Borough denies moment of silence for Montreal family killed in Lebanon

August 9, 2006 - 17:22

By: DENE MOORE

MONTREAL (CP) - Some members of Canada's largest Lebanese community are outraged after a borough council refused requests for a moment of silence to recognize the deaths of a Montreal family killed in the Israeli bombardment of southern Lebanon.

The mayor and council in Cote-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grace rejected two requests from the public to recognize the tragedy during their meeting earlier this week.

"It was refused for political reasons," said Wissam Moussa, a member of the Lebanese Muslim Youth Association who made one of two requests for a moment of silence.

Senator Marcel Prud'homme, a former Liberal MP with a long-standing interest in the Middle East, called it hypocrisy.

"I think it's unbelievably sad that (the council) did not see fit to keep a minute of silence," Prud'homme said.

But Mayor Michael Applebaum said Wednesday the tragic deaths have been hijacked by Hezbollah supporters who are bringing the war home to Canadian soil.

"It was clearly political," Applebaum said, adding that a simple recognition of the nine members of the Al-Akhrass family wasn't the objective.

"We all believe there should be peace in the Middle East but it wasn't proposed in that manner.

"You can see clearly these are supporters of the Hezbollah. They were there with pamphlets of the Hezbollah.

"They're using this and it's sad that they're bringing this conflict to Montreal, . . . to our borough."

The neighbourhood was home to Ali Al-Akhrass, 36; his wife Amira, 23; and their children, Salam 11 months; Saja, eight; Zeinab, six; and Ahmad, four, who were all killed July 16.

Ali Al-Akhrass' uncles Ali El-Akras, 70, and Ahmed Al-Akhrass, and Ahmed's wife, Haniya, were also killed when their home collapsed during bombing of the village of Aitraroun, 50 kilometres south of Beirut near the Israeli border.

Moussa said a letter written by eight-year-old Saja Al-Akhrass - and not Hezbollah literature - was handed out after the meeting.

Tensions over the conflict are high in Montreal, home to the country's largest concentration of Lebanese-Canadians and one of its largest Jewish communities, he said.

"What happened on Monday doesn't help," said Moussa, adding that he believes many in the Jewish community do not support the Israeli actions in Lebanon.

Applebaum said council rules don't even allow for such public motions at meetings.

The council has held only one moment of silence in the past, a motion brought by a council member after the death of late Pope John Paul II.

Applebaum said he knew Ali Al-Akhrass and said the family's deaths are a loss to the entire community.

"This is not a situation where we are taking sides," he said. "It's not a situation where we have no heart or no feelings.

"The borough council has decided clearly that we're not going to get into international issues at our council. We all have personal opinions but at the same time we have a very multicultural community, we have all nationalities, all religions."

At least 700 people have died in Lebanon since the fighting began July 12. The Israeli death toll stood at 103 on Wednesday, including 36 civilians.