From the MSA

From the AUT Muslim Students Association

AUT MSA Executive Committee member Nora Rahimi reflects on March 15

It's crazy to think that it's been an entire year since the darkest day of New Zealand history. It feels as if it were yesterday that I sat glued to my TV screen, watching the news all day long which was covering the attack and its aftermath. It hurts to think about everything that happened and everything that continues to happen. But I could never imagine the hurt from the victims’ families and friends and all those that survived the attack. Everyone's different and everyone grieves differently. To say that our community is traumatised is to say the least. Because of all that's happened and the recent threats, we are once again forced to relive the attacks. Staying indoors, no public meet ups and being scared for our lives. It's not enough that we constantly think someone will shoot us, they make it known that they want to do it again.

But how can we come forward from this and how do we continue to move forward from this? That's the most important thing. It often seems like we are taking one step forward and two steps back. There is so much ignorance surrounding our religion and so much hatred towards people of colour. White supremacists forget that this land belongs to Tangata Whenua, the Māori. It confuses me that these supremacists want us to leave ‘their’ land. Education is key in my opinion. Talk to us, ask any and every question you have. Whether it be anonymously, or not. You can find our pages online, let's open up a dialogue.

In commemoration of March 15th, we would like to thank our community in Christchurch for their strength and perseverance. We would also like to thank the wider community in Christchurch who supported us. And we would like to thank all of Aotearoa, including those that stood by us and gave us aroha when our hearts were broken. We will never forget the love and kindness from our fellow Kiwis. Kia kaha Christchurch, Kia kaha Aotearoa.