Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim joins the Muslim community for Iftar.
4-06-2023
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On Friday March 31, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim joined the Muslim community Iftar at the MAC Center.
MAC Center located at 2122 Kingsway, Vancouver like many Muslim Mosques and Centers hosts daily iftar meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan.
In Ramadhan Muslims who have reached the age of puberty will abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk for about 30 days according to the lunar calendar in the Islamic month of Ramadhan.
Iftar is a meal prepared for the Muslims to break their fast which is around sunset time.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim joined over 300 people gathered to break their fast hosted by the MAC center.
Br Fouad Abbassi who serves the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) as the volunteer Head of The Civic Engagement Committee for Greater Vancouver welcomed the guests and outlined the events for the evening program which was followed by the Adhan-Muslim call to prayer.
After Maghrib prayers the mayor addressed the congregants.
In his address Mayor Ken Sim said, “I am honoured to join MAC and the Muslim community in celebrating Ramadan and to share in this special tradition of breaking the fast together”, “Vancouver is a diverse and inclusive city, and events like this are an opportunity to strengthen the bonds between communities and promote understanding and respect."
The Mayor also issued a proclamation of Ramadhan in the city of Vancouver.
The mayor was also joined by other dignitaries including General Consul of Indonesia, Terry Yung VPD diversity and equity and Elvis Musinovic RCMP hate crimes unit.
In closing remarks Vancouver MAC chairperson Br Mohammad Kamel introduced the MAC activities across Canada by highlighting their Schools and Mosques and the communities they serve with over 1000 people employed through out Canada. Br Mohamed also highlighted the oppression faced by Muslims in Palestine and how it is becoming difficult to speak about the oppression as being labelled as anti Semitic.
Ken Sim committed to adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism to help tackle hate and racism in the city.
Back in November 2022, the Vancouver council voted six to one in favour of adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
Mohammad Kamel said, ”This definition has made it difficult for us as a community to voice our concerns and to hold the Israeli Government accountable for its continuous and systematic violation of the basic human rights of the Palestinian people.”
He urged the Mayor to reconsider the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
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