A Muslim group has been slammed for promoting a free trip to New Zealand to meet the families of the Christchurch massacre victims.
Muslims of the World, an American Islamic awareness organisation, advertised its tasteless competition just three weeks after 50 people were killed in a shooting spree.
‘GIVEAWAY: win a FREE TRIP to New Zealand to meet the families of the victims,’ it told its 300,000 Instagram followers on Thursday.
Maha Elmadani, a Christchurch-based graphic designer whose 66-year-old engineer father Ali Elmadani was killed in the massacre, condemned the Instagram post.
‘This is actually disgusting,’ she wrote on the group’s page.
‘You guys are turning this horrific massacre into some f***ing excuse to vacation in NZ and you’re doing it on the backs of the victims that died!
‘My dad died in that mosque and so did 49 of the most beautiful souls that walked this Earth.
‘I don’t know who you think you are but you and your idiot friends are now welcome to come here and look at us like some animals in a zoo.
‘Why don’t you leave us to grieve properly and go feed your f***ing ego somewhere else?’
Khaled Beydoun, an American law professor and author, apologised for the post following a deluge of criticism and deleted the original.
‘We at Muslims of the World want to sincerely apologise to the families of the victims of the New Zealand massacre for yesterday’s post,’ he said, next to the word ‘apology’ on a black background.
‘Our intention was to visit New Zealand in hopes of being agents of healing and community.
‘However, our wording was insensitive and we take full ownership of it.
‘We apologise for our offensive post and ask for your forgiveness. The criticism for the insensitivity is spot on, we are a very young team and have lots to learn.’
Professor Beydoun has written a book, American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear, and is a columnist with the Qatar-owned Al Jazeera network.
The Instagram post also featured images of fellow American author Sajjid Shah and American Muslim convert Suhaib Webb, who were planning to visit New Zealand.
An Australian man, Brenton Tarrant, has been charged with the shooting murders of 50 people at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch, on March 15.
