The Returned and Services Association (RSA) branch at Titahi Bay near Wellington has moved the Muslim prayer from its 6am dawn service to its 10am civic ceremony after some veterans said the dawn service should remember only NZ and Australian soldiers who have died in wars. The backlash has exposed sensitive emotions around the sacred day as the nation struggles to become more “inclusive” after 50 Muslims were shot dead in the Christchurch mosque massacre.
Vietnam veteran Dave Brown, a former manager of the nearby Porirua RSA, emailed the Titahi Bay branch protesting against its initial decision to invite Newlands Mosque imam Mohamed Zewada to say a prayer at its dawn service on Titahi Bay Beach.
“What took place in Christchurch was shocking and we all agree that it was completely out of order in every way,” Brown said.
“I believe that the appropriate measures have been taken to recognise that and to show the Muslim community that they are part of us and we are part of them.
“Anzac Day came about to recognise all those who went overseas and served their country and returned, and those who never returned. That is the significance and the only justification for Anzac Day, and I feel it should stay that way.”
Simon Strombom, a veteran of the more recent Afghanistan war and organiser of the Titahi Bay service, said he was shocked at some comments on the club’s Facebook page after he announced that the Muslim community “will conclude the ceremony this year with a prayer from the Koran”.
“We are inviting him to say something. I think it’s more than appropriate given the circumstances,” Strombom said.
But he had received “some really nasty emails” about it.
“It’s a part of NZ society that I thought had moved on,” he said.
Brendon Walton from New Plymouth posted: “The Titahi Bay Club, well, you’re completely disrespecting New Zealand culture on a day that is uniquely shared between us and Australia.”
Peter Downie, a veteran of the Malaya war who now lives in Cambridge, posted to another RSA site saying: “Dawn service is to honour the Anzacs. Anything else can be done at civic services.”
Strombom said he deleted some other comments.
“I did get some quite aggressive hate mail and emails to the website,” he said.
“That disappointed me because I think NZ soldiers, particularly in operations, have always been very adaptive and very culturally sensitive.”
As a major in Afghanistan, Strombom was in command of several Muslim soldiers and he noted that more people died in a few minutes in Christchurch than all 37 Kiwis who died in the Vietnam War.
“What is the difference between that and an IRA bomb that kills a soldier?” he asked.
“The world has changed, but when you start drawing lines and saying these are the good guys and these are the bad guys, we get the problems we had in Christchurch.”
He has moved this year’s dawn service onto Titahi Bay Beach for the first time because it resembles Anzac Cove at Gallipoli, where 11,50
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