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Two opposition MPs have visited an Auckland mosque to protest against the mosque’s public support of Hezbollah.
Members of the Islamic Ahlulbayt Foundation’s Pakuranga mosque demonstrated in Aotea Square in support of the Lebanon group.
Chris Finlayson and Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown told mosque members of their concern at the support.
Mr Finlayson says Hezbollah has committed countless atrocities in the Middle East.
He says he made it clear to mosque leaders that their divisive attitude is not welcome in New Zealand.
Furthermore, New Zealand Police list the group as a terrorist organisation.
Finlayson says Hezbollah is extremist. He says the terrorist group causes misery and it’s troubling to see open support for it in New Zealand.
Brown says the same mosque organised a visit and speech by an Iranian diplomat last year.
He says the speech was filled with hate.
Finally, he says it included a denial of the Holocaust and called for Israel’s destruction.
Finlayson says concerned constituents prompted his and Brown’s visit.
The pair say that, in future, they hope the mosque will condemn groups that commit acts of terror in the name of their religion.
In addition, New Zealand Jews have welcomed Finlayson’s stand.
Jewish Council concern
The NZ Jewish Council says New Zealand’s Jewish community feels Hezbollah’s threat – this despite New Zealand’s remoteness.
The council says Hezbollah bombed a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1994.
It killed 85 people and injured hundreds more.
The council says it’s shocked to see New Zealanders support anti-Jewish terrorists.
The Auckland demonstrators are from the same group that denied the Holocaust last year in a YouTube post.
Sources:
- Scoop
- One Community Chronicle
- NZ Police
- Image credit: Islamic Ahlul Bayt Foundation NZ
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