The organizers of Muslim Awareness Week held a vigil in commemoration of the victims of the Quebec City Mosque shooting that happened seven years prior, on Jan. 29, 2024.

In January 2017, a gunman opened fire in the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood, killing six worshippers, and wounding five others.

Mourners and activists at the event called out the rise in Islamophobia in Quebec, stating it is a cause for concern, especially since the start of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Since Oct. 7, 2023, The National Council of Canadian Muslims has reported a 1,300% increase in hate crimes and incident against Muslims across Canada.

The Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) stated that in the month following Oct. 7, they received 25 reports of harassment incidents and hate crimes towards Muslim and Arab communities.

During the vigil, speakers pressed Montrealers to build bridges and create connections with Muslim communities to prevent Islamophobia, Islamophobic incidents, as well as the passing of bills fuelling such issues.

Mourners also called out Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 27 thousand of Gazans – a Muslim-majority population.

“Today, as I see us standing here commemorating our martyrs, it’s very difficult for me to see the change that we have made as a country to combat Islamophobia, to make sure that something like [the Quebec City Mosque shooting] does not happen again. […] As Palestinian-Canadians, our families back home, for three months, now, 115 days, have been going through the worst genocide of our current century,” said Mahmoud Khalil, a member and spokesperson for Montreal4Palestine.