‘Love Trumps Hate’: Hundreds Turn Out in Support of Muslim Community
Photos 250News
Prince George, B.C. – Around 250 people – Muslims and non-Muslims, young and old – attended a rally in support of Prince George’s Muslim community outside City Hall tonight.
It was in response to yesterday’s tragic shooting at a Quebec Mosque that claimed six lives.
There were also anti Donald Trump undertones to the gathering with one speaker yelling to the crowd “Shame on Trump!” – a reaction to the president’s decision to sign an executive order that greatly restricts immigration from seven Muslim countries and suspends all refugee admissions for four months.
“Here we stand united in the face of hatred,” declared Hira Rashid, a member of the city’s Muslim community. “We are strong because of the differences we have. Get to know your neighbours because the best way to beat hate is through love.”
Mayor Lyn Hall and council came out to participate during a short break from budget deliberations. He was impressed with what he saw.
“I’m just so proud of the community for coming out here on short notice to show support for the diversified community this is. And to see this is really heartwarming.”
“I think all of us are horrified by the tragedy in Quebec,” added Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond. “It’s just not what Canada is about. We’re here because my husband and I have made some wonderful Syrian friends and to think that people are not accepting refugees – is just so contrary to what B.C. is all about.”
Comments
Well done people of Prince George.
What a beautiful thing to do. Thanks to the organizers and the many people who showed up. We are all one!
The politics of fear, hate, and division got Trump elected, and now hate crimes are on the rise. It’s time for us to stand against the politics of fear, hatred, and division!
BH any proof hate crimes are on the rise? No link to Huffington Post? Very sad about the tragedy in Quebec but linking it to Trump come on join reality. It was a mentally disturbed person not some brainwashed Trump warrior.
What has this got to do with Trump? It was the Obama administration that brought these 7 countries forward. Oh by the way Obama banned immigration from Iraq for 6 months, where was the outrage then? Last week of Obama he cancelled a fifty year allowance when Cuban refuges touched US soil they where allowed to stay. Why did Obama cancel that? Where was the outrage?
“The suspected gunman behind the Quebec mosque terror attack was known as a right-wing troll who supported Donald Trump, it was claimed last night. Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, allegedly mocked refugees and feminists online and voiced extreme political views inspired by French nationalist Marine Le Pen.”
ht tp://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/quebec-mosque-shooting-suspect-who-9725504
“The suspect in the shooting at a Quebec City mosque was known as an internet troll who frequently voiced his support for President Donald Trump online.”
ht tp://time.com/4654434/alexandre-bissonnette-quebec-mosque-shooting-donald-trump-marie-le-pen/
LOVE TRUMPS HATE!
So what did Trump have to do with it? I guess madona should be locked up with your reasoning, she threatened to blow up the white house or is that okay in your world?
On October 22, 2014, at Parliament Hill in Ottawa-Bibeau fatally shot Canadian Corporal Nathan Cirillo, an innocent man simply doing his job!
Yesterday, on January 29, 2017, Alexandre Bissonnette shot and killed 6 innocent people and wounded many others, all while they simply expressed their faith!
Both incidents are tragedies!
One, committed by an insane radical Muslim extremist and the other committed by an insane ultra right-wing radical.
Both insane, both horrible, both evil, plain and simple!
Evil exists! We should all be so lucky as to never have it come knocking on our own door!
Nobody should make excuses for the killer of Nathan Cirillo, and nobody should make excuses for yesterday’s tragic deaths! Evil exists!
Condolences to the families and friends of the lives lost!
Hart, well said.
BH:”The politics of fear, hate, and division got Trump elected, and now hate crimes are on the rise.”
Not true and simplistic to boot! Americans voted for CHANGE, not fear, hate and division! They were extremely tired of career politicians like the Clintons! If the Democrat established had given a fair chance to Bernie Sanders he would have won and Trump would have lost!
Instead arrogance and connections were used to prop up an unpopular Democrat !
PrinceGeorge, take a look at this.
http: http://www.cnn.com 2016/11/21/politics alt-right-gathering-donald-trump
No doubt the majority of Trump supporters are not Nazis. But the Nazis do support him.
