New Zealand is a shining example of how we should respond to hatred

THE appalling events that unfolded in Christchurch have shocked the world but, amid the horror, the reaction of the leaders and people of New Zealand offer a sign of hope in our increasingly divided and angry world. As the United States staggers onward under the alienating leadership of Donald Trump and the UK wades through Brexit, it is easy to despair for the state of the modern world which has rarely seemed so riven by hate and fear.

That hatred was highlighted in the starkest possible manner by the shooting of 100 innocent worshippers as they prayed in two New Zealand mosques two weeks ago.

Fifty of these people – ranging in age from just three to 71 – are dead, slaughtered by a psychopathic fanatic in service of a deranged racist creed.

Political leaders across the world – especially in the US – often struggle to cope with such tragedies. Look at Theresa May’s woeful response to the Grenfell Tower fire for one notable recent example.

The absolute opposite is the case in New Zealand where Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been a model leader in the most trying and difficult of circumstances.

From the outset of the tragedy, Ms Ardern has rallied and united her grieving country while denying the racist savage behind the mass killings what he and his disgusting ilk most crave – attention.

Ardern’s call to focus on the names of the victims and to banish the name of their murderer from discussion was a powerful one and it has been embraced by the people of New Zealand.

So too has her message of unity and her emotional efforts to reach out to the Muslim community that has been so utterly devastated by the killings.

The displays of unity in New Zealand have been both moving and striking.

Biker gangs have volunteered to guard their “brothers and sisters” in mosques across New Zealand while, all over the country, teenage school students performed an emotional Haka in tribute to the victims.

The crazed racist maniac who carried out the killings sought to divide the country and spark a race war.

He has failed and failed utterly. Rather than dividing New Zealand, his actions have served to unify the nation in sympathy and horror.

Jacinda Ardern and her Government – who within six days of the mass murders had moved to ban automatic weapons – deserve great credit for their leadership.

Their immediate decision to brand the killings as an act of terrorism – rather than the tepid terminology often used to label acts of far-right white racist violence – is also notable and it is an example others should follow in the future.

Racists and terrorists thrive on division and attention. In denying them both, the people of New Zealand have provided the world with a perfect example of how we can defeat those who seek to terrorise us and tear our communities apart.

In these awful days the people of New Zealand deserve more than just our sympathy, they deserve our greatest respect.