Standing up against a rhetoric of fear

Engaging in politics will help fight anti-Muslim sentiment stoked by Ottawa, panel says

Muslims across the GTA are feeling the effects of anti-Muslim sentiment in their day-to-day lives, spurred on by the rhetoric and policies of the Conservative government, but are too scared to speak out against it.

That was the theme at the youthled event titled “I’m Muslim — What is it to you?: Addressing today’s Islamophobia,” that took place at the Mississauga Public Library on Saturday afternoon.

The mood was sombre as panellists discussed how the government has been stoking anti-Muslim sentiment over the past few months as a political strategy to garner votes during an election year.

“They want Canadians to be afraid of Muslims. They can benefit if Canadians fear Muslims,” said Hamilton-based lawyer Hussein Hamdani, who has worked with the government since 2005 on anti-terror strategies as part of the cross-cultural roundtable on national security.

“Because then they can say, ‘We are the only party that will protect against the hordes, locusts and animals that are coming and who are already in the land,’ ” said Hamdani. “It’s a political strategy.” Hamdani was removed from the roundtable after his allegiance was questioned by a recent news report alleging he had ties to radical organizations. Hamdani vehemently denies the allegations.

Among the topics of discussion was anti-terror legislation Bill C-51 and Bill S-7, “Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act,” targeted at so-called “honour killings,” which is expected to come into effect later this month.

Panellist Khadijah Kanji, programming co-ordinator at the Noor Cultural Centre, cited how 17 women in Canada have been victims of honour-based killings, compared with hundreds of aboriginal women who have gone missing or been killed by their intimate partners — about whom Ottawa has refused calls for an inquiry.

“The government has dedicated vast amounts of money to honour-

“They (Harper government) want Canadians to be afraid of Muslims. They can benefit if Canadians fear Muslims.”

HUSSEIN HAMDANI LAWYER AND PANELLIST AT THE ISLAMOPHOBIA CONFERENCE

based violence. We are not just victimizing people, but we are hurting our entire societies by wrongfully allocating scarce resources.” Mohammed Hashim, an event organizer with Dawanet, a community organization, said the idea behind the event was to empower the Muslim community to find its voice.

“I think there is a (psychological) paralysis. People are just afraid to say anything. Is CSIS going to watch me? Are people going to think I am a jihadi? Are people going to fire me? We are getting a lot of this stuff,” said Hashim, who works for Toronto and York Region Labour Council, one of the sponsors of the event.

“The whole point of this event is to send a message back to the community: Let’s stand up to the government for exploiting us and stoking fear,” he said.

“Let’s stand up against the rhetoric of Islamophobia.”

That’s why Hamilton resident Dzenana Zildzic decided to attend.

“I wanted to hear about solutions for how we can work to combat antiMuslim feelings and hate in our communities,” said Zildzic.

The prescription from the panellists was simple: get engaged with the political system, take the time to vote and get involved in the local community.

“We need to get outside our comfort zone and volunteer with other communities and build alliances . . . so that we don’t become easy targets,” said Zildzic.

“It’s a start.”