A Toronto restaurant founded by a Syrian family that has been widely lauded as a success story of Canada’s refugee resettlement program closed abruptly after its owners said they received death threats and hate messages.In a statement released Tuesday night, the Alsoufi family admitted their son Alaa attended a protest outside a People’s Party of Canada fundraiser in Hamilton on September 29. A viral video of the event shows Dorothy Marston, 81, trying to enter Mohawk College using her walker while a wall of masked individuals blocked her way, calling her “Nazi scum.” Marston said she attended the event because she was curious to hear party leader Maxime Bernier speak.The Alsoufis, who opened Soufi’s on Queen St. W. in 2017, said Alaa, who appears in the video wearing a mask, “did not in any way verbally or physically assault the elderly woman” and “offered to apologize personally for not doing more” to stop other protesters from harassing Marston. They said Alaa was physically assaulted on Friday, several days after the event, and doxed, an Internet-based practice in which social media users unite to expose a person’s private records and launch threats.While the family expressed “deep gratitude” toward the “loving, welcoming people” of Toronto, they said “the magnitude of hate we are facing is overwhelming.”In addition to physical violence, a torrent of death threats prompted their decision to close the popular restaurant.“We could not put our family members, staff and patrons in danger.” Hamilton police told the Toronto Star its investigation of the Sept. 29 protest “remains ongoing” and stated in an email: “There is no information to support that the conduct of the protesters was in violation of Section 318 (1) of the Criminal Code of Canada — Hate Propaganda.”Alaa Alsoufi was described in his family’s statement to th ...
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