Christchurch mosque shootings: Prince William uses Zoom to reconnect with victims

Prince William on Zoom with Farid Ahmad (top left), Imam Gamal Fouda, and Imam Alani Lateef, and on the middle row Dahabo Ali, Mohamed Jama, Dr Megan Woods, and Faisal Sayed. Photo / Kensington Palace

Prince William has dialled in Down Under to check on Christchurch's Muslim community a year after the mosque shootings which claimed 51 lives.

The Duke of Cambridge used Zoom to speak to the imams of Masjid Al Noor and Linwood Islamic Centre, along with prominent Muslim Association of Canterbury members and local MP Dr Megan Woods, last night.

Gamal Fouda, imam of Masjid Al Noor, told the Herald that he'd been expecting the call all week.

The Duke says he was reconnecting with the people he met during his visit to Christchurch in the weeks after the terror attack.

During the 40-minute conversation, the group spoke about grief and healing, as well as the continuing effects that March 15 has had on their community. They also talked to the Duke about Covid-19 and how they have adapted to continue supporting their community during New Zealand's lockdown.

Currently Muslim communities around the world are observing Ramadan, which this year began on April 23 and will end on May 23. William spoke with the community after iftar – the evening meal that breaks the fast.

He finished the call by reflecting on the 2019 attacks and saying: "I'm really proud of all of you, the whole community and the New Zealand Government for how you have all dealt with such an atrocity. You are a role model for how something so tragic can be negotiated with the utmost grace and dignity."

The man behind the March 15, 2019 terror attack pleaded guilty on the first day of New Zealand's nationwide alert level 4 lockdown and is in custody awaiting to be sentenced.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday that the Christchurch Call, an initiative set up after the attacks that brought governments and tech companies together in Paris with a single goal to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online, has made significant progress.

On its first anniversary of the Christchurch Call to Action, Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron as the founding leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the move and commended supporters' efforts so far.

"If an attack like we saw on March 15 last year happened again, we have an international network of governments and tech companies ready to mobilise and work against the forces that boosted the viral spread of content from Christchurch and caused such widespread harm," Ardern said.

While having no doubt the work undertaken so far has already made it harder for extremists to push terror and violence through the internet and social media, Ardern is under no illusions there is much more to do.

"Malicious actors will always be searching for new ways to promote terrorism and violent extremism, and inflict harm, online," she said.

"For as long they are, we will be working to counter them."