Part of the ongoing campaign of FOR THE PROTECTION OF ZION TRUST is to educate the wider public. Since 2014 we have received press coverage in newspaper, radio and TV reports. Unfortunately those who deal in falsehood and lies seem to run on the premise that the first to tell their story wins. We believe we are conveying truth but we have to be pro-active instead of being just reactive all the time. This means we like to look for opportunities to do that. Sometimes the 14th May is an opportunity as it is the anniversary date on the Gregorian calendar of the birth of the Modern State of Israel. In 2018 and 2019 we run full page articles bringing an awareness to the public of the truth about Israel. The article in 2019 covered every major daily in the Nation. The scope and the potential impact are big—so is the bill. If you are in a financial position to help empower us to continue running these full page ad/articles in New Zealand newspapers then please think about donating to our cause. As long as God provides us the means then we will continue to do this.
Our first full page (one of many now) was after Murray McCully’s ill-fated UNSC Res. 2334 and it was entitled Why the Land of Israel Belongs to Israel. It was a full page in the Saturday and Sunday editions of the NZ Herald one month after the resolution. Word got back to me that it ended up on the Minister of Foreign Affairs desk—and he read it. The 14 May 2019 publication “At 71, Israel as a Jewish State is Justified” upset our opponents with our national coverage. We were not upset about that. In 2021 in a major campaign to lobby support for “A New Zealand Embassy in Israel” full page ads/articles were placed in major dailies throughout NZ. You can download and view the text and images of those articles in each of their respective blog posts under the Media TAB.
What follows in this post is some of the press coverage we’ve received, apart from the aforementioned articles, since 2014. The coverage is reported from most recent first:
The tragic death of Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin: The unintentional death of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was killed in the middle of a gunfight between Israeli soldiers and terrorists in Jenin on the West Bank in May 2022 was tragic. However, the Palestinians typically used it to malign Israel once again. The niece of the late journalist, Lina Abu Akleh, was interviewed by Kim Hill on Radio New Zealand. As I was listening to Lina I had to respond to the lies and exaggerations I was hearing. I sent an email to Kim Hill while the show was still running and Kim read it verbatim at the end of the interview. I was grateful to Kim for the opportunity to express the truth so that her listeners were not deceived. It read:
Dear Kim,
- How does Lina “know” it was intentional?
- It was long-range fire. How could they have identified her from so far away?
- There was a gun battle happening and it was not quiet.
- All news reports have not reported the same thing.
- WE have not seen how Israelis target journalists. The Israelis are not that stupid!
- The police did not attack the funeral. Agitators stirred up a commotion that the Israelis had to respond to!
- More lies and exaggerations from the Palestinians propaganda.
Dear Editor John Minto is wrong (5 Oct.)! Eighty percent of the State of Israel is made up of the Jewish people—the descendants of their Biblical forbears who possessed the land before they were ruthlessly forced into exile by the Roman Empire. Today Jews are simply returning to claim what is theirs by historical right. The Palestinians do not have the same claim to the land. Some have indeed been in the land for centuries, as was the case with a Jewish remnant. However, most of the Arab population came in from Arab countries across the Middle East and North Africa with the birth of the Zionist era beginning in the 1880s. Jews returning to their rightful, ancestral, and indigenous land created industry and employment that became a magnet for Arabs seeking a better way of life. Israel has not “ethnically cleansed” the land of Israel of Palestinian Arabs. Many were encouraged to leave by Arab leaders who expected a quick annihilation of Israel in 1948, promising the masses they would then be able to return. Arab leaders caused the Nakba and Israel is not oppressing the Palestinians. Where does Jesus Christ stand in this conflict? On the side of Truth! Pastor Nigel Woodley Flaxmere Christian Fellowship, Hastings Dated 5 Oct. 2021
Dear Editor Fr. Gerard Burns is not correct. I am not sure what else he has been reading but he is not speaking for many Christians. The Kairos document he refers to is a politically motivated document to lure naïve Christians into agreement with the brutal ideology of the Palestinian Authority. That is, “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free”. That is the catch phrase of those who support the Kairos document calling for boycotts, divestments, and sanctions against Israel. The Bible he mentions makes it very clear that the entire land is the “Land of Israel”. I suggest he pick his Bible up and read it now and again. The “1967 lines” were never recognised political borders but agreed armistice lines pending a negotiated settlement. Archaeological finds all over the land of Israel attest to the indisputable claim of the Jewish people to the land. Fr. Burns exemplifies people who know little of the true narrative but have a lot to say anyway. There is no racist and brutal occupation by Israel; they do their best under very trying circumstances. “Disputed territories and historically the land of Israel” is a fair summary based on the historical account. Pastor Nigel Woodley Flaxmere Christian Fellowship, Hastings Dated 22 Sept. 2021
One Response
Very interesting articles and letters. I’ve read them all, thank you. Keep up the great work.