An alternative ANZAC Day commemoration
25 April 2007 Away from all the official ceremonies, fly-bys and flag raising, five families commemorated ANZAC Day in their own way today. The friends and neighbours gathered to remember New Zealanders and others who have made sacrifices for the sake of peace and freedom. Some of the people remembered include: Te Whiti o Rongomai - the prophet of Parihaka who refused, along with his followers retaliate against the violence of the colonial government bent on annexing Taranaki land for settlers. Archibald Baxter - one of 14 pacifists in World War I who was shipped to France, sent to the frontline, tied to a pole in front of the enemy, starved, beaten and left for dead for refusing to bear arms in support of the British Empire. Ormond Burton - a decorated World War I veteran who publicly denounced New Zealand involvement in World War II, was imprisoned with hard labour and thrown out of the Methodist Church for refusing to preach against conscription. Archibald Barrington - the founder of the Riverside community near Motueka who toured the country opposing New Zealand participation in World War II and was arrested in Gisborne for speaking out against the war. Ann Newlands - representative of New Zealand and a key figure in the drafting and passage of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Colin Aikman - legal advisor to Ann Newlands during the UDHR negotiations and an influential figure in the independence of Pacific Island nations as a constitutional lawyer. Rod Donald - environmentalist and Member of Parliament. Moana Cole - Catholic Worker peace activist who broke into a US Air Force base in 1991, sabotaged a B-52 bomber on-route to indiscriminately bomb civilians in Iraq and was jailed for a year. Pauline Tangiora - the kuia from Mahia who went as a human shield Iraq and has campaigned tirelessly for peace in the Pacific and Aotearoa. Dr Malcolm Kendall-Smith - the New Zealand born doctor who refused to undertake a second tour of duty in Iraq with the British RAF as he considered the occupation is illegal and was found guilty last year on five counts of disobeying orders. After reading James K. Baxter's poem 'To My Father', the families wrote their own peace poems and drew pictures.
Nine year old Hugo Robinson wrote this poem:
are like a flying dove; No time for war you just have to soar; A tui flies through the skies; Open free unlike you and me; War, revolution is not the solution. Others created t-shirt slogans, pictures and designs such as:
'We shall remember, we shall not cease' 'War does not breed peace, guns do not breed security' And another poem:
My name is life My name is choice My name is mine My time was then My time is now My child, my love, my future My name is peace. The commemoration concluded with a rendition of 'Maori Battalion Marches Off to War' interspersed with 'Gonna lay down by sword and shield, down by the riverside ...' Organisers of the commemoration are expecting even larger crowds next year and are also hoping to produce a booklet of Alternative ANZACs for other groups to use. For more information contact: Manu Caddie.
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