Sanders even I would vote for, Clinton not so much.
Herbster, what can a person do if some crazies give him/her public support even though he/she does not want their support and even never asked for it? Anybody can do that if it suits their political and ideological agenda! It means nothing! I am not defending Trump! There are Neo-Nazis and I am not defending them either!
What this guy did was a terrible thing.. The work of a deranged individual. Anyone that attacks a place of worship is the most vile evil and deserves no mercy for the crime.
But as vile a crime as it is, it is also dispicable to use a crime like this to make politics of identity and hate. The communists and bolshiviks would follow that. Inspire a hate crime and then use it to justify state sponsored crimes in collective punishment against whole communities and groups of people.
Those claiming this is related to a Trump and his policies and those that use white guilt are just as much a part of the culture of hate as the deranged individual that carried out this crime. It does no justice to drum up hate of Christian white people because some sick guy goes on a killing spree.
The CBC today was all gull of opportunists looking to use this incident to push their political agendas. One guy calls in and says it is a pattern of people saying bad things about the Muslim religion and do so each against Muslims should be banned… A professor of law non the less saying words matter lets restrict fre so each because of this… Thus the emphasis on internet troops and such… The very next women calls in and blai,s it on white Christians and says see is now going to covert to Islam over this because white Christians are evil… So much for the previous callers notion of not promoting religious hate… Then the next caller says white Christians are now hunting Muslims like animals.
How any of that bluster and ramped up rhetoric helps in heeling is beyond my understanding. I think it just promotes the cycle of violence.
People should just leave politics well out of incidents like this or the terrorists win. This kind of talk is what he aimed for… To create conditions for more violence.
Darn iPad and it’s spell correct… Sorry I didn’t edit before posting I had to beat the refresh before it kicked in.
Eagleone, seamutt, et’ al; I am reaching out to you now, if you cannot accept the message in this three minute video, then who has the problem here? Love is love, and it is not up to you or me to define it. Love is greater than hate!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDgZuGIhHs
I didn’t see anyone complaining when Obama did the same thing in 2011.. banned all Iraqi’s from travelling to the USA. He is also responsible for ISIS.
Are all these women also in support of the muslim tradition of throwing gays off of buildings and for having zero women’t rights? How about the double standard? Israeli’s are not allowed entry into a dozen arab nations, including Saudi Arabia and UAE. Funny how they don’t say a word about that… isn’t it? lol
Eagleone, seamutt, et’ al; I am reaching out to you now, if you cannot accept the message in this three minute video, then who has the problem here? Love is love, and it is not up to you or me to define it. Love is greater than hate!
ht tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDgZuGIhHs
Problem here is rhetoric. His only link to Trump is a “like” on his facebook page. His facebook page also “likes” Marine Le Pen, Israeli Defense Forces, Senator John McCain, Jack Layton and the NDP. He is anti-immigration so the news that Trudeau was going to accept more probably tipped the scales more than Trump.
Perhaps we should be afraid BH who also “likes” the NDP
By oh my you do live in an ideal world, I feel for you.
I totally support the gathering and its message. I don’t support those who are using it to denounce Trump. He’s got nothing to do with it.
Nobody seems bothered by the 16 countries that have banned Israelis, for decades.
Algeria
Bangladesh
Brunei
Iran
Iraq (except Iraqi Kurdistan)
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Malaysia
Oman
Pakistan
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Syria
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Those of you bashing Trump, probably get your news from Yahoo and the Huffington Post, because you have no idea about world policies.
Hate rallies….why? No hate rallies with the boston bombing or the 49 people killed in Orlando. There are so many of them it would take an hour of typing to list them all. And committed by so called peaceful people.
Seamutt, eagleone, isthisreallife,leroyjenkins and x-it – I agree with you 100%
There is so much misinformation out there. I try to read both sides of an argument/issue, but It makes me mad when I see things like taped interviews getting turned into newspaper columns that deliberately misrepresent what the person said. How about people who want open borders, but these people won’t take the time to listen to the people living along the Mexican/US border and hear how dangerous their lives are? How about people refusing to understand the reason for the new policies that are being put in place, and instead they chose to think that instead it is all about hate, etc… How about women’s rights ralleys in western countries where we have it all to the point where we don’t even see it anymore that we are so blessed and lucky? And now this rally in PG where once again I think that people have got it wrong.
