Whakatāne district councillor and former Green MP Nándor Tánczos was surprised to learn he had been reported to police for a hate crime because of his comments on genocide. Photo: LDR / SUPPLIED
A Whakatāne district councillor says he was both surprised and amused to learn from police that he had been accused of a hate crime by a woman in Tel Aviv, Israel.
On July 13, Whakatāne-Ōhope ward councillor Nándor Tánczos shared a link on his personal Facebook page to an online petition calling for United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese and the doctors of Gaza to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
The US imposed sanctions on Albanese, an outspoken critic of Israel's military offensive in Gaza, earlier this month.
Tánczos said the petition was created in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nomination of United States President Donald Trump for the prize.
The prestigious prize is awarded annually to the person who has "done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
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Tānczos said he had also posted some "anti-genocide stuff" about the war in Gaza.
The councillor regularly shares news articles, opinion pieces and his own views on the conflict via his personal Facebook page.
He said he was contacted through his Facebook page by a woman in Tel Aviv who accused him of anti-Semitism and said she had two children in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) who were 'good people'.
Tānczos responded to her, explaining that he had nothing against Jewish people, only against the current actions being taken in Gaza by the IDF.
Three days later, he said he received a courtesy call from the Whakatāne Police.
"The woman rang them from Tel Aviv to complain about my social media posts."
Tānczos said he was surprised to learn that opposing what he believed to be genocide was a hate crime in her eyes.
He said he was assured by the police officer that phoned him that they had looked into his online activity and informed the complainant that no crime had been committed.
"The police were great. It was just a courtesy call to let me know what had happened.
"It actually made me laugh to think that someone from Tel Aviv would go as far as reporting me to the New Zealand Police about this."
Tānczos said the experience would not stop him from expressing his opinions on Facebook.
"I don't have any hesitation in denouncing Israel's actions in Gaza. I'm not anti-Semitic."
Police were not available to comment on the case but a senior media adviser from Police national headquarters said she did not think complaints of this type were common.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
