Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Update

In this update:
BONDI VIGIL in Auckland, NZ
IEJ SOLIDARITY MARCH 2025, 3 November, Jerusalem
IEJ ACADEMIC SYMPOSIUM 2025, 4 November, Jerusalem
HON ALFRED NGARO IN KINGDOM OF TONGA
BOOK LAUNCH March 2026
And much more…

We reach the end of 2025 with mixed emotions. We are pleased to have completed highly successful events and meetings in Israel and the Pacific, but we feel deep sadness after the brutal massacre of fifteen people at the Chanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia. We are reminded of the importance of our efforts, along with those of many others, in the fight against the global scourge of antisemitism.

BONDI TERROR:
JOINT STATEMENT BY INDIGENOUS LEADERS

In response to the Bondi massacre, we joined with Indigenous Australian leaders to call on the Australian government to “Let this attack be a catalyst for change—an inflection point that compels us to confront the root causes of antisemitism.”
Read the full statement.

Our statement was picked up by media here and here.

Our friend and colleague Canadian First Nations Leader Hon Harry LaForme OC gave a moving message at Temple Anshe Sholom, Hamilton, Ontario at a memorial service for victims of Bondi Beach. Read it here.

Also view speeches by Nova Peris OAM OLY and Warren Mundine AO

VIGIL FOR BONDI
AND MARCH AGAINST ANTISEMITISM

Dr Sheree Trotter joined with others to speak at the Vigil for Bondi and a March against Antisemitism in Auckland, New Zealand. Watch.

The event was opened by Māori Kaumatua (elder), Matua Hakiaha.

Māori leader Tawhiri Littlejohn, also gave a heartwarming speech.

INDIGENOUS EMBASSY JERUSALEM ACADEMIC SYMPOSIUM 2025

In November, the Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Academic Symposium 2025, was convened by Dr Sheree Trotter and Emeritus Prof Wayne Horowitz at Bible Lands Museum, Jerusalem.

We were proud to host another stellar line-up of speakers. A range of topics was addressed, including debunking Palestinian historical revisionism using classical Arab-Jewish literature, to Indigenous Judahites in Babylonia, to Settler Colonialism and Antizionism. The symposium’s theme of Zionism and Indigeneity versus Settler Colonialism and Historical Revisionism was well covered by these topics and more.

This, our second annual symposium, was highly successful with an overwhelmingly positive response from participants. The date for the 2026 Symposium will be announced in the New Year.

Read press about the symposium here and view the videos on YouTube.

Nova Peris OAM OLY
Nova Peris is an Olympic gold medallist, dual Olympian and international sports representative and former Federal Senator for the Northern Territory.

Emeritus Prof Wayne Horowitz,
Co-Convener
From Hebrew University, Wayne is an archeologist and assyriologist.

Dr Sheree Trotter, Co-Convener
Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Co-director

Dr Michael Wechsler
The Fabrication of a History: Palestinian Historical Revisionism and the Undermining of the Jewish Connection to the Land of Israel

Dr Charles Asher Small
Founder and Director of Institute for Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy

Assoc Prof Shawn Aster
Bar Ilan University

Adam Louis-Klein, PhD Candidate, founder of Movement Against Antizionism

Loretta Glanville

A Mulgal, Dauareb, Kaurareg woman with a strong commitment to youth education, women's mental health, and land and sea conservation.

Prof Gillian Gould
A Public Health Researcher, dedicated to improving the health of First Nations communities in Australia.

Shelly Bengiat
Shelly is the founder and chairwoman of Envirotech Coralz Group and stands at the forefront of marine habitat conservation and Indigenous empowerment.

Dr Trotter also presented at a related conference at Bar Ilan University entitled Preserving National Identity Under Imperial Rule: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, and their Challenge to Indigenous Identity. She gave the opening address on the topic Indigenous Identity: Modern Political Construct or Ancient Paradigm?

INDIGENOUS EMBASSY SOLDARITY MARCH 2025

IEJ also held its second annual Indigenous march through the Old City of Jerusalem.

The group was led by a delegation of First Nations Canadians and Native Americans.

Musicians playing the Indigenous Jewish harp also joined in the procession.

