Students from four Montreal universities will be gathering for a candlelight vigil Sunday night to remember the victims of recent terrorist attacks and raise awareness for some attacks that received less media coverage than others.
The event was planned before this week’s bombings in Belgium, said spokesperson Lauriane Ayivi. Organizers started planning it after a mid-March terrorist attack at an Ivory Coast beach resort killed at least 18 people.
The vigil is organized by student associations from McGill, Concordia, Université de Montréal and Université du Québec à Montréal. The group hopes to help inform people about the attacks that slip under the radar of mainstream media.
“There are too many terrorist attacks around the world, yet some of those events have more coverage than others,” Ayivi said.
The month of March alone saw deadly attacks take place in Mali, Turkey, Nigeria and Pakistan.
“It’s unfortunate,” Ayivi added, “Whenever it happens in Europe or in America it’s a big deal. When it’s in the Middle East it’s considered usual business. When it happens in Africa you only have two or three lines about it in the news.”
To show unity in the matter, Ayivi said, organizers have extended invitations to a priest, pastor and an imam. A representative of the Consul of Belgium will be in attendance and possibly one from the Consul of Ivory Coast.
“We want to show that wherever it happens, we still have to be united in supporting the victims,” Ayivi said. “We know that students can’t stop it, but maybe if we make a little bit of noise, politicians will make a move to change the situation.”
The event, called Même Pas Peur / Not Even Afraid, will take place on the McGill campus at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
