Emma Burkey: Imam: After devastating New Zealand attack, we will not be deterred

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/15/opinions/after-new-zealand-attack-we-will-not-be-deterred-imam-suleiman/index.html

In the wake of the devastating attacks at mosques in New Zealand, Imam Omar Suleiman, the founder and president of an Islamic research center, wrote this opinion piece published on CNN to voice his thoughts and his own experience with the shootings. He and his children went to a synagogue's service in Dallas the following night of the shooting at Tree of Life in Pittsburgh. There he talks of one of his children playing with other kids, and his nine year old asking questions such as if the man who killed those people was the same kind of man that carried guns outside of their mosque in Texas. This article was published on Friday and is very current to the U.S. and world.

Though the shootings did not happen in the United States, the tragedy in New Zealand is still one that is important for everyone in the world to pay attention to. It is another example of hatred from those who are different and who have different religions. Suleiman speaks of other Muslim children seeing themselves in the horrific images of the live streaming of the shootings and how that can affect their pride, fear and over all concern of being the next victim. He also says the way to keep the children going is encouraging them to not hide their religion, but show that they will not stop worshipping due to these attacks. It is important for everyone, of any religion, to stand behind each other against hatred, otherwise nothing will change and people will continue to die. "It ends with us taking action in love to defeat it."- Suleiman. This event relates to the other major shooting that occurred in New Zealand thirty years ago, the Tree of Life shooting, and the firebombed mosque in Minnesota. All of these are acts of hatred, and just as Suleiman said, we must stand with love to defeat the hatred.