Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan

 

It is a curious situation. Canada is a model country that respects diversity and the rule of law. Muslims facing oppression seek asylum in Canada, which does not discriminate on the basis of race or religion.

Yet a Canadian Muslim organization has served notice that unless the Prime Minister’s Office retracts a statement alleging that it has links to a terrorist group, and apologizes, it will sue the PMO and the prime minister.



Western governments don’t usually apologize for the wrongs they do. The US waged a long war in Vietnam, Kampuchea and Laos, invaded many countries including Iraq, killed innocent people as “collateral damage”, and violates the sovereignty of other countries. But, sorry, no reparations, no apology. Canada discriminated against non-whites, violated its treaties with the Aboriginal people, interned Canadian Japanese and took over their property during the war. Canadian leaders refused to apologize.



But Prime Minister Brian Mulroney did and set up a Canadian Race Relations Foundation to eradicate racism. Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for the violation of Aboriginal children in residential schools.



It would be surprising, however,  if the prime minister apologized for the PMO spokesperson’s accusations. Partly this is because of the way terrorism is defined in the West. Attacking other countries, killing innocent people, ethnic cleansing, imposing a siege on a helpless people, occupying a country and building illegal settlements, dropping bombs on civilian targets and detaining people without charge are not considered terrorism.



But attacks by Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabab groups are considered terrorism, and rightly so. But people resisting occupation and human rights violations are also considered to be terrorists. Sometimes innocent people are dubbed terrorist, as Maher Arar, Abdullah Almalki, Ahmed El-Maati and Muayyed Nureddin and some others were. Arar won compensation. Almalki, El-Maati and Nureddin sued the government but the government is foot-dragging. Now the court has told the government to be more forthright in providing information.



The present crisis started when the National Council of Canadian Muslims wrote an open letter  to the Prime Minister’s Office suggesting they drop Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, a supporter of Islamophobic demagogues Pamela Gellar and Robert Spencer, from Prime Minister Harper’s entourage on his recent trip to Israel. PMO’s Director of Communications Jason MacDonald told a reporter: “We will not take seriously criticism from an organization with documented ties to a terrorist organization such as Hamas.”



He did not elaborate on the ties and, Hamas having been termed a terrorist organization, explain why the government did not take legal action against NCCM. Foreign Minister John Baird said that Canadians can look up the NCCM on Google. lt is highly unusual for a government to make a serious  accusation and then ask citizens to consult Google for information.



The NCCM has received public backing from Amnesty International, the Canadian Association of Jews and Muslims, the Canadian and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Association of University Teachers, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group and others.



In its 14 years, the NCCM has promoted the rule of law, condemned terrorism as well as terrorist groups such as Hamas, Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabab. It has appeared before  Parliament and the Supreme Court, met a former prime minister and worked with security agencies to promote public safety.



Official Opposition Multiculturalism Critic Andrew Cash of the New Democratic Party said Muslim Canadians “have made innumerable contributions to Canada, enriching our collective cultural heritage and continuing to strengthen our society” and added: “Unfortunately, many groups and individuals who have criticized Conservative policies have faced unsubstantiated attacks, including scientists, environmental groups and other minority religious communities.”



I have admired the constructive work of NCCM in fighting Islamophobia and promoting good citizenship. But in this case I feel that the wound is partly self-inflicted.”



Prime Minister Harper has generally been aloof from mainstream Canadian Muslims. On his trip to Israel he took some 250 people, including 21 rabbis and a dozen representatives of Christian groups, all of whom were evangelical except one, newspaper columnist Fr. Raymond de Souza, a Catholic who is strongly pro-Israel and a board member of the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Evangelical Christians constitute about 18 percent of the 22 million Canadian Christians. Other Christian groups were excluded.



The prime minister was criticized in Canada for his Middle East policy and for taking rabbis, evangelicals and party donors on the trip, partly at Canadian taxpayers’ expense. Knowing the record, why ask the prime minister to drop one of his invited guests? Would the prime minister have listened? Would any Islamophobe become more respectable because the prime minister took him to Israel?



My second concern is with the threat of legal action. If the NCCM had challenged the PMO to back its allegations with proof, the onus would have been on the PMO to do so or face public ridicule. It could have just asked for a retraction because the retraction itself would have been a form of apology.



Suing the PMO could cost a huge amount of money and take ages to resolve.  The case could further damage the image of Islam, the only religion viewed negatively by most Canadians.



It could also distract Canadian Muslims from their pressing need to uplift their most vulnerable, the youth turning to drugs, violence and crime, those in jail, refugees, women victims of violence, new immigrants, widows, disabled, mentally ill, seniors, poor, etc. and to build strong ties with fellow Canadians and win their trust and respect.



Canadian Muslims should also be encouraged to work together and participate fully in all spheres of life in Canada, including politics. They number more than a million. What they need is wisdom and discipline to act constructively to strengthen their own position in Canada and to make Canada an even better country for all Canadians.

 

— Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge.