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The son of an Australian woman killed in the September 11 attacks has called for inter-cultural unity on the 15th anniversary of his mother’s death.
Yvonne Kennedy, one of 10 Australians killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks, was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 when it crashed into the Pentagon.
Her death occurred as she neared the end of travels celebrating retirement after 25 years working with the Australian Red Cross.
The Kennedy family. Barry, Yvonne, Leigh and Simon. Source: Supplied
"I had to separate my personal grief and loss from what was a massive news event."
Her son, Simon Kennedy, was asleep after returning from a night out in Sydney when he received a call with news of the attacks from his brother, Leigh, in London.
Mr Kennedy was initially optimistic the unfolding tragedy wouldn't include their mother, but the reality soon became apparent.
"I had mum's itinerary with me. She was always very vigilant in doing that sort of thing. She was always a, 'you know, in case something happens' sort of person,” Mr Kennedy told SBS.
Yvonne Kennedy's son has told SBS that his mother would not be happy with the anti-Islam rhetoric and attitudes in the aftermath of her death. (Supplied) Source: Supplied
“My brother started quoting flight numbers that were coming across on the news. I was looking through those and I said, 'Look, she's supposed to be boarding a flight today in Washington, from Dallas Airport so that's American Airlines Flight 77.'
“At that stage I hadn't seen the news, and he (Leigh) said ‘that sounds kinda familiar, I think that could be one of them', so that started a pretty tough night to say the least.”
Mourning in private while the world watched
The Kennedy family released a picture of Yvonne to the media, but chose not to speak publicly about their loss.
"I had to separate my personal grief and loss from what was a massive news event. Not just a massive news event, it was almost like the biggest thing since World War II,” Simon Kennedy said.
“Trying to take out your own personal loss, the family moment of losing someone, which normally happens in confined spaces within select groups of people. Now I was having to deal with that and, all of a sudden, the world had a comment or opinion on it."
Defeating anti-Islam sentiments and racism
It wasn't until the death of Osama Bin Laden in 2011 that Mr Kennedy chose to speak publicly.
"I felt a sort of responsibility all of a sudden, because I saw so much anti-Islam sentiment floating around. And I wasn't okay with it, because that's not the way I feel,” he said.
“That's not the way I live and I didn't want other people taking control of that conversation on my behalf."
Mr Kennedy said he was not going to allow hate speech to become the norm, even in the face of new threats from extreme Islamist groups.
"I feel like Australia hit a bit of a rock bottom around the time of the Cronulla riots and that was a pretty horrible time,” he said.
"And then we had ISIS. Who could have picked that there would be something almost worse than Al Qaeda? But it feels like that's what we're looking at right now. So that unfortunately puts a lot of fear into people, and fear unfortunately can make people act against their better knowledge."
Barry and Yvonne Kennedy on their wedding day. Source: Supplied
Simon Kennedy hopes telling his mother’s story might change a few minds, and potentially allow people to challenge representations of Muslim communities.
“She was a very strong advocate of the Red Cross values, and that is impartiality, equality. Basically anyone who's in need of help, gets help,” Mr Kennedy said.
“No matter what religion, no matter what creed, no matter what race or political motive, everyone is deserving of humanity.”