Islam has a long and continuing history of imperialism, intolerance, and violence, which justifies antagonism toward Islam as an ideology. Leroy Jenkins’ example of the exclusion of Israelis by many Muslim states is but one example. The explicit endorsement of terrorism so long as it is directed at Jews by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, is another. Donald Trump exploits this antagonism, like other demagogues before him, but vile though he is, he did not create it and cannot reasonably be said to be the principal cause of the tragedy in Québec.
The terrorist attack on the Sainte-Foy mosque is evil for two reasons. First, in a civilized society we hold people responsible as individuals. Branches of Islam differ in their relations with non-Muslims, and within branches, individuals vary as well. As a Jew, I am very well aware of the problems posed by Islam, but I also have Muslim friends who are as tolerant and peaceful as can be. Second, we do not kill people merely for their beliefs, however objectionable they may be. The intentional killing of innocent civilians is murder regardless of their religion or ethnicity. Although I could not be there, I am glad that the rally in support of our Muslim community took place.
Billposer, you could substitute “Christianity” for “Islam” in your first paragraph & it would read just as true. There is no comparison between North America as a whole & the idea of inclusion that our 3 countries hold. None of the countries, as deplorable as their ban on Israeli passport holders are, have anywhere in their collective national tenets, one of inclusion of other races, religions or sexual orientation. Rather the opposite. Justifying an abhorrent practice by comparing it to another abhorrent practice is disingenuous at best. Saying that people like Trump or Bannon do not hold some degree of responsibility for this atrocity should also absolve any radical Islamist’s statements to incite antagonism against other beliefs, by the same logic.
I am not the only one who is worried about the politics of hate, fear, and division promoting hate crimes. I never thought I would be in agreement with a Federal Conservative politician, but I am now.
“Conservative leadership candidate Michael Chong is laying part of the blame for the Quebec City mosque shootings at the feet of politicians who talk about division and “normalize hate.”
ht tp://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-leitch-politics-fear-1.3959265
He’s just saying that because it’s sets him apart from Leitch. He’s being opportunistic.
The important thing here, is this mentally unbalanced individual – who will be eligible for parole in 25 years – too bad Harper didn’t get his life means life bill passed – felt he had to kill people who had done him no harm, who posed him no direct threat.
My concern is I don’t think he’s alone in his thinking. There’s a lot of disturbing YouTube videos of Europe showing what happens when you get a significant Muslim population. Enclave’s develop, and suddenly women aren’t safe to travel through them. You have rioting, looting’s, burnings and one group seems to be responsible for the majority of the fuss.
So unless these videos are all fake news, there is a true concern with Muslim immigration, that is never addressed, because it’s politically incorrect to do so. People are secretly wondering – what happens with 50,000 refugees – who have large families, become 200,000 citizens whose allegiance is to Allah, and all happen to migrate to one city? Don’t believe that can happen – go to Surrey and Richmond.
Whether this fear is justified, or not, it exists. And the inability to discuss and address it, will just let the monster of fear grow, and this will happen again.
That’s it ski51, stoke up the fear of Muslim Immigrants, when in reality it is the Muslim Immigrants who should be fearing us. Heck, they can’t even pray in their own Mosques without be targeted. So you can bang on your drum of fear and division all you want ski51, it’s not going to work on intelligent self-aware Canadians, we know better!
This terrorist attack leaves me with many questions.
Initial reports from witnesses say that there were two attackers:
“SIX people were killed and eight wounded in what politicians are calling a terrorist attack, where two gunmen opened fire in a mosque in Canada during evening prayers.”
“According to witnesses cited by Radio-Canada, two men entered the Québec City Islamic Cultural Centre and opened fire on more than 50 worshippers inside.”
“One was armed with an AK-47, a prohibited weapon, La Presse reported.”
“A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told CBC’s French-language service Radio-Canada that two masked individuals entered the mosque.
