Terrorism in New Zealand and its true ramification

Terrorism in New Zealand

The after shocks of the police raids on individuals and groups around the country will have a global affect this weekend as people are asked to stand in solidarity together outside NZ embassies and other places in a day of global action. More information can be found at

http://civilrightsdefence.org.nz/

The plight of Maori caught up in this raid has stirred the worlds aggrieved indigenous, revealing that the historic pain and hurt of colonization felt by them is still an unhealed wound that we continue to ignore at our peril. Like wise the reaction by Peter Dunne to Tokerau MP Hone Harawirais appraisal from a Maori perspective, called the speech, amongst other things, "embittered, divisive and downright irrelevant" could be seen to reinforce the growing belief that white middle class pakeha’s simply do not get it.

Lets pause for a moment and consider this - A people who nurture their history - who are close to their history - who keep their history and who pass it down to their children are a people who are close to the grief of that history in ways that a lot of Pakeha/Europeans still don’t seem to comprehend. Not particularly mindful of their own history and the suffering it caused its easy to dismiss others for speaking what they feel.

Meanwhile Moana Jackson’s primer on terrorism, reveals who is actually defined on the terrorism list, he says “The list mainly consists of groups such as Al Quaeda and similar organizations or people like Sulaiman Jassem Sulaiman Abo Ghaith, a spokesperson for Al Quaeda.”

This list consists of groups and individuals but not one mention of any government.

Given that New Zealand’s only real act of terrorism was the bombing of the Rainbow warrior by the French Government one would think that governments would be included on the terrorist list, not just individuals.

New Zealanders are being asked to accept the Suppression of Terrorism Act that derives from the September 11th attack on the Twin Towers in New York, 2001. An attack that six years later all evidence suggests was a pretext for war. The years since this event, has showed us that the Terrorism Act has suppressed freedoms in every country that has adopted it.

We here in New Zealand have the benefit of hindsight as we watch the American Patriot Act, a precursor to our S of T Act slowly errode the rights of its citizens and begin to slide into a type of fascism never thought possible by its citizens who are now quite despondent and fearful for the future of their country.

This Act is now going through our Parliament and only the Greens and the Maori party are astute enough to see the dangerous implications and ramifications if it is accepted in its current form.

Despite the terrorist label thrown at well known activists such as Tame Iti the events of the past week are not one of race so much as it is one of loosing our freedoms by the introduction of the Terrorism Suppression Act

Are we ready in New Zealand to adopt this law
We have stopped nuclear propelled war ships from entering our harbors
We have declared ourselves nuclear free
Will we have the intelligence and presence of mind to see this Act through a historic lens of lost freedoms and abuse of state power and throw it out in very vocal terms.

Or will we simply drive our SUV’s back to our leafy suburbs, sip our lattés and continue to have faith in our government to do the ‘right’ thing without further question.

What ever we decide, rest assured the rest of the world will be watching.

For further sources of articles and commentary

http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nzterror.htm#art4