the men charged, Omar Hamed, was a 19-year-old Greek-born part-Palestinian, member of a Palestinian rights group and the founder of an anti-capitalist organization; another, Tame Iti, accused of running the camps, was reported as having made an impromptu visit to Iran earlier in the year. For more information, see: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/feature/index.cfm?c_id=1501470.

 

antisemitic activity

New Zealand's traditional image as a safe, antisemitism-free country has changed somewhat in recent years, due, no doubt, to the influence of international and local developments. Nevertheless, the year 2007 was a relatively quiet one in terms of antisemitism, with 11 incidents of antisemitism reported to the CSG. This represents a decrease of 65 percent from the previous year − 32 reported incidents (2005: 17).

The breakdown of incidents is similar to that of 2005 and 2006: 28 percent comprised e-mails or letters that originated either from far right-wing inspired groups or from mentally ill people. The remainder consisted of graffiti and vandalism (36 percent) and suspicious people and vehicles (36 percent). The e-mails and letters from right-wing groups, as well as the vandalism and graffiti incidents, included references to Adolf Hitler and swastikas. For example, on October 7, six Jewish graves were desecrated at the Kaori cemetery in Wellington. Slogans such as “Hitler RIP,”, “Juden Swine” and “Zionist Pig” were painted on the tombstones. The perpetrators were not caught.

A complaint from the Jewish community resulted in the removal, in August, of advertising billboards from the Hell Pizza restaurant, showing Hitler saluting with a pizza slice.