“It seemed to me that they had a Quebecois accent. They started to fire, and as they shot they yelled, ‘Allahu Akbar!’ The bullets hit people that were praying. People who were praying lost their lives. A bullet passed right over my head,” said the witness.”
“One of the gunmen left the mosque to reload and came back. He then ran out of bullets a second time, reloaded and returned for a third round of shooting, Nadji told the Gazette”
“One man who was at the mosque told Radio-Canada that there were two attackers wearing ski masks who burst into the building and opened fire.”
Today’s Noon News reported that each victim was shot 3 to 6 times. That’s an awful lot of bullets from one man, especially when some reports indicate that the shooter(s) stopped to reload! If there was only one shooter, why would no one have jumped him while he was reloading?
I wonder what the truth of this matter is? The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!
You won’t get the ‘truth’ from the CBC, we know that. The white guilt they spread, the hatred towards every canadian that did not arrive here in the last 40 years, is almost comical. They tried to find a way to make the paris bombings someone elses fault, but a muslim. They tried to slant the ORlando shootings as a gun issue, not a religious one.
The person identified as the second gunman was apparently identified as such by mistake in the original confusion. He was not a gunman at all but a worshipper at the mosque.
See:ht tp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-shooting-mosque-man-arrested-released-witness-1.3959641
Also:
ht tp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-shooting-mosque-man-arrested-released-witness-1.3959641
Reading some of these comments, one begins to wonder whether Prince George has a local chapter of the KKK. “White guilt” and “White Christian Prosecution” are common recruitment phrases and terms used by the KKK, and the Nazi Party of America, both are supporters of Donald Trump.
BeingHuman – you are the problem. In order to deal with fear, people have to be able to talk about what makes them afraid. And then intelligent people have to show them why they have no reason to be afraid. But in typical fashion if you can’t respond intelligently to a post, you resort to name calling.
First, have you seen the videos on YouTube about the problems with Muslim Immigration – and if so, do you believe they are true? or are they fake news – and if the latter, then an intelligent person would provide evidence that they are fake, so those that are afraid because of them, will begin to ignore them.
If they are true, then, can you provide information that shows the Muslim population of Canada is different from that of Europe, and there’s no reason to be concerned?
So in your left wing jackboot methodology, when someone tries to ask questions, you stomp on them, instead of helping them to see the enlightenment you enjoy on almost every topic.
Problem is, if I’m right, and people are afraid, and people like you dismiss their fears, and call them racists, and bigots, and jump on them whenever they express their fear, they’ll just stay afraid, stay quiet, and then when they get frightened enough – do something horrible.
Good job SJW. By suppressing all opposing thought you are making the world a safer place.
But Alexandre Bissonnette openly supported Jack Layton and the NDP…
The very first comment above that tried to link this on the US President is who now?
Whenever anyone disagrees with a Liberal, or produces facts that cannot be disputed, they started calling people racists and Klan members. Truth is, the black man is the most dangerous person to himself, and has killed far more of his own people than the redneck Klan ever did.
Whenever you don’t get your way, you riot, threaten and name call… that’s the Liberal way right there. Instead of having a debate with facts, you bury your head in the sand and go back to being a victim.
Where on earth would we be if this generation of ‘safe space’ loudmouths were around in 1945? Probably holding a candlelight ceremony for killed Nazis and protesting the war I suppose.
Bh you are a piece of work. How come Muslims are bailing out of Muslim countries for Christian countries?
Bh how many refuges have you taken in?
BH name calling again. How long until this troll gets banned? This is a good debate and without debate there will never be a solution. Several posters have brought up real facts and concerns about the refugee situation only to be labeled racists and KKK. This is the far lefts response for everything that does not suit their tiny minded ideology. It is this response from the left that has spawned the Trumps of the world to come to power. People are sick of the left labeling everyone and they are the cause of the rise of extremism.
BH, People#1, Sophic Sage, JGalt has bragged about getting booted off this site but he/she just creates another alias and continues with his/her usual tactics.
