In Tira, grief over a life cut short by Islamic State
‘We didn’t think she was killed, because you can’t think that about Layan,’ says her cousin
Relatives of Layan Nasser, 18, from Tira, who was killed in the attack by Islamic State on an Istanbul restaurant and nightclub Saturday night, recalled on Monday a shy young woman who loved fashion and was just starting a career as a dental assistant.
“She was very shy and quiet. She wouldn’t talk to you because she was shy; she would wait for you to approach her,” said her cousin, Shadi Shbeta, who was among a group of male mourners gathered in a tent next to the family home in Tira, an Arab city near Kfar Saba.
The mourners, among them Layan’s father, Zaher, an auto mechanic, sat silently on plastic chairs. One man offered small cups of unsweetened coffee to visitors. Women mourned separately on the second floor of the house.
“We’re shocked that innocent people were murdered by Islamic State. Layan just traveled to celebrate the New Year and be happy and she was murdered,” said Shbeta, an art student.
Another cousin, Hadil Haj-Yihya, a nurse, said it was Layan’s first time traveling abroad, adding that she had taken out a passport to complete the trip. Her father had tried to dissuade her from going, saying it was unsafe, but she had insisted, Haj-Yihya added.
In claiming responsibility for the mass shooting, ISIS described the Reina nightclub as a gathering point for Christians celebrating their “apostate holiday,” Reuters reported. In addition to Layan, nationals of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Libya, India, Canada, a Turkish-Belgian dual citizen and a Franco-Tunisian woman were killed. Twenty-five of the 39 killed were foreigners, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
The last time Haj-Yihya spoke with Layan the conversation had been “about life, fashion, studying. It was girl talk, nothing special. She was excited about the flight. She talked about it a lot. She was just an innocent kid. She didn’t know anything about politics or terrorism.”
Layan’s body was not due to arrive in Israel until Monday night, delaying her funeral until Tuesday. The family had hoped to bury her Monday in accord with Islamic custom that the interment take place as soon as possible.
Relatives hope that with the return of the body their minds will at least be put at ease about how she died.
“I constantly imagine she was trampled,” said Haj-Yihya. “We want hers to be a complete body; we want her to rest in peace.” She added that there had been talk of dressing Layan in white “because she was a pure angel.”
Turkish media quoted a forensic specialist as saying that all the fatalities had died from gunfire.
Shbeta recalled that Layan had made the trip to Turkey with a colleague, Alaa AbdulHai, who was not injured in the attack, and two other friends, including Rewaa Mansour, who was wounded in the hand and leg and was flown back for treatment at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba. Layan, who finished high school last June, had saved for five months to pay for the trip.
She had hoped to continue her studies, Shbeta said.
“They didn’t find her body until morning. We didn’t know if she had been murdered. We just hoped she was alive. We were just waiting. We knew she was missing at 6 a.m. and were in this situation until 1 p.m., sending messages to people in Istanbul asking if they knew anything,” Shbeta recalled.
“We thought she was in the police station or ran away in panic. We didn’t think she was killed because you can’t think that about Layan. She was innocent,” he said.
Another cousin, Sammar Samara, said relatives had unsuccessfully scrutinized pictures of the carnage at the scene to see if they recognized Layan among the dead.
Haj-Yihya said the family learned that Layan was dead when someone sent a picture of her jewelry with a note saying, “If this belongs to her, she is definitely dead.” Layan’s sister recognized a ring in the photo.
Shbeta was outraged that the person who killed Layan did so in the name of Islam. “People should know that the real Islam is a religion of love and peace. They call themselves Muslim, but they are not. Islam does not ask you to kill people; Islam teaches to love other religions.”
Shbeta said the funeral would be held in the morning and not at night because “we believe her soul will wake up in the grave so we don’t want to do it at night because then she will be afraid.”
Shbeta said he plans to create an art project about how Layan was killed by Islamic State. “I want to send a message to the world to stop this terrorism. We don’t deserve this.”
Haj-Yihya said: “We all eventually die, but this sudden death hurts so much. She was only 18.”