A request for documents detailing NZ sanctions on persons and states that do not recognise Israel
J Schofield made this Official Information request to Winston Peters
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From: J Schofield
Dear Winston Peters,
Please provide the documents that you, your office or MFAT hold that detail the sanctions that have been imposed on persons and/or states and/or non-governmental agencies that do not recognise the state of Israel or that have made statements that are harmful to New Zealand's idealised "two-state solution" for peace in the Middle East.
I am sure that these documents exist, and that a great many people have been sanctioned thusly. I am so confident of this because, as you are aware, most nations and government leaders in the Middle East refuse to recognise the existence or legitimacy of Israel at all! Many of these states, for example Qatar, are long known to have been supporters of terrorism against Israel (or as they often like to call it, "the Zionist entity" or simply "the Jews").
Of course, any such persons or states clearly are harming the prospects for a "two-state solution" far more than Israeli ministers Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are... So in the unlikely event that there is not an enormous list of Arab political leaders who have long been prohibited from entering New Zealand, well, that would be awkward as it would make you as well as New Zealand as a whole institutionally very antisemitic. I am confident that cannot possibly be the case, though.
For reference, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir were banished from our fine shores for "using their leadership positions to actively undermine peace and security and remove prospects for a two-state solution" - attributed to you personally, by RNZ. Of course this means that any other person, for example the heads of Arab states, who do the same will have also been prohibited from visiting Aotearoa New Zealand - because we do not discriminate here!
Actually, to make it easy for you, I would even accept just the documents that publicly declare that Prince Mohamed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and Mohamed al-Thani of Saudi Arabia are persona-non-grata in New Zealand. These two Government leaders refuse to acknowledge that Israel has any right to exist whatsoever. So surely that violates the same "two-state solution" idealism that Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have been declared to have fallen afoul of. Because I am certain that you and New Zealand are not institutionally antisemitic, I am confident that these two men are already prohibited from visiting New Zealand for these very reasons... However despite my search, I cannot locate the official documentation declaring that to be the case (odd!) So I thought it would be a good idea to check that New Zealand has all of its ducks in a row.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Jim Schofield
From: Winston Peters (MIN)
Winston Peters
Dear Correspondent
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