First, I’m asking questions because I believe truth can only be found through asking questions. I bear no ill will toward Muslims. I’ve played soccer with them, dealt with them in business, have been treated by them in hospital and frankly, enjoyed their company. I ask these questions because I believe the root of this evil is flourishing and will only grow if ignored.
So, I would truly appreciate that if there is a Muslim following this thread, if you could chip in on a theory.
Terrorism experts say North American Mosques are healthy and are the best defense against extremism.
I believe that’s because the Muslim’s in North American have become Westernized, share a lot of our culture and beliefs while holding true to their religion.
Now, if our Prime Minister was to allow say – 200,000 immigrants from the 7 banned countries of Donald Trump, would our mosques be able to continue the excellent job of dealing with extremism, when suddenly 25% of their congregation is from the third world, uneducated, and possibly already radicalized.
I suspect that they would be no happier to see them than the red necks BH routinely condemns.
Two former Canadian Governor Generals have linked the Quebec Muslim Mosque shooting with the “Ugliness” in the United States.
Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson says the deadly weekend terrorist attack in Quebec City illustrates how Canada is in danger of being smothered by what she calls the “ugliness” south of the border.
“Clarkson says Canadians are bombarded daily with messages of ignorance and hatred, coming from the United States through social media and television. And even though Canada has its own beliefs, goals and history, she says its people cannot help but be impacted by the messages they’re hearing.”
No doubt, it is so evident that the weak-minded and easily influenced, are buying into the hate, fear and division south of our border. Nothing like having the leader of the most powerful country in the world, targeting people based on their religion, and countries of origin. The Donald’s first of many “crimes against humanity”!!!
ht tps://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/01/31/quebec-mosque-attack-shows-danger-canada-faces-from-ugliness-in-us-ex-governor-general.html
Obama is responsible for the mess in the middle east, are you really this naive? Blaming it on the new president, is like a Liberal copout. There is no correlation. The last 2 terror attacks in the USA were under BO’s watch, he did nothing about it before, or after.
Obma’s secretary of State Hillary Clinton armed Jihadist in Syria, including ISIS, proven in the hearings.. and nobody batted an eyelash.
But keep blaming Trump! Such an easy target.
Is he the only politician to keep his word and do what he said he was going to do? Gotta like that!
The mess in the middle east was first documented in the old testament. Blaming Barrack Obama for it is laughable. But any one guilty of incendiary speech like ISIS or Trump, is guilty of fanning the crazy extremists on all sides, who are out there and looking for an excuse to go and kill someone.
Um sorry Trump did not target a religion. That is your missinformation contributing to anti muslem missinformation from the likes of DVD, CNN GLOBAL, CTV…
Hey what did you think of your buddy Odumber slamming the door on Cuban refugees? How a bout when odumber stopped immigration from Iraq? Hey odumder targeted those 7 countries for special scrutiny.
So BH you are against vetting of people coming into the country. I guess you just hate borders?
Is this your new game ? Blame Obama ? And what news agency is DVD ?
CBC, ODUMBER invaded Libya with scary Hillary tagging along and did not enforce his red line in Syria. Isil got its start under ODUMBER and scary.
When Warrant officer Patrice Vincent was run over by a lone wolf terrorist, and when Corporal Nathan Cirillo was shot in the back by a lone wolf terrorist, the usual conservative chorus on this website called it a clear case of an ISIS attack. When in the fullness of time it has become apparent that both perpetrators had severe mental problems, ISIS can at best be characterized as providing a siren song to disturbed individuals. Donald Trump now provides a siren call to disturbed individuals on the right of the political spectrum. Have no doubt, there will be more of these attacks, Donald Trump has no interest in moderating his policies, and is thus no less complicit than ISIS in encouraging violence.
Well said herbster!
You should cut back on your DVD dosage.
CBC dosage.
https: http://www.thestar.com news ncanada 2015/03/15 csis-highlights-white-supremacist-threat-ahead-of-radical-islam.html
OTTAWA—“Lone wolf” attacks more often come from white supremacists and extreme right-wing ideologies than from Islamic radicalism, internal CSIS documents say.
Looks like the daily suicide explosive belted attackers are not being counted.
It is sickening to see those on the left and our state news media (CBC) trying to score political points using this tragedy.
