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Day after bomb threat, Concordia Muslim students raise awareness

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Around Concordia’s downtown campus Thursday morning, a hand-drawn sign – “Muslims are welcome” – on the door of a health-food co-operative on Mackay St. was the only evidence that the university had been on high alert a day earlier.

Students streamed into buildings on Ste-Catherine St. and de Maisonneuve that had been evacuated Wednesday after an anti-Muslim bomb threat was sent to media outlets. A 47-year-old Côte-des-Neiges man has been arrested in connection with the threat.

At Concordia’s engineering and visual arts building, one of those targeted, three young women in hijabs were setting up tables for Islam Awareness Week, which was interrupted by the evacuation.

On one table, a pile of hijabs awaits women who want to try one on.

Bara Abuhamed, a first-year engineering student, was among the Muslim students greeting visitors to the Awareness booths.

“I would by lying to you if I said we weren’t shaken up a bit, but we don’t want the fear to stop us from doing good,” he said in an interview.
 
“We think this is an isolated situation. Whoever did it is just trying to threaten us to make us stop what we’re doing. Whoever did thinks that if we’re scared we’re just going to stop everything and hide.”

The Muslim Student Association is offering free cotton candy, samosas, and Krispy Kreme donuts as part of Awareness Week, which is to include discussions on topics such as “The Muslim understanding of God and man.”

 
On Thursday, a few security guards were walking around the main floors of the two buildings mentioned in the threats.
 
Concordia said it has increased security at both its downtown and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce campuses. Montreal police have also increased patrols in the two areas.
 
“If you see something suspicious on campus, or you are concerned about your safety, we ask that you contact our Security Department at 514-848-3717,” the university said in a statement on its website Thursday.
 
 
 

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