As we [Canadian Council of Muslim Women CCMW] witness the harrowing brutality of the genocide unfolding in Palestine, we cannot help but confront a deeply unsettling reality: we are watching in real time as human lives are devastated, entire communities erased, and the suffering of countless people ignored by those who should be defending them.

Please see this open letter, signed by hundreds of concerned groups across Ontario and Canada, to the Crown Attorney’s Office that recently decided to withdraw charges against an individual who was filmed attacking a Muslim woman earlier this year in Ottawa.

On Thursday, October 31, Crown prosecutors dropped assault and harassment charges against Lorna Bernbaum, 74, after she pulled the hijab of pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Hayfa Abdelkhaleq.