Members of the McGill and broader Montreal communities gathered Jan. 29 to pay homage to the victims of the 2017 shooting at the Centre culturel islamique de Québec (CCIQ) and to hear a commemorative lecture on fighting Islamophobia.
“Today, we honour the memory of the six men whose lives were cruelly taken in Quebec City: Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Abdelkrim Hassane, and Azzedine Soufiane,” said Angela Campbell, Interim Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) and Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policies), in her opening remarks. “We stand in solidarity with their loved ones, the survivors of that unspeakable act of violence, and all those who continue to carry its trauma.”
Campbell noted that this year’s commemoration was taking place amid ongoing challenges faced by Muslim communities at McGill, in Quebec, in Canada and around the world. “Our community, including these students, have experienced anguish and pain, and it is important to recognize and validate this as one way of reaffirming our commitment to upholding the dignity and humanity of those who are grieving and suffering,” she said.
“As we continue to confront a world where too many people seem to sow division and opposition, here at McGill we are striving to focus on supporting and meeting the needs of distinct communities while at the same time zeroing in on the ties that bind us together,” she said.
Countering Islamophobia
Nadia Hasan, assistant professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at York University, delivered the commemorative lecture. She began by asking what it means to mark the federally designated National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia at a time when Islamophobia is on the rise.
“Acts of remembrance are so important and they have so much potential to bring about change. They’re important for a lot of people in their journey to heal from the trauma of Islamophobic attacks like we saw in Quebec City,” said Hasan. “But in some ways, it feels as though we’re engaging in acts of remembrance often while simultaneously not being heard or being actively silenced.”
Hasan spoke about Quebec Premier François Legault’s assertion in 2019, two years after the CCIQ attack, that Islamophobia was not an issue in Quebec.
“The CCIQ community had been the target of numerous Islamophobic attacks before Jan. 29, 2017,” Hasan recalled. As well, local radio “shock jocks” had been broadcasting anti-Muslim sentiments. Authorities were guilty of an “underestimation of the voracity of the Islamophobia behind these attacks, and the silencing of what the impacted communities knew to be true.”
To combat Islamophobia, said Hasan, people must be willing to engage “in good faith, with full recognition of the humanity of the other as a necessary precondition for achieving any form of justice.”
Hasan praised members of the McGill community for initiatives like Muslim Awareness Week, where people can engage in “difficult, but important conversations.”
Tragedy hits home
Khadijatu-Dimalya Ibrahim, who co-founded McGill’s Black Muslim Association in 2023, was recognized with the University’s Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec Memorial Award.
Established in 2018, the $3,000 award recognizes students who demonstrate a commitment to fostering the inclusion of Muslims within Quebec and Canadian society.
In accepting the award, Ibrahim spoke about the impact the CCIQ shooting has had on her life.
“It could have been any one of our fathers, our mothers or brothers. Bullets do not discriminate. They do not ask if you are a doctor, a scholar, a teacher or a father. Bullets do not ask if there is a child waiting for you at home,” said Ibrahim.
“I think about my own father, how before my biggest concern when he left for the mosque was, what candies would he bring home? Now I can’t help but think what if he doesn’t come back? What if something happens simply because he chose to pray? This is the terrifying reality that so many families live with every day simply for being Muslims.”
Following the commemoration, held in the Robert Vogel Council Room of the Leacock Building, a procession made its way to the east side of Dawson Hall where Muslim students laid six roses at the plaque and ironwood tree honouring the men who died at the CCIQ.