No pot of human rights gold under the Dr Rainbow

Chief Human Rights Commissioner: Muslim immigration a threat to Jewish communities

Documents obtained by 1News show the Chief Human Rights Commissioner Dr Stephen Rainbow raised concerns that rising Muslim immigration to New Zealand poses a threat to our Jewish communities.

On February 24 this year, Dr Rainbow and Race Relations Commissioner Melissa Derby met with Alternative Jewish Voice’s Philippa Yasbek and discussed matters including social cohesion.

After the meeting, Yasbek and The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand complained that Rainbow had expressed Islamophobic views and made racist comments about Muslims during the meeting.

Rainbow acknowledged causing offence and said he would work to repair the relationship.

“I have read the statement by FIANZ and wholeheartedly publicly apologise to our Islamic communities,” Rainbow said in a statement.

But Rainbow also rejected several claims made by Yasbek — denying that he described Muslims as the biggest threat to the Jewish community and that he had called the Afghan community in West Auckland anti-Semitic.

But since then, 1News has obtained notes that officials took during the meeting.

They show that “Stephen [Rainbow] raised increase in Muslim immigration as threat to Jewish community”.

The notes also showed Yasbek questioned this in the meeting, saying particular communities should not be scapegoated and the biggest threats to Jewish communities were white supremacists.

However, Yasbek now called Rainbow’s comment “deeply Islamophobic”.

“It’s absolutely outrageous. I mean, he’s echoing these views that we see on the far right in places like Europe and North America — this idea that Muslim people pose a threat either to the wider community or specifically to the Jewish community.”

Labour’s justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said the Chief Human Rights Commissioner’s job was to defend minorities.

“This statement looks like an Islamophobic attack on one of our most vulnerable communities and that is really concerning to me.”

The notes also showed Rainbow did talk about the Afghan community. While, not specific on what he said, one official said they would follow up on his comments.

The Human Rights Commission said Rainbow was referring to rising tensions in some Muslim communities.

Rainbow refused to be interviewed by 1News about his views on Muslim immigration but, in a statement, the Human Rights Commission said “he has apologised for statements made during the meeting in question. He stands by the apology and regrets the harm caused.”

When the Human Rights Commissioner is refusing to front the media, things have gone badly wrong!

Appointing an Israeli apologist to the position of Human Rights Commissioner AT THE SAME TIME as Israel is committing a real time ethnic cleansing war crime demeans the mana of the Human Rights Commission, especially when Dr Stephen Rainbow was flagged as a bad candidate…

The Spinoff has viewed documents with fewer redactions that show Rainbow was specifically noted as “not recommended” by the panel following his interview. Pacheco was listed as “highly appointable”. Two of the candidates for race relations commissioner (neither of whom were Derby as she was not initially interviewed) were graded as “highly appointable” by the panel.

…that Rainbow was purposely NOT recommended is a damning indictment on his appointment and the total lack of authority he now has after this revelation makes him a lame duck Commissioner who will have no moral authority on any issue.

The Right are purposely filling positions in institutions to undermine those institutions.

The Right wants to destroy these institutions from the inside and we will be a poorer and more empty society because of that sabotage.

This is who we are now, this is what we have become.

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