New Zealand anti-Israel activists opened a hotline to track down IDF soldiers and reservists visiting the country, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) announced, causing outrage this week among politicians and Jewish community groups.
Activists can call a phone number if they come across Israeli soldiers or reservists holidaying in the country, according to a Wednesday PSNA newsletter.
“Israeli soldiers should not enjoy rest and recreation from genocide in New Zealand,” PSNA said in the newsletter. “We need your help to track them down so we can let them know they are not welcome here.”
PSNA National Chair John Minto said on Facebook that the “genocide hotline” was part of holding Israel and the New Zealand government to account for “the most horrendous war crimes [of] the 21st century.”
The announcement hotline was met by enthused supporters, Minto said on social media on Tuesday, asserting that it would save Palestinian lives by sending a message to Israel that the Western world does not accept its alleged war crimes. The PSNA leader said the outrage and accusations of antisemitism from detractors were expected and rejected the framing.
'Extreme totalitarian behavior'
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters denounced the hotline as “extreme totalitarian behavior.”
“John Minto’s call to identify people from Israel holidaying in New Zealand via a ‘dob them in [snitch] hotline’ is an outrageous show of fascism, racism, and encouragement of violence and vigilantism,” Peters warned on social media on Tuesday.
ACT Party MP Simon Court accused Minto and his followers of “undisguised antisemitic behavior” that could create a “real-life version of the Hunger Games movies,” referring to the film and book series in which characters hunt each other down in a contest to the death.
“Military service is compulsory for Israeli citizens. This means any Israeli holidaying, visiting family, or doing business in New Zealand could be targeted by John Minto’s hateful campaign,” Court said. “This is not normal political activism, it is intimidation targeted toward Jewish visitors. It mirrors the worst instincts of humanity and should be condemned by parties across Parliament.”
ACT called on the New Zealand Parliament to condemn the hotline.
New Zealand Human Rights Commission Chief Commissioner Stephen Rainbow said that while the campaign didn’t meet the threshold for unlawful speech, he called for the closure of the hotline because it was potentially harmful to Israeli and Jewish people in the country.
“Israeli and Jewish people have as much right as everyone else in New Zealand to be safe, secure, and free from harassment,” said Rainbow, whose commission reportedly received more than 90 complaints about the hotline. “This sort of action has the risk of a ripple effect which may cause harm in the community.”
The Israel Institute of New Zealand, which had raised awareness of the call to action, said setting up a hotline so citizens of certain states could be harassed or worse was abhorrent “discrimination and incitement.”
“No visitor or citizen should be hunted down by vigilantes,” said IINZ.
New Zealand Jewish Council (NZJC) spokesperson Juliet Moses said Minto had launched an incitement campaign against a nationality, noting that Minto had denied that the November Amsterdam pogrom was motivated by antisemitism.
The Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem, an organization of indigenous activists that support Israel and affirm the Jewish people’s indigenous status, said the hotline was reminiscent of Nazi-era Europe and called for a rejection of divisive rhetoric and hatred. The organization called on supporters to report Minto’s Facebook page to Meta and said the NZ police had been notified of the hotline.
“Many have ignored the fact that Israel is fighting against a radical Islamist group that started a war Israel didn’t want and that they have vowed to repeat the atrocities of 7 October over and over again,” said the organization. “We as Maori and Indigenous people, are deeply disturbed to see visitors to our land treated in this way.”
Minto on Tuesday decried the responses as an attack by a “Predictable lineup of apologists for Israel.” Minto rejected the Human Rights Commission’s statement that the campaign was targeting Israelis or Jews, since Israeli soldiers could also be Druze or Arab.
He also slammed the NZJC as a “deeply racist” organization that regularly makes false antisemitism accusations in a manner that took attention from actual antisemitism. Minto said Peters should have pressured Israel to end the supposed genocide and stopped Israelis with addresses in the disputed territories from obtaining visas for entry into New Zealand.
PSNA last Wednesday had in its newsletter called for the suspension of all visas for Israeli soldiers. The anti-Israel organization said a 2019 visa waiver allowed soldiers to enter the country for three months without needing a visa.
Minto called for nationwide rallies for the visa ban on Saturday, arguing on Facebook, “We wouldn’t allow Russian soldiers to come here for rest and recreation from the invasion of Ukraine so why would we accept soldiers from the genocidal, apartheid state of Israel?”
Rainbow said the commission had received eight complaints about immigration policy permitting IDF soldiers to enter the country under the visa-waiver scheme. While he acknowledged citizens “feel strongly about pressuring our government to do more to enforce international humanitarian and human rights law” he urged them “to do so in a way that does not put other people at risk.”