Canada’s leaders enabling anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia by refusing to condemn Israel’s genocide

Through words and actions over the past seven years the Trudeau government has been reluctant to even take symbolic actions to address the concerns of Canadian Muslims around hate targeting the community, even though 11 Canadian Muslims have been murdered in acts of hate since the 2017 shooting.

By Fareed Khan

 

On January 29th Muslim communities across Canada marked the seventh anniversary of the Quebec City Mosque shooting where six men were murdered by a white supremacist in an act of hate, and the National Day of Action Against Islamophobia.  However, despite the significance of this day and what it symbolizes – standing against anti-Muslim hate and remembering victims of a deadly attack – Canadian Muslims are also having to contend with the deeply troubling situation of politicians and governments in this country enabling hate against Muslims.  This is the result of feelings of betrayal in the community about the unwillingness of the Canadian government to live up to promises made to take aggressive action to fight Islamophobia, and due to the government’s responses and actions since October relating to the genocide being committed by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza.

 

 

Since the first anniversary of this tragic event in 2018 this date has become a very poignant and sombre occasion for Canadian Muslims, and more so in light of events in recent months.  Since the 2017 attack Canadian leaders have seemingly supported the Muslim community, engaged with community leaders, participated in community forums and events, and used the correct language about the need to push back against Islamophobia.  However, as the last seven years have shown this may all have been political posturing to secure the support of an important voting bloc.  Because government responses to Muslims calling for aggressive action to fight Islamophobia and for the federal government to defend the fundamental human rights of Palestinians as they face genocide has revealed a different face, and it is a face that reflects deep-seated anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia.

 

The words and actions of Justin Trudeau’s government, many of his MPs, of Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre and members of his caucus, of some premiers, and a number of political party leaders of varying stripes across the country since October, have contributed to racist anti-Palestinian narratives and Islamophobia.  Their failure to condemn the genocide in Gaza and refusal to take action in international forums in defence of Palestinian rights has demonstrated that in truth they care little about the views of Canadian Muslims on the critical human rights issue of our time involving a people who are the most persecuted in the world today.

 

By defending Israel, by running political interference for them at the United Nations, by vilifying those who have condemned Israel’s crimes, Canadian politicians of all political stripes have enabled hate and Islamophobia against Palestinians – a racialized people who are predominantly Muslim. They have defended Israel’s assault on Gaza as an act of “self defence” while top UN officials and the leaders of other nations have condemned the targeting of Palestinian civilians.  They have been critical of those protesting in support of Palestinian rights, calling them terrorist sympathizers and “Hamas loves”, and they have conflated defending the human rights of Palestinians with antisemitism. In light of such political rhetoric, it should be no surprise that it has energized those in our society who harbour hate against Muslims and Palestinians.

Israel’s war on the people of Gaza has revealed a deep divide in Canadian society between elites and the majority of Canadians.  On one side are ordinary people who see Palestinians as a subjugated and oppressed people who have been denied human rights, justice and freedom for more than 70 years.  On the other are very privileged political, corporate and media elites allied with Zionist agents of Israel promoting the myth that Israel is a nation surrounded by enemies bent on their destruction, and that Palestinians are a fifth column who want to exterminate Jews.  These false, dangerous narratives and outright lies are used to justify Israel’s actions against Palestinians, even if those actions result in the death of tens of thousands of innocent people.

 

Since the start of the war in Gaza hundreds of thousands of Canadians have been protesting in support of Palestinians every week in cities and towns across the country, condemning Israeli crimes, and condemning Canadian complicity in those crimes.  They have been demanding that the Trudeau government call for a ceasefire, stop selling weapons to Israel, and that it sanction those Israeli leaders who have openly called for the genocide of Palestinians.  But given the government’s lack of action in response to the demands of Canadians it seems that political leaders don’t care about what people across the country want, and are also demonstrating a degree of inhumanity and indifference towards the suffering of a subjugated and persecuted people that hasn’t been seen since before World War 2.

