Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We enter 2017 wishing you all peace and joy for the year. But we are heartbroken as we express our deepest condolences for our dear friend and partner Khedija Arfaoui, who lost her son, Mohammed Ali (Dali) Azzabi, and daughter-in-law, Senda Naka Azzabi. We also extend our heartfelt condolences to Omezzine Khalifa, who lost her cousin, Dali. The couple perished in the terrorist attack in Istanbul just after midnight on January 1, 2017.
The media reports simply mentioned “two Tunisian nationals,” but to the ICAN and WASL community they were the children of our friends and colleagues, and the parents of a beautiful 5-month-old baby.
Among ICAN’s board, staff, network and partners in the Women’s Alliance for Security Leadership (WASL) around the world, hearts were broken into a thousand pieces as news of this tragedy was shared. In this line of work we are never far from the tragedy of war and conflict, but nothing prepares us for this deep, personal pain. Our collective wish is that we had the power to turn back time.
In sharing our condolences, we also honor the courage that Khedija and Omezzine and their family members have shown in these dark and painful days and surround them with all the love and support we can offer from around the world, today and always.
We pray for their families to have the strength to endure this tragedy.
With Love and Support,
ICAN & WASL