AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The growing wave of vandalism, online threats, and Islamophobic rhetoric in Quebec, Canada, has prompted mosque and Islamic center officials in the region to increase their security and surveillance measures to an unprecedented level. In this regard, the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec City issued a public warning for the first time, calling on worshippers and members of the Muslim community to remain vigilant and follow safety recommendations.
Boufelja Benabdallah, a spokesperson and one of the founders of the center, emphasized that attacks on Muslim places of worship have intensified over the past year and a half; a center that about a decade ago was the scene of a bloody terrorist attack in which 6 Muslim worshippers were killed, 19 were wounded, and 17 children were orphaned. He stated that the goal of these measures is not to create fear, but to ensure full preparedness to prevent the recurrence of past tragedies.
These warnings come following several consecutive hate-motivated incidents in recent months. In June, the windows of the Islamic Cultural Center of Maurice were broken following a wave of online harassment and threats; a month later, Montreal police launched an investigation into a hate crime in which a bloody, severed human hand replica was left in front of the Verdun Islamic Center entrance.
Simultaneously with these actions, the Al-Rahma Islamic Cultural Center in the Portneuf area, 50 kilometers from Quebec City, was also attacked and its entrance signs and markers were vandalized, leading to the arrest of two suspects. Despite the small Muslim community in the area, center officials have tried to maintain the security of worshippers against potential insults and attacks by installing surveillance cameras.
In addition to property damage, organized harassment and threats in cyberspace have exhausted Muslim activists and leaders. Evan Balgord, the Executive Director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, emphasizing that crimes and hate-mongering against Muslims are far beyond official statistics, announced that police statistics show only a fraction of the bitter reality of religious hatred in this province.
Despite these pressures and the heavy atmosphere of Islamophobia in Western society, officials of Quebec's Islamic centers emphasize the right to a safe and peaceful space for worship and the lives of Muslim families. They state that mosques and cultural centers are centers of peace and worship for believers, and the Muslim community will stand against the waves of anti-Islam sentiment through vigilance and solidarity.
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