Final funeral held for Quebec City mosque shooting victims

Final funeral held for Quebec City mosque shooting victims

The commemoration followed another funeral for three other victims held Thursday at a Montreal arena, which was attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Justin-Trudeau
QUEBEC CITY: Mourners gathered at the Quebec City convention center Friday for the funeral of the last three of six men shot dead while praying at a local mosque earlier this week.

The service began midday with traditional Friday prayers, followed by an Islamic funeral ritual.

Thousands packed into the center to pay their respects to Guinean-Canadians Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, and Ibrahima Barry, 39, and Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, of Moroccan origin.

The commemoration followed another funeral for three other victims held Thursday at a Montreal arena, which was attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Another sad day where we gather to reflect on the lives that have been torn from us,” Trudeau said as he arrived for Friday’s service.

Again, he called on Canadians to “unite in love, and reject division and hate.”

The mosque shooting victims were a scholar, a butcher, a daycare operator, a food industry worker, a public servant and a computer programmer — all connected by faith.

They had been attending evening prayers at their mosque in Quebec City when a 27-year-old student stormed in and unleashed a barrage of bullets from a pistol and a semi-automatic rifle.

The suspect later surrendered to police and was charged with six murders and five attempted murders. Police are still investigating and said terrorism charges may follow.

Four of the wounded in the attack, meanwhile, remain in hospital.

‘Muslims most often victims of terrorism’

At the Quebec City funeral, Trudeau reminded listeners that the attack had “shocked and horrified” the Muslim community in Quebec and all Canadians.

“Unfortunately, it reminded us of what the Muslim community has known for a long time, that around the world Muslims are the most often victims of terrorism,” he said.

“We live side by side, but we don’t know each other,” said Imam Hussein Guillet, who emigrated from Lebanon 40 years ago, as he called for greater outreach between Canada’s “multitude of solitudes.”

“As we chose this country, we ask this country to choose us,” he said.

Mourner Abdelmalek Elganah agreed.

“We need to get to know each other better,” he told AFP. “It’s ignorance, not hate that leads to this kind of tragedy.”

“We must work together to break this vicious cycle, this fear of others.”

The bodies of several of the victims — all dual nationals — were to be sent to their birth countries for burial because there is no local Muslim cemetery and only one in the entire province, in a suburb of Montreal.

In the wake of the attack, Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume said that would soon change.

Earlier, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard spoke to reporters about the need to speak out against bigotry and for a crackdown on hate speech to prevent a repeat of last Sunday night’s tragic events.

“Practically speaking we need to be more active around security, and all these social media and extremist statements are monitored by security forces,” he said.

A Toronto rabbi, meanwhile, led an interfaith effort to form “rings of peace” or human chains around mosques across Canada during midday prayers.

The act of solidarity was prompted after many in the Muslim community said they have felt unsafe in Canada since the attack.

As three of the shooting victims were mourned on Thursday a Montreal mosque was vandalized. A man in a suburb of Montreal, meanwhile, was charged earlier this week with inciting hatred and uttering threats online.

The city’s police hate crime unit has reported a spike in hate-related complaints since the Sunday night attack that has led to 52 investigations.

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