Category Archives: Canada

Another supporter for the Pope…

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Pope Benedict XVI dropped one of his Prada shoes recently. Quoting the Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus on the ‘evil and inhuman’ decree of Muhammad to spread Islam by the sword, he suggested that there’s not much talking ground between Christianity, a faith that has reconciled itself with reason, and Islam, a medieval system that has not. The common sense of Benedict’s observation was self-evident. Modern Christianity has a mild creed, a diminished view of its exclusivity, and is tolerant of disbelievers. Islam does not share these characteristics.”

Barbara Amiel at Macleans.ca, 2 October 2006

Racism invades Canada

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Another illustration of Robert Fisk’s point that “racism has invaded Canada“, provided by one Rachel Marsden:

“What Islam desperately needs is a Pope of its own – a modern-day religious leader with whom the buck stops. But asking the moderates and extremists of the Muslim world to duke it out over who gets to pick a leader is asking for trouble, since in the absence of sufficient infidels, they’ve always turned to killing each other.

“The safest and most entertaining way to hold an Islamic Pope search is to do it on television. The show, modeled after Survivor, would be hosted by British comedic genius Sacha Baron Cohen of Ali G and Borat fame – who also, incidentally, is a Jew. Any attempts on the host’s life would result in immediate disqualification.

“The contestants will be chosen from among high-profile Islamic loudmouths…. The challenges will include a ‘wahabi wasabi’ eating contest, enduring a marathon screening of burka-free Girls Gone Wild, and attempting to convert someone to Islam using words only.

“Each tribe member will have a torch in the shape of a burning civilian building, and when you get voted off the island and it’s time for the ‘dhimming of the torch’, it means your jihad is over and the building gets doused. Rather than going to Exile Island to enjoy a stay in a luxury hotel, as the losing tribe member exits the show, he gets to strap on one of those ‘infidel busting’ backpacks and let ‘er rip.”

Toronto Sun, 25 September 2006

Canadian students set up task force to study Islamophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Canadian Federation of Students launched a task force yesterday that will go from school to school across the province to hear from Muslim students who have had good and bad experiences because of their religion.

“I’ve noticed differences in how people treat you,” U of T student Ausma Malik said, adding the treatment can be subtle and come from both students and faculty. Malik will sit on the task force made up of Muslims and non-Muslims from inside and outside the student community.

The task force started as a campaign against “Islamaphobia, anti-Semitism and racism” after Muslim students at Ryerson University were targets of hateful graffiti and posters two years ago, said Jesse Greener, the federation’s Ontario chairman.

Toronto Sun, 21 September 2006

Canadian journalism continues to stereotype Muslims

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“A quick glance at mainstream Canadian papers these days reveals an incorrigible penchant for cultural racism. Through the use of terms that are not conventionally associated with discrimination, the media is separating Muslims from the rest of society…. In an article titled, ‘How racism has invaded Canada‘, published in the U.K. paper The Independent, celebrated correspondent Robert Fisk precisely elucidates that ‘there are now two types of Canadian citizens: The Canadian-born variety (Muslims) and Canadians (the rest)’.”

Saad Sayeed in Excalibur, 13 September 2006

For Canadian Muslims, guilt by association

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“When Ahmed Farooq crosses the Canada-U.S. border, he isn’t surprised when he is singled out for questioning. He is, after all, a young, single, Muslim man born in Saudi Arabia who fits the racial profile of would-be terrorists. But the fourth-year medical resident at the University of Winnipeg never expected to be hauled off a United Airlines flight for praying. That’s what happened last month, after a fellow passenger complained that Dr. Farooq was trying to ‘control the aisles’ when he exchanged seats to pray next to a window.”

