- Nov 22, 2010
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New Zealand has been a home to Muslims for centuries
In the face of extreme violence, the people of New Zealand have shown a strong and persistent commitment to preserving its common values of tolerance, openness and peace.
Muslim communities, and the people of New Zealand, have been in a state of shock since hearing of the heartbreaking terrorist attacks that caused 50 people to lose their lives and more than 48 to suffer injuries, in the world’s second safest country according to the 2018 Global Peace Index.
Speaking to the media not long after the attacks, Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister, said that 15 March was "one of New Zealand’s darkest days".
A historic overview
Contrary to the dominant narrative that frames Muslims as newcomers to New Zealand, Muslims first arrived as early as 1769. The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, the country's national Muslim organisation, recorded that from the 1850s Muslim families began to settle in Cashmere, Christchurch.
Tarrant, in his late 20s, is not the only young, tech-savvy white supremacist who has inflicted terror in the name of hate. Indeed, he admitted that he was inspired by other white supremacists, such as Alexandre Bissonette, who was also in his late 20s when he attacked the Quebec city mosque in 2017; 32-year-old Anders Breivik who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011; and Dylann Roff who was 21 when he murdered nine black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
New Zealand has been a home to Muslims for centuries, and will remain soSpeaking to the media not long after the attacks, Jacinda Ardern, the New Zealand prime minister, said that 15 March was "one of New Zealand’s darkest days".
A historic overview
Contrary to the dominant narrative that frames Muslims as newcomers to New Zealand, Muslims first arrived as early as 1769. The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, the country's national Muslim organisation, recorded that from the 1850s Muslim families began to settle in Cashmere, Christchurch.
Tarrant, in his late 20s, is not the only young, tech-savvy white supremacist who has inflicted terror in the name of hate. Indeed, he admitted that he was inspired by other white supremacists, such as Alexandre Bissonette, who was also in his late 20s when he attacked the Quebec city mosque in 2017; 32-year-old Anders Breivik who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011; and Dylann Roff who was 21 when he murdered nine black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.
In the face of extreme violence, the people of New Zealand have shown a strong and persistent commitment to preserving its common values of tolerance, openness and peace.
