{"id":115729,"date":"2024-09-16T17:05:19","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T15:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=115729"},"modified":"2024-09-13T08:55:54","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T06:55:54","slug":"16-00-95","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=115729","title":{"rendered":"In New Zealand, Antisemitism in the Classroom\u2014and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>In New Zealand, Antisemitism in the Classroom\u2014and Beyond<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Nomi Kaltmann<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Since Oct. 7, the country\u2019s small Jewish community has faced growing prejudice<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A police officer stands guard during a pro-Palestinian rally in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Oct. 28, 2023 \/ Sanka Vidanagama\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In November 2023, just weeks after the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, New Zealand\u2019s Holocaust Centre in Wellington issued a report focusing on Jewish children age 9 to 18 that revealed that 50% of responding parents reported their children had faced antisemitism in their school since Oct. 7.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cPre-Oct. 7, we received one or two complaints a year,\u201d said Deborah Hart, the centre\u2019s board chair, who commissioned the report. \u201cAfter [Oct. 7], the steep rise in complaints we were getting was incredibly concerning and we wanted to know how big this problem was.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In a follow-up report compiled in July 2024 by the same organization, that number shot even higher: A staggering 80% of respondents said their children had suffered antisemitic episodes in their schools.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These reports, which have more than 30 respondents each, have not been made public to protect the location and identity of children, who are often the only Jewish people in their local area, but the data can be backed up with New Zealand police statistics. New Zealand\u2019s Holocaust Centre found that antisemitism was not limited to one place or demographic in the country. \u201cWe have police crime statistics, so we know that there was a 530% increase in the targeting of Jews between 2022-2023,\u201d said Hart. \u201cIn New Zealand, Jews are just 0.2% of the population. Unfortunately, Jewish New Zealanders are 160 times more likely to be the victim of a hate crime than a Maori New Zealander, who are also targeted.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When asked what these antisemitic incidents may look like, Hart was frank: \u201cIt looks like graffiti and abuse online. In schools it\u2019s everything ranging from name-calling to physical abuse. And some of it is particularly nasty, like a child who went swimming and when he came back to put on his shirt, it was covered in swastikas. Or a report of a child locked in a room with kids outside screaming \u2018Free Palestine,\u2019 and when he came out, they tried to assault him with a broom handle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In response to this worrying increase in antisemitism, Hart would like to see an antisemitism envoy appointed in New Zealand, mirroring efforts in countries like Australia and the United States, and for the Holocaust to be part of New Zealand\u2019s mandatory education curriculum. None of these have happened so far, but some initial funding has been provided by New Zealand\u2019s government to support an education package put together by the Holocaust Centre to be sent out to teachers and schools across New Zealand to combat antisemitism. \u201cWe are developing the education package so it\u2019s pedagogically sound and easy for teachers to use,\u201d said Hart.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Since Oct. 7, Kadimah college in Auckland\u2014New Zealand\u2019s only Jewish school, which has classes from kindergarten to Year 8\u2014has been on high alert from extremism from right- and left-wing groups.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a bit upsetting,\u201d said Darya Bing, the chair of the school board of trustees. \u201cWhen you speak to people about it, they are really shocked. Most New Zealanders are very kind and very lovely people who are not at all aware of the outcomes to the Jewish community. Your common reaction will be: \u2018What? What do you mean have security guards outside your school?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This past year saw a boom in enrollment at Kadimah. The school, which also welcomes non-Jews and has a total of 150 students, usually has a mix of 50% Jewish and 50% non-Jewish students. Today the ratio is closer to 70% Jewish. It has a special status in New Zealand as an integrated school, one that is partly funded by the government and has a special character to teach Jewish studies and Hebrew alongside the regular New Zealand curriculum.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe school is growing rapidly,\u201d said Bing. While she partly attributed the increase in enrolments to families fleeing rising antisemitism in New Zealand\u2019s schools, she also attributes it to a rise in many professional immigrants moving to New Zealand and their desire to fit into a community that aligns with their values. \u201cIn the initial decision to bring their kids to Kadimah, [some families might think], oh, OK, I\u2019m going to New Zealand and might as well go to a Jewish school and mitigate [the chance of antisemitism] before it starts,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Students are not the only ones affected by rising antisemitism.<\/span><\/div>\n
