US ambassador harassed at Christchurch café

United States Ambassador Tom Udall was confronted by protesters while he was with MPs Gerry Brownlee and Hamish Campbell at a Christchurch café on Monday.

Udall, the US Ambassador to New Zealand, was at an informal meeting with Brownlee, who is Parliament’s Speaker, and Campbell, National's Ilam MP, at the Addington Coffee Co-op on Lincoln Rd when two pro-Palestinian activists confronted him.

One of the protesters identified himself as Ben from California. He was filmed by an associate during the encounter.

He asked Udall: "Why is the United States violating Article 1 of the Genocide Convention, sir?

"I don’t think we should be engaging in genocide in Gaza. Ambassador, do you feel comfortable working for ‘Genocide Joe'?"

Since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October last year at least 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in bombardments and about 90,000 wounded in the attacks, according to Hamas’ Ministry of Health.

Brownlee, Campbell, and Udall left the coffee shop shortly after the confrontation.

- By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air