Condolences to families and people of New Zealand
People gather in front of floral tributes at a makeshift memorial for victims of the March 15 mosque attacks, in Christchurch on March 17, 2019. The death toll from horrifying shootings at two mosques in New Zealand rose to 50, police said March 17, as Christchurch residents flocked to memorial sites and churches across the city to lay flowers and mourn the victims. AFP photo
Condolences to the people of New Zealand and the families of those killed or injured in the evil act of terror committed against innocent Muslim worshippers.
As details emerge as to the motives of this horrible act, what I want to tell world leaders is that this barbarity has clearly been facilitated by the rise of a certain political rhetoric that is not being condemned enough.
A narrative of exclusion and walls, both physical and psychological, resulting in the normalisation of hate speech towards the needy, and hateful acts towards the different. Angry sentiments that have today shamelessly gained a place in the mainstream politics of otherwise the most developed countries in the world since the rise of a global refugee crisis.
Failure to condemn all evil acts of religious bigotry regardless of the victim or the colour of the perpetrator, is akin to allowing the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe. Such acts of terror tend to be widely considered as just another ordinary crime by a mentally disturbed individual, who needs understanding.
However, it only becomes global terrorism when a Middle East country is bombed by advanced fighter jets if it is committed by a member of a particular faith.
Again, condolences to New Zealand.
Hussein Lumumba Amin,
[email protected]
