NCCM CONDEMNS DISGUSTING VANDALISM OF PROMINENT OTTAWA MUSLIM CENTRE

October 24th, 2023 

NCCM is troubled by yet another incident of mosque vandalism, this time in a high-traffic area of Ottawa.
On the morning of Sunday, October 22nd, 2023, a man approached the front door of the mosque and center, located in a prominent part of Ottawa (click here for video). Leaders of the space have chosen to keep the identity of the mosque anonymous.  

Caught on surveillance camera, the man is shown (with his face quite clearly visible) using plastic material to smear feces all over the center doors.  

When the manager of the mosque arrived later in the morning, he could smell the odour and was told by one of his colleagues about what happened. Together, the two spent an hour cleaning up the mess using a large amount of water, detergent, tissues, plastic bags and a spray.  

We urge the Ottawa Police Service to continue investigating this as a potentially hate-motivated crime.  

“Our caseworkers have been receiving an over 1300% spike in Islamophobic incidents since earlier this month,” said NCCM CEO Stephen Brown. “We have yet to see an organized and concerted effort from our elected officials to formulate a real plan to push back against this utterly appalling rise in anti-Muslim hate.” 

Such incidents, including multiple acts of vandalism, have spiked since events in Israel and the Gaza Strip unfolded earlier this month. Since then, various communities have reported a spike in hateful events. 

This includes Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, and anti-Semitism. All these forms of hate must be stemmed at their root. Our leaders must come together to implement fundamental changes to address this growing issue.  

We are in touch with leaders at the mosque, Ottawa Police Services, and all parties on the ground to ensure this incident is adequately investigated from all angles.  

We will provide updates.  

We are available for comment.

____________

Media Contact:

Uthman Quick, Director of Communications, NCCM
Email: uquick@nccm.ca
Phone: (416) 908-6141 

The NCCM is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit organization that is a leading voice for civic engagement and the promotion of human rights.