Ontario Finally Catches Up With the Islamophobia Fad

Tuesday, 7  March 2017

First, the Quebec Legislature in October 2015, then the Federal Parliament in 2016(cf. supra), followed by Ontario in February 2017, and another one by the Federal Parliament expected to pass in April 2017.

Anti-Islamophobia motions are on a slow but sure cross-country roll.

Basically, the  existing pattern  shows these motions  to be triggered by violent xenophobic acts against Muslim women who wear the conservative traditional clothes such as the Burka, the Niqab, the Tchador or the Hidjab or by the heart wrenching tragedy  of the recent killings in a Muslim  prayer centre  in Quebec City.

The motion of the Quebec Legislative Assembly which passed unanimously in October 2015 reads:

« Que l’Assemblée nationale réitère que le Québec a toujours été une terre d’accueil pour les personnes réfugiées venant y chercher un avenir, la paix et la sécurité ; »

« Que l’Assemblée nationale prenne acte des nombreuses déclarations inappropriées faites à l’encontre des réfugiés syriens ; »

« Qu’elle s’inquiète de l’augmentation des vidéos et déclarations à caractère islamophobe et raciste qui fusent sur les réseaux sociaux ; » 

« Que l’Assemblée nationale affirme que les Québécoises et les Québécois de confession musulmane sont des citoyens à part entière et que cette Assemblée condamne sans réserve les appels à la haine et à la violence contre tous les citoyens du Québec. » 

The latest to pass 81-0 on February 23, 2017 in the Ontario Legislature is that put forward by Ontario Liberal MLA Nathalie Des Rosiers. Her motion reads:

“That, in the opinion of this House, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario should reaffirm that diversity has always played an important part in Ontario’s culture and heritage; recognize the significant contributions Muslims have made, and continue to make, to Ontario’s cultural and social fabric and prosperity; stand against all forms of hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance; rebuke the notable growing tide of anti-Muslim rhetoric and sentiments; denounce hate-attacks, threats of violence and hate crimes against people of the Muslim faith; condemn all forms of Islamophobia and reaffirm its support for government’s efforts, through the Anti-Racism Directorate, to address and prevent systemic racism across government policy, programs and services, and increase anti-racism education and awareness, including Islamophobia, in all parts of the province.”

Given the references to “Muslims”, “Muslim faith” and  “anti-Muslim”, which makes it eminently clear what the motion is about, I am again totally at loss to understand why the author of the motion found it necessary to insert  the phrase “all forms of Islamophobia”  which is redundant or aswe would put it in legal  jargon “mere surplussage”

Nevertheless, based on the present pattern, we can reasonably expect that eventually such motions using the regrettable term “Islamophobia” will be passed by every Legislative Assembly in the country whenever a most regrettable anti-Muslim act is perpetrated in their respective jurisdiction.

Questions

1.In all of this, the thing that I can’t quite figure out is that these motions are passed without properly consulting the mainstream Muslim community that  comprises  “Muslim civil rights activists who lived in immigrated  or fled ”from countries such as Iran, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia to name a few, and their  “genuine” bona fide progressive organisations

What is it  that the Federal and provincial governments and their respective legislators know that this Muslim community does not know? The members of our governing class are not telling.

Here are the three most recent articles opposing ant-Islamophobia motions:

The first is that of Raheel Raza titled Canada Heading Towards Blasphemy Law-Our family, Our future, Our Canada, dated February 13, 2017.in which she explains in some detail her reasons for opposing  the motion.

The second is that of Farzana Hassan, titled Ì am a liberal Muslim and I reject M-103 posted on the Toronto Sun website on February 16, 2013 (updated F02.51 p.m. EST)

The  third is that of Iranian human rights activist Shabnam  Assadollahi`s Why I oppose the Islamophobia Motion in the Canadian Ontario Parliament published on February 23,2017  in which she explains why she is opposed  to the Ontario Islamophobia motion.

Then of course there have been a whole number of such articles published since the motion of Thomas Mulcair   passed in October 2016.

2. Why is it that the Parliamentarians and legislators are concerned about Islamophobia but not about the hate, abuse and serious threats directed to the mainstream Muslim community, specifically by those who are and those who claim to be innocent victims of Islamophobia?

3. Why is it that the Islamophobia file is being  steadily pushed by two organizations  which have been shown to have some “worrisome” connections, not to put too fine a point on it, and are by no means grass root community organizations and do not speak for the mainstream Muslim community?

For example, one of two organizations that has been actively involved in the anti-Islamophobia motions is the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). The following references, a minute amount  of the literature available on this organisation, provide some background infoirmation about this organization .

Sohail Raza, Canada: Who, Please, Are We Helping? September 7,2016
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8800/canada-islamists

www.investigativeproject.org/5701/ottawa-muslim-outreach-includes-islamists-only

IPT news, FBI Explains its CAIR Cut Off, May 7, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/1029/fbi-explains-its-cair-cut-off

http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/122.pdf

The Clarion Project; Special Report: The Council On American Islamic Relations Fact Sheet
http://www.clarionproject.org

IPT News, UAE Designates CAIR, MAS as Terrorist Groups, November 17, 2014
http://www.investigativeproject.org/4655/uae-designates-cair-mas-as-terrrorist-groups

4. Finally, it is an incontrovertible fact that in Canada, both in absolute and in relative terms, by far the greatest number of reported hate crimes are committed against the Jewish community and its institutions, and the numbers are experiencing a significant jump over those experienced by the Muslim community.

In the circumstances, I fail to understand why Parliament and the provincial legislatures keep passing motions that condemn all kinds of Islamophobia but none that condemn all kinds of anti-Semitism while both levels of governments, other than providing police protection services as they do for the Muslim community, are sitting on their hands, even with respect to easily localised anti-Semitism on college and university campuses.

Can anyone explain this to me other than to point out the fact that anti-Semitism is back in fashion both in the Canadian community at large as well as in that segment of the Muslim constituency represented by the likes of NCCM and the Canadian Muslim Forum (CMF), not to say more?