Fort Worth’s faith communities join to mourn 50 killed in New Zealand mosque attacks
Imam Moujahed Bakhach didn’t mince words when he spoke about the terrorist attack at two New Zealand mosques that happened on March 15.
“We must call it was it is,” he said. “It is a terrorist attack. It is white supremacy. It is right-wing extremism. It is racism.”
Bakhach spoke at the Islamic Association of Tarrant County on Sunday afternoon during an interfaith prayer service for the 50 people who were killed as they worshipped on March 15. Fifty others were injured when a 28-year-old Australian man opened fire beginning at 1:40 p.m. The attacks began at the Al Noor Mosque and then continued at the Linwood Islamic Centre about 15 minutes later in Christchurch New Zealand.
The shooter, a white man who is part of the alt-right and has white supremacist views, allegedly left behind a manifesto that said he hates immigrants, according to media reports.
Lindsay Klatzkin, the executive director of Tarrant Churches Together, said the prayer service was planned in part to surround Fort Worth’s Muslim community with love, and to “learn to listen and to move in compassionate action in our own community.”
Bakhach said it meant a lot to his community to see the outpouring of support from the city.
“(March 15) was no doubt a dark and painful day for Muslims, and for humanity as large,” he said. “We are all neighbors ... all people are our neighbors and all are worthy of our respect ... Islamophobia is real and increasing and nobody can deny it.”
He reminded the more than 100 attendees to stay strong, and that difficult times never last forever.
Also invited to speak at the prayer was Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger, who said Bakhach spoke at his synagogue attack in Pittsburgh on Oct. 17 that led to the deaths of 11 Jewish men and women as they worshipped.
“God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves,” he said, adding that there is no religious group that hasn’t been targeted by bigots and that no group is without its own bigots.
“People are not born hating,” he said. “They learn to hate ... every one of the world’s religions teaches love for ourselves and love for others.”
Representing the Fort Worth Christian community, Dr. Joretta Marshall also spoke of loving one another and coming together.
Speaking directly to white Christians in particular she said, “we have to do everything in our power to wipe out white supremacy and stay alert to the way we participate in systems of racism.
“We are witnesses to the slaughter of too many children, women and men,” she added. “God is begging us to do all we can to stop the hate and to stop the killings ... We are better together than we are separate.”
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price spoke briefly about the city being full of compassion for everyone, and allowing no place for hate. Executive Assistant Police Chief Ed Kraus also spoke briefly about the safety of local mosques and said that after the attack, the police department’s intel unit was monitoring for threats and didn’t find any.
To end, Klatzkin said that communities need more than thoughts and prayers. She invited everyone who attended the prayer service to stay behind and introduce themselves to someone of a different faith, to learn and grow from one another.
This story was originally published March 31, 2019 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Fort Worth’s faith communities join to mourn 50 killed in New Zealand mosque attacks."