Two a penny

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Anti-Israel cafe standoff upsets ambassador

By CASSANDRA POKONEY and EVAN HARDING – Friday, 16 January 2009

WILL HINE/
YOUR MOVE: Israeli chess grandmaster Victor Mikhalavski, left, takes on Hilton Bennett in the Queenstown Chess Classic.

Invercargill cafe breaches human rights

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Israel's ambassador to New Zealand has called on the Government to take action after an Invercargill cafe owner refused to serve two Israeli women as a result of their nationality.
Australian-based ambassador Yuval Rotem said he wanted the government to ensure nothing similar happened again.
"At this moment you don't need to bring the Middle East into New Zealand .
"This anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish sentiment needs to be stopped… you need to take the spirit of New Zealand into the Middle East," he said.
He said he would not serve anyone from Israel until it stopped killing innocent babies and women in the Gaza Strip.
The call comes after Mevlana Cafe owner Mustafa Tekinkaya, a Turkish Muslim, told two Israeli women, Natalie Bennie and her sister Tamara Shefa, to leave his cafe on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission yesterday confirmed Mrs Bennie had lodged a complaint, while 15 others had called the commission.
Mr Tekinkaya, who is a Turkish Muslim, and his wife Joanne, said they had no family members living on the Gaza Strip.
And protests against Israel's military offensive on Gaza moved to an international chess tournament in Queenstown yesterday.
Race Relations commissioner Joris de Bres said it was illegal for providers of goods and services in New Zealand to discriminate in this way.
The Israeli top seed, Victor Mikhalevski, was asked to withdraw by Global Peace and Justice Auckland from the $50,000 tournament as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The Israeli top seed, Victor Mikhalevski, was asked to withdraw by Global Peace and Justice Auckland from the $50,000 tournament as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Mr Tekinkaya's action has sparked international media interest as well as debate within New Zealand.
However, Mikhalevski refused to bow out and his decision to remain in the tournament was backed by organisers.
Mr and Mrs Tekinkaya yesterday remained defiant.
More than 100 comments were posted on the Stuff website, with the vast majority condemning the cafe owner.
"No one's sticking up for them.
"Those dead women and children don't have a voice," Mrs Tekinkaya said. . Innocent women and children are being punished so how can we be quiet and stand by and support that…
Mr Tekinkaya said he had received dozens of phone calls from people supporting him and a handful of calls opposed to his stance.
Mr Tekinkaya said he had received dozens of phone calls from people supporting him and a handful of calls opposed to his stance.
Mrs Bennie said from her home close to Invercargill she and her visiting Israeli sister had received over a dozen calls from strangers to say they were appalled by Mr Tekinkaya's stance.
Ambassador Rotem said New Zealand should not become part of the conflict and the government needed to make a declaration or statement giving the "red light" to such actions.
He expected "full fledged action" from the government and would address the issue when he visited New Zealand in the next few weeks, he said.
Foreign Affairs minister Murray McCully did not return calls last night.
Mrs Bennie commended the Israeli ambassador's actions, saying Mr Tekinkaya had displayed "anti-semitic" behaviour.
"He might as well have put a sign outside his shop saying `No Jews Allowed'."
Mrs Bennie said her mother, who lives in Israel, was concerned she could now become a target for New Zealand radical Muslims.
"It could be a possibility, you never know."
WHAT THEY SAID:
Israel's ambassador to New Zealand Yuval Rotem:
"This anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish sentiment needs to be stopped.
"At this moment you don't need to bring the Middle East into New Zealand … You need to take the spirit of New Zealand into the Middle East."
Mustafa Tekinkaya, Mevlana Cafe co-owner:
"Everyone is going on about racism. This has nothing to do with racism. This is all about the killing of innocent children."
Joanne Tekinkaya, Mevlana Cafe co-owner: "Those dead women and children don't have a voice. No one's sticking up for them. Innocent women and children are being punished, so how can we be quiet and stand by and support that … what happened to freedom of speech and the rights of a business to serve or not to serve?"
Natalie Bennie, Israeli national ordered out of the Mevlana Cafe in Invercargill:
"It was very anti-semitic behaviour.
"He (Mustafa Tekinkaya) might as well have put a sign outside his shop saying `No Jews Allowed'."