The Star: March 21, 2019

The Star Thursday March 21 2019
news online at www.star.kiwi
NEWS 9
thought ‘this is the end’
“I saw the dead people in
front. I didn’t believe it. No way,”
Mahmoud said.
“If I see dead people like that,
I felt like my Dad might be one
of them. I went crazy. The police
tried to calm me down . . . [but] I
didn’t find him.
“I waited one hour outside,
looking everywhere. And one of
my mates came up to me said,
‘Your dad is alive but got shot
in the leg.’ So that got me crazy
more and more.”
Mahmoud went to the hospital
but couldn’t get in because of
tight security. He was desperate
and started pleading with police:
“Please, my dad got shot. I can’t
wait here.”
When police eventually let him
inside, the chaotic scenes made
it impossible to find information
about his father. But he found
comfort in other friends that
were also waiting anxiously for
news of their fathers, who had
also suffered gunshot wounds.
“I was so shocked and so scared
I was going to lose him.”
When Mahmoud was finally
reunited with his father, he ran
up to him with the words:
“Thank God you’re still here.”
Al-Jammali and his family
have been overwhelmed at the
response in the city and around
the country, having seen the endless
flow of flowers and poignant
words at the city’s memorial sites.
They have no intention of leaving
the city, and want to return to
Masjid Al Noor.
“We are going to go back.
Nothing is going to stop us from
doing our religion,” Al-Jammali
said.
“I will never leave New Zealand.
This is my home. This is my
country now after all these years
. . . New Zealand is the best country.
The people are very friendly.
Most of our neighbours came
and visited me and offered me all
the support that I need or want.”
Al-Jammali grew up in Kuwait
and moved to Auckland with
his family in 1996. He returned
to Kuwait for work as a sales
manager, but found a home in
Christchurch four years ago.
He was welcomed into the
city’s Muslim community, and
knew many of the deceased well.
“The people killed or shot, they
OVERWHELMED:
Khaled
Al-Jammali being
taken to hospital
on a stretcher.
are my best of friends . . . what
shall we do? It is part of the life.
We have to carry on.”
One of those who died was
Moshin Al-Harbi, who Al-Jammali
describes as his best friend.
Al-Jammali started receiving
confused phone calls yesterday
when global media reported on
Al-Harbi’s death, but in stories
that showed the iconic photo of
Al-Jammali pointing to the sky.
Al-Jammali reassured those
calling him that he was actually
still alive, and very lucky to be so.
He and his family realise that
‘I will never leave New
Zealand. This is my home.
This is my country now
after all these years . . .
New Zealand is the best
country. The people are
very friendly.’
– Khaled Al-Jammali
others in the tight-knit community
have not been so lucky, and
they are focused on supporting
those families. They have been at
the hospital every day since the
attack.
Al-Jammali said the silver
lining to this horrific ordeal was
that the whole world can now see
that Muslim people are peaceful,
loving and welcoming.
“Even when he came to start
shooting innocent people, the
first he killed told him, ‘Welcome,
brother’.
“Now all of the world knows
that Muslims are very friendly,
even when there is someone trying
to kill them.
“This is what we are. This is our
religion. I hope he can understand
this too.”
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