A few hundred people heeded the call of controversial imam Adil Charkaoui and gathered in a park in Villeray to call on the Canadian political class to denounce the bombings in Gaza.
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“As Canadian Muslims, we must help our brothers and denounce the silence of the Canadian political class,” the preacher said at the microphone Saturday afternoon in a park in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s constituency.
A few hundred people answered the call from the Canadian Anti-Islamophobia Collective, of which Charkaoui is president, and the Muslim Council of Montreal.
Photo Camille Payant
“Israeli terrorist, Trudeau complicit! Terrorist Israel, Mélanie [Joly] Accomplices!” mainly got the crowd singing Adil Charkaoui.
Adil Charkaoui condemned the “shameful position” of the Canadian prime minister who refused to condemn the Israeli bombings in Gaza.
“We will remember that the Liberal Party, the NDP, the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois turned their backs on us when we needed them,” he said.
“We are insurgents, we are outraged, we are shocked by this Canadian government, which at the United Nations prides itself on respecting international law but does not deign to condemn what the Zionist entity is doing to the civilian population of Gaza “, they chanted the fundamentalist imam.
In front of Trudeau’s offices
Around 2:20 p.m., protesters made their way to Justin Trudeau’s constituency office on Crémazie Boulevard Est.
“Trudonist Zionist” and “Trudeau, there is no difference between you and Hitler,” we read on some signs.
On site, Charkaoui indicated that it was just an initial demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause.
“Today we are standing in front of Trudeau’s office, tomorrow there will be more demonstrations. We will start petitions, we will not give up,” he said.
Controversial past
In 2003, Imam Charkaoui was suspected by the Canadian government of belonging to a terrorist organization linked to al-Qaeda. After 21 months in prison, Adil Charkaoui was forced to wear an electronic bracelet for several years before finally regaining full freedom in 2009.
In 2015, about ten young Quebecers who attended his classes on the premises of Rosemont and Maisonneuve colleges traveled or attempted to travel to Syria.
Then last year, La Presse revealed that Adil Charkaoui was able to briefly teach at a public school in Sainte-Thérèse, despite his controversial past.
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