McCully blames Israel
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully has fronted Auckland’s Jewish community criticising Israel’s policies in its region.
Speaking at the Auckland Hebrew Congregation, “Peace in the Middle East” McCully placed a great deal of the blame for the lack of progress in the plans for peace on Israel’s settlements policy according to reports received today.
Murray McCully being interviewed by Dr David Cumin
At the function organised by the New Zealand Zionist Federation the Foreign Minister said that New Zealand had contributed to a mine-clearing operation on the West Bank the aim of which was to clear land for Palestinian agriculture. He told the audience that after the area had been cleared Israel took a portion of it to build a road denying the Palestinians the right to use that strip for farming…an action which displeased the New Zealand government.
McCully refused to accept that attacks by Palestinians on Israelis were acts of terrorism…saying that Israelis and others could call them terrorism but he would not.
McCully appealed to the Jewish community to contacts friends and family in Israel to seek their cooperation in persuading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to cease his settlement activity”.
New Zealand currently is a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council .
McCully said that New Zealand wants to see the UN Security Council shoulder its responsibilities on the Middle East Peace Process.
He said that it has been seven years since the Council has even passed a resolution on this question and were continually being told that “the time is not right” and “the parties are not ready”.
He added that while we wait, the situation on the ground gets worse, violence has escalated, and the viability of the two state solution is disappearing as a consequence of Israeli settlement activity.
However, McCully did refer to the anti-Israel elements within the U.N. He said: “There is an unhealthy culture that needs to be addressed. in the United Nations. There have been countries which have made a habit of bagging Israel at every turn using health and human rights resolutions that have nothing to do with peace and security.” He added that Israel “need to find a pathway through which it can get the international community more constructively engaged.”
He said that Israel’s security is a critical element and “there has been a fair amount of give on the Palestinian side.”
UNRWA’s storing of weapons in a Gaza school came in for criticism from the Foreign Minister who pointed out that the situation worsened when UNRWA officials, partly funded by New Zealand, had handed the weapons back to those who could fire them.
He said that the funding was for people who had become disadvantaged because of the conflict and thew abuse of it “would put it at risk”.
He said that NZ, frustrated by the Council’s lack of resolve, circulated a draft resolution to try to find a pathway to bring the parties back to the negotiating table.
McCully finished the meeting by saying: “I want to ask you as people who have family and friends and make regular visits to israel to use the influence you have to try and encourage those you know to keep the process moving forward to try and find a settlement in the Middle East. There are obstacles in political terms in both Israel and in Palestine…these are challenges that need to be overcome. We need to find a way in which people can live side by side in peace.”
The Arabs claim that all of Israel is a “settlement,” thus this New Zealand genius supports the dismantlement of that state.
Fortunately for the Jewish People, Israel’s existence is not dependent on his wishes.