Rainbow Warriors
Where were you 40 years ago today?
Where the Banshees cry
And the bells they sound
When you lift me high
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
When you pull me down
Songwriter: Donald Bain Mcglashan.
Forty years ago today, the French government committed a terrorist action, an unprovoked act of war on our nation, for the crime of peaceful protest against the befoulment of our beautiful Pacific with the testing of their weapons of mass destruction.
Do you remember where you were when you heard the news on July 10th, 1985?
I was in my first year of high school, the third form, as it was then. Terrorist acts were things that happened overseas. In Northern Ireland, in the Middle East, not here in little old Aotearoa.
Sadly, as we know, we now make that awful list of acts twice:
I recall the newspaper headlines as they progressed. Some of you might enjoy a bit of irony that I was a paperboy for the Herald, although to be fair, it was a much better newspaper in those days.
There was such confusion in those first few days, and the local police efforts seemed a bit Keystone Cops-like as those responsible slipped out of the country.
Then, a couple of days later, it was confirmed that it had been a terrorist act, killing photographer Fernando Pereira, and shocking New Zealand.
I remember being very angry as it emerged that the terrorist organisation responsible was the French Government.
Some of my parents’ friends were involved in such causes, Save the Whales, Nuclear Free, things like that, and I was shocked that these lovely, peaceful people would be attacked just so the French wouldn’t be inconvenienced as they sought to make Mururoa uninhabitable for millennia.
The rest of today’s newsletter is for paying subscribers. If you’re enjoying Nick’s Kōrero, subscribe at the original price ($8 per month or $80 for a year). Or the gold card discount ($7 per month or $70 for a year) below. Thanks for your consideration.
