CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, March 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The Muslim call to
prayer rang out across New Zealand on Friday followed by two minutes of
silence nationwide to mark a week since a white supremacist gunned down 50
people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.
As the call was broadcast around the country, thousands of people —
including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern — stood silently in a park opposite
the mosque where the killing began, as the country of 4.5 million came to a
standstill.
The massacre by alleged shooter Brenton Tarrant has shocked a nation known
for its tolerance.
It has prompted horrified Kiwis to respond with vigils and performances of
the traditional Maori haka dance, and to form lines behind Muslims to
symbolically protect them while they pray.
A muezzin in white skullcap issued the call to regular Friday prayer at
1.30 pm (0030 GMT) with chants of “Allahu Akhbar” (God is greatest) as
thousands listened in Christchurch’s Hagley Park across from the Al Noor
Mosque.
The country then fell silent for two minutes, with public gatherings in
Auckland, Wellington and other cities.
In neighbouring Australia, people stopped in the streets and in shops to
mark the moment.
Al Noor imam Gamal Fouda then took to the lectern to denounce hatred, but
also to praise the sense of Kiwi togetherness that the killings have sparked.
– Unbreakable –
“I look out and I see the love and compassion in the eyes of thousands of
fellow New Zealanders and human beings from across the globe,” he said.
“This terrorist sought to tear our nation apart with an evil ideology that
has torn the world apart. But, instead, we have shown that New Zealand is
unbreakable.”
Many women in attendance wore headscarves in solidarity with New Zealand’s
Muslim community.
Kirsty Wilkinson joined the throng at Hagley Park along with two female
friends, all in make-shift hijabs. “I personally am doing this to knock down
my walls of personal oblivion to the terror Muslim people feel every day,
worrying about their safety,” Wilkinson told AFP before the prayers began.
“I can take my scarf off if I feel afraid. They cannot.”
“The message I want to send is that hate cannot win. We are all just
people. What happened is not ok.”
The gunman killed 50 men, women and children — the victims aged between
three and 77 years old — and left dozens injured in an attack that he live-
streamed, sparking global revulsion.
The sombre ceremonies came a day after Ardern announced an immediate ban
on assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic weapons, making good on a
pledge to rid the country of the kinds of weapons used in the slaughter.
The move triggered renewed calls from leading American politicians for a
similar response in the United States, which has suffered a stream of firearm
massacres but left gun reform untouched.
Police and tradesmen had been working intensively in the hope of repairing
the mosque’s bullet-scarred and blood-spattered interior ahead of afternoon
prayers.
But authorities late Thursday announced prayers would be held in the park.
– Prayers and pause –
The national mourning and moment of silence were broadcast on television
networks, radio and across multiple local media websites.
“We are so happy that this prayer will be broadcast to the entire world so
that everyone can be part of it,” Mustafa Farouk, president of the Federation
of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, said in a statement announcing the
prayer session.
Burials of victims resume Friday morning, with a hearse pulling in to the
cemetery on the eastern edge of Christchurch where many have already been
buried.
Tarrant, a 28-year-old Australian national, posted a rambling “manifesto”
saying he was motivated partly by a desire to stoke religious conflict
between Islam and the West.
Kate Mills Workman, a 19-year-old student from Wellington, posted a selfie
on Twitter showing her wearing a green headscarf.
“Obviously this is all spurred on by the terrible tragedy in Christchurch
but it’s also a way of showing that any form of harassment or bigotry based
on a symbol of religion is never okay,” she told AFP.
“As New Zealanders, we have to make a really strong stand.”