“Enough is enough. This type of hate is simply incomprehensible. These were innocent human beings who were killed simply because of their faith. They were our neighbours, family, friends, and co-workers who were murdered in cold blood.”
A Statement from the Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre on the murder of a Muslim family in London, Ontario
Posted June 8th, 2021 on Niagara At Large
Niagara, Ontario – The Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre is shocked and horrified and demands justice after learning about the planned and premediated act of murder against a Muslim family in London, Ontario who were out for a walk on Sunday evening.
Four members of the family were killed and the lone survivor, a nine-year-old boy, remains in hospital with serious injuries after they were run down on the side of the street.
We strongly condemn this act of unspeakable hatred, murder, and Islamophobia as it has no place in our society.
The Muslim community is all too familiar with violent acts of Islamophobia, such as the attacks on Muslim women in Alberta, the killing of a mosque volunteer in Etobicoke, and the Quebec City mosque massacre, to just name a few.
Enough is enough. This type of hate is simply incomprehensible. These were innocent human beings who were killed simply because of their faith. They were our neighbours, family, friends, and co-workers who were murdered in cold blood.
We demand justice and call on the relevant authorities to prosecute the perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law.
Hate will never prevail against those who promote love and compassion and we can do that by uplifting that nine-year-old boy and telling all Muslim children in Canada that your mom wearing a hijab or parents wearing traditional clothes are safe: your family are loved and belong with us.
We send our heartfelt condolences to the extended family & friends and stand in solidarity with Muslim communities in London, Ontario, as well as our staff, our volunteers, and our neighbours in Niagara and across Canada.
To our Muslim students at our Centre, if you need someone to talk to, please contact us for mental health supports at: https://www.folk-arts.ca/programs/mental-health and access our chat line or call us at 905-685-6589 ext. 243.
About Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre – The Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre is a charitable not-for-profit organization incorporated as the Folk Arts Council of St. Catharines in 1970, having the mandate to support and assist the ethno-cultural and newcomer community in Niagara through a broad range of programs and services.
Our Mission – We celebrate and promote cultural, social and economic inclusion and well-being of all immigrants and newcomers.
Our Vision – We are a gateway to equitable, respectful and welcoming communities for immigrants and newcomers in Niagara.
For more information on the Centre, click on – www.folk-arts.ca
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Niagara At Large 
Some people will always find an excuse to despise and abuse those who simply look different. This was evident when a non-white man wearing a red “Keep America Great” cap (with “45” on the side) called a nine-year-old girl wearing a hijab a “f—–g Muslim terrorist” at a Surrey, B.C. grocery store a few months ago. The girl’s father rightly confronted the man and repeatedly called him a racist. (I can imagine the shameful pleasure felt and rampant media postings left by white supremacists upon learning the accused racist was not Caucasian!) As far as terrorism goes, the girl’s family is far more likely to be fleeing extremist violence abroad than planning to perpetrate it elsewhere. But that ironic fact may not matter, anyway; ‘their kind’ are still not welcome.
I’ve found that a disturbingly large number of categorized people, however precious their souls, can be considered thus treated as though disposable, even to an otherwise democratic nation. When the young children of those people take notice of this, tragically, they’re vulnerable to begin perceiving themselves as beings without value. While the inhuman devaluation of these people is based on religion combined with race, it still reminds me of an external devaluation, albeit a subconscious one, of the daily civilian lives lost in protractedly devastating war zones and heavily armed sieges. They can eventually receive meagre column inches on the back page in the First World’s daily news. (To the newspaper owners/editors, of course, it’s just the news business and nothing personal.)
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