2 February 2011
Media Release:

John Key sides with Mubarak against the people of Egypt

Prime Minister John Key’s response to the uprising in Egypt is disgraceful and embarrassing.

While Egyptians are risking their lives to oust the brutal dictator Hosni Mubarak, John Key is calling for him to stay.

On Monday Key said:

“We respect the fact that he has done his very best to lead a country which has recognised Israel and, therefore, has wanted to make sure the position in Middle East has been a peaceful one”. When asked if he was calling for Mubarak to go Key gave an emphatic No!

This is outrageous. New Zealand should be a champion of democracy and freedom everywhere but Key sees support for Israel as New Zealand’s first priority and is aligning this country with the likes of Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom who said two weeks ago:

“If regimes neighbouring the Israeli state were replaced by democratic systems, Israeli national security might significantly be threatened. The new systems would defend or adopt agendas that are inherently opposed to Israeli national security…. a democratic Arab world would end this present allegiance (co-operation on security and intelligence between Arab dictators and Israel) because a democratic system would be governed by a public generally opposed to Israel”

This is wrong. Most people of the Arab world are not against Israel per se but are strongly opposed to the treatment of Arab Israelis as second class citizens and the brutal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by the Israeli military.

However John Key’s first priority is unequivocal support for an undemocratic Israeli state against the rise of democracy and freedom in the Arab world.

New Zealand foreign policy should not be dictated by the prejudices of the Prime Minister but by principles supporting democracy and freedom against thuggish oppression.

ENDS

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