Vigil to honour the six worshippers killed in the Quebec mosque attack 8 years ago

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    "It shouldn't be forgotten," said Jawad Kanani, board member of Muslim Awareness Week, during a vigil held outside Montreal’s Parc metro station to mark the eighth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque attack. Johanie Bouffard reports.

    Montrealers of all faiths came together at Parc metro on Wednesday night for the National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Islamophobia – honouring the six Muslim men who died 8 years ago – killed during the Quebec City mosque attack.

    “I think this was one of the most, if not the most tragic, islamophobic attacks that happened around, you know, in Canada towards the Muslim community. And eight years after, it shouldn’t be forgotten,” said Jawad Kanani, a board member of Muslim Awareness Week.

    This vigil takes place during the Muslim Awareness Week, which serves as a call to action for individuals, organizations, and communities to actively fight Islamophobia and raise awareness about the persistent challenges faced by the Muslim community.

    Members of the Muslim Awareness Week, in usual order: Samira Laouni, president and co-founder, Salam El-Mousawi, co-founder and Jawad Kanani, board member. (Photo Credit: Zach Cheung, CityNews)

    “Ignorance breeds fear, and fear breeds hate, and the thing that leads to the most ignorance, part of it is on our part. As Muslims come to this country, we have not done as much work as we should have to debunk these misconceptions about Muslims, and debunk these misconceptions about Islam in general,” said Hassan Farajallah, a member of Muslim Awareness Week.

    Salam El-Mousawi, a co-founder of Muslim Awareness Week, added, “When we come to law 21, we are stripping women from their rights to dress how they want and, another point to mention, the hijab that the women wear it’s not a symbol, it’s part of their identity. So you cannot strip somebody from their identity in exchange for some work or position here and there, so we plead to our politicians though to be wise enough.”

    National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Islamophobia. (Photo Credit: Zach Cheung, CityNews)

    Politicians and dozens of Montrealers came to show their support — like Diane Johnston, who has attended annually since 2017.

    “I think it’s very wrong that different communities are targeted. So let’s all of us fight against that on this day,” said Johnston.

    Farajallah added, “We need to set up, we need to be strong from now on, become stronger as a community, and build connections. That’s the most important thing with people outside the Muslim community, and with all faiths and all different backgrounds.”

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