Misdirected protest against “Israel” (Updated)

Thursday 8 January 2009 - Filed under Life Outside Work

The coverage of New Zealand’s biggest tennis event goes beyond tennis:

A small crowd of about 20 anti-Israel protestors gathered outside the Auckland Tennis Centre, where Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer played in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

The Global Peace and Justice network waved placards, handed out leaflets and shouted over a loudspeaker, calling for 21-year-old Peer to withdraw from the tournament following Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Peer was aware of the situation, but has ignored the protestors, saying she is here to play tennis.

The TVNZ news article then goes on to quote “the Spokesman” but confuses the reader by failing to articulate who the Spokesman spoke for. But that’s not my point.

Aside from that it is plain wrong to use sport to promote a political agenda, I honestly think those protesters will, if they would only try with an open, objective mind, surely find no shortage of examples of true brutality around the globe to protest against in which the distinction between the bad and the innocent is clearly known and agreed upon.

Either that, or those “Global Peace and Justice” activists should articulate what or who they are really speaking for. I can only hope it does not boil down to something as simplistic as blind hatred of a nation.

Update (9 January 2009) – Again in New Zealand, this time involving blood, the church, and the law:

A Catholic priest who smeared a mixture of red paint and his own blood on an Israeli monument may find himself in trouble with the law, as well as the church.

Father Gerard Burns defaced the Wellington monument to assassinated Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin during a protest on Tuesday.

David Zwartz of the New Zealand Jewish Council has made a complaint to the police who had not intervened as Father Burns carried out his protest.

“The idea that anything is going to be advanced by defacing a monument to peace is just out of this world. I think the person who did it is really just a childish exhibitionist,” he says.

“I am asking that Father Burns be dealt with under the law because he has broken the law and that is the same as any tagger or person who does graffiti in a public place.”

Today, Father Burns could not be reached for comment but the Archbishop of Wellington released a statement on behalf of the Catholic Church.

“Father burns was acting on his own initiative and did not carry out his protest as a representative of the Catholic Church in New Zealand. He did not consult with me or any other bishops… I offer an apology for Father Burns.” (3 News)

2009-01-08  »  JK