Jews, Christians, and Muslims will be falling silent for 51 seconds at 
1:40pm on 15 April to remember the Christchurch mosque attacks of 2019. 
National and local commemorations for the attacks were cancelled last 
month due to COVID-19, and this is a chance for people to remember the 
attacks in their own way.

“With the whole country in lockdown, it’s more important now than ever 
to act together, and pause briefly in silence to think about how we can 
make our society more inclusive,” says Dave Moskovitz, the Jewish 
Co-Chair of the Wellington Abrahamic Council of Jews, Christians, and 
Muslims. “We’re asking people in each household to take less than a 
minute out of their day on 15 April to think: what can I do, what can 
our community do, and what can New Zealand do to stop hatred in our 
thoughts, words, and actions?”

Christian Co-chair Father Ron Bennett adds, “We’re a month late for the 
15 March anniversary. It’s sad that commemorations were cancelled last 
month, but we couldn’t let this important event in New Zealand history 
go unmarked. We’re asking people to take 51 seconds - that’s one second 
for each life lost in the attacks - to build a more compassionate 
society. COVID-19 might slow us down, but it can’t stop us. Better late 
than never.”

Islamic Women’s Council of NZ Coordinator Anjum Rahman says that it is 
not Muslim practice to commemorate the deaths of specific people as 
death is a transition from one stage of life to another. “These attacks 
had a strong impact on our wider society. Many of us feel less safe now 
than we did before the attacks, and every person in our country has the 
basic human right to not fear for their lives, no matter what their 
religious beliefs are, nor how they might identify as a person. 
Celebrating difference and valuing others is the best way to counter hate.”

So on 15 April, take 51 seconds to remember the Christchurch mosque 
shootings, and join Jews, Christains, and Muslims around the country to 
think about how we’ve changed, and what we can do to make our society 
more inclusive.

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