[symple_box]
Kenza Isnasni is a Master’s student at Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane, majoring in International Relations and Diplomacy with a concentration in Peace and Conflicts Studies. She attended a summer session at the prestigious University of California Berkeley. Kenza is a humanitarian activist and is very sensitive to questions related to human rights, to racism, to children’s education in the rural areas of Morocco, as well as to environment and global warming. Kenza took part of different humanitarian projects around the world, including observation missions in the Philippines and Palestine, the Viva Palestina Convoy for Gaza in 2009, the Gaza Freedom flotilla that was attacked by the Israeli army in 2010, the Global Ecovillage Network Summit in Senegal in 2014, and many others. You can follow her on Facebook at: Kenza Isnasni [/symple_box]
Ifrane, Morocco— My name is Kenza, and I was born in Belgium in 1983. Morocco is the country that witnessed the birth of my origins. Today, I am proud to say that I am Belgian with Moroccan descent from the region of Rif. I also proud to say that I am a Muslim, but, above all, I am a human being infused by several cultures and experiences I lived around the world. All this has made me what I am today.
I grew up in Brussels in a loving family. I was educated according to the set of values that Islam stands for. We lived in humility, modesty, simplicity, love and respect for others. I grew up in Brussels, where I flourished as a citizen, where I blossomed amidst a culturally rich society full of colors.
When I was a child, I used to ask a lot of questions. I was very curious to discover everything around me. When I was a child, I dreamed of being an adult with a job that will allow me the necessary means to help those in need around the world. When I was a child, I had a small diary in which I wrote down all the things I planned to do when I grow. When I was a child, my little room was my world, my world where I was creating, and imagining all the ideas I want to realize when I’m older. I lived my childhood with the deep feeling that I will always be surrounded by my family to protect me, to be loved and then to be able to straighten my own wings and fly.
Unfortunately, the environment in which I was living peacefully has rapidly deteriorated. The relationships between people were becoming very tense and confrontational. The impact of the 2001 World Trade Center attacks in the United States has quickly spread to Europe. Then it was the rise of the right wing extremism. Almost all Muslims started to be perceived as potential terrorists. This climate of tension had reached its peak.
This climate of hatred and violence took away the most precious thing I had in this world. May 7, 2002 my parents were murdered by a man driven by hatred and rejection of the other. My parents were killed at around 4 am, while praying Fajr (dawn prayer). The murderer had also fired several bullets at my little brothers Yassine and Walid, who were only 6-year-old and 11-year-old respectively at that time. They were heavily injured but were able to survive this terrible carnage. The murderer decided to end the lives of my whole family. He had decided we did not have the right to live. This man brutally destroyed my whole family. There was no doubt that it was indeed a hate crime. This man attacked us because he considered that we just had not the right color, not the right religion, and not the right culture. Just after killing my parents, the murderer committed suicide when setting fire in our house, setting himself ablaze in the event. I escaped death as he also set fire in my room. I was saved by my neighbor Gérard Buyk. He will always be my hero.
May 7, 2002 was the most horrible day of my life. That day, I was devastated by a sadness that I thought was insuperable. I was only 18 years old and I suddenly became an orphan. I was deprived forever of the love and affection of my parents. After such a tragedy, many questions invaded my mind. How to have a normal life after such a shock? How can I continue to live in a world without the presence of my parents? How is it possible to overcome such a tragedy?
And I prayed God with all my strength, for I keep the faith that another world where we are not doomed to live in violence exists. I keep the faith and believe that peace can be a reality if all us contribute to this vision together.
In the following years after the death of my parents, I tried to find a place for myself in the natural order of the world. I tried to think about what will make sense to me. I was convinced that I have undertaken a fight to honor the memory of my parents. I felt I had the responsibility to impart the story of my family to the world.
I wanted to let the world know that my parents had once existed among us and that they had also contributed to a righteous and tolerant society. I fought for the memory of my parents so that a tragedy like this never happens again. I fought with all my strength to make of this tragedy a lesson to the world.
I had to face a lot of disappointment, but I also found a lot of love, brotherhood, voiced and received solidarity, and learned life lessons. I learned to be humble towards life and to give it a meaning. I conducted several humanitarian trips because I was in search of truth. I wanted to understand how all these conflicts occur in the world, how someone can take a gun and fire at another human being. I let myself be guided towards what makes sense to me. My commitment to Palestine taught me the best lesson in my life. I went to Palestine to be close to their suffering, to finally understand my own suffering. Palestinians taught me to remain dignified despite the suffering and pain. I owe a lot to that country because I felt myself stronger and more determined in my commitment to a better world.
I realized also that it will take time to find answers to my questions, and above all, that I have to fight to find that inner peace one day. I’ve understood that I will have to face moments of doubt, discouragement but I never gave up. I will never give up to bring the truth, to bring this true message of hope that unite us all together. It may be unrealistic for many people because we are still facing, and will always face, a lot of violence. But if I chose not to give up, it’s not only to resist but also to realize that no one is immune from such a tragedy. It is unbearable to see too much indifference and silence towards racism and violence that continue to make the headlines. Today, if I chose not to sink into hatred, it is because I am convinced that it is only through love, compassion and respect that we can make peace the day-to-day currency of humanity.
Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world”. This sentence has resonated a lot in my mind. I came back to myself, to what makes me a human being, to strengthen my convictions and share them with the rest of the world. I kept sticking to my faith, my religion and the values of peace and love which it represents. It is thanks to this that I could find inner peace. You know when you feel that spiritual energy, you are no longer afraid. All reasons to be afraid just fade away. This is my relationship to my religion. This is the true meaning of Islam.
Today it is important to communicate, to realize that what unites us all is our humanity. We must learn to be able to accept ourselves and each other as we are, with our differences, our values. This is the message through which I live.
My soul is terribly saddened when I see that hate crimes continuing to occur. I have a special thought for Deah Barakat, Yusor and Razan Abu-Salha, these three young American Muslims killed in North Carolina. I was speechless for several days without being able to put words on that terrible event. I was almost in shock for days. All images of the tragedy experienced about my family filled my head. I felt like reliving that day over and over again, when the murderer entered our apartment to assassin my parents. This simply means that such tragedy can happen to anyone else. This means that no one is immune from such crimes. The facts are here. It is for this reason that everyone is responsible. Whether we target a mosque, a church or a synagogue, we should all condemn such acts with the same firmness.
Today, I share my experience because I am sure that we all have a role to play. I’m sure that all of us can help in building a world in which I believe, a world where respect, solidarity, and brotherhood represent the true values that bind us all.
Today I am a woman, but I succeeded in becoming that little girl whom I was before. I just wanted to find again that innocence, that childlike state of wonder about the beautiful things that life offers. I was worried that fear and sadness will fill the rest of my days. My parents are always in my prayers and in my actions. I will honor their memory for the rest of my days.
[symple_box] Kenza Isnasni is a Master’s student at Al Akhawayn University of Ifrane, majoring in International Relations and Diplomacy with a concentration in Peace and Conflicts Studies. She attended a summer session at the prestigious University of California Berkeley. Kenza is a humanitarian activist and is very sensitive to questions related to human rights, to racism, to children’s education in the rural areas of Morocco, as well as to environment and global warming. Kenza took part of different humanitarian projects around the world, including observation missions in the Philippines and Palestine, the Viva Palestina Convoy for Gaza in 2009, the Gaza Freedom flotilla that was attacked by the Israeli army in 2010, the Global Ecovillage Network Summit in Senegal in 2014, and many others. You can follow her on Facebook at: Kenza Isnasni [/symple_box]
