From Ynet news, 11/9/06, by Andrew Blitz ...
UN will soon elect Annan's substitute. New Zealand's prime minister might be a good choice; after all, she has history of bias against Israel
Wanted: A new secretary-general for the United Nations from January 2007. The ideal candidate will be an experienced politician from an Asian pacific nation. Female gender and the history of bias against Israel will be a selection advantage. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is an unofficial contender for this position.... Clark has dismissed suggestions of her candidacy as “fiction”, yet speculation regarding her emergence as a serious applicant is now rife.
Ruling against Israel
On 5 September 2006 a motion in the New Zealand Parliament was granted leave, and passed unanimously at the start of Parliamentary Question Time. The motion read as follows:
“That this House ......calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the Palestinian Speaker Abdelaiziz El-Dweik, the Deputy Prime Minister Naser al-Shaer, and the other arrested Ministers and members of the Palestinian Parliament.”
....The motion ....passed through the channels of regular Government business without dissent. ...New Zealand has effectively declared that that the arrested members of the Hamas Government are political hostages, a signal that will also appeal to the selection committee at the United Nations.
Helen Clark ...knows how to apply a double standard to affairs concerning Israel... without reference to the fact that Hamas has publicly claimed responsibility for the abduction of Gilad Shalit, and without regard to the nature and political ambitions of the movement.
....Israeli’s should be concerned by the NZ Parliamentary motion for its broader implications. Although Clark has rejected local speculation that she is interested in the UN Post, the suggestion has garnered non-partisan political support from across New Zealand. Amongst an auspicious list of potential candidates, Clark has a sufficient track record of stirring up anti-Israeli sentiment, capitalizing on Israel’s diplomatic shortcomings, and taking mileage from every political opportunity that is available to her at Israel’s expense. Clark may be seen by many of Israel’s adversaries to be suitably qualified to maintain the entrenched and obsessive anti-Israel bias that is inherent within the UN.
This motion passed within the New Zealand Parliament must not be taken lightly in the context of Israel’s recently reconstructed foreign relations with that country. The motion should be seen as far more than a morally repugnant statement, sponsored by a mere politician and political party that have maintained an anti-Israel stance since its formation. It is emerging proof that mainstream and significant holders of political office can leverage off ignorance-based Israel bashing to advance their international political standing to the hostile majority.....
Andrew Blitz is a freelance writer and former New Zealander now residing in [Perth] Australia
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