Front Burner - Grief, fear after the killing of a Muslim family in London, Ont.

Episode Date: June 9, 2021

In the wake of the hateful attack that left four Muslim family members dead and a young boy in hospital: voices from the grief-filled London, Ont., Muslim community.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. Today is a tragedy. What I want to offer is a message of hope that this gathering represents a pivotal moment in the history of our beautiful community, in the history of our beautiful city of London. In London, Ontario, last night, thousands of people gathered at a vigil to pay respects to the Offsill family. Peace be upon you all. To Allah we belong and to Allah we will return. O believers, seek comfort in patience and prayer. Allah is truly with those who are patient.

Allah is truly with those who are patient and I need all of you to be ambassadors ambassadors of love because love will conquer hate I'll leave you with the words of Yuma my student from last year she said I want to leave a legacy she proceeded to paint a mural in the mosque that reads, Shoot for the Moon, even if you miss your land among the stars. 46-year-old Salman Afzal, his wife, 44-year-old Mediha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna, and Salman Afzal's 74-year-old mother, Talat. Three generations of a family killed when a black truck swerved onto the sidewalk and ran them over while the family was out for a walk on a Sunday evening. The only survivor is the family's nine-year-old son, Fayez. He's still in serious condition in hospital.

Police say this was not an accident or even a random attack. They allege that a 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman ran the family over on purpose because of their faith. There is evidence that this was a planned premeditated act motivated by hate. It is believed that these victims were targeted because they were Muslim. Everyone is screaming and crying. We leave our country to come to Canada to save, but we are not safe. We are not safe anymore. Veltman has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

The evidence is under a publication ban and still very little is known about the suspect, other than according to police he was wearing a vest that looked like body armor. Friends and family describe the Ofsellil family as generous and hardworking and strongly connected to their faith. They moved to London from Pakistan in 2007, and friends say they became deeply involved in their community. Ahmed Hegazi was a neighbour and a good friend of the father Salman. And everybody at the mosque knows Salman, just a beautiful person, always smiling, always willing to help, very kind-hearted, somebody who would really hold no grudges for anybody, just a genuinely beautiful person. They were all just a very, very kind and loving family and very nice kids. What can I say? They're really well brought up. Salman and his family really were working hard to bring them up in such a way and just well-behaved,

very nice kids to be around, the kids that you'd want your kids to befriend as well. This attack has devastated people across Canada, and for many Muslims, it's a kind of double tragedy. The deaths of this family, and also the fear that this could happen to them. Fazia Mazar from the Coalition of Muslim Women of Kitchener-Waterloo, she really feels this. People are just so heartbroken and they're afraid as well. It happened like my own family. My daughter was in her mid-20s. The first thing

that came out to her from her mouth was that, mom, it could have been us. We're identifiable because of you. And I felt a punch in my stomach. So does Amira Al-Ghawabi. She's a journalist, a human rights advocate, and a board member for the Canadian Anti-Hate Network. My own father is worried about me right now. You know, he just was musing last night, you know, is it safe to wear your headscarf anymore?

And it really shakes me to my core to imagine that I might have to one day consider removing something that I cherish as part of who I am and part of my identity in order to be safe, in order to keep my family safe. You know, this is an act of worship when I put on my headscarf. It's something I'm very proud of. And living in Canada, it's something that I've often said, you know, if I can't be free to practice my religion in a country like Canada, where can I be free? And so, again, this attack is not only an attack against Canadian Muslims. our very democracy, on what it means to be living in a country that prides itself on religious freedoms, on the freedom to choose how we want to be in the world.

On Monday, London Mayor Ed Holder tried to reassure the city's Muslim community, more than 30,000 strong, that they're safe. Look, we can say this isn't who we are, and I know that to be true. Words, though, are not enough. We can say this isn't who we are, and I know that to be true. Words, though, are not enough. We must demonstrate, behave, and act on those words. This act of Islamophobia, this act of unspeakable hatred, must be followed by acts of compassion, acts of kindness, acts of humanity. But many Muslims in London and across the country, they do not feel secure.

