Banyan: A distorted mirror

摘要

"THIS ISN'T New Zealand" has be-come a national refrain. After a white supremacist's attack on mosques in Christchurch, a shocked country is mourning the 50 worshippers he killed. Condolences are scrawled in chalk on pavements. White New Zealanders pull Muslim immigrants aside to apologise and Maoris dance hakas for the dead. Thousands have gathered for vigils. Florists have run out of stock. As for the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, she has displayed leadership and compassion. Wearing a Muslim headscarf, she stresses that the whole country is on the side of the victims (many immigrants, some refugees) and their families. "They," she says, "are us." The perpetrator of the violence most assuredly is not.