Graffiti outside the Christchurch home of activist John Minto.
Graffiti outside the Christchurch home of activist John Minto.
A veteran activist has had his Christchurch home targeted by vandals overnight.
John Minto, a prominent voice in New Zealand’s pro-Palestine movement, said he discovered the damage this morning.
“We woke up this morning and found our two Palestinian flags pulled down, graffiti referring to us as ‘Naziscum’ on the footpath and in metre-high letters in front of our house and then the ‘together for the Treaty’ poster we have on the fence was spray-painted over as well,” Minto said.
Graffiti outside the home of activist John Minto. Photo / Facebook
The activist, who was heavily involved in the 1981 anti-apartheid protests of the Springbok Tour, said he could see positives in the attack.
“It’s not the sort of thing we welcome but I do think it’s a good sign for us in the sense that we’re winning the public debate.
“There’s no logic to what they’ve done at all, they’ve clearly picked up an agenda which is very anti-Treaty, pro-Israeli, pro-Trump kind of thing. But again, I think it’s people sounding off because they have lost the public debate,” Minto said.
Graffiti outside the home of activist John Minto. Photo / Facebook
“I might say we burned a US flag and I’ve been astonished that on my Facebook page over half a million people have looked at that video and you know, tens of thousands of likes and all the rest of it.
“I think the people of New Zealand, broadly the people of the world, are absolutely appalled at what Trump’s doing and in Gaza and in Venezuela, and I think that’s a good sign for humanity,” Minto said.
On his public Facebook page, Minto described the vandals as pathetic.
“We have some very sad, pathetic people who support the Israeli/US genocide in Gaza, US imperialist war mongering the world over, hatred of partnership with Māori and hatred of the poor and the dispossessed.”
Protestors burn a US flag at a gathering in Christchurch. The group were protesting US involvement in Venezuela. Photo / Facebook
Minto told the Herald he has no plans to involve authorities – and welcomes dialogue with the offenders.
“We haven’t made a complaint to the police or anything. The police have got better things to do than worry about this.
“But I would say to anyone who wants to come and graffiti our place, to instead just to come and knock on the door and come and sit down and have a cup of tea. We’ve done this before. We had a young guy out here chalking our footpath a couple of years ago with pro-Israeli slogans and we invited him in for a cup of tea, and he did.
Veteran activist John Minto.
“I gave him a few things to read. He came back a week later, and we had another cup of tea, and I’m not saying we agreed on everything, but I think that dialogue is the best way forward,” Minto said.
