Syrian refugees say ‘thank you’ with food

A group of Syrian refugees is cooking weekend meals for Halifax shelters as a way of giving back to the community after a “racist attack’’ on one family.

Mohammad Al Jokhadar said a friend came up with the idea as a way to respond positively to the harassment of a Syrian refugee family in Halifax.

“There was ... a racist attack against one of the Syrian families here. A guy came along and was hurling racial insults at them, and just spitting on them, things like that,’’ he said.

“We’re just maintaining the equilibrium in society, right? So if somebody throws a little bit of negativity, you give them a little bit of positivity to counteract the effect.’’

One of the members of the Syrian Thanksgiving Group of Nova Scotia, Suha Mersal, said they wanted to thank the Canadian government for bringing them here and hope to give something back.

Eight out of 10 members of the group are Syrian refugees.

On Sunday, several families came together to cook Syrian foods and then delivered them to Adsum for Women and Children, Herring Cove Apartments, Metro Turning Point, Phoenix House and Phoenix Youth Shelter. It was the group’s third weekend cooking for shelters, and Al Jokhadar said they plan to make it a weekly event.

“A lot of my Syrian refugee friends, they come from terrible conditions in refugee camps and they know the meaning of poverty and suffering,’’ Al Jokhadar said.