NATHAN SMITH – Islamophobia and antisemitism

PRESS RELEASE: NATHAN SMITH – Islamophobia and antisemitism, 15 December 2020

The Muslim and Jewish communities deplore the Islamophobia and antisemitism revealed in the personal blog of Chief Editor at the prominent New Zealand Initiative think tank.

“Nathan Smith’s attacks on Jews and Muslims as revealed in Newsroom, Think Tank Editor Runs Far-Right Blog | Newsroom, article are totally unacceptable from a professional journalist.”

In a joint statement, Ibrar Sheikh, President of the Federation of Islamic Associations (FIANZ) and Stephen Goodman, President of the New Zealand Jewish Council (NZJC) express their thanks for the prompt disciplinary action of the journalist’s employers. “This helps maintain New Zealand’s journalism standards,” they said and noted that Smith has subsequently resigned.

“We do not want to see our society corroded by hatred against particular ethnic or religious minorities. We have all seen the tragic outcome of such expressions of hatred,” they concluded.