The brother of a Canadian woman who was killed during a mass shooting at an Afghani hotel last week says he has "no malice," and expressed sympathy for the gunmen’s families.
Zeenab Kassam, a volunteer English teacher, was eating a meal last Thursday at the Kabul Serena Hotel when gunmen open fired on customers.
Nine people, including Kassam and Canadian doctor Roshan Thomas, were killed. Police later killed all four attackers after a three-hour standoff.
"We hold no malice towards the people of Afghanistan, we stand with you in solidarity," Zeenab Kassam’s brother, Karim-Aly Kassam, said at a news conference Thursday in Calgary. "We grieve with these families of these boys who savagely killed because we know what it is like to lose a family member."
But Kassam said his family has a strong message for the people who had harboured the gunman -- the people he calls the "men who hide in shadows."
"You have wounded us, but you have not intimated us. You will never intimidate us. You use fear, hate and brute forced to bring about death," he said. "We chose empathy, knowledge and hope to secure life. My sister’s life and death was in the cause of service in an effort to bring mutual understanding through communication."
Trained as a nurse, Zeenab Kassam had been in Afghanistan for the past year and a half, volunteering as an English teacher through the Aga Khan Development Network.
“By teaching both young women and men, she furthered their professional development,” Kassam said. “However, learning a new language is not only about acquiring skills for better economic opportunities: it’s about communication, it’s about furthering human interaction and understanding. This is what Zeenab was doing in Afghanistan at the time of her death … We must not forget this.”
Kassam said his sister graduated as a nurse from the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, and later worked in the oncology, neurology and dialysis units at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary.
She was an accomplished ballroom dancer and played an important role in the upbringing of her niece and nephew, he said.
And her own upbringing in Canada, as well in in the Ismaili Muslim community "formed the ethical fabric that made Zeenab who she is," Kassam added.
"I remember my sister relating to me an instance when a young man she was teaching said to her in English 'how do you know we will not kidnap you or kill you?' And she answered 'I don’t know'," Kassam recalled. "Instead of shying away and choosing a path of fear, my sister continued to work in Afghanistan."
Kassam said his family’s commitment to peace, education and volunteering has only strengthened since his sister’s death.
"Zeenab’s death was not in vain," he said. "She has galvanized young Canadians to emulate her."
