MONTREAL – Montreal’s Muslim community has been rocked by recent news of what the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has classified as a homegrown terror plot.
“The community’s in shock,” said Samer Majzoud, the head of the Canadian Muslim Forum, “in shock, and at the same time is calling for calm.”
Chiheb Esseghaier appeared in the Montreal Courthouse Tuesday to face terror-related charges which allege he and another man out of Toronto, Raed Jaser, plotted to derail a Via Rail train. The Tunisian PhD student was a researcher at the Institut National de Recherche Scientifique. According to his LinkedIn profile he specialized in biotechnology.
Reportedly, he worshipped at an Islamic centre near the corner of Van Horne and Cote-des-Neiges streets. However, no one at the centre’s midday prayers appeared to know him.
“Those couple are not known to the Muslim community. They’re not active in the Muslim community,” Mazjoud said.
Muslims in the area were also shocked; appalled by what they view as planning an act that is a distortion of – rather than a representation of – their religion.
“It’s not Muslims who do that, terrorism,” said Chawkat Ahmad, who works at a nearby restaurant. “That isn’t Islam.”
Muslims all over Canada reacted to the news.
“We fully trust that our fellow citizens will see this for what it is,” said Ihsaan Gardee, the executive director of Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, “an alleged criminal and misguided actions of a few who do not reflect or represent Canadian Muslim communities.”
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