Dorval Mosque vandalized again

Dorval Mosque president Mehmet Deger will again have to roll up his sleeves and get to work cleaning up some graffiti left by an unidentified vandal or two approximately two months ago on one of the building's walls after his recent return from a trip abroad.

"I would like him, whoever the person is, to come forward and talk," Deger said, adding the mosque is not interested in pressing any charges.

The wall in question, which faces the mosque's parking lot, has been sprayed over in black lines saying the word "Koran," along with referencing its passages 8:39, 2:216, and 47:4. A question mark has also been written, along with a reference to a verse 4:74, but the latter seems to be a typographical error.

The mosque had a first vandalism problem in June 2008, with graffiti again scrawled over with a peace sign followed by a question mark and the words "Coran 9:5."

"It's the same handwriting, it's (written) the same way, so it's the same person and his friend," Deger said.

Both the verses referenced in the new graffiti and the older one are somewhat controversial, passages that, if taken out of context, may imply the Muslim holy book encourages its followers to wage wars against "infidels," or those of other faiths.

Hélène Jubinville, media relations officer at Police Station 5, which covers Dorval, said no complaints were made about the second act of vandalism. "We do have a report from the last June incident," she said. "I don't have any other information complementing this report," she said when asked if anybody was caught after the 2008 vandalism act.

According to Deger, police kept an eye on the area for a while after last June. "They surveyed the building a few times, and then it looks like they stopped," he said.

As for possible motives, Deger was at a loss. "It looks like (the perpetrator) can analyze these verses," he said, alluding to the controversial nature of the passages.

"They are not taking the whole verses, but part of it you know," he added.

John Howard, a long-time resident of a home across from the mosque, decried the act when asked about it last Friday, but said he had not seen anything.

The retired engineer said whoever is behind the attacks must have ducked just underneath the camera on the wall that was vandalized itself, sneaking along its adjoining wall's right angle.

Another resident of the area, Gerry Drouillard, also decried the acts. "They can take a verse of the Bible (out of context) and say the Christians are crazy," he said.

Last year, another mosque in the West Island, Pierrefonds/Roxboro's Mukalah-al Mukarrammah, was vandalized several times in a row in cases apparently unrelated to the graffiti acts in Dorval. Two suspects were caught last July.

Chronicle, Raffy Boudjikanian