Around 25,000 New Zealanders attended the memorial service for the 50 slain Muslim worshippers, including four children, who were killed in the twin attacks on the Al Noor and Linwood mosques during Friday prayers on March 15.<\/p>\n
Among participants were New Zealand\u2019s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, governor-general Patsy Reddy, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, British singer-songwriter and philanthropist Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), and singers Marlon Williams, Hollie Smith, and Teeks.<\/p>\n
Yusuf Islam, Marlon Williams, and Hollie Smith performed at the service, Ko t\u0101tou, t\u0101tou \u2013 We are one, at Christchurch\u2019s Hagley Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world has been stuck in a vicious cycle of extremism breeding extremism and it must end,\u201d Ardern told the gathering.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot confront these issues alone, none of us can. The answer to them lies in a simple concept, that is not bound by domestic borders, that isn\u2019t based on ethnicity, power base or even forms of government. The answer lies in our humanity.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut for now we will remember the tears of our nation and the new resolve we have formed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat words adequately express the pain and suffering of 50 men, women and children lost, and so many injured? What words capture the anguish of our Muslim community being the target of hatred and violence? What words express the grief of a city that has already known so much pain?\u201d Ardern asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought there were none. And then I came here and was met with this simple greeting. As-salaam Alaikum. Peace be upon you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farid Ahmed, one of the survivors also addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n
Ahmed, whose wife Husna was killed in the attacks, said he had forgiven the attacker.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want a heart that will be full of love and care and full of mercy and will forgive lavishly. This heart doesn\u2019t want any more lives to be lost. This heart doesn\u2019t like that the pain I have gone through \u2026 that any human being should go through that kind of pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not say about those who are killed in the worship of Allah that they are dead, they are alive. Their soul is alive. People who are killed in their worship are in paradise.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir body is going to perish but their souls are not going to perish,\u201d Ahmed said.<\/p>\n
Names of the victims who died in the attacks were read out at the service. The youngest of the victims was only three years old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Zealand honored the victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks in a commemoration ceremony on Friday. Around 25,000 New Zealanders attended the memorial service for the 50 slain Muslim worshippers, including four children, who were killed in the twin attacks on the Al Noor and Linwood mosques during Friday prayers on March 15. Among participants …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.medyaolusum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}