Let's talk about Islamphobia.

Muslim Canadians are experiencing discrimination at an all time high- It is just recently that 6 innocent Canadian Muslims were horrifically murdered while praying at a Mosque in the suburbs of Quebec City. We have been exposed to images of protestors holding anti Muslim slogans as worshippers entered at a Toronto Mosque. Some Muslim women have reported that they are targeted for wearing the Hijab. In light of this growing hostility towards Muslims and a rise in Islamophobia, Pakistani Canadian Women Society hosted an event for Canadian Muslims to engage in an interactive dialogue entitled “Lets Talk About Islamophobia’ . The event took place on April 23rd in Surrey at the City Centre Library. Approximately 70 participants including men, women and youth attended the event. Mr. Hasan Alam, an employment lawyer provided a brief overview of the issue and the current snapshot of Islamophobia in Canada. After this presentations participants were divided into small groups and each group was assigned a moderator to guide the discussion.Men, women and youth all actively participated in the discussion and shared their insights. Key points of discussion were recorded and later reported by the moderators of each group. Here is a summary of some of the shared responses: Question: How has Islamophobia affected Muslim communities? -There has been an increase in Islamophobia post US elections. -There are growing misconceptions about Islam based on the negative media portrayal. -Negative actions of a few are used to further generalize against Muslim -The potential effect on kids and youth: Parents expressed concerns about children’s future amidst the growing hostile antimuslim sentiments. -Some folks challenged the term “Islamophobia” and felt that the term had mental health connotations and stressed that racism and discrimination is not an illness; It is a choice. -Islamophobia contributes to West’s war financing: An industry of war, weapons and political agenda behind islamophobia Question: Is Islamophobia currently responded to in an open and effective way? -Our current response to Islamophobia is ineffective -We need to have more inter faith conversations -Media bias needs to be challenged -We need to better educate ourselves and our children -We need to defuse hate with calm and informed responses -We need to stay united and not allow disagreements/conflicts amongst ourselves to divide us. -Encourage our children to speak up about these issues What support do you need to challenge Islamophobia. - Muslim community needs to be more legally and politically engaged -Become more proactive than reactive -Break the isolation and engage with our neighbors and other groups -Support the youth to get involved in social justice issues -Work closely with RCMP and government bodies -We need to have more events like the one PCWS organized to discuss these issues more openly.

Resources to counter Islamophobia

Some useful resources were shared The forum empowered participants to openly engage in strategies to counter Islamophobia. This is the first step and a lot more needs to be done- PCWS will continue to flag the issues in media and in conversations with the politicians. We are grateful to all our volunteers who helped make this event possible. A special thanks to Raza Mirani, Hasan Alam, Irfan Sheikh, Laila Rana, Nida and Kurban Madhani for giving their precious time in moderating this valuable discussion. If you have additional thoughts or comments around this issue please email: shahnazrahman01@hotmail.com or babrarana@hotmail.com