Because this is not the first time that Canada has witnessed a horrific Islamophobic attack. Mustafa Farouk from the National Council of Canadian Muslims says attacks like this, they don't come from nowhere. Let's start with the over 250 white supremacist groups that are currently mobilizing and active in Canada. The fact that the three percenters, that the soldiers of Odin, that other groups like this exist and have not been dismantled is disgusting. And it's even more disgusting when these things keep happening. We need to see groups that are actively mobilizing as Islamophobic there. We need to see accountability from groups, from politicians, from media outlets who continue to spew nonsense

and xenophobic diatribes that try to divide Canadians apart. Ahmed Hegazi, the friend of the family, wants to see action too. Some concrete action needs to be taken where hate speech should not go unchecked, where hate groups should be dismantled, banned. The adding fuel to the fire that's been happening for years, that attitude of us versus them, that needs to stop. The Ofsell family attended the London Muslim Mosque, the site of yesterday night's vigil.

Aridj Anwar is the imam there, and we reached him on Tuesday afternoon as he was leaving the memorial at Hyde Park and South Carriage Roads in London, the site of the killing. Hi, Imam. Thank you so much for joining me today. And I just want to start by offering my deepest condolences. I'm so, so sorry for your loss and for the loss that your community is feeling right now. Thank you for having me. Thank you for your condolences. We appreciate them. I understand that you just came from the intersection where this attack took place.

And could you tell me about that? This attack took place as a family was taking an evening stroll. They were brutally targeted and mercilessly killed. That intersection where this took place has become a makeshift memorial, not by an organization, like not by us as the mosque, but by the people, by the community. And there's flowers everywhere.

People have even left teddy bears because of the younger child. People come there to flowers everywhere. People have even left teddy bears because of the younger child. People come there, they stand there, they spend a moment there. Many are crying. They come to pay their respects. And it's such a beautiful expression of this community's compassion.

And this community, the London community at large, sharing our grief in this very difficult moment of grief. I know this family attended your mosque, and I was wondering if you could just share with us whatever you feel comfortable sharing about this family that was killed. We're unable to share the specifics officially because of the investigation. What I can tell you is two things. Number one, this family was a very integral part

of our community. They were loved by everyone. And I mean that in the truest sense. Every single person had nothing but good things to say about them. This family will be dearly missed. They were snatched away from us. They will be very, very dearly missed by the community. That's one thing I can say about them.

The second thing is in due time, we will share their stories. Once we are through the process of the investigation, we will share the stories of this family. We will honor their stories. Once we are through the process of the investigation, we will share the stories of this family. We will honor their legacy. We will cherish their memory. I wonder if you could describe for me a little bit more what has been lost though with this horrible loss of this family. What kind of hole it leaves in your community? It's hard to describe it right now because we're in such a state of shock. Really, the reality hasn't set in yet. It will set in once we go through the reopening of the mosque,

once things go back to a bit more normal state. That's when really their loss will be felt by us as the community. The one we are most concerned about is the child, the survivor, the orphan, who everything has been taken away from him, his parents, his sister. He has suffered an unspeakable tragedy we'll go through a whole host of trauma. And we as a community, us as the mosque leadership, we are going to be there for this child. He will be our child, the child of this community. We will be there for him. I can't imagine you talk about this shock.

Can you tell me a little bit about your reaction? How did you find out about this? I got a call from our mosque chair who told us that this has taken place. I, at first, just my mind wanted to reject this as something that was like a bad dream or something. But then it is real. So then we came to the mosque. We met with the leaders, the mayor, MPs, the police staff. And then we've been trying to work our way through that. So as we're working our way through this, we are also experiencing grief personally. All of us were crying.

There's nobody who wasn't crying. and grief personally. All of us were crying. There's nobody who wasn't crying. I'm really sorry that you're all going through this incredibly difficult time right now. Could you tell me a bit more about what you're hearing from your community as the imam at the London Muslim Mosque? The community is deeply, deeply hurt.

