Montreal mosque vandalised as thousands mourn Quebec victims

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined fellow Canadians on Thursday to mourn three of six men killed in a mosque shooting, seeking to pull together a nation shaken by the hate crime.

Hours earlier, vandals broke a window and threw eggs at the Khadijah mosque in Montreal, despite beefed-up police presence at mosques following a shooting at a Quebec mosque that killed six people earlier this week.

Writing on Facebook, mosque officials urged members of the local community to be safe, saying: "We do not know if this is the start of something new."

The attack came just hours before almost 5,000 mourners packed into a hockey arena in Montreal's Olympic Park for the funeral, while many more across Canada watched it on television.

For many in this mostly secular nation, the ceremony was their first glimpse of traditional Muslim funeral rites. 

There were also prayers for the other three victims, who will be commemorated the next day in Quebec City.

Khaled Belkacemi, 60, and Abedlkrim Hassane, 41, both Algerian dual nationals, and Tunisian-born Aboubaker Thabti, 44, were shot dead, along with three other worshippers at a Quebec City mosque on Sunday.

"The pain is hard to express, it runs deep," mourner Mohamed Lemdani told AFP.

"We are all family men who came to Canada to work and integrate into a multicultural society," he said. 

White flower wreaths were placed by the coffins, covered by the flags of the victims' birth countries, where their bodies later would be transported for burial.

'We are all family men who came to Canada to work and integrate into a multicultural society' - Mohamed Lemdani

There has been an outpouring of support for Canada's minority Muslim community in the wake of the attack, but also pockets of increased hate mongering.

At the funeral, Catholics, Jews, Muslims and agnostics sat side by side, hugging each other and wiping away tears as verses of the Quran were read aloud.

"The whole nation has been shaken by this brutal and hateful attack, but in these dark moments our country has united and showed solidarity," Trudeau said.

"[Say] no to violence, no to intimidation, racism and xenophobia," said Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard.

To Canada's 1.1 million-strong Muslim minority, he said: "Know that you are at home here."

In the aftermath of the attack, one of the worst ever on Canadian soil, Muslims across Quebec said they felt fearful on a level they had never experienced before. Sayeeda Alibhai, who has lived in Montreal for 42 years, said she was shocked to find armed security guards in front of several mosques she drove past on Monday.

'[Say] no to violence, no to intimidation, racism and xenophobia' - Philippe Couillard

“I keep getting visions of it happening to my local mosque, or any of the other ones," she told Middle East Eye.

Canadians have been divided as to whether the attack had more to do with newly elected US President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims, or on racial and religious tensions that existed in Quebec long before Trump’s advent in US politics.

“When the flames of hatred are blowing on this side of the border, it is natural to point the finger at President Trump,” said Fariha Naqvi, a marketing executive based in Montreal.

Still, she added: “Having been born and raised in Quebec, I know that’s not the full reason.”