By Fareed Khan
It is now almost a month since Justin Trudeau and Erin O'Toole put out statements and made speeches condemning the hate-motivated attack which killed four members of the Afzaal Family, and injured nine-year-old Fayez Afzaal in London, Ontario. Since the attack against this Muslim family no one has mentioned that Trudeau’s and O’Toole’s parties in previous governments planted the seeds of Islamophobia in Canada in the years after 9/11 through their anti-terrorism policies, which portrayed Canadian Muslims as a threat to the country.
Those seeds have produced bumper crops of anti-Muslim hate in the ensuing years, and the blood of the Afzaal Family, as well as the Muslims killed in a Quebec City mosque in January 2017, stains the foundations of the Liberal and Conservative parties, the men who led them, and Members of Parliament who were part of those governments.
The hate-motivated murder of the Afzaal Family is rooted in the post-9/11 world, a place where anti-terrorism laws were adopted that violated Charter rights, where the Muslim community was suspected of harbouring terrorists, and where political rhetoric and anti-Muslim prejudice became a part of the fabric of Canadian society. The man who attacked the Afzaals grew up in that environment, exposed to Islamophobic political and media messaging, which contributed to his actions on June 6th.
In the years following the 9/11 attacks Canada put in place flawed anti-terrorism laws adopted because of paranoia and fear. To maintain peace with the Americans the governments of Jean Chretien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper took their lead from the U.S. and implemented anti-terrorism laws that mimicked American laws.
Stephen Harper, as Opposition leader and as prime minister, carries considerable responsibility for inflaming Islamophobia in Canada. In Opposition during the 2000s Harper took every opportunity to use the threat of “Islamist terrorism” to score political points, including by vilifying Maher Arar, Abdullah Almalki, Muayyed Nureddin and Ahmad El Maati, Muslim Canadians who were imprisoned and tortured in Syria and Egypt on flimsy or faulty evidence, with the complicity of Canadian officials.
Harper was
also responsible for leaving Canadian child soldier Omar Khadr
in America’s illegal Guantanamo Bay prison, where he was tortured, again with Canadian
complicity. His government ignored UN recommendations
to return Khadr to Canada where he would get a fair trial. Harper's security agenda seemed to consist of
implementing policies that cast suspicion on Canadian Muslims and their faith, and
their loyalty to Canada. His refusal to settle
the human rights violation cases involving Almalki, Nureddin and El Maati, his refusal
to repatriate Khadr, his implementing Bill C-51 security legislation, the “Barbaric Cultural Practices” snitch line, his government's
attempt to violate the rights of a Muslim woman who wore a niqab face covering, all fed
the Islamophobic attitudes in Canada, which created the conditions for the attacks
in London last week, and the one in Quebec City in 2017. Media also played a role in boosting anti-Muslim narratives by giving politicians platforms to spin Islamophobic talking points, and by covering terrorist threats through an Islamophobic lens. The small fire that had been steadily fed by both Liberal and Conservative governments since 2001 exploded into an inferno when Donald Trump appeared on the political scene in the US and began vilifying Muslims. The combination created a recipe for a Muslim tragedy, and resulted in the Quebec City mosque shooting, the murder of a Muslim volunteer at a mosque in Toronto, and what happened in London on June 6th.
Other factors that have contributed to Islamophobia in Canada include Quebec’s Bill 21 “secularlism” law which was founded on anti-Muslim sentiment, the refusal of governments to implement and lead a national anti-hate strategy despite repeated pleas from activists, the failure to aggressively tackle the explosion in white supremacy, and conservative political leaders tolerating and shielding those in their parties who advocated Islamophobic messages online or in public statements.
Both the Liberals and Conservatives have much to atone for. They not only sowed the seeds of Islamophobia, but also fed its growth through their policies, political rhetoric, and apathy in dealing with the anti-Muslim hate their policies birthed.
The Liberals and Conservatives want to be seen as the defenders and protectors of Muslims right now after the attack in London. But the policies their governments created, and their narratives that fed anti-Muslim prejudices, were major factors that ultimately led to the terrorist attack against the Afzaal Family. Canadians need to remember that when Trudeau and O’Toole talk about fighting Islamophobia, and confront them on this when they ask for your vote come election time.
© 2021
The View From Here. © 2021 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.
