Hateful package sent to Que. mosque two days before Muslim cemetery vote

QUEBEC — A package containing a defaced Qur’an and a note expressing hate toward a Muslim cemetery project has stoked renewed fears at a Quebec mosque where six men were killed in January, the mosque’s secretary general said Wednesday.

Mahedine Djamai said when the package arrived Friday he expected it to contain more of the sympathy cards that have poured in from across Canada since the shooting.

Instead, he said, it contained a Qur’an that had been slashed and a note suggesting the Quebec City mosque should use a pig farm as a cemetery.

“I was shocked,” Djamai said in a phone interview.

“I thought, once again we’re getting this kind of message we didn’t expect at all.”

The package arrived two days before a referendum on a proposed Muslim cemetery was held Sunday in nearby Saint-Apollinaire.

Djamai said the mosque informed police about the package but decided not to go public until after the referendum to avoid

The parcel we received, it reminds us that there’s always a fear that a terrible event like what happened on Jan. 29 could happen again.”

influencing the vote. A zoning change that would have allowed the burial ground project to move forward was rejected by 19 votes to 16.

Quebec City police spokesman David Poitras said security has been increased around the Centre culturel islamique de Quebec and that authorities are taking the matter seriously.

He added it’s too soon to know whether any charges will be laid.

Djamai says the community has been shaken by the incident, which brings back memories of the deadly shooting.

“We’ve received an enormous number of packages, of letters of sympathy (since the shooting),” he said. “On the other hand, the parcel we received, it reminds us that there’s always a fear that a terrible event like what happened on Jan. 29 could happen again.”

Six men between the ages of 39 and 60 were killed when a gunman burst into the mosque and opened fire during evening prayer.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard condemned the latest incident, which he described as “unacceptable and repulsive.”

“We should all condemn these acts, they’re not unique to Quebec, we see this around the world where communities co-exist,” he said in Edmonton as he attended a premiers’ meeting.

This is not the first time a hateful gesture has been directed toward the mosque. Last June, a pig’s head was left at the entrance of the mosque during Ramadan. The pig’s head was wrapped in paper and was accompanied by a note that read “Bonne (sic) appetit.”

The mosque has said it has also received hateful letters since the attack.