COMMENTARY: By Saige England
What happened at New Zealand human rights campaigner John Minto’s home? Let me tell you.
Let me tell you that he wrote about it and Facebook took it down. Yep. Wrong after wrong.
Minto, national co-chair of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) advocacy and protest group, has been arrested at least 23 times for standing against racism.
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A couple of nights ago two Palestinian flags were stolen from the Christchurch Ōtautahi home of John and his partner, Bronwen. “Nazi scum” was spray-painted in large letters on his footpath.
The sign “make poverty history” ripped off the fence and the Te Tiriti sign spray-painted.
But John, who has been a leader in New Zealand protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza which has killed at least 71,000 people since October 2023, has been unable to report this because Facebook removed his original post about this crime.
Why? Because white supremacists and their allies want to win this round, their complaints are supported by oppressive social media mechanisms.
Human rights are under threat. A genocide in Gaza is supported by our New Zealand government. Propaganda is rife. And the Treaty that represents partnership, that should uphold the rights of the tangata whenua is being pushed to the gutter.
And speaking of gutter. Here you see it.
People who feel entitled to storm private property and tear down signs that stand against extermination and exile.
Facebook is blocking shares about the details about the vandalism. Censorship! To thwart the censorship, share this commentary if you wish to share the truth and disempower those who want supreme power.
Saige England is an award-winning journalist and author of The Seasonwife, a novel exploring the brutal impacts of colonisation. She is also a contributor to Asia Pacific Report. Republished from a social media post with the author’s permission.
