Stunned Kenya mourns death, fears impact on tourism

Kafera Mukde used to sell seashells on the beach. Then she became a dancer, entertaining the Israeli tourists who flew in by groups every we...

Kafera Mukde used to sell seashells on the beach. Then she became a dancer, entertaining the Israeli tourists who flew in by groups every week. Today she became a victim, killed by a suicide bombing carried out in the name of a struggle far from her homeland here on the Indian Ocean.

On Thursday night, seven of the nine Kenyans who died were dancers, Mukde among them, performing to traditional coastal music every Thursday as a new group of Israeli tourists arrived. ‘‘It’s disgusting,’’ said Phoebe Atieno, 26, a close friend of another dancer who died. ‘‘It is hard to believe anyone would want to kill Kenyans. We don’t have anything to begin with.’’

‘‘It is horrible for Kenyans who never did anything to anyone,’’ hotel employee Alex Nyoka said. ‘‘This hotel had a set schedule. They knew when the plane came in. They knew when we brought people here. They knew everything.”

Kenyans expressed fear the bombing’s effect on tourism could be crushing in a country where the annual income averages $365 a year. Some of the workers said they had grown worried when they heard some of the many Arab residents of Mombasa cursing Israeli tourists walking in the city. ‘‘There was tension,’’ Muye said. ‘‘But we didn’t think it would turn out this way.’’

Villagers also worry about a Muslim school that they said offers to convert Kenyans to Islam and then send them to Muslim countries. Mombasa has dozens of small mosques.

Some of the preachers did speak out against 9/11 attacks. But on Thursday, they were busy tightening security of mosques fearing a backlash. (LATWP)