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On Sunday, June 6th, a family was out for a walk when they were intentionally struck by a man in a pickup truck on the corner of Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road.
Salman Afaal, 46, his wife Madiha, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna and Salman’s 74-year-old mother were killed, while Salman’s 9-year-old son survived the attack and is recovering from serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Police said the family members were targeted because of their Muslim faith. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling the attack “an act of hatred and terror.”
The driver of the pickup truck, Nathaniel Veltman, 20, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Memorial display at Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road/ Amy Simon XFM
A vigil was held at the London Muslim Mosque on Tuesday night in order to honour the family attacked. The Prime Minister, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and Premier Doug Ford were amongst some of the politicians who attended the ceremony.
The event saw thousands of people gathered outside the mosque and lined up and down Oxford Street and Hyde Park Road, connecting the mosque to the memorial display.
Down Hyde Park Road on Tuesday June 8/ Amy Simon XFM
Among those in the crowd was Sarah Abukarsh who is a part of our team here at XFM News. Originally from Palestine, her religion is Islam and is proud to be a Muslim living in Canada. Sarah opens up about her feelings on this week’s events and shares the impact they’ve had on the Muslim community.
Below is the transcribed conversation between XFM Reporters Sarah Abukarsh and Amy Simon.
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“How has Sunday’s attack affected you Sarah?”
“I don’t live too far from the incident. When we discovered that they were killed because of their Muslim faith and their beliefs I was completely surprised. If you told me this happened in other places in the world, I would understand. I would say this is familiar. People commit crimes and kill each other because of their beliefs. But here [in Canada], I was completely shocked.”
“And moving to the public’s reaction of the event, seeing the memorial site and the vigil with the city of London coming together, how did that affect you?”
“Everyone was feeling very overwhelmed and disappointed. The way that the community in London responded was amazing because we are all supporting each other. We are all one and humanity’s the thing that unites us. The response and the actions of politicians across Canada were very supportive and really made us [the Muslim community] feel that we are really a part of this family and nothing can tear us apart.
I was so surprised to see thousands of people coming from all over the city to stand in solidarity with their Muslim brothers and sisters, that really touched our hearts. The most important thing was that politicians spoke about the incident, and were actually speaking about the actions that will be taken to face this problem of islamophobia.
The most important thing is to raise awareness and make sure that everyone has their rights. Everyone has the right to be treated with respect, kindness, dignity and not to be hurt because of their beliefs.”
Photo credit: Sarah Abukarsh
“When I first heard the news, I felt really scared. When I was contacting my Muslim friends, some ladies who wear a hijab were very scared because of what it represents.
I was on the phone with my friend telling her that we want to go to the mosque to show our support. [But] she was telling me ‘well what if something happened while I was going?’ I was trying to calm her down and tell her that it’s okay, ‘everyone will respect you and everyone will protect you. What happened in London should not make you generalize or think that everyone in the community thinks this way, because they don’t.’
Every community has a good side and a bad side. But you cannot just generalize, as we said, and say everyone is islamaphobic and everyone is scared of us. It’s not like that.
Canada’s very diverse and people live together and accept each other. We are in a country that respects us as a human first of all, no matter who we are, or where we come from, our skin color or sexual orientation. I do believe that I have rights in this country, and I am protected. But at the same time, Islamophobia exists. It’s kind of mixed feelings, but we are trying to face it.“
“And with regards to the vigil, how has seeing such an immense crowd affected you on a personal level?”
“As a Muslim, I felt very supported. And honestly, what happened in London, this incident will not affect the way I feel towards the country, or the city or my community. I do understand that I cannot generalize what happened and say that everyone has Islamophobia. The community is very supportive. We are one, we are united, and I am sure that we will overcome this.”
“How do you see us as a city or even as a country, moving forward from this? What do you believe is the first step, or the next step, I should say, in addressing this problem that is Islamophobia?”
“In London, I feel that the Muslim community is free to practice their religion. Women can go out with our hijab, and they’ll be respected and protected. We will treat them normally as a human because being Muslim doesn’t make you anything else. They don’t see them in other ways. If we’re speaking about Canada in general, it’s a country that respects humanity, respects their rights. No matter your religion, who you are, what you think, what you feel, or anything about you, you don’t deserve to be killed because of your faith. You deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.”
Support down Oxford Street W/ Sarah Abukarsh
“If that family was not Muslim. If they were any other religion or even don’t have any belief, we would still feel sad about what happened. We will still feel upset and angry because they are humans and so it doesn’t matter what their religion is. Canada is a country that respects humanity and we don’t accept this violence in our community.”
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The St. Aidan’s Anglican Church in London is organizing a multi-faith march to End Hatred. This event is expected to occur Friday evening at 7 p.m. starting at the site of the crash on Hyde Park Road and South Carriage Road, making its way to the London Muslim Mosque around 8:45 p.m.
Sidewalk chalk art at Oakridge Secondary School/ Amy Simon XFM
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