Globe & Mail, 8 September 2006

The Danish and Iranian cartoon controversies

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In an article on US-Iranian relations Haroon Siddiqui takes up the antisemitic cartoon contest in Iran:

“Conspicuous by their silence in all this are those who during the Danish cartoon controversy had mounted a noisy defence of the right to offend. They are neither lining up to reprint the cartoons from Tehran nor are they criticizing the exhibit. It is a predicament of their own making. If they condemn the show, as they should, they’ll open themselves to accusations of double standards, namely, that their defence of freedom of speech last spring was meant only to protect their right to malign Muslims and Islam.

“But anti-Islamic prejudice alone does not explain the West’s conflicting emotions. Some people do believe freedom of speech is absolute. But it is not. It is constrained by the laws of libel and hate. It must be balanced against the right to freedom of religion. It is subject to self-restraint, dictated by our evolving understanding of what is and is not acceptable. The Danish and Iranian cartoon controversies have added another element to this complex equation. The global village demands of us a broadened outlook, one that avoids needless needling across all religious divides in these troubled times.”

Toronto Star, 3 September 2006

‘Britain a soft target for Islamists’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Britain, like much of Europe, has discarded the anchors that held society in place and enabled it to endure in times of uncertainty. Churches are being turned into mosques…. Britain has made a virtue of its post-colonial guilt and its own loss of values by embracing multiculturalism, a fuzzy notion which holds that all cultures, all standards, all values are of equal merit. Into this morass of uncertainty step the young Muslims, certain of their belief and confident in their identity. Like the stranded passengers at London’s airports, wandering around glassy eyed and lost, Britain has become a soft target for these new Islamists. They know exactly who they are and where they are going.”

Douglas Davis explains the background to the alleged terrorist plot.

National Post, 11 August 2006

‘Islamophobia’ fears cited in Canada

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Smashed mosque windows and workers losing their jobs because of their ethnic background, are among signs that anti-Arab sentiment is on the rise in Ontario, the Ontario Human Rights Commission said yesterday.

Chief commissioner Barbara Hall expressed dismay at an increase in “Islamophobia” in Ontario, as she released the commission’s annual report at a news conference at the Ontario legislature. “We continue to hear … from Arab and Muslim communities on increasing incidents of discrimination,” Hall said. Chief among her concerns was an attack on a Toronto mosque just two days after police arrested 17 people earlier this month, who were allegedly planning to stage terrorist attacks in southern Ontario.

Hall also cited a group of cases in which complainants with dual citizenship from countries other than the United States, claimed they were discriminated against by employees at a company that makes defence equipment for several countries, including the U.S. The employees were reassigned and even fired in some cases, possibly because they were seen as a potential threat to the company’s security, Hall suggested.

“The allegations remind us that society must balance security measures in a manner that does not compromise human rights protections.”

The agency did not provide precise statistics, but Hall said there was “an enormous increase” in Ontario – even if people who are affected are at times hesitant to speak out publicly. Incidents of “Islamophobia” were among the 2,399 new complaints filed with the Ontario Human Rights Commission during the past year, the report found.

London Free Press, 30 June 2006

See also the Muslim News, 30 June 2006

Blame it all on multiculturalism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“… both Canada and Britain need to face the fact that multiculturalism, which for both countries is an article of faith, has brought havoc in its wake. This doctrine holds that all minority cultures must enjoy equal status with the majority, and that any attempt to impose the majority culture over those of minorities is by definition racist…. In the wake of the London bombings, people came up with a litany of excuses – such as the war in Iraq, poverty or Islamophobia – to explain what had happened. There was a widespread determination to avoid discussion of the actual cause: religious fanaticism. The orthodoxy of minority rights means any criticism of minorities is deemed unsayable…. The greatest exponents of this morally upside-down grievance culture are those Muslims for whose pathological inferiority complex it seems to be tailor-made.”

Melanie Phillips offers her thoughtful advice to Canadians following the arrest of 17 suspected terrorists in Ontario.

National Post, 16 June 2006

Meanwhile, Matthew Norman has his own advice for Mad Mel: “I beg Melanie to learn meditation, yoga or some other technique for finding inner calm. This constant hysterical raging cannot be good for the health.”

Independent, 19 June 2006