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Fresh from securing four medals at this summer’s International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) World Championship in Rome, Ottawa’s Samah Syed is set for a bright future both on the mat and off it.

Goal! A cheer recognized across the globe by enthusiastic fans. Soccer, or football as it is internationally known, is just one of the programs offered for multiethnic Canadians and newcomer youth between the ages of 5-18 at the Somali Centre for Family Services (SCFS).

The Iraqi Students' Association of Carleton University (ISACU) partnered with local Muslim charity Human Concern International (HCI) to organize a community BBQ on Sept. 28th at Britannia Park to raise funds for Iraqi refugees.
The organizers made it clear in their messaging that funds would go to Iraqi refugees, irrespective of religion or ethnicity. This message resonated with Ottawa's Iraqi community who are made up of Arabs and Kurds, Sunni and Shia Muslims, as well as Christians.

"You never really know the impact of a person until they are taken away," said Wader Jemmie, sister of Jabeir Jemmie. Jabeir, at 21, became Ottawa's fourth homicide victim this year; a crime which remains unsolved.

For some Muslims in Canada, the events of September 11th cling to their collective memory like a dark stain, penetrating so deep into the fabric of the community that its presence is still felt 13 years later.

“The vast majority of Muslims opposed that barbarism and today remain horrified with what happened,” states Abdul Souraya, immigration lawyer and co-chair of the Calgary Police Middle East advisory Committee.

“Sometimes the community is painted with a very large brush. And there’s a collective punishment and anguish that goes with that.”

That sentiment is particularly fresh in Calgary, the hometown of five young men who reportedly joined an Islamic extremist group and were subsequently killed in action overseas in the last year.

Souraya was one of the presenters at this year’s OWN IT 2014 – a four-day conference organized by Calgary Muslim groups. Government officials, community leaders, academics, and police convened at a southwest Calgary mosque to discuss how to prevent criminal radicalization.

When Marwan Abdalla began planning the first Palestinian Festival in Ottawa, there was one thing he was certain of, “We are having it at City Hall!” Fortunately, the city was receptive and the festival will be taking place in Marion Dewar Park, adjacent to City Hall, from August 29th to 31st. Mayor Jim Watson will even be opening the event with an inaugural speech.

Toronto’s Muslim fashionistas will be converging on the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre on August 23d and 24th to take part in the city’s first International Muslim Fashion and Design Festival (IMFDF).

Although the event will bring together some of the world’s Muslim fashion royalty with an array of leading designers, models, bloggers and YouTube hijab tutorial celebrities, time is also being prioritized to provide educational opportunities on issues like fair trade and ethical consumerism.

Muslim Link got a chance to interview University of Ottawa’s Muslim Students’ Association (UOMSA) Executives Mahmoud Dief (President) and Shahad Khalladi (Vice-President) about their upcoming UOMSA 101 Week for new and returning Muslim students which will run from Monday September 1st to Sunday September 7th.

Canada’s most famous Palestinian resident, University of Toronto Professor Izzeldin Abuelaish, has been tirelessly working to demand an end to the current conflict that is costing the lives of so many civilians in Gaza, his homeland.

Dr. Abuelaish knows firsthand the crushing loss that these conflicts bring to ordinary Gazan families. When an Israeli missile crashed through his house his three daughters and niece were killed in Gaza in 2009. But Dr. Abuelaish vowed not to hate and wrote a memoir, ‘I Shall Not Hate’, calling for an end to the occupation and the hatred between Israelis and Palestinians that he saw as responsible for the death of his family members.

Bachar Awneh, 26, recently returned from Vancouver where he won Bronze for Swimming in the Special Olympics Canada Summer Games. Over 2000 athletes, coaches and officials participated in the Games which took place at the University of British Columbia. The Special Olympics Summer Games brings together accomplished athletes from across Canada who are living with intellectual disabilities.

Rabia Khedr is no regular applicant for the position of City Council, Ward 6 in Mississauga. This dynamic mother of four is a graduate of the University of Toronto in Mississauga, an active member and leader within her community and a decade long veteran on the Mississauga Accessibility Advisory committee. She also lives with a disability – Khedr is legally blind.

What do Canada’s one million Muslims really think?

Nobody knows but it’s certainly a question that the research firm Environics, along with several national partners, hope to answer in a new survey of Canadian Muslims coming soon.  

The Fondation Nzamwita Omary is a registered charity serving Rwandans in various sectors. This year, they are supporting three projects: Tere Imbere (Move Forward) which provides income-generating opportunities for families, the Iftar program which feeds any hungry person (Muslim or non-Muslim) who comes to a mosque, and a program to cover high school tuition for needy students.
Muslim Link spoke with Amina Umuzayire, whose father originally founded the charity.

Zarqa Nawaz is probably the funniest Canadian Muslim woman in the country.

Even her Skype ID is quirky, naming a part of her foot. “Don’t ask!” she writes in an email, no doubt with a chuckle. Nawaz, the creator of the hit series Little Mosque on the Prairie, is currently promoting her new book which offers yet further glimpses into her (hilarious) experiences growing up in Canada.

She spoke via Skype with Muslim Link.

For Muslims still deciding where to donate their zakat this Ramadan, the Council of Imams of Ottawa-Gatineau would like you to consider supporting the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).

Did you see the Palestinian flag going down the street?

On June 23rd Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson opened Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW) at City Hall for the second year in a row. WOW is an initiative of the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP) was founded in October 2009 by the City of Ottawa and Local Agencies Serving Immigrants (LASI). The partnership is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada with the mandate of improving local capacity to attract, settle and integrate immigrants. Events during the week range from academic lectures about migration to restaurant walking tours in Chinatown. The week ends on Saturday, June 28th with the Community Cup, a city-wide soccer tournament at Brewer Park.

On May 17th, thousands of Muslims attended the second annual I.LEAD Conference. Muslim Link chose to interview a father and daughter to get an intergenerational perspective on the conference whose theme this year was “Muslim Youth Identity”.

Imam Sikander Hashmi is the new imam in Kanata. Born and raised in Montreal, Imam Sikander is also a journalism graduate from Concordia University and a happily married father with two energetic children. He has written for the Toronto Star and Montreal Gazette, and has worked as an Imam in Kingston. 

Is Ottawa a truly welcoming city?” This question is top-of-mind in the run up to Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW) 2014.

Ottawa does a fairly good job – perhaps, as good a job as most other Canadian cities – but, clearly, more can be done. Evidence suggests Canada’s capital city is not attracting as many immigrants as other Canadian cities.