‘CALL OUT RACISM, BULLYING’
NZ PM says more needs to be done as tributes flood mosques on shooting anniversary
AYA al-Umari looks at the bunches of flowers and reads messages of support outside the Al Noor mosque, tributes left for the victims of the Christchurch shootings a year after the attacks.
Al-Umari’s brother Hussein, 35, was was one of 51 Muslim worshippers killed when a gunman opened fire at the city’s Al Noor and Linwood mosques.
“We live it day in and day out,” she said, holding back tears as she explained that she could not bring herself to enter the mosque.
“The anniversary is a great way for us to come together as a community and reflect on the incident that took the lives of many people and my brother too.”
Among the tributes outside the Al Noor mosque were signs reading “We may be small, but we are strong” and “We love you!”
Brenton Tarrant, an Australian national, faces 92 charges in relation to the attacks.
He pleaded not guilty and faces trial in June.
Police were at the mosque on Friday after a fresh threat was reported last week.
Adele Carroll and her husband Des came to the Al Noor mosque to donate a prayer mat and an Islamic clock.
“We felt we should do this. Having lived abroad with Muslim and Arab friends, we were hurt by what had happened here,” Carroll said. “We are all one... it doesn’t matter what religion or race you are. We just could not believe this could happen in our country.”
New Zealand’s leader Jacinda Ardern admitted there was “much more” her country could do to tackle white supremacy a year after the Christchurch mosque massacres.
Ardern was praised for her compassion towards the Muslim community after a lone gunman attacked two mosques on March 15 last year in New Zealand’s worst modern mass shooting.
But she said some in the South Pacific nation continued to espouse the views of the Australian attacker, a self-avowed white supremacist who targeted Muslims at Friday prayers.
“New Zealand is not free of groups who define themselves as extremist white supremacists,” she told reporters.
“The responsibility we have is to combat not only that existence, but the precursors to that existence. There is much more that we can do.”
Ardern, who was speaking ahead of a national memorial service on Sunday, said the best way to honour victims was to call out racism, bullying and discrimination.
“People will feel safe when they feel supported.”
Ardern said the March 15 attacks “fundamentally changed” New Zealand, she hoped for the better.