Dressed in full regalia, the dance, drumming and singing made a strong statement of support

STRONG AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATION

We had a strong Indigenous and Jewish Australian contingent this year. Two Indigenous groups presented their statements for Israel at HaKotel - Munganbana Norman Miller, Jirrbal, Bar-Barrum and Tableland Yidinji tribes and his wife Barbara Miller from the Indigenous Friends of Israel and Debra Harding-Morris, Yowong-Iiiam-Baluk clan, Taungurung people, Central Victoria. These leaders also had the opportunity to meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel to present their statements which opposed the Australian government’s stance on the recognition of Palestinian statehood. Munganbana Norman Miller also presented the Israeli government with a large boomerang representing Indigenous friendship with Israel.

Munganbana Norman Miller

Debra Harding-Morris reading her statement near the Western Wall.

Presenting statements to Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel.

Nova Peris OAM, joined the Indigenous march, as well as giving a talk at the IEJ Academic Symposium. Her message received a standing ovation.

In addition, Nova spoke at the Beersheba WW1 Commemorations on 31 October. Dr Sheree Trotter represented Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem at this significant ANZAC event and laid a wreath in memory of those who lost their lives in that pivotal battle. Dr Trotter also joined in the commemoration of the Battle of Ayun Kara, where 44 members of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles were killed in a battle against the Ottoman forces. A new memorial to these courageous soldiers was erected in 2023 and annual commemorative events are held to remember the friendship between New Zealand and Israel.

Nova laying a wreath at Beersheva

Sheree laying a wreath at Beersheva

The memorial to the famous Australian light horsemen and their role in liberating Beersheva, and Jerusalem.

At the commemorat-ion of the Battle of Ayun Kara.

Dr Sheree Trotter also had the opportunity to meet with the CEO Sacha Roytman, of partner organisation, the Combat Antisemitism Movement. It was a pleasure to also meet a delegation of Indigenous Assyrians, including Juliana Taimoorazy, Founder of the Iraqi Christian Council and Assyrians Against Antisemitism.

HON ALFRED NGARO
AND KINGDOM OF TONGA

In December Hon Alfred Ngaro and his wife Moka attended a deeply moving and meaningful event in Tonga. His Majesty King Tupou VI and Her Majesty Queen Nanasipau’u, building on the Christian heritage established by the first King of Tonga King Tupou I, convened a series of events, to remember the foundation of their nation, to renew “Tonga’s Sacred Covenant with God” and to declare their commitment to Israel.

Alfred stated, “Our time in Tonga was a living testimony of God’s faithfulness to covenant…

SETTLER COLONIALISM:
POLITICISED, AHISTORICAL, DANGEROUS

Read Dr Sheree Trotter’s article on Times of Israel

COMING UP IN 2026

• We will soon announce dates for the annual Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Academic Symposium and Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem Solidarity March.

• Dr Sheree Trotter will be presenting at Contemporary Antisemitism Haifa 2026, which will take place on March 15-17, 2026, at the University of Haifa.

The conference will be co-hosted by the Elizabeth and Tony Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of Haifa, London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, and the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights at Gratz College and the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University.

• In March 2026 a major institution in Jerusalem will host the international launch of Dr Sheree Trotter’s book Zionism at the Ends of the Earth: A Social History of the Zionist movement in New Zealand to 1948. Details will be published shortly.

“…it is more important than ever to reassert the true history of the movement supported by the international community of the time, and acknowledged, particularly after the Holocaust, to be right and just.”
Dr Sheree Trotter 

“…a timely and rigorous history of a small but resilient Jewish community over more than a century. Dr Trotter’s impressive scholarship illuminates not only the extraordinary contribution Jews have made to New Zealand over this period, but also how the community is woven into the country’s history more generally. The result is both absorbing and revelatory.”
Prof Paul Moon ONZM,  DLitt, PhD, FLS, FRSA, FRAI, FRGS, FRHistS

“…an outstanding contribution to Jewish studies and Zionism, including the Jewish diaspora internationally and in particular the local Jewish community... …scholarly and highly accessible… Always with an eye to the changing international situation, Trotter tells a compelling story of local significance...”
Prof Linda Bryder, DPhil (Oxford), FRSNZ, FNZAH

"This highly accessible book is a must read for anyone who wishes to understand not only the development of the movement ‘at the ends of the earth’, but also the broader context within which modern Zionism emerged." Professor Emeritus Suzanne D. Rutland OAM, PhD

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We are very pleased to acknowledge those that supported our 2025 symposium:
Institute for Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy
Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation
Israel Institute of New Zealand
NZ Friends of Israel Association Inc
Zionist Federation of New Zealand

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BONDI TERROR:JOINT STATEMENT BY INDIGENOUS LEADERS

VIGIL FOR BONDI AND MARCH AGAINST ANTISEMITISM