New Zealand’s Jewish community is grappling with an unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents over the past 13 months, including death threats and abusive behavior.
According to a report by the New Zealand Jewish Council, published in The NZ Herald, 227 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the 12 months following October 7, 2023, compared to 166 incidents over the eight-and-a-half years from 2015 to October 2023 — an average of about 20 incidents per year.
The report noted that while the number of antisemitic incidents has decreased since the beginning of 2024, they remain 3.6 times higher than before October 7, 2023.
New Zealand's Jewish community, numbering approximately 5,000 people, is concentrated in major cities like Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
In one incident, a Jewish middle school student was pushed to the ground and beaten by an attacker shouting, “Free Palestine.” The masked assailant punched the student in the head and told him he couldn’t wear a kippah at school.
In another case, a man told a Jewish woman visiting the Auckland Museum, in the presence of police officers, “I’m going kill you, I’m going to f**king to kill you.” Anti-Israel demonstrators at the museum shouted slogans like “Gas the Jews,” “F**k the Jews,” “Terrorists,” and “You dogs.”
In July, a government employee was accused of sending antisemitic messages from his social media accounts. Among the threatening messages sent to Jewish women were statements including, “Hitler was right” and “You guys should never exist.”
A New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission spokesperson expressed concern over the report’s alarming findings. The commission condemns all forms of antisemitism, Islamophobia and racism. We all want to live peacefully and go about our daily lives without fear for our wellbeing and safety or for that of our loved ones,” he said.
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New Zealand Jewish Council spokesperson Juliet Moses said, “Members of New Zealand’s small Jewish community have increasingly been targeted, intimidated and discriminated against, through physical attacks, threats of violence, boycotts of people’s businesses and careers, and harassment of students since October 7, 2023. Such actions would rightly never be justified or tolerated against any other minority under the guise of opposition to overseas events.”
“We call on the Government to provide an emphatic message clearly condemning these sorts of actions. Further we call on the various agencies to view such actions with the level of seriousness they deserve,” she added.