Kia ora, New Zealand. Or as my Kiwi friend James Munro, the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, writes in his column as part of our special coverage marking the anniversary of the atrocious Christchurch terror attack: Kia kaha, be strong. We at Arab News know that this Sunday is a somber day, remembering one of New Zealand’s darkest moments, when 51 people lost their lives in an unbelievably horrific attack on two mosques. And so just as we stood by New Zealand, in shock and grief, one year ago on March 15, it is our wish to stand with it again. Because while the inexplicable hatred that led to that day will never be erased, the incredible acts of humanity in the face of that terror will never be forgotten. It is these incredible acts that we chose to highlight in our special coverage that includes a New Zealand print edition being distributed in Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington. We might be far away in our home base of Saudi Arabia, but we felt like we were right there with our Kiwi brothers and sisters in the wake of the attacks last year. And so just as we stood by you, in shock and grief, one year ago on March 15, it is our wish to stand with you again Faisal J. Abbas Phenomenal acts of humanity such as these help bridge the distance between us. Who wasn’t profoundly moved by the burly bikers performing haka as a tribute to the Christchurch victims? Or the non-Muslim women, including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who wore headscarves to show their solidarity? Or New Zealand Police Superintendent Naila Hassan, struggling through tears as she spoke at a vigil for the victims? Their responses inspired our own responses a world away in the Arabian Gulf. A week after the attacks, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa lit up with a photo of Ardern in her headscarf, hugging a Muslim worshipper, while the ruler tweeted his thanks to “New Zealand for your sincere empathy and support that has won the respect of 1.5 billion Muslims.” Saudi King Salman invited 200 survivors and relatives of the victims as his personal guests during last year’s Hajj. While there, the wife of a victim broke down crying, and Saudi’s Minister of Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Abdullatif Al-Asheikh, gave her a comforting hug; a spontaneous act that expressed what words couldn’t. Commenting later, he said: “We have the hearts of human beings that react to sadness and sorrow. Our Islamic religion taught us to show mercy, compassion and sympathy toward those who witnessed injustice. My actions when receiving our brothers and sisters from New Zealand represent the respect, love and mercy that Saudis have toward all human beings and not just Muslims.” As the Middle East’s leading English daily, it was difficult to know how exactly to mark this day ourselves, so we took the lead from our community. On a sunny Friday afternoon last month, we invited Kiwis, Arabs and Muslims from across the region to a gathering at Raw Coffee, a Kiwi-owned coffee shop in Dubai. We were amazed at the turnout: Everyone from a Kuwaiti-Kiwi woman to an Emirati man who felt bonded to New Zealand from his time in school there. And while they all spoke of their grief and shock in the wake of the massacre, we asked them for words to describe their connection: Hope, compassion, diversity, generosity, together, alike… So these are the words that we decided to wrap our paper in today. If you feel moved to do so in your part of the world, share your words with us on Twitter @ArabNews, and we will share them with our part of the world. Because while we may be thousands of miles away, at the end of the day... #We AreOne. • Faisal J. Abbas is the editor in chief of Arab News. Twitter: @FaisalJAbbas Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point-of-view