By The Canadian Press
(KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK) Rania Lawendy says classmates of a Muslim teen who was deliberately struck and killed in London, Ont., haven’t been able to stop crying. The council member of the Muslim Association of Canada says she went to console students at the London Islamic School after their 15-year-old peer, Yumna, was killed along with three of her family members on Sunday while they were out for a stroll northwest of the city.
Lawendy, whose daughters were also friends with Yumna, says a nine-year boy who survived but was seriously injured, was devastated when he learned about his family while he was in the hospital ICU yesterday.
“This is causing serious anxiety, in Muslim kids especially,” said Lawendy, who is also a principal at MAC Maple Grove School in Kitchener, Ont., and the director of MAC Youth Juniors.
“These brutal attacks of violence keep them awake at night. They’re scared to walk at night. They haven’t been able to stop crying because they’re not just mourning their friend, but (they’re) also worried about themselves.”
Lawendy said she has been speaking with students about the attack and has been giving them guidance. Police have said the man driving the truck targeted the family because of their faith.
“When you’re a victim of hate … it adds another layer of complexity that the average person can’t fathom. And then to have to explain that to your children, and for them to have to kind of deconstruct that … it’s a lot for our children to do.”
Thoughts and prayers from politicians are not enough, Lawendy said. “Muslims have been reaching out to elected officials and security authorities for years and it’s clear that not enough is being done,” she said.
“I know your thoughts and prayers are with us and I appreciate that, but I need more from you as a politician.”Lawendy said the community has been asking the government for years to track hate crimes more thoroughly and to address the dangers of white supremacy, but little has been done.
“If I heard one more time the phrase ‘hate has no place in Canada’, I thought I was going to track down the politicians (and) have more than words,” added Barbara Perry, a professor of criminology and justice at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa.