On 15 March Imam Gamal Fouda stood in his mosque, before him knelt believers. Then shots were fired. He saw a man in black combat dress approaching; his church, which tried to escape in panic. From his hiding place Fouda had to watch as the attacker killed 42 people. Then he went back to his car and drove to the second mosque.

Today, almost to the minute exactly seven days later, the Imam is again in front of a crowd. This time, thousands of people came to the vigil. A few are in a wheelchair; they are the victims of the terrorist attack. "The terrorist wanted to split our nation," calls Fouda. "But we have shown that New Zealand is indestructible." The crowd applauds.

Anyone who travels to Christchurch experiences a city that wrestles with its self-image. People who can not believe that here, in peaceful New Zealand, one day more people were murdered than usual throughout the year. From a terrorist who targeted Muslims. For many citizens, New Zealand was suddenly no longer the place it was.

But the country is resisting. In the days after the attack, a television station exchanged its logo for that of a mosque. A daily newspaper cleared its title page and wrote in Arabic "peace". The Prime Minister wore a headscarf and many citizens did it on Friday, including a blond policewoman with an assault rifle.

And again and again you hear and read this one sentence: "We are one" - "We are one." In just a few days, the government has tabled a bill banning assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons - and without much ado. Even gun lovers agree that something has to happen, and even more: 300 people voluntarily gave up their possibly soon-to-be-banned weapons during the first few days.

Because of the healthy NZ world

And even a week later, citizens continue to drop flowers every day at the two mosques that became crime scenes. A woman who has come to express her sympathy puts her hand over her heart and looks at a Muslim man. "Assalamu alaikum," she says. He takes her hand and presses her. "You should have been safe here," someone wrote on a card and placed it under a tree.

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Terror in Christchurch: Between mourning and defiance

New Zealanders are proud that their homeland is one of the safest places in the world. Policemen usually patrol unarmed here. The majority of citizens see immigration as positive according to surveys. But the truth is: There is racism in New Zealand, too, in recent years Islamophobia has spread. Again, politicians warned in the past about the "Asian invasion".

Sociologist Paul Spoonley of New Zealand Massey University has examined online comments in 2018. It did not take long and he came across hate and anti-Islam messages. And sometimes the writing also led to deeds. In 2016, men brought pigskin boxes into Al-Nur Mosque, the mosque that was under attack. They showed the Hitler salute. They later shared the video on the internet. Anjum Rahman of the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand says her group warned the authorities years ago.

26 funerals in just one day

Fewer than 5,000 Muslims live in Canterbury, the province where Christchurch lies. The attack leaves behind a community grateful for the compassion and help it receives. But she is also traumatized. Many have lost someone close to them, some several people. On Friday alone, 26 funerals took place in Christchurch.

Ali M. came to New Zealand from India only a year ago, because life here was so much better than at home: it was quiet and peaceful, his income not lush but adequate. He enjoyed the beauty of nature and also the silence. Ali does not tell much of his story himself, instead his brother and his two friends report. They came to help him.

Ali remains taciturn, his eyes strangely empty. He was in the Al-Nur Mosque when the attacker started firing; he saw people bleeding and heard their cries. Two of his best friends died in the attack, at some point he says in the middle of the conversation: "By a headshot."

Since the attack Ali can not sleep when he is alone. He then looks out the window and believes that someone is coming to finish things. He is afraid. And he does not know how he can feel safe again. "The mosque was my second home," Ali says. "How am I ever going to go back there?"