This is a very deep scar. And it's going to take a very long time for it to heal. So we're grieving. That's number one. Number two, people are afraid. And lastly, people are outraged. This is not the first time this has happened to Muslims in Canada. We had the Quebec City shooting in 2017.

to Muslims in Canada. We had the Quebec City shooting in 2017. We had a person stab a man in Toronto in a Toronto mosque that was also a hate-motivated crime. And now we have this. So we are outraged that this is happening again and again. And we need change. Have people in your community been telling you

about their fears? What are they saying? The fear of just, it's natural to fear when something traumatic like this happens. And the fear of being identified as a ethnic person or as a visible Muslim or visible minority is now, it's now real. Because that was the motivating factor for this person, the one who perpetrated this crime. So that's a natural thing. People are all feeling that.

What we tell is, you know, like we are not going to be defined by this. We are not going to cower under this or be terrorized by this person. It will not be like that. You mentioned that, of course, this is an isolated incident in Canada. And I understand that you have had security in place at your mosque. And can you tell me about that? This is something that has happened in Canada multiple times.

The Islamophobic murders have happened at least three times now. We knew that this is a problem starting 2018 with the Christchurch shooting. After that shooting, we had a series of meetings with the Christchurch shooting. After that shooting, we had a series of meetings with the police, with security consultants, and we took measures. We have upgraded our security cameras. We have upgraded our security personnel on site. We have security on site 24-7, even in lockdown.

And we have a police constable and a patrol car in the mosque parking lot for every Friday since the Chrysler shooting to assure the people that we're safe to act as a deterrent to someone who has evil ideas. So we as an organization have been trying our best to safeguard our community, to keep us safe. But you can't prepare for what happened on Sunday. There's nothing you can do to prepare for what happened on Sunday. What has it been like for you and for your community to have to worship under guard like that? I think all communities are resilient in one way or the other

and we've adapted to this. Now it's actually the norm. Now if there's a day where there is no police, people are questioning where's the police in the driveway, in the parking lot, right? So we've become accustomed to this. It's not pleasant because we don't want to think that we're under attack. But, you know, we're not going to be oblivious to the threat of Islamophobia either as an institution. Maybe this is a tough question to answer, but where do you think this hate is coming from? Or what do you see exacerbating it? That's a very difficult question. And honestly, that's a question that requires investigation. That's a very difficult question.

And honestly, that's a question that requires investigation. My initial thoughts of this is that you look at our media, you look at TV, who's the bad guy in shows? Who's the bad guy, you know, yelling phrases in Arabic before they're killed as the antagonist? When you criminalize the Muslim community so regularly, so nonchalantly, this is going to be a... There's got to be some correlation there. I'm not claiming there is,

but I'm going to pontificate that there is a correlation between the vilification in the media and the hate on the ground. I would say that's a problem. I would say how people speak about Islamophobia is a problem. This time, things have been awesome. Everyone said the right things.

But that's not always been the case. Can you tell me more about what you mean by that? Can you tell me more about what you mean by that? What I mean by that is that this time, people call this an Islamophobic act, an act motivated by hate. Some calling it terrorism. That's the kind of language we want to see. Because that is exactly what it is. in previous instances in Canada, in America, in other parts of the world, when this has happened, the victim is blamed implicitly. Were they not integrated in the community?

Were they living in ghettos? That was the conversation around the Quebec City Mosque, if you remember. I remember it very clearly. It was almost like trying to find an excuse for why they were executed in cold blood. That's not the case now, but that conversation existed not too long ago. In the family's statement that they put out on Monday night, they said this young man who committed this act of terror was influenced by

a group that he associated with? And do you have a sense of what they're referring to there? So we can't comment on that because that's part of the investigation. What we know is the police has the London Police Force. We have worked very closely with the London Police Force. We have an excellent relationship with them. And we thank them for saying what they said in the press conference, and including us as part of this process.

The London police force, when there is a threat, when there was a rally taking place of people inclined towards hate, the London police force warned us that they might vandalize the mosque, and we were on guard,

and they were on patrol you see so we're informed on an institutional level we are in touch with the london police force and that has been the case uh for a very long time and that will continue to be the case going forward i i know that you can't comment uh on this investigation right now but i wonder if you could tell me a bit more of that about that rally that you were just referring to. There was a few years ago, there was a extreme right-wing rally. I'm sure, I don't remember the name of the group at this point, but it was taking place in London. Was it Pegida? I believe that's their name, yes. So when that was taking place, the police had informed us that this is what's happening.

