By Miriam Bell…
Official apologies are now flowing over Immigration New Zealand’s politicised and error-ridden fact sheet on Palestinian refugees.
The factsheet erased Israel from the map, replacing it with the “State of Palestine”, and featured inaccurate statements which distorted the history of the region and the Israel/Palestine conflict.
It outraged New Zealand’s Jewish community and led Israeli Ambassador Dr Itzhak Gerberg to write to Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway to express the Embassy’s concerns about the factsheet.
He told Lees-Galloway that it was abusive and incited hatred of the State of Israel as well as anti-Semitism and
On Thursday, Lees-Galloway responded to the Ambassador’s letter, apologising and saying the map was clearly inaccurate and did not label the State of Israel as it should.
“I can assure you that the fact sheet did not reflect New Zealand government policy and has been removed from the Immigration NZ website.”
Immigration NZ will be fully reviewing the content of the fact sheet to correct the errors including and, in particular, the map, Lees-Galloway says.
“The fact sheet will not go back on the Immigration NZ website until a full review has been completed and the information is accurate and clear.”
It was not only the Immigration minister who offered up apologies over the fact sheet.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told the Foreign affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee that it was a “rather careless and shoddy mistake”.
“The way it was handled was an affront to the Israeli people… It started out from innocence.”
He later told media the Government would make an apology at a ministerial level if it was considered necessary.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade chief executive Chris Seed says a new verification procedure will be put in place before maps were placed on Immigration NZ’s website.
He also says that Immigration NZ has now written a letter of apology to the Israeli ambassador.
