When love defeats terror

The terror attacks in Christchurch last year shocked the world, but the courage of those left behind inspired us too. Genevieve Gannon meets one mother who brought a terrorist to tears with an act of forgiveness.

- Genevieve Gannon

On an overcast Thursday afternoon in March 2019, Hussein Al-Umari came home to his family’s red-brick house in Christchurch and gave his mother what would be their last ever hug. Janna Ezat and her husband Hazim had just purchased a new hybrid car and Janna wanted to show it off to her son. A home security camera captured their last precious moments: Janna steps into the courtyard and raises her arms to greet her firstborn. Her long dark hair hangs down her back and her face lights up with a smile as they embrace. Then Hussein leans down and kisses his mother on the cheek.

“He had that rare gift of making everyone feel important, special, loved, and appreciated,” Janna told the High Court more than a year later. “Hussein was a kind, humble, caring and hardworking young man. Hussein loved his family, his friends, his pet rabbit and his life.”

He was a simple man, she tells The Weekly, full of goodness. “He had a very kind and soft personality. He loved to talk to people. He was into music, he played the drums. He was amazing.”

In the home footage, Janna turns to show Hussein, 35, the new car. The camera doesn’t pick up what they are saying, but the tenderness between them is clear, as the little acts of love that make up family life are captured on film. Janna, Hazim and Hussein then get into the car to take it for a drive, and the tape cuts out. “He told me, ‘Congratulations, Mama.’ Then he hugged me. This was the last hug,” Janna says.