Indigenous embassy opens in Jerusalem
"The Jewish people are the indigenous people of the land of Israel and so we are thrilled with the support of the global first peoples' community," says Hassan-Nahoum.
Indigenous groups from around the world have come together to open an embassy in Jerusalem.
Located at the Friends of Zion Museum, it was opened by Jerusalem’s Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum on February 1.
The ceremony attracted expressions of support from indigenous leaders from Singapore, Taiwan, Samoa, American Samoa, Hawaii, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, Native American chiefs and paramount chiefs from Southern Africa.
“The Jewish people are the indigenous people of the land of Israel and so we are thrilled with the support of the global first peoples’ community,” Hassan-Nahoum said.
Embassy director Dr Sheree Trotter, from New Zealand, said, “One of the falsehoods underlying the [recent] surge in antisemitism is the narrative that Jews are ‘foreign colonisers’ who have ‘oppressed and dispossessed the indigenous Palestinians’. Many indigenous peoples reject this historical revisionism and recognise the Jewish people as indigenous to the land of Israel.”
She says the embassy is getting support from indigenous groups around the world, including North and South America.
“I have connections with indigenous friends in Australia, and I’ve reached out to them. We’ve got a large network across the Pacific and all the way from Taiwan to Hawaii and a lot of Pacific nations which we’re all connected to,” Trotter said.
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