Trenches that still divide us
Anzac Day has often left me feeling uneasy. When I traced through the beaches and terraces of Europe and Turkey, the land filled with the bodies of New Zealanders, I felt no national pride. I felt only sorrow. The beaches at Gallipoli were a death trap young New Zealand men were dutifully fed into. Those deaths should stand to remind us all that war must be avoided at all cost, and lives must be treasured.
We like to think of our fallen servicemen in Gallipoli as heroes. Many may have died heroically, but they were also victims of nationalism.
A dangerous level of patriotism fuelled the Great War, and many others to follow. The Commonwealth propaganda machine kept the cogs of war spinning. It enlisted soldiers to replenish the front line; it malignantly told those at home everything was OK. And for what? Nothing. To pretend otherwise is to let those men die in vain.
World War I is unusual for its clarity. A diplomatic brouhaha spilt blood, claiming the lives of citizens oblivious to the cause of their fighting.
As we commemorated a century since the war, many people conflated our coming together at ceremonies with national pride and cohesion.
Speaking on the 100th Anzac Day, former governor-general Sir Jerry Mateparae said Anzac Day brought everyone together – no matter our faith, language or culture. But that is not true.
One group that is not readily welcomed into this commemoration is the Muslim community.
Those Kiwi soldiers in Gallipoli were invading Muslim land. Turks have been nothing but hospitable since. They welcome Kiwis who trek back every year; they look after land where our tu¯ puna fell. They have fostered a courteous relationship with New Zealand and Australia. How do we repay them? We refuse to listen to their prayers.
Threats were made when plans were put in place to say an Islamic prayer at a Wellington Anzac service. The threats were severe enough for the prayer to be scrapped. Other RSAs around the country refused to even consider including Muslim prayers during their Anzac services.
The suggestion to include Islam in commemorations came after the Christchurch terror attack. It
should have already been included in our national commemorations on Anzac Day. The bond between New Zealand and Turkey is just as important as the ‘‘Anzac spirit’’ we have with Australia.
It speaks volumes about our view of Anzac Day that it took 101 years and a terrorist attack for the notion of a Muslim prayer to be raised, then scuttled.
When our leaders stand at memorials to preach about our unity, remember that they are not giving us the full picture. We are not ‘‘one’’. The ‘‘one’’ they speak of is a Pa¯ keha¯ assimilated ‘‘one’’. It is one Christian god. It is the one group that wells up with national pride on Anzac Day.
New Zealand, we have a lot to be proud of. But we shouldn’t be proud of everything. We shouldn’t be proud that we’ve let a great opportunity to unite slip. We shouldn’t be proud that, for more than a century and counting, we treat our Muslim friends more like enemies on Anzac Day.
It is right that we hold a national day of commemoration. We should remember them. But we should also learn from them. We should respect our tu¯ puna, and give them the mana they deserve. And we should never make the mistakes they did.
This country has changed a lot in the past
105 years, but in some ways we remain the same. We still maintain the trenches that divide our communities and cultures. Those volatile divisions that we know can be so dangerous.
Many commemorations have missed the opportunities this year to do what is truly in the Anzac spirit and bring together people of all religions. Let’s hope we can reflect on our mistakes. Lest we forget.
The bond between New Zealand and Turkey is just as important as the ‘‘Anzac spirit’’ we have with Australia.