Canadian Muslim leaders condemn attack on France’s Charlie Hebdo

By Matthew Coutts | Daily Brew – Yahoo Canada News
January 7, 2015

The 12 people killed in the Paris terrorist attack, including journalists, police and political cartoonists, are being mourned across Canada and the globe…

Leaders in Canada’s Muslim community were also speaking out against the attack in France, and voicing concern that their peaceful religion could be hurt by to the barbaric action of extremists…

And the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said justice must be served immediately.

“We are absolutely shocked and horrified by what happened. It is an absolute tragedy and it is a crime,” NCCM human rights co-ordinator Amira Elghawaby told Yahoo Canada News.

“We are shaken up by what happened in Paris today. Our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and the injured. We are hoping that whoever did this – the perpetrators of this crime – are quickly brought to justice.”

. . .

“There are extremists on all sides that are trying to divide communities and societies around the world. People who know better … understand that we are all in this together. We all want the same things. We want safety, security and peace – the freedoms that we enjoy,” Elghawaby said.

“We have to protect it together. And those who try to seek division and sow discord: Those people need to be sidelined. They must not be allowed to capture the narrative or re-write the narrative of our society.”