Saguenay mosque vandalized, splattered with red fluid

The Toronto Star, September 3, 2013

CHICOUTIMI, QUE.—Police in Quebec’s Saguenay region have been called in after a local mosque was vandalized over the weekend — splattered with what could possibly be pig blood.

Representatives of the area’s small Muslim community say they believe it to be an isolated incident, and Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay agrees.

Contacted by The Canadian Press on Sunday, Tremblay said he was shocked by what he termed an “isolated and stupid” act of intolerance against a place of worship.

The mayor insisted that most local residents would also be appalled by the attack.

“That’s not the mentality people in the region have … All it takes is one or two stupid people for something like this to happen,” he said in an interview.

He said the incident undermines the community’s efforts to welcome diversity.

“This isn’t the way to show we have an open mind,” he said.

An anonymous letter spouting anti-Islamic rhetoric was also sent to the mosque and to the local Radio-Canada station in Chicoutimi On Monday, CBC was reporting the letter told Muslims to “assimilate or go home.”

The letter, it reported, also claimed that the mosque had been “baptized with fresh pig’s blood from Quebec.”

Lt. Denis Harvey of the Saguenay police force said inciting hatred against a religious group is prohibited by the Criminal Code, and police will definitely investigate the vandalism and the letter.

Police do not know yet what the red liquid is or whether it’s blood of any sort.

Hussein Hassan, co-founder of the mosque, known as Mosquée de Saguenay, said he believes the actions are the work of “fanatics” and “unbalanced people” or “jokers,” who are not representative of the citizens of Saguenay.

The vandalism occurred as Quebec is embroiled in a debate over the accommodation of religious minorities, revived by the Parti Quebecois’ plan for a new “Quebec Charter of Values.”

Leaked details of the charter include a ban for public sector workers on religious symbols such as kippas, hijabs and turbans, along with visible crucifixes on one’s body.