Rally at the Ottawa Mosque

I have just walked home from The Ottawa Mosque with a full heart and stomach too. I didn't plan to eat at the demonstration. None of us did. In the last few days the word went out around the Champlain Park neighbourhood; Wouldn't it be nice, if people who lived near the Ottawa Mosque came out and simply stood quietly around the Mosque, as a sign of solidarity. The idea was to be there, to greet worshippers as they arrived at noon for Friday prayers.

And so a bunch of us gathered there, in the sunshine. It was quiet at first but then we all got talking to the people around us. Gradually the Muslims arrived. Some walked by quietly, perhaps taken aback by our presence. And then they started greeting us. A middle aged man walked all along the line shaking hands with each of us, thanking us for coming. It brought tears to my eyes. So many men and women came along the line: some smiling, some shaking our hands, some quiet and some saying "Thank you, thank you for coming, thank you for being here."  One woman was shaking hands without gloves. We said,"You'll get cold hands." and she replied, "That's okay. This is Canada." Another woman, after shaking many hands declared, "See. My hands are warm now!"
All we were doing was standing there but it obviously meant a lot to the people entering the Mosque. At one point a representative from the Mosque spoke to us, thanking us for coming and letting us know that we are always welcome to visit the mosque, that it was our place too.

And then the food started. We were surprised when two women came along passing out trays of cookies. Then it was a tray of dates. "Good", I thought. "This will tide me over til I get home for lunch." Little did I know that this was just the beginning. More women appeared with trays of pita bread, sandwiches  and more sweets. Next came a man pouring tiny cups of Turkish coffee.

And so our quiet dignified rally turned into a street party. There we were, neighbours greeting each other, meeting new people, exchanging food and handshakes with our Muslim hosts. Down the line I overheard someone say, "We should do this every Friday." People remarked that they have never been so well fed at a protest march before. "These people set the bar very high." another remarked.

After a while, from inside the Mosque, the loudspeaker played the sermon. We heard words of love, gratitude, tolerance and peace. So, are these the people I'm supposed to be afraid of? Really? These people who have welcomed me, joked with me, hugged and fed me? It's not them that I'm afraid of.

Thank you to everyone involved in today's gathering. It was a heart-warming event.