The sister of a Christchurch mosque attack victim says the gunman has failed in his mission of division, and has brought her closer to her Islam faith.
Aya Al-Umari’s brother, Hussein, was killed in last year’s March 15 terror attack on two Christchurch mosques in which 51 people were killed.
Yesterday, the gunman was sentenced to life without any chance of parole - the first time the punishment has been handed down in New Zealand.
Ms Al-Umari was one of many to read out a victim impact statement in court during the shooter’s four-day sentencing and says it was gratifying to look him in the eye, and tell him he had failed.
“It was a very surprisingly gratifying feeling to have to eyeball the terrorist in the eye and tell him, 'Now you have killed him you’ve actually made me turn to God and that made my faith in Islam even stronger, and so in essence you’ve failed,'” she told TVNZ1’s Breakfast this morning.
“I just got a sense of gratification and empowerment by just of facing my brother’s killer and telling him that.”
The gunman admitted to 51 charges of murder, 40 charges of attempted murder and one terror charge.
Ms Al-Umari says the result in court yesterday gave her internal peace.
“After the verdict was delivered we all really breathed a sigh of relief as we were exiting the courtroom, and I think all of Aotearoa breathed a sigh of relief after the verdict. It was definitely a weight off our shoulders.”
She says her faith has been an important part of her and her family’s journey over the past year, coming to terms with the death of her brother.
Forgiveness has also been an important part of that journey.
Ms Al-Umari’s mother, Janna Ezat, also read out a victim impact statement in court, and said she had forgiven the gunman.
But that doesn’t mean all has been forgotten.
“As she said, Hussein has already gone, the damage has already been done. She doesn’t have any hate in her. It’s important to mention she is forgiving but not forgetting.”
Ms Al-Umari says forgiveness exists in all corners of humanity.
“It’s not even exclusive to Islam either, the forgiveness. It’s there in the Lord’s prayer. Forgive me if I misquote this, but, ‘Forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us.'
“Beyond our skin colour, not just faith, we are all the same. We are all human.”
Justice served, but behaviour change still needed
A victim advocate says justice has been done, but the "challenging' part begins now following the terrorist's sentencing.
Raf Manji is a former Christchurch City councillor, and has spent the last year advocating for the mosque attack victims and their families.
He says there needs to be a conversation about the way people are treated in New Zealand because of their skin colour, or religion.
Raf Manji says New Zealanders need to review the way they treat people based on race and religion.
"This is the challenging piece. This is probably the hard stuff that we will now have to turn our attention to," he told TVNZ1's Breakfast.
He says the love and support shared by many around the country for the victims needs to be moved into a different direction.
"We need to have conversations about the way that we treat people based on what they might wear, or the colour of their skin or what religion they practice when in fact they’re all doing the same jobs.
"As one of the impact statements read by Mustafa Boztas said, basically when you're on the slab being operated on by the surgeons and the nurses you're all the same. We've all got he same organs, we all bleed the same."
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