This last week of January is an important time to recognize human rights abuses motivated by racism, notably anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. During this week we commemorate two important observances that bring our attention to the hardship and hate that have been faced both the Jewish and Muslim communities.
January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day in 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – where more than one million Jewish people were sent to gas chambers during the Holocaust – was liberated. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated January 27 as the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust to remember the victims of the atrocities of the Holocaust and reflect on the dangers of anti-Semitism.
January 29 is the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia. In 2017, a gunman entered the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City and open fire, killing six Muslim men: Mamadou Tanou Barry, Ibrahima Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Abdelkrim Hassane, Azzeddine Soufiane and Aboubaker Thabti, and seriously injuring 19 others.
In 2021, the Federal government designated January 29 as a day to honour the victims and to express solidarity with the Muslim community in Quebec City and across Canada. This National Day of Remembrance provides Canadians an opportunity to honour the memory of the victims who selflessly and courageously put themselves in harms way to protect others and to stand in solidarity with the survivors of this tragedy. This day also serves as a reminder of the work needed to denounce and eradicate Islamophobia and all other forms of racism, hate and religious discrimination in Canada.
