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Wednesday, June 09, 2021

Canadian Imam blames Israel for attack that killed a Muslim family, at memorial service

On Sunday, there was a horrific attack in London, Ontario, where a man deliberately ran over a Muslim family, killing four of them and seriously injuring a fifth. 

Not much is known about the attacker.

In a memorial service on Tuesday night, Munir El-Kassem, imam of the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario, outrageously blamed Israel for the attack, saying that the deaths are linked to "whatever is happening in Jerusalem and Gaza."


The Muslim audience cheered this assertion.

B'nai Brith Canada tweeted, "Deeply disturbing to hear a speaker at tonight's vigil for the London hate attack victims claim that the tragedy is linked to 'whatever is happening in Jerusalem and Gaza.'  Linking this horrible crime to Jews or Israel is an irresponsible and inflammatory act. Dr. Munir El-Kassem must retract his remarks. In times of tragedy, community leaders should be bringing us together, not dividing us."

Almost certainly the attacker is a white supremacist, who would happily have run over a Jewish family. There in fact was such an attack, luckily not fatal, in Brooklyn two months ago. 

To link this attack to Israel is to add one type of hate on top of another.