Letter Supporting Ministry for Ethnic Communities from Fred Albert and Marilyn Garson, Co-Founders of Alternative Jewish Voices//Sh’ma Koleinu

We are writing this letter of support for the Ministry for Ethnic Communities after hearing and reading news stories concerning downsizing proposals. The Ministry works significantly in helping groups working for improved social cohesion in New Zealand society.  

In our own situation, we were contacted by Hisham Eldai, Senior Advisor, Community and Partnerships, soon after the October 2023 Israel/Gaza war broke out. He was reaching out to the various communities that could have been affected by the conflict. This was certainly a difficult time for us both as Jews and non-Zionists. Hisham was open-minded, knowledgeable and inclusive. We introduced several others to him and they echoed our positive experience. We had a fruitful discussion and he made it clear that we could contact him to discuss issues as they came up for us at any time. We have been able to call on the Ministry’s assistance several times.  

The Ministry was also helpful to us in our joint project with the Federation of Islamic Associations in New Zealand (FIANZ). This project started with a roundtable discussion between our group, members of FIANZ and representatives of several government departments including the Police, the Human Rights Commission and the Ministry for Ethnic Communities to talk about the Gaza/Israel war. This was the first time in some years that Jews and Muslims had been able to talk together in a supportive atmosphere and talk about a potentially tricky subject. The Ministry was also very helpful when FIANZ and Alternative Jewish Voices worked to set up a ‘youth group’ to also talk about these difficult issues. We feel this has helped social cohesion for our two groups.  

At a time when it seems clear that cohesion in and between our communities is becoming more difficult, the Ministry for Ethnic Communities is providing an essential service, very much at the front addressing the fault lines in our communities. We support no cuts to this important part of Government.