Dual demos in Wellington
A hundred meters separated a pro-Israel rally in the New Zealand Capital of Wellington from one supporting Palestinians in Gaza.
The 300-strong pro-Palestinian contingent forced the closure of the city centre’s streets and blocked access to the building housing the Israeli embassy.
The pro-Israel rally was attended by around 200 mainly by pro-Israel Christians forty-seven of whom had made a four hour journey by bus from Hawkes Bay and Hastings plus another thirty from Palmerston North.
The 200 supporters displayed flags and banners were hosted by Wellington’s Temple Sinai congregation following the rally.
The demonstrations were carried out without any incident or arrest with two lines of police in case of problems.
Pastor Nigel Woodley told J-Wire: “We handed out leaflets and I have to say there is a lot of public support for Israel. The fact that only one death in Israel compared to the statistics from Gaza has not diminished the level of support.
The pastor is the spiritual leader of the Flaxmere Chrisitian Fellowship in Hastings. John McCormack told J-Wire: “The Israeli ambassador has visited and I can recall one day in the church when 200 of us sang Hatikvah.”
I assume you got this information from the Palestinian protesters. I quote: “The 300-strong pro-Palestinian contingent forced the closure of the city centre’s streets and blocked access to the building housing the Israeli embassy.”
They obviously twisted the facts to make it more impressive than it was. Theirs were nothing like the 300 they reported, (I would say 40-50) and they weren’t blocking any streets, let alone forcing the closure of the city centre’s streets. When we went back to our van, which was parked directly opposite their demo, there were cars driving past. (I have a photo of their small bunch, but not sure how to send it.)
I also don’t believe there were many spectators stopping to listen to them, whereas we (at the pro-Israel peace rally) had people walking past on 4 sides, able to hear our top class speakers!
There was a marked contrast between the 2 rallies. There was very negative and hateful, ours was only positive. We spoke out shalom 3 times to Israel and released white doves, signifying peace.
It was a time of blessing and we were very glad we went 🙂
It is wonderful to hear that our brothers in New Zealand have gone to so much effort to support Israel in it’s fight against terror!
Being so close to the Palestinian demonstrators is very brave, as we know that those demonstrators can be quite violent.
Well done to our Christian Brothers!