TORONTO – Signs with phrases such as “This Is Our Home” and “Stop Discrimination” were being held by community members during a solidarity march Friday morning after a Muslim woman was attacked in Toronto’s Flemingdon Park neighbourhood this week.
The march, organized by the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, started at 10 a.m. ET. at 10 Gateway Boulevard and ended at Grenoble Public School.
“Everybody in the country should be here, we’re not going to have this stuff in Canada. You have to do something. If nobody does anything it’s OK to do that; it’s not OK to do that,” said Don Mills resident Bonita O’Dacre.
Police said a Muslim woman picking her child up at school was allegedly attacked and robbed by two suspects on Monday.
It is alleged the men approached the woman, called her a “terrorist” and told her to “go back to your country.”
Police said the suspects then tore off her hijab, robbed her of her money and cellphone and punched her.
WATCH: An attack on a Muslim woman in Toronto is raising concerns about anti-Islamic sentiment in Canada. Jennifer Tryon reports.
Karen Shuster, who took part in the march, said she felt “embarrassed, terribly embarrassed, because we’re multicultural here, I was very upset” when she heard about the alleged attack.
“You feel fear, but at the same time you don’t want them to win, we want to stand up and we are going to say that what you’re doing is not right,” said Hakima Yusufi, who also came out to march.
The violent assault happened just days after the deadly attacks in Paris, for which the Islamic State has claimed responsibility.
Since then, there has been a spike in anti-Muslim incidents in Ontario.
Police are looking for three suspects after two women were allegedly verbally and physically harassed on a Toronto subway train Wednesday night.
The only mosque in Peterborough, Ont. was also torched over the weekend and police are investigating it as a hate crime.
VIDEO: Victim of alleged hate crime recovering: police
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