A few days after the video purported killing of Japanese national Kenji Goto was released, people are retweeting the late journalist's Twitter posts from four years ago.
"Closing my eyes and holding still. It's the end if I get mad or scream. It's close to a prayer. Hate is not for humans. Judgment lies with God. That's what I learned from my Arabic brothers and sisters," Goto tweeted in September 2010, with the handle @kenjigotoip.
The tweet was shared 20,000 times on Monday and the number continues to rise by the minute.
Toshi Maeda, Goto's friend, has verified the authenticity of the Twitter account. Maeda is the head of Pacific Bridge, a Tokyo-based business, which Goto had used for his reports in Syria where he got abducted, sources say.
The Japanese journalist talked about French wine, his tired eyes, and his works in Syria and Iraq in his tweets four years ago.
People took inspiration from Goto's tweets, especially the one that said, "Hate is not human."
Japan has been mourning the death of Goto, after the Japanese government received a video of his purported killing last Sunday. Many were hoping that Goto would return alive after terrorist group ISIS asked for a prisoner exchange last Thursday.
The Japanese government said on Monday that it did not have "any intention at all to pay the ransom." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Obama had earlier expressed their condemnation of the latest killings.
"I feel strong anger at this act of terrorism, which is outrageous and the height of barbarism," Abe said of the recent killings. "We will not forgive terrorists, and we will work alongside the international community to make them pay for their sins."
The Islamic State had earlier asked for a $200 million ransom in exchange of Japanese nationals' Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa's lives.
Goto's mother had pleaded to Japanese PM Abe to help his son come home alive.
The Jordanian government had agreed to a prisoner exchange with the extremist group, but the latter failed to show pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh. Since there was no sign of the Jordan national still being believe, no exchange happened and the deadline also passed.
