Canadian Muslims for Peace Stage Rally on Kingston City Hall’s Steps
In light of the more recent terror attacks around the world including Canada, Australia and France, the organization Canadian Muslims for Peace has taken to the streets of Toronto, Ottawa, London and Kingston to show their support for Canada and ensure they aren’t being misrepresented by the extremists.
In Kingston, Ont. on the steps of City Hall, Muhammad Saleem, the president of the Islamic Society of Kingston said, “We want to extend to the Canadians that wherever some form of violence occurs under the guise of Islam, we don’t own it, we condemn it”.
Saleem says there are three main points for Muslims in Canada to focus on, including communication, engagement, and service. Saleem said he believes these three points are essential for Canadian Muslims to integrate into their communities.
The three points laid out by Saleem will also help Muslims be understood as members of Canadian Society. The first is based upon communication being essential for understanding and quelling the fears and concerns of different cultures within their communities, he said. Saleem explained engagement is about Muslims joining in with neighbours and their community and joining in conversations, while service is about giving back to the community in which they live.
In the spirit of service, the rally in Kingston was also about giving back to the community. As such, Ted Hsu Liberal MP for Kingston and the Thousand Islands was in attendance, participating in the gathering of donations for The St. Vincent De Paul Society of Kingston. Judy Fyfe, the executive director of St. Vincent De Paul, also attended to receive the donations.
Also in attendance was Syed Atta Rehman. Rehman is the president of the Pakistan Canada Association of Kingston. Rehman will be heading to Pakistan within the next couple weeks to show Canadian support for the school in Peshawar that was attacked by the Taliban, on December 16, 2015. In the attack 141 people were killed, mostly children.
Rehman says, “I’m going to Pakistan next week hopefully, and take the message, and visit the school and share the condolences of the victim families of Pakistan. I want to really thank all the politicians, they have really supported me in that I’m going for a great cause, They supported me to go and they are giving me full cooperation, so let’s hope I’ll be safe and come back home to Canada”.