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In Christchurch, on New Zealand\u2019s South Island, members of the Jewish community have been shaken by an antisemitic attack against Canterbury Synagogue. The synagogue had its windows smashed, in an attack captured on CCTV. Shary Baker, the synagogue\u2019s vice president,\u00a0feels that she is misunderstood as a Jewish person in New Zealand. \u201cThere is little to no education in schools here about minorities such as Jews,\u201d she said. \u201cMost [New Zealanders] aren\u2019t taught about the Holocaust. Many non-Jewish students\u2019 first experience of what Jewishness is or what a Jew is will be in the context of this current war. There is an issue that we are a minority here, but we are not viewed like a minority.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s a refrain common to many Jewish people working and living across the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When New Zealand\u2019s Settlement Centre, a charity that offers free information and services to migrants, was set to reopen in July 2024 after a lengthy renovation, it was meant to be a festive occasion. However, the celebration, in the city of Hamilton, was abruptly canceled when\u00a0Palestine Waikato<\/a>, a pro-Palestinian group, threatened to protest the event. The controversy stemmed from the inclusion of an artwork by a New Zealand-Israeli artist. The artwork\u2014which featured pomegranates and doves, but no explicit religious or political imagery\u2014was part of a broader collection created by migrants to decorate the newly renovated center. However, Palestine Waikato charged that the artwork \u201cdoes not represent culture or heritage, but symbolizes stolen Palestinian land, biodiversity, symbols, futures, and lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hamilton, with roughly half a million people, including 90 Jews, according to New Zealand\u2019s\u00a02018 census<\/a>, became an unexpected flashpoint in a country that has a Jewish population of approximately 10,000 among a broader population of 5 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Education Director Kris Lacy teaches a school group at the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand \/\u00a0 Courtesy Holocaust Centre of New Zealand<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cMost of us recognize this [incident at the Settlement Centre] as pure antisemitism,\u201d said Juliet Moses, the president of New Zealand\u2019s Jewish Council. Since Oct. 7, Moses, who works as a lawyer and volunteers in her community role, has found her days increasingly busy as she responds to a massive increase in antisemitic incidents in New Zealand that has made the country\u2019s tiny Jewish community feel uneasy. \u201cWhat we are experiencing is a large increase in antisemitism that manifests in various ways,\u201d she said, \u201cand people don\u2019t care about it in the same way you would expect them to for other minorities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Historically, New Zealand\u2019s relationship with Israel has been mixed. While the country maintains formal ties with Israel, and is part of the\u00a0Five Eyes Agreement<\/a>\u2014an alliance between five countries that also includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada\u2014New Zealand has traditionally behaved toward Israel in a way that is out of step with these other countries. This includes abstaining or voting in favor of resolutions against Israel at the United Nations. In 2016, New Zealand was even one of four sponsoring countries that supported United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which called Israel\u2019s settlement activity a flagrant violation of international law with no legal validity.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the aftermath of Oct. 7, the\u00a0New Zealand government<\/a>\u00a0declared Hamas a terrorist organization, but as the war has continued, the government has become more critical of Israel. \u201cAfter Oct. 7 they started off pretty strong that Israel has a right to defend itself, condemning Hamas,\u201d said Moses, \u201cbut over time, as with most governments, they have begun to call for an immediate cease-fire, while increasing amounts of pressure on Israel and little pressure on Hamas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Paul Morris, a Jewish university professor at Victoria University of Wellington\/Te Herenga Waka, has seen firsthand student protests against Israel and a heightened atmosphere of tension at the school. \u201cI think New Zealand\u2019s Jewish community both on campus and beyond are disturbed by heightened security and have experienced a kind of break with other communities,\u201d he said. \u201cIn many ways the community has been very deeply shaken by the broad and partisan support for Palestine and the lack of sympathy\u201d for Jewish victims.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When asked whether he would leave the country to settle somewhere else, Morris said that he felt \u201che was too old and settled\u201d in New Zealand but retains ongoing concern for the viability of the country\u2019s Jewish community. \u201cThe future of the community has been an issue for 30 years. It\u2019s not growing,\u201d he said, listing high aliyah rates relative to the population size, and migration from New Zealand to Australia, which has favorable immigration policies for New Zealanders, as reasons for the community\u2019s relative decline.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There are glimmers of hope and support during the troubling time for New Zealand\u2019s tiny Jewish community. Michelle Jacobson, an Australian who now lives in Wellington with her husband and children, recently experienced some support. Driving along a street in her neighborhood, she came across some antisemitic stickers at a bus stop. \u201cI was with my husband, who is not Jewish, we pulled over and scraped one off,\u201d she told me. \u201cWhen we were driving back, we saw some ladies trying to get one off as well. It made me feel like we weren\u2019t so alone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nomi Kaltmann<\/strong> is Tablet magazine\u2019s Australia correspondent. Follow her on Twitter @NomiKal<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In New Zealand, Antisemitism in the Classroom\u2014and Beyond Nomi Kaltmann Since Oct. 7, the country\u2019s small Jewish community has faced growing prejudice A police officer stands guard during a pro-Palestinian rally in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Oct. 28, 2023 \/ Sanka Vidanagama\/NurPhoto via Getty Images In November 2023, just weeks after the Hamas attacks of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115729"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115729"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115749,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115729\/revisions\/115749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}