Episode Details

Last night, a public vigil was held at the London Muslim Mosque in London, Ont., for the victims of what is being described as a murderous hate crime. Five members of a Pakistani Canadian immigrant family, out for a Sunday evening stroll, were deliberately mowed down by a hit-and-run driver. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other federal and provincial leaders showed up to the vigil in person, along with several of London's Jewish community's leaders. In this episode, Ellin speaks to Eric Robinson, the program director at London Jewish Federation, about the impact the tragedy has had on the community.

Plus: Listen to a stunning speech by one imam, Munir El-Kassem, that is worrying Canadian Jews. El-Kassem used his platform to denounce Israeli actions against Gaza and East Jerusalem, capping off two hours of speeches with the proclamation that "whatever is happening in Jerusalem and Gaza is related to whatever happened in London, Ontario—period."

What we talked about:

• Watch a livestream of the vigil and read the statement by Jewish community at Jewish London Ontario's Facebook page
• Contrinute to the Go Fund Me set up for the family at gofundme.com/f/salman-family-accident-relief
• Read more about the national Canadian Jewish response to the tragedy at thecjn.ca

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.