Mosque latest target of hateful vandalism

WINNIPEG — A mosque in Winnipeg’s West End has become the most recent site of what appears to be hate-motivated graffiti, marking another incident in a series that has unfolded over less than a week.

Someone noticed a swastika painted on the Abu Bakr Al-Siddique mosque and community centre at Ellice Avenue and Home Street on Wednesday morning.

Adnan Siddiqui, the mosque’s director, said he learned about the vandalism shortly after, when he received calls from media and police.

Police informed him they were working to remove the Nazi symbol before congregants arrived for daily prayers.

“It’s upsetting,” Siddiqui said. “We are working on helping the community, serving the community for four years now, serving food without discrimination. We have really good relations with the neighbours. But some people are targeting us.”

Siddiqui said the incident comes as the community is still coping with a violent attack on one of the facility’s volunteers on Nov. 17.

The 26-year-old man left the mosque during the noon hour to walk to Tim Hortons for coffee and was assaulted with a hatchet.

“Without provocation, the victim was struck in the head with the hatchet,” police reported at the time.

The mosque volunteer was taken to hospital in stable condition and treated for serious upper-body injuries. Siddiqui said Thursday that the volunteer is now doing better.

Joshua Clifford Walter Bear, 20, was arrested the following day and charged with several offences, including aggravated assault and possession of a weapon. Bear previously served time for two random robberies; in one a teen suffered a machete wound to the head.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau visited the mosque after it was broken into during Ramadan in early 2024.

Siddiqui said a volunteer was inside cleaning when the break-in occurred and locked himself in a room after the intruder entered, wielding a knife and an axe.

He also noted that while the swastika is commonly associated with hatred toward the Jewish community, it is historically a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

He doesn’t know why the symbol was spray-painted on the mosque.

“It’s hard to say right now, but I hope Winnipeg police will find out,” he said. “But because this is a place of worship, and we share peace and love with everyone, it’s disturbing to everyone. Hopefully, they can stop spreading these types of things.”

Wednesday’s incident is the third such incident of hate-motivated graffiti since last Friday, and the fourth incident overall after a Palestinian-owned cafe on Portage Avenue was vandalized over the weekend.

Kelvin High School was the target of antisemitic graffiti on Tuesday, days after nearby Shaarey Zedek synagogue was defaced with similar imagery that police are treating as a hate crime. Winnipeg School Division staff also notified parents of Brock Corydon School, an elementary school in River Heights that runs a Hebrew immersion program.

That graffiti at Shaarey Zedek, spray-painted at about 4:30 a.m. Jan. 2, included two swastikas, the word “hate,” and another word believed to be an acronym, the meaning of which was not immediately clear. Maintenance staff discovered the graffiti later that morning and quickly removed most of it.

Police said Monday they are investigating the tagging as a hate crime.

Early Sunday, Habibiz Café, a Palestinian-owned hookah lounge and restaurant, was vandalized, its front windows smashed by an unknown assailant.

The individual also left a piece of paper with a message: “Leave our country terrorist. F–k off.”

That incident is also being investigated as a hate crime.

Winnipeg police confirmed the latest incident at the Ellice Avenue mosque.

“The Major Crimes Unit is investigating,” WPS spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy said Thursday.

“It is too early to tell is this investigation is linked to any other recently reported graffiti-related incidents.”

Chancy said no arrests have been made and the investigation continues.

» Winnipeg Free Press