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Post by Admin on Mar 22, 2019 17:36:07 GMT
Street gangs and motorcycle clubs across New Zealand offered to protect the nation's mosques during Friday prayers, but at least one Muslim leader suggests the groups come inside and pray instead. A gunman's rampage at two Kiwi mosques during Jummah – or Friday prayers – last week left 50 people dead and raised concerns about security for Jummah this week. Less than 2 percent of New Zealand's 5 million people are Muslim. Thousands of New Zealanders, however, are expected to join in the prayers Friday in solidarity. Leaders of the Mongrel Mob, Black Power, King Cobras – and even Hells Angels – have said they will stand sentry at many of the mosques. The Mongrel Mob has dozens of chapters across the country. In the Waikato region, local Muslim Association president Asad Mohsin told the New Zealand Herald that Waikato Mongrel Mob leader Sonny Fatu offering his organization's protection at Jamia Masjid Mosque in Hamilton during Jummah. Mohsin said members of his mosque do not fear an attack similar to the carnage in Christchurch a week ago. "There are no fears, and we are not scared," he said. "They don't have to stand outside the mosque, they can come inside, right behind where the sermon is given."
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Post by Admin on Mar 23, 2019 17:44:22 GMT
Those are the powerful words New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told the crowd of thousands of mourners who had gathered Friday for a Muslim prayer service in front of the Al Noor Mosque — one of two mosques where a gunman who espoused white nationalist views killed 50 worshippers last week. It’s the same sentiment Ardern expressed in her very first public statement during the chaotic moments immediately after the attacks, when she declared: “Many of those affected may be migrants, may be refugees. ... They are us. ... The perpetrator is not.”
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Post by Admin on Mar 25, 2019 17:35:02 GMT
New Zealanders are debating the limits of free speech after their chief censor banned the 74-page manifesto written and released by the man accused of slaughtering 50 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
The ban, issued Saturday, means anybody caught with the document on their computer could face up to 10 years in prison, while anyone caught sending it could face 14 years. Some say the ban goes too far and risks lending both the document and the gunman mystique.
At the same time, many local media organizations are debating whether to even name the Australian man charged with murder in the March 15 attacks after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern vowed she would never mention him by name.
In some ways, the accuser shooter's manifesto provides the greatest insight into his character and thinking, with neighbors and those he met in a gym in the sleepy seaside town of Dunedin recalling nothing particularly remarkable about him.
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Post by Admin on Mar 28, 2019 17:25:37 GMT
Prince William will visit New Zealand next month to honour victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings that claimed 50 lives, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Kensington Palace announced on Thursday (March 28). Ms Ardern, who will attend a national remembrance service for the victims on Friday, said Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, would represent his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, the official head of state in the former British colony. "The visit will be another sign that this nation will always stand with those affected by the terror attacks, and the people of Christchurch," she said in a statement. The royals had previously expressed their sympathies at the shooting attacks on two Christchurch mosques earlier this month by a self-avowed white supremacist. Kensington Palace said the visit, which will take place in late April, came at Ms Ardern's request. "The Duke will meet those affected by the attack and will pay tribute to the extraordinary compassion and solidarity that the people of New Zealand have displayed in recent weeks," it said in a statement. Ms Ardern said Prince William had a strong connection with Christchurch and the surrounding Canterbury region after visiting the South Island city in the wake of a devastating 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people.
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Post by Admin on Mar 29, 2019 17:20:45 GMT
A memorial service has been held in Christchurch, New Zealand, and screened around the nation, to honour the 50 victims of the 15 March shootings. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke at the televised event, along with Muslim leaders and a survivor of the attack. Cat Stevens, the British singer who converted to Islam in the 1970s, also performed. More than 20,000 people attended the event at the city's Hagley Park, amid tight security.
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