I have some friends in the US who wrote me saying that they held personal vigils to join in the public ones in Canada! To make political hay with something as awful as what happened in Quebec is so totally wrong!
It is sickening to see Trumps press secretary using the Quebec City massacre as justification for Trumps policy.
It is sickening to see tRump’s press secretary period.
Yet it was Trump’s policy to ban Muslims from 7 countries, and refugees from Syria, that provoked the shooters attack on Muslims. It is so obvious Donald Trump’s administration is trying to alternative fact the situation. Here we have a white supremacist shooting and killing Muslims in a Mosque, and they spin it 360 degrees to justify their ban on Muslims. Ummm… if a Muslim went into a church and killed a bunch christians, that could be used to justify the Muslim ban, but the exact opposite happened here.
Who swallows this Donald Trump administration alt. facts crap?
Yet it was Trump’s policy to ban Muslims from 7 countries, and refugees from Syria, that provoked the shooters attack on Muslims. It is so obvious Donald Trump’s administration is trying to alternative fact the situation. Here we have a white supremacist shooting and killing Muslims in a Mosque, and they spin it 360 degrees to justify their ban on Muslims. Ummm… if a Muslim went into a church and killed a bunch christians, that could be used to justify the Muslim ban, but the exact opposite happened here.
Who swallows this Donald Trump administration alt. facts crap?
BH, you are blatantly wrong in your continuously regurgitating missinformation. Trump did not ban Muslims, he stopped all people from those countries for a limited time until better vetting can be brought in. I challenge you to show me where he said Muslims, show me. Also it was Obama who selected those countries for higher scrutiny. He BH how come Trump didn’t ban Muslims from the 40 or so other predominantly Muslim countries.
Hey BH ARE YOU AGAINST VETTING OF PEOPLE who come into this country?
More evidence that Donald Trump, and far right wing political ideology, influenced the Quebec City Mosque shooter.
Two men who knew Bissonnette (the shooter) told Journal de Québec that he was a Trump supporter. One, Éric Debroise, said he informed police Bissonnette is an “ultra nationalist white supremacist,” while one of Bissonnette’s classmates, Jean-Michel Allard-Prus, said “he has right-wing political ideas, pro-Israel, anti-immigration. I had many debates with him about Trump. He was obviously pro-Trump.” ~ Vice, January 30, 2017.
So BH you are saying Trump was coaching this nutcase, ya okay.
BH:”That’s it ski51, stoke up the fear of Muslim Immigrants, when in reality it is the Muslim Immigrants who should be fearing us.”
What do you mean by “us”? Nobody has to fear me and millions of others! I deeply resent your method of lumping everyone in Canada together to make accusations like the insult above!
Whatis wrong with you?!
He jumped on a bandwagon with no musicians?
The PMO’s office came out and blasted NBC for reporting Bissonette as a Moroccan, and demanded they retract.
Montreal’s La Presse does the same thing and nothing’s said. Odd.
Look on the right hand side of the screen. It was FOX News (Faux news) that tweeted the shooter was Moroccan.
Sorry, get those darn folks mixed up.
Had to hold my nose but watching ctv fake news. They are pushing the anti Muslim rhetoric by using the words banned from predominantly Muslim countries. Quite inflamitary language. They purposely left out the word temporary. Also Trump no where mentioned Muslim in the proclamation. He did not ban anyone from the other predominantly Muslim countries.
Factually adjusted Statements from liberal left biased progressive media like ctv are what fan racisisim.
The majority of fatal attacks on U.S. soil have been carried out by white supremacists, not terrorists! Gee, I wonder if the Donald Trump loyalists; the KKK, Nazi Party of America, and radical right wing Evangelical Christians, can “alternative fact” that bit of truth.
ht tp://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/24/majority-of-fatal-attacks-on-us-soil-carried-out-b/
While we can’t control the chaotic mess going on in the USA, we can do something about it here. Suggest our government and CSIS identify and target all right wing white supremacists, for expulsion from our country!!! We don’t need their racism, hate, and intolerance here in Canada. We also need to pass election laws that prohibit the use of hate, fear, and division in political campaigns.
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