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| Great White North | ||
| 'Islamophobia killed Canadians': anti-Muslim rhetoric blamed in Québec attack | ||
| 2017-02-01 | ||
| Thousands of Canadians from coast to coast have sought to show their support for victims of a shooting spree on a Québec City mosque, as the country struggled to comprehend how one of Canada’s safest cities had become the setting for an attack described by the country’s prime minister as an act of terror. Just steps away from the mosque, residents braved the bitter cold to leave flowers and handwritten signs of support in nearby snowbanks. Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27-year-old university student, was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five charges of attempted murder on Monday. Those who knew Bissonnette described him as pro-Donald Trump, anti-immigration and sympathetic to the far right, prompting many to ask whether the current political climate had laid the ground for the attack.
“Gunshots, deaths, loading of ammunition, the cries of the injured. Blood on the prayer rugs. Practically a scene of war, here in our home of Quebec City, our city known for its peacefulness. Children witnessed this vile cruelty.” Six men – all fathers – were fatally shot in the back as they prayed. Another 19 people were injured. On Tuesday, two remained in critical condition in hospital. “It’s horrific. Horrific … in our magnificent city, it’s horrific,” said Régis Labeaume, Québec city’s mayor. Home to just over 500,000 people, the city saw just one homicide in all of 2016. Now it has become the setting for one of Canada’s worst mass murders in recent years. Over recent months, the mosque had been targeted in a series of attacks that rattled the city’s tight-knit Muslim community. Swastikas had been spray-painted on the walls of the mosque and a gift-wrapped pig’s head was left on the doorstep of the mosque during Ramadan, with a note reading “bon appétit”. Weeks later, neighbours received a pamphlet alleging ties between the mosque and terrorism. “Security at our mosque was our major, major concern,” said Mohamed Labidi, the facility’s vice-president. “But we were caught off-guard.” Administrators of the mosque had installed security cameras both inside and outside the mosque, said Boufeldja Benabdallah, the mosque’s co-founder. “We don’t live in a climate of fear, but we do take precautions.” Similar measures have been taken at mosques across Canada. Within just three years, the number of police-reported hate crimes against Muslims in Canada more than doubled, from 45 in 2012 to 99 in 2014, according to Statistics Canada. “Islamophobia has killed innocent Canadians,” the Canadian Council of Imams said in a statement on Monday. “As we pray for those who have lost their lives, the injured and their loved ones, we ask all decent people to stand against hatred of Islam and Muslims in all forms.” Some pointed to the political right for helping to create a climate that fostered the escalating hostility towards Muslims. “This mosque attack is no accident,” MP Michael Chong said on Twitter on Monday. “It’s a direct result of demagogues and wannabe demagogues playing to fears and prejudices.” Chong alluded to Trump, as well as Kellie Leitch, an MP who of late has floated the idea that all immigrants, refugees and visitors to Canada should be screened for anti-Canadian values before being allowed in the country. Chong and Leitch are among more than a dozen candidates running for leadership of the federal Conservative party. “It’s time to say, ‘enough.’” Chong added in a Facebook post. “Playing footsie with hate is anathema to Canadians’ values. It is dangerous, it is cynical and we need to root it out.” Leitch released a statement saying: “This outrageous act of violence is an attack not just on those gathered in a house of worship, but on the very fabric of Canadian society.” | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 We'll be hearing about this for the next half century or so. Watch for the declaration of a National Day of Mourning, an official song of mourning, and possibly an officially declared day of self flagellation to celebrate the event. |
| Posted by: Canuckistan sniper 2017-02-01 18:22 |
| #2 I find the notion of a 'hate crime' disturbing close to a 'thought crime'. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2017-02-01 03:48 |
| #1 The gunman unleashed a scene of “unspeakable brutality” Because reversing the natural order of things - Muslims do such to infidels several times each week? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-02-01 00:47 |