The Muslim Australian journalist strongly condemned the sickening terror attack, calling for unity to combat such crimes.
Rabat – Australian journalist, academic, and writer Waleed Aly devoted the recent episode of his broadcast The Project to share his thoughts and to condemn the terror attack committed against two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The message of the prominent host was widely shared and received hundreds of thousand comments.
In his address, Aly said that he was not unsure about whether to speak about the terror attack, which claimed the lives of 50 people and injured 50 more.
The journalist, however, said that he felt responsible to speak about the attack.
“Of all the things that I could say tonight, that I’m gutted and I’m scared and I feel overcome out of hopelessness,” he said.
In the emotional speech he delivered with a cracking voice, Aly added that “the most dishonest thing would be to say that I’m shocked. I’m simply not. There is nothing about what happened in Christchurch today that shocks me.”
The Muslim journalist, who said he attended Friday prayers at a local mosque, said that he knows what the moments before the shooting occurred must have been like.
“I know how quiet, how still, how introspective those people would have been before they were suddenly gunned down.”
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The journalist, whose facial expression spoke volumes about how he feels about the murder, plead for unity in the world to combat violent attacks targeting Muslims.
“Now, we come together, Now we understand that this is not a game. Terrorism doesn’t choose its victims selectively,” he said.
“You’ll have to forgive me, these won’t be my best words…”
On this heartbreaking day, Waleed reflects and calls for unity. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/mIOI0eGamb
— The Project (@theprojecttv) March 15, 2019
“That we are one community and that everything we say to try to tear people apart, demonize particular groups, set them against each other, that all has consequences even if we’re not the ones with our fingers on the trigger.”
The attack caused international indignation, with world leaders strongly slamming the attack. King Mohammed VI was in the list of world leaders who condemned the attack.
The 28-year-old attacker live-streamed the shooting, which showed him carrying a rifle and shooting at people deliberately. The video showed the attacker repeatedly pointing his rifle and shooting again at anyone trying to move.
Facebook said in a statement that its staff is working to remove the videos of the shooting.
“In the first 24 hours we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload,” reads the statement.
In the first 24 hours we removed 1.5 million videos of the attack globally, of which over 1.2 million were blocked at upload…
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) March 17, 2019
