Muslim Council of Montreal alarmed over attack of vandalism at Gatineau mosque

January 3, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Montreal, Quebec, January 3rd, 2012- The Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) expressed its concern over an attack of vandalism at the Outaouais Islamic Centre in Gatineau this Monday.

The vandals attempted to set fire to two cars in the mosque parking lot, in addition to smashing the windows of the cars. Two windows of the mosque were also broken. It is the second time in the last month and the third time in the last four months that the mosque has been a victim of vandalism.

“Canada is a place of peace, tolerance, diversity and pluralism and such hateful actions go against all the values of our charter, constitution and country,” stated Salam Elmenyawi, president of MCM. “It must be made clear that such violent acts of hate and racism that target religious institutions have no place in our country and will not be tolerated. We call on all Canadians to speak out against such attacks and work together to promote peace and social harmony.”

MCM asks the Gatineau police department to investigate the incident as a potential hate crime and to move quickly to bring the perpetrators to justice. MCM further urges all officials and members of the community to exercise increased caution and report any suspicious individuals or activity to the authorities immediately.


CONTACT:

Salam Elmenyawi

Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM)

Ph.: (514) 748-8427

E-mail: info@muslimcouncil.org

Website: http://www.muslimcouncil.org

The Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) is an umbrella organization representing a number of Islamic institutions in the Montreal region. There are over 275,000 Muslims in Montreal, about 1,200,000 in Canada and 1.9 billion worldwide.

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