Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday denounced an assault on a mosque in Mississauga, Ontario, currently under investigation as a hate crime. Advocates for human rights have characterized it as indicative of an increase in Islamophobia.
According to the police, an individual threw two rocks through the window of a mosque in Mississauga on Sunday, marking the anniversary of a mosque attack in Quebec City that claimed six lives in 2017.
CBC News reported that no injuries occurred during the incident.
Trudeau expressed his stance on X, previously known as Twitter, stating, “Islamophobia has no place in any of our communities.” He condemned the attack, calling it “cowardly, disturbing, and unacceptable.”
The assault is part of a concerning surge in Islamophobic hatred across the country, as highlighted by the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
In November, Toronto authorities reported a significant increase in antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes in Canada’s largest city since the commencement of Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Global human rights advocates have observed a rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia worldwide, particularly following the events of October 7, when the Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel, resulting in 1,200 casualties according to Israeli records. Subsequently, Israel launched a military offensive on the Gaza Strip, leading to 27,000 deaths and the devastation of the densely populated enclave, displacing almost the entire population of 2.3 million people.
