Appalling ad camouflaged darker motives
Message seems positive on its face, but really is an attack on Muslims
When a controversial advertisement first ran on Edmonton Transit buses last fall, I was one of the first to complain; in my naive way, I thought this was also something the public saw right through. Within a day, with the help of our politicians, the ad was removed.
Now the group which created the ad is suing the City of Edmonton. I thought the public would be outraged and back the city’s wise stance. Instead, I saw something so disheartening it has made me question everything I thought was great about this city that I was proud to say that I was born and raised in, a city that has celebrated multiculturalism and diversity. No, what I witnessed was a form of hate that’s borne of ignorance.
I write this in the hope there are still some reasonable, just people out there who will understand why I find this ad so appalling and why it clearly has ulterior motives.
Examine it carefully. There are pictures of young girls with the caption: “Muslim girls honor killed by their families. Is your family threatening you? Is there a fatwa on your head? We can help …”
Most of the comments I read found no issue with this representation. The people argue that this is freedom of expression, and that the ad is trying to do something good in helping girls who may be at risk. But I ask them, why target Muslim girls only? Why use an Arabic word like “fatwa”? For one, fatwa is completely misused here and makes no sense since a fatwa is a religious decree or suggestion made by a scholar on legal issues or things pertaining to how you live your daily life.
This gross misuse of a term is typical of bigoted and racially charged statements that appeal to the masses, calling fearful images to mind.
Now, some will argue that I am stretching here and really making a big deal out of nothing. My response is, go to the website the ad directs you to. It is full of hate and propaganda against the Islamic faith. This group is led by one Pamela Geller, who is notorious in the United States for her extreme views. Even if we were to assume that this radical right-wing group was not behind the ads, and we were to look at the ad on its own merits, the intention is blatantly clear.
Here is what I think would be a perfectly reasonable ad if the people behind it were truly trying to help. Have pictures of girls of all ethnicities and use this caption: “Honour killings are real. Is your family threatening you? Are you concerned for your safety? There is help.”
Do you see the subtle yet glaringly obvious difference? The first ad is clearly trying to propagate a negative message regarding Muslims and the Islamic faith as a whole, while the second is trying to provide help.
Honour killings are deplorable acts that are not condoned by any religious group and, unfortunately, exist across many different cultures. There have been efforts from the Muslim community to change the term to “honour murders,” as this more accurately reflects how they would be judged according to Islamic edicts in Islamic courts.
Geller’s ludicrous statement that Muslims perpetrate “90 per cent of all honour killings” is completely picked out of the air and has no evidential basis.
I’m deeply saddened so many Edmontonians have fallen to such extremism that preys on fearmongering and breeds simple yet cancerous notions of “us” vs. “them,” a concept anathema to Canadian multiculturalism.