Graffiti outside north Edmonton Islamic daycare being investigated by hate crime unit
Posted June 17, 2026 10:56 am.
Graffiti outside an Islamic daycare in north Edmonton is being investigated by the police service’s hate crimes unit.
The graffiti, which read “Protect women. Rise against Islam,” was written in all-capital red lettering on a white half-wall metres away from the Edmonton Islamic Academy and facing its windows.
While the message is no longer visible – it was covered up by Tuesday – the daycare says the harm is still being felt.
“We feel like we’ve been targeted,” said Abraham Abougouche, the daycare’s principal. “We feel that this was intentional, and the feelings around with parents, staff and students is legitimately not good. We are not comfortable with thhat rhetoric.”
Abougouche says the daycare’s staff was shocked and disturbed to see the graffiti in the quiet community. He says some employees are uncomfortable going outside for recess, and that parents have expressed uncertainty about what to do.
A spokesperson for the Al Rashid Mosque, which owns the daycare, said she felt “violated” by the graffiti.
“To even have any kind of messaging around that, that Islam does not protect women, or Muslim women are not being protected because of our faith, it’s actually the contrary,” Noor Al-Henedy said.
Al-Henedy says women wearing hijabs are often the ones most targeted by hatred. She shared a thought for the women who work at the daycare.
“To also have it impact them that way and make them feel uncomfortable and unsafe in a space where they should feel safe, that everybody worked so hard to create that safety for them, is very disheartening,” she said.
Principal Abougouche said he was thankful for the work of police to investigate the incident. He wants members of the community to speak out against the graffiti to show that kind of language is not welcome.
“This is not what Canada represents,” Abougouche said. “Born and raised here. This is not the Canada that we know, this is not the Canada we can accept.”
Politicians condemned the graffiti. Mayor Andrew Knack described it a “completely unacceptable” act of intimidation and Islamophobia.
“No child should arrive at school and be confronted with messages of hate directed at who they are,” Knack wrote on Facebook. “No parent should have to explain to their child why their school was targeted. Not in Edmonton, not anywhere.
“To the students, families, staff, and the broader Muslim community affected, I stand with you. My deepest condolences to all those who carry the fear and hurt that these acts leave behind. You belong here. This city is for you, for me, for all of us. Edmonton must be, and will be, a city for everyone.”
Marc Miller, the federal minister of Canadian identity and culture, also described it as Islamophobia.
“The vandalism of a school in Edmonton with anti-Muslim graffiti is shameful and unacceptable,” Miller wrote on X. “Islamophobia and hate have no place in our communities—especially when they target places children attend.
“I support a full investigation to hold those responsible accountable.”
The National Council for Canadian Muslims, which first made the incident public, said seeing the graffiti near a daycare was “deeply disturbing.”
“No parent should have to explain to their child why their school has become the target of hatred,” the NCCM wrote on X.
“We stand in solidarity with the students, families, staff, and broader community affected by this hateful act. Every child deserves to feel safe at school, regardless of their faith.”
