Montreal, January 29^th, 2019 — On the second anniversary of the Quebec City Mosque Massacre, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) commemorates and remembers the tragic events at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City which left 6 dead and 19 injured.  The victims included Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, father of three; Khaled Belkacemi, 60; Aboubaker Thabti; Mamadou Tanou, 42, father of two; Ibrahima Barry, 39, father of four; Abdelkrim Hassane, 41, father of three.  CJPME also calls on the Federal government to designate January 29^th as a national day of remembrance and action on Islamophobia and other forms of religious discrimination.  In October, CJPME and the Canadian Muslim Forum (FMC-CMF) launched the “I Remember January 29” campaign (http://january29.ca) which enables Canadians to add their voice in support of this campaign. 

“On the anniversary of the heartbreaking events at the Quebec City Islamic Centre, we say, ‘the victims of January 29 will not be forgotten; we will fight to ensure this never happens again; we condemn Islamophobia and all other forms of religious discrimination,’” asserted Thomas Woodley, president of CJPME.  As a result of the “I Remember January 29” campaign (http://january29.ca), well over 4000 emails and postcards have been sent to the Prime Minister and other members of Parliament calling for national recognition of January 29.

CJPME points out that Statistics Canada recently released a report confirming the recent rise in Islamophobia in Canada.  In its report, StatsCan indicated that police-reported hate crime in 2017 rose by nearly 50 per cent over 2016, much of it driven by incidents that targeted Canada’s Muslim, Jewish and black populations.  In 2017, there were 349 hate-crime incidents against Muslim-Canadians that were reported to police, an increase of 151 percent over the previous year. All of this happened as hate crimes targeting religion grew by 83 per cent, accounting for 41 per cent of all hate crimes in 2017, up from 33 per cent the previous year.

CJPME and the FMC-CMF launched the “I Remember January 29th” campaign in October 2018. Thus far, over 135 organizations and leaders have formally endorsed the campaign. 80 academics from a variety of backgrounds have also endorsed the campaign.  All endorsements can be seen at the campaign’s “Who’s on Board” page.  Canadian individuals are also encouraged to add their voice to the campaign online, where they can sign a petition while sending an email and postcard to their Member of Parliament.

About CJPME – Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is a non-profit and secular organization bringing together men and women of all backgrounds who labour to see justice and peace take root again in the Middle East. Its mission is to empower decision-makers to view all sides with fairness and to promote the equitable and sustainable development of the region.

For more information, please contact Miranda Gallo, 438-380-5410
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East www.cjpme.org

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