They're monitoring the situation. They informed us of the threats. They told us these are the kind of precautions you should take. And we took them. And, you know, nothing happened, which was a great blessing. But my point here is that the police and us as an institution, we are in touch. They inform us of the threats. We act according to their recommendations. And so if there is something larger, the police is going to be working with us. And whenever something like

that happens, we are the first ones to tell the community, this is what we watch out for. And the first ones to take the necessary actions. Okay. And I'll just know for our listeners, that group Pegida is a very outwardly anti-Muslim group. As someone living in London, do you find that there is a lot of Islamophobia there? What is it like in London? My personal experiences are very limited because I am only one individual. London is no different than Toronto. I grew up in Toronto

in many ways. In some ways, people are friendlier because it's a smaller town. People are nicer. People talk to you in the grocery store. No one talks to you in Toronto. People just frown at you. It's to you in the grocery store, no one talks to you in Toronto. People just frown at you. Fair. Yeah.

So it's nice. You know, it's got a nice small town feeling, even though it's a larger city. But that's just me on a very personal level. What I'll tell you, though, is that as a community, we monitor this, like the threats that we face. You know, the mosque was vandalized multiple times last year, multiple times. And then sometimes it's just. You know, the mosque was vandalized multiple times last year, multiple times. And then sometimes it's just, you know, someone just wants to steal a few hundred dollars from the mosque donation box. Other times it's nefarious. So we see these things, we monitor them, we work with the police, and we take precautions. So we know this is something that's a problem. Islamophobia is a

problem. When you say the mosque is vandalized in addition to stealing from the donation box, what has that looked like? So it has looked like from like windows to a broken lock on a door to the wall in the mosque being damaged. Sometimes it's people emailing things or phoning in and saying things, either crank calling or someone who is just wanting to scare the secretary or scare the people who are there. But those are, it's not a regular, like, weekly occurrence or something. But it's not either that it doesn't take place. It happens, we monitor. And when it does, we immediately contact the police force. And we work closely with them.

So as a center, as an organization, we monitor the threat of Islamophobia. We've been monitoring it. So for us, this incident that took place was not some isolated incident that came out of nowhere. We know this is something that's there in the community that has to be named, that has to be addressed. In the coming days, what words of comfort or what message will you be sending to your community? We're going to tell them, take a moment to grieve. Don't rush the healing. Take your time.

Get help if you need help. We have resources available. Because no one should be rushed. Their schedule of healing should not be rushed. We also tell them, let us be resilient. Let us not be defined by this. Let us be normal. Let us take our precautions,

but also not change our life because of this criminal's act. Okay. Imam Marij, I want to thank you so much for this conversation. Thank you for taking the time. And again, my condolences. Thank you for the condolences. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you.

I hope that this was useful. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization. Empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that

of the people I speak to, 50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo, 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. Before we go today, I want to thank our colleagues at As It Happens, CBC News Network, and The National for the interviews that you heard at the top of the show. We'll leave you today with one moment from last night's vigil at the London Muslim Mosque. A prayer.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you all. A'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim. Bismillahir rahmanir rahim. يا أيها الذين آمنوا استعينوا بالصبر والصلاة إن الله مع الصابرين ولا تقولوا لمن يقتل في سبيل الله أمواد بل أحياء ولكن لا تشعرون ولنبلونكم بشيء من الخوف والجوع ونقص من الأموال والأنفس والثمرات وبشر الصابرين Those who, when a calamity strikes them, say, They say, We are for Allah and to Him we will return. O believers, seek comfort in patient, Oh believers, seek comfort in patience and prayer. Allah is truly with those who are patient.

Never say that those martyred in the cause of Allah are dead. In fact they are alive, but you do not perceive it. We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine, and loss of property, life and crops, and give good news to those who patiently endure, who when faced with a disaster say, surely to Allah we belong, and to him we will all return they are though they are the ones who will receive Allah's blessings and mercy and it is they who are rightly guided jazakum Allah khair assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.