Standing in front of the gates of the Quebec City Muslim Cemetery, Boufeldja Benabdallah reflects on the more than two decades he spent trying to establish a local burial ground for his community.
“It was 22 years of fighting, research and meetings,” he said. “People were burying their loved ones at the Muslim cemetery in Montreal.”
Benabdallah, who is the cemetery director and co-founder of the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre, said it was extremely difficult to find land that was available, affordable and properly zoned.
Reda Bouchelaghem of the Association Culturelle Islamique de l’Estrie (ACIE) in Quebec’s Eastern Townships said his group faced similar challenges.
Both men say it took a tragedy
