Asia Pacific Report covers Christchurch
Over the weekend following the Christchurch mosque shootings, Pacific Media Centre's Asia Pacific Report website has curated a number of articles covering the attacks.
Writers from the Pacific Media Centre filed a report from a vigil outside the Al-Masjid Al Jamie Mosque in Ponsonby on Sunday and documented how an ecumenical service led by Catholic bishop of Auckland Patrick Dunn saw flower-bearing parishioners from the Sacred Heart Church visit the Mosque in a display of grief and solidarity.
The site also republished a selection of expert analysis and opinion pieces from various sources - including a piece by former Green MP Keith Locke about how to combat Islamaphobia and white supremacy, and an analysis of how toxic politics can enable hate from Deakin academic Professor Greg Barton - first published in The Conversation.
Also published with permission is a commentary by filmmaker and AUT graduate Sasya Wreksono, who first wrote on Facebook about her experience as a New Zealand Muslim and how the Christchurch attacks represented a "fragment of darkness" in New Zealand that had "manifested in the ugliest way possible."
Read We mourn, reflect and face up to NZ's 'fragment of darkness' on the Asia Pacific Report website.
This week saw an additional two special reports by Pacific Media Centre contributing editor Michael Andrew. The first, AUT students: 'we want to stay as a country, unified, always' checks in with students and staff from the Muslim community in the wake of the mosque attacks. The second piece, Online hate speech 'gives green light' to racism, race attacks collates the views of academics commenting on the role that hate-based rhetoric has in shaping online discourse.