To the issue of this thread. As many of you know, I have NZ family and have been in much contact with them over the past 48 hours. Although my in-laws are many generations Christchurch-ers, at present most of the direct family lives in Dunedin, with many connections to the University there. Reading below you will learn of the reason for that specific jolt. Follows is the latest I have received, with certain personal material excised.
It has been a very sobering 48 hours...New Zealand is a comparatively peaceful country. We had the Aramoana massacre by David Grey in 1990, which shocked the country, but it was seen as a random act by a schizophrenic in his home village - not a calculated attack by a person intent on fomenting hatred and division who purposely came to NZ because he believed it would make the most impact - "nowhere is safe, not even NZ" - was his stated aim. It is sickening to realise that he looked up to the current orange buffoon as a role model of, in his own words: "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose". Perhaps the only thing sentiment he expressed that I agree with is putting Drumpf and Anders Brevik in the same category.
There has been a bright light out of all this - our PM has shown the type of tolerance and aroha we need, donning a hijab and meeting with the families of the victims in person in their own homes. And she has promised, and I believe will follow through on this, to introduce stricter gun control laws - as people in this region are saying, this is NZ's "Port Arthur" moment - the Australian response to the massacres in Tasmania in 1996. There is no conceivable need for anyone to own an AR-15, the type of rifle that was used, which can so easily be modified to become a semi-automatic assault rifle. I believe that there is the will to ensure that the legislation goes through - and although there is a pro-hunting lobby here, it is nothing compared to the incredible political power of the NRA and all the clout they have. No one here wants NZ to go the way of the USA and see gun violence as an 'inevitable'.
I love this country very much and I have always felt safe here, and still do. The genuine shock and outpouring of support and grief for the Muslim community is real. In Dunedin we have Syrian and Afghani refugee families that have settled here - and we will continue to make them feel that they are wanted and belong. There are many Muslim students at the university (the scary thing is he was living here in Dunedin and had originally intended to target our mosque, which is in the heart of the student quarter) and I believe that most of the community does not have any problem with the fact that they are not from NZ - most of us are pakeha here these days (non-Māori) so we are all "outsiders" one way or another. There are haters, always will be I suppose, but they are the minority voice and I believe will not be emboldened by this hateful act but will slink into their corners and fade away. In just 48 hours, the community here has already raised over $4mn to support the families affected. That may not sound like that much, but NZ has only about 4.4mn people living here.
Anyway, I hate seeing our tiny corner of the world in the news for this, but I hope that we respond in a way that the world takes notice and realises there is a better way to move forward.