 

According to the Geneva-based group Euromed Human Rights Monitor, as of January 25th more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza, with 13,022 of them being children and 7,160 of them being women.  In addition, the vast majority of the 64,000 Palestinians who have been injured have nowhere to go to be treated since almost every hospital in Gaza has been destroyed and trauma care is practically non-existent.  The group also puts the number of displaced Palestinians at more than two million and estimates that the number of homes completely or partially destroyed at more than 270,000.

The unwillingness of the Trudeau government to condemn Israel’s crimes against Palestinians and stand up for their fundamental human rights has given a green light to Islamophobes and racists in Canada to indulge in their hate, racism and bigotry.  According to police forces across the country there has been a significant rise in hate against Muslims and Palestinians since the start of the war in Gaza, and other than political statements and platitudes politicians at all levels seem to have done little to counter this rising Islamophobic hate and related racism.

 

Through words and actions over the past seven years the Trudeau government has been reluctant to even take symbolic actions to address the concerns of Canadian Muslims around hate targeting the community, even though 11 Canadian Muslims have been murdered in acts of hate since the 2017 shooting (the only faith community to experience deadly acts of hate).  While the government has declared a National Day of Action Against Islamophobia and appointed a Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, these actions came about only after years of intense lobbying by the Muslim community, and calls for more aggressive action to fight growing hate against Muslims has been largely disregarded.  Given the amount of time that the government took to take these actions, and given their one-sided statements supporting Israel since the start of the Gaza War, in which the vast majority of victims are Muslim, the National Council of Canadian Muslims has taken the unprecedented step of stating that Canadian Muslims no longer have a partner in the federal government.

 

A recent study released by the Senate Human Rights Committee stated that Islamophobia remains a persistent problem in Canada and concrete action is required to reverse a growing tide of hate against Muslims.  Canada’s political class played a role in spreading this hate going back to the 9/11 attacks, and it is doing so again with how it is dealing with the demands of Canadian Muslims and Palestinian Canadians that it take a principled human rights stand against Israel as it commits horrific atrocities in Gaza.  In addition, for two decades police reported hate crimes against Muslims as reported by Statistics Canada have increased with consistency, with numbers increasing some years by well over 200 per cent.  Given the significance of the January 29th anniversary it is deeply distressing for Muslims to see the government and politicians that are supposed to represent them and protect them instead take a stand on the preeminent human rights issue of our time – one that primarily impacts Muslims and denies the fundamental rights of a racialized community – which enables hate and racism against them.

 

It should also be noted that Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism are not just phenomena that happen on Canadian streets.  They also exist in the political class, within the news media ecosystem, and in the corporate class.  We have seen this since October in attacks and condemnations by political and corporate elites against Palestinians and Muslims who have called for justice for the Palestinian people.  We have also seen it in prejudiced and biased news media coverage, in the sidelining of pro-Palestinian voices around the war in Gaza by media, and with people who have supported Palestinian rights or criticized Israel being fired or black listed.

 

Canadians must realize that we are living in a dangerous moment in history both at home and overseas.  Freedom of expression is under assault and we are experiencing a Neo-McCarthyism in Canada, as many involved in pro-Palestinian protests are harassed, attacked, trolled online, and in some cases fined or arrested by police for exercising their Charter rights.  The democratic rights of those demanding justice for a people living through a genocide are being threatened, and those in biggest danger are Palestinians and Muslims who are the targets of hate and racism because of their public activism and their demands for justice for the people of occupied Palestine. 

 

If we are to get through this without shredding the fabric of our diverse and pluralistic society, if we want to preserve our democratic freedoms, it is up to all of us to demand that our politicians support fundamental justice and human rights of all equally, that it protect the freedoms of those who are standing in defence of Palestinian rights, and that Canadian governments and politicians stop using Muslims and Palestinians as props in support of a political agenda that undermines fundamental justice and the rights of a people being subjected to genocide at the hands of a racist, fascist, apartheid state.

 

Fareed Khan is a human rights activist and founder of Canadians United Against Hate.

 

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