Muslim Council of Montreal calls for day of awareness and prayer for Syria

February 22, 2012
COMMUNITY ALERT

Montreal, Quebec, February 22nd, 2012- The Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) calls on all mosque and community leaders to dedicate the upcoming Friday sermon to help raise awareness about the crisis in Syria and pray for peace.

“The situation in Syria is worsening and escalating day by day and the death toll continues to rise,” stated Salam Elmenyawi, president of MCM. “The Syrian people are asking for peace, justice and freedom and for this they are being persecuted by their government. We ask all mosques to dedicate the Friday sermon this week to help raise awareness about the situation in Syria, and to encourage the people to increase their prayers on behalf of all the Syrian people.”

MCM will be collecting donations to send to Syria. Cheques can be made out to JFM, with a memo note indicating it is for Syria. Donations can also be made to any Canadian registered charities doing emergency relief work in Syria.

Demonstrators in Syria started their uprising against the oppressive and corrupt regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad 11 months ago. According to the United Nations, over 5,000 people have been killed in the conflict so far. According to the Local Coordination Committees, the death toll is over 8,000.

“We also call on the international community to help the Syrian people restore peace, justice and the building of a better future of their country, while also establishing a system of government that serves the needs and interests of the people.” Elmenyawi said. “The Syrian government has banned almost all foreign journalists and human rights organizations from the country and it is believed that the situation on the ground is far worse than what is being reported. Immediate action is needed before any more innocent lives are destroyed.”


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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