Women Pack City Hall for Ottawa Hijab Solidarity Day
The event at the Canadian capital's City Hall attracted more than 100 people, brothers and sisters alike, to talk about the women behind the scarves.
And talk they did, no one more so than Roua Alijed, who silenced the room with a spoken word poem about the role Islamaphobia played in forming her idea of gender.
Between speakers, the event allowed women to speak to community members, organizations and police about their reasons for wearing the hijab.
Anab Mohamed, a private nurse, started wearing the veil in 1990 when she came to Canada.
"The hijab brings me closer to Allah,” she said. "I am not ashamed of who I am.”
The hijab predates history, according to some scholars, but most know it from references in the Quran, where women don the veil to appear modest in front of men.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims reported 61 anti-Muslim incidents across the country in 2015, up from only 12 in 2013.
Ottawa police Sgt. David Zackrias said there have been more reports of Islamaphobia in the city since last year’s election.
"One report we got was a man screaming, ‘Go back to your country’ on OC Transpo and then ripped off a woman’s hijab,” he said. "While we have free speech, we also have to respect the right that everyone has to feel safe.”
Part of supporting these women to come forward and report hate crimes, Zackrias added, is to educate the public about Muslim culture.
Source: Ottawa Sun
