Māori Iranians are calling out the New Zealand Government for what they describe as a “mis-placed obligation” to the US, challenging the nation’s official response to the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
With family caught between the conflict, two wahine Māori, Nkayla Afsharian and Shamim Aslani are demanding moral courage and political clarity from their government.
Nkayla Afsharian, whose whakapapa connects her to Ngāpuhi, Ngātiwai, and Iran, expressed the deep-seated betrayal felt by her community.
“I do think both governments feel a mis-placed obligation to America when there are a lot of Iranians in Australia and New Zealand… it feels like a slap in the face. Perfectly honest because a lot of people flee a country because another country has come in… We know that it’s a resource war, we know that it’s power and control of the Middle East, we know that it’s destabilising.”
Afsharian described the emotional burden of distance while her family members are scattered and in danger from Mashhad to Tehran.
“A lot of every is whatsapp and telegram. But we don’t know really… it’s we’re just sort of waiting really there’s that feeling of hopelessness, of nothing we can do but we wake is quite profound to feel like that.”
Shamim Aslani, who is Te Aupouri and Te Rarawa, warned against simplistic narratives and the cost of the conflict on vulnerable people.
“I want to acknowledge also the cost, school children aren’t mere, cannon fodder and for me personally the cost is just too high,” Shamim said.
“We have the freedom to ask questions practically… and I want our representatives to be accountable to the governments that they support and actions that those governments take.”
He kaha te whakahē o Te Pāti Māori me Te Pāti Kākāriki ki ngā kōrero a te Kāwanatanga e tautoko ana i Amerika me Iharaira
I roto i te whare pāremata, kua tū ngā kaiārahi o Te Pāti Kākāriki me Te Pāti Māori ki te whakahē i ngā kōrero a te Pirimia me te tautoko a te Kāwanatanga i a Amerika me Īharaira.
Ka kī atu a Marama Davidson, Kaiārahi Takirua mō Ngā Kākāriki, kāore he mārama ngā karere a te Kāwanatanga ki a tātou ōtirā ki te ao.
“He wīwī, he wāwā tana kōrero ki te ao, tana whakaaro i tēnei pakanga, kei te pai, kei konei ngā kākāriki e tū kaha ana… Kāore i te pai tēnei pakanga. He mōrearea tēnei ki Aotearoa,” hei tā Marama anō.
“Me mihi aroha ki a rātou, āe, i ngā wā katoa mai i te timatanga ka tū a Te Pāti Kākāriki ka tū ahau ki te whakahē i te kino me te patu ki ngā tāngata o Iran.”
I tohe anō a Rawiri Waititi, Kaiārahi Takirua mō Te Pāti Māori, i te āwangawanga ki ngā kupu a te Pirimia.
“kei te tino āwangawanga kē au, kei te mānukanuka i roto i ngā kōrero kua puta i te Pirimia… Kua hoki mai te kurī ki tōna rua, ki kai ai, nō te mea ka hē wāna kōrero i tae nei. I tēnei rā, he pērā anō te whakaputa i ngā kōrero, kei te tautoko rātou i a Amerika me Iharaira,” hei tā Rawiri.
“Ko tāku e mea ana, mēnā kei te tautoko koe i a Amerika me Iharaira mō te patu i Īrāna … kei hea te hua mehemea he pūhurihuri, he matā te utu,” hei tāna anō.