Prejudice should be pushed into retreat
FRIDAY’S massacre in Christchurch is a timely reminder that terror is a global scourge, that there’s no corner of the earth that is immune from its tentacles, no society that can deem itself safe.
New Zealand is regarded as a genteel society with a strong sense of community and a robust democracy. Until now it was seen as a bastion of tolerance and harmony.
But on Friday this changed when 49 innocent souls lost their lives.
The world was jolted by the hatred as witnessed on Friday, and livestreamed by the gunman.
There is no difference between him and those belonging to the self proclaimed Islamic State who decapitated captives in Libya and other places for simply belonging to the wrong faith. Brenton Harrison Tarrant – the man accused of the Christchurch monstrosity – appeared in court yesterday.
To pour petrol on to an already raging blaze, and to underscore the fact that he doesn’t grasp the magnitude of his actions, Tarrant was photographed making a white power gesture in the dock.
The mosque attacks in New Zealand are reminiscent of the ones carried out on July 22, 2011 in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik.
Breivik shot dead 77 people, many of them teenagers, in cold blood – shattering a sense that “it could not happen here”.
Friday’s attacks must be condemned by all people who abhor unbridled terror on innocent civilians. Once again, the world finds itself under assault, and having to renew its vows of tolerance and freedom.
At moments such as this it can seem a hopeless fight, but racism, anti-semitism and Islamophobia should be restrained and pushed into retreat, and their violent proponents isolated.
Reckless profiling and stereotyping should also be avoided at all costs – as it takes just a spark to set such a tinderbox into a conflagration.
Politicians and powerful individuals who demonise refugees and migrants should look again at their values.
They would be the first to claim they stand for democracy and tolerance, for the rule of law and the security of the population – but the bile that spills forth from their speeches seems sometimes at odds with such calm ambitions.
Meanwhile, condolences to the families, friends and communities affected.