Senate Committee — RIDR — Brief — islamicreliefcanada_e

RIDR / Brief / islamicreliefcanada_e

Senate Committees

Islamic Relief Canada Written Submissionto Standing Senate Committee on HumanRights Re: Islamophobia in Canada What constitutes Islamophobia? ● Islamophobia is a form of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceivedMuslimness by virtue of name, language, accent, choice of dress, colour of one’s skin orworldviews. In practice, Islamophobia is hate, hostility and discrimination against Islamorpeople who practise Islam (Muslims).

Islamophobia can take place as verbal or physicalviolence. ● Over 70% of Canadians understand what Islamophobia is, consider Islamophobia to be agrave problem, and want the government to take action against Islamophobia in Canada(EKOS Research, 2018). 1 ● WeneedadefinedtermsuchasIslamophobiabecause,justaswithanti-Semitism,sexismorracism, we need to give name to the broad spectrumof expressions giventoanti-Muslimfeelings andbehaviour —not onlyforpurposesoflegislationanddefinition,butalsotohelppeopleidentify, analyseandchangethoughtandresponsepatternsthatmayhavepreviouslygone unnoticed even to the self. ● DoesthismeananycrticismofIslamisIslamophobic?

Absolutelynot.Rationaldiscourseandcriticism is a very important tradition both within the Muslimcommunity and with otherfaiths, andhas oftenbeenencouraged. TheQuranitselfsays,“DonotarguewiththePeopleof Scripture except in the best manner …” Rational discourse differs from Islamophobicexpressioninits terminology, manner and—mostimportantly—iftheintentionistovillify,discriminate and create hostility towards the Muslim community.

Islamic Relief Canada Observations on Islamophobia with Respect toOnline/offline Violence Against Muslims AccordingtoStatisticsCanada,whilethenumberoffaith-motivatedhatecrimesreportedtopolicein2019decreasedoverallby7%comparedtotheyearbefore,anti-Muslimhatecrimesincreasedby9%from166 to 181 incidents. It is an upward trend consistently seen over thelast tenyears. Infact,Canada currently leads the world in publishing far-right, white supremacist online content -surpassing even the U.K. and the US in spreading extremism online.

In a report this year to the UN Human Rights Council, a UN expert concluded that, globally,anti-Muslimhatred has reached “epidemic proportions,” with Muslims often targeted baseduponvisible characteristics such as “names, skin color and clothing.” Urgingstates toact, hesaidit was“essential toidentifyandevaluatehowstatestructures perpetuateandlegitimizeIslamophobiaandactively discriminate against Muslim individuals and communities.” As one of the country’s most prominent MuslimNGOs, Islamic Relief Canadahas alsobeenonthereceiving end of hate —especially online hate.

Over the years, it has increased in all forms and 1 https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cjpme/pages/4101/attachments/original/1517850987/CJPME-CMF_Survey_on_Islamophobia_-_2018-02-06-FINAL.pdf?1517850987

volume. Wereceivehateful andthreateningcommentsbothonlineandoffline—withourofficethetarget of hateful letters in the mail and staff and volunteer teams being physically harassed andattacked while carrying out their jobs. Throughout our encounters with Islamophobia, we have observed that Islamophobiaplays ahugerole in on and offline violence – mainly because it is seen as an acceptable formof racismandbigotry.

Whereas direct expressions of racismand homophobia may oftennolonger beexpressedfreelyinpublic, Islamophobiastill passes the‘thedinner-tabletest’andcanbereadilymentionedinpolite (and impolite) society. It is the go-to place for those who would otherwise be morecircumspect about their bigotry – because, somehow, Islamophobia can be seen as patriotic,non-racist, andevengroundedinreason. Pro-Islamophobictropesgivesuccourtothehate-mongersin search of a cause and embolden their expressions of bigotry.

It is for this reason such apparent self-justification and self-deception of Islamophobes has to becalledout andcounteredat everyturn–inthesamewayracismandsexismhavebeencombatedinthe post war era. Islamophobia is alsocultivatedandusedstrategically: Whether expressedbyindividuals’, groups orinstructural andlegislativeways, Islamophobiais cultivatedandnurturedasastrategicpoliticalandcultural tool to mobilise the mainstream of society against a perceived minority enemy and threat.

Notable Findings from IRC’s 2021 Islamophobia Report In February 2021, Islamic Relief Canada publishedareport entitled, “InTheir OwnWords –UntoldStories of Islamophobia in Canada,” 2 which featured compelling stories fromMuslims across thecountry and from all walks of life about their experiences with Islamophobia in Canada.

A few illustrative highlights include: - Ateacher inQuebec whowas askedtoremoveher hijabintheworkplaceduetoBill21and—following a lengthy suspension —only kept her job on a HR technicality for refusal tocomply- A man who stopped participating in organized sports in Alberta after he experiencedrepetitive racial slurs and discrimination - A hijab-wearing Ontario woman who was physically and verbally attacked on a universitycampus simply for being Muslim- A survivor of theQuebec Mosqueshooting, AymenDerbali, whowas shot seventimes andleft paralyzed and unable to support his family Islamophobia is Gendered SomeofthekeyfindingsfromthereportwerethatIslamophobiaisnotonlysystemicandnormalizedbut alsogendered, with Muslim women disproportionatelybeing victims of Islamophobia.

In Canada, we have several laws that have been accused of being discriminatory, including thefederalZero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural PracticesAct(2015), Quebec’s Bill 62 (2017), and morerecently, Bill 21 (2019). 3 All of these laws fixateupon Muslim women as their primary target,perpetuating Orientalist and colonial imaginations of Muslim women as ‘oppressed’ and in need of 3 https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Religion/Islamophobia-AntiMuslim/Civil%20Society%20or%20Individuals/Noor-ICLMG-ISSA.pdf 2 https://issuu.com/islamicreliefcanada/docs/islamophobia_report_en?fr=sNTkyNzQ1NjA3ODQ | Page2 |

‘saving’ from the State. These laws and their related discussions 4 are obsessive about the prohibitionof the hijab and/or the niqab. As a direct result, many visibly Muslim women in Canada — those thatwear the hijab and/or niqab — are disproprortionately experiencing anti-Muslim violence. This trend of gendered Islamophobia can be seen in our report, as the majority of those whoresponded to our call for research participants were women rather than men. Many of thesewomen’s encounters with Islamophobia revolved around their choice to wear the hijab.

Islamophobia is Normalized in Canadian Society Notably, nearly every single person we interviewed for this report prefaced the discussion withstatements like, “I’m not that much of a victim,”or,“I haven’t experienced that much discriminationcompared to others.” While much of this could demonstratea disdain for the sensational — a traitthat is highly valued in Islam — it became clear from the interviews that hatred and discriminationhas becomeso routinein Canada, that many victimsfelt these experiences are simply to be expectedwhen living as a religious minority in Canadian society.

This normalization is evident as participants often did not consider incidents such as discriminationat work, microaggressions at school or racist remarks at the dinner table as being worthy of mentionwhen put alongside the physicial attacks we hear about in the media.

Islamophobia, however, is a continuum of aggression and hatred with every incident — big orostensibly small — emboldening the next.As AymenDerbali pointed out in his interview, we need tobe aware of the gravity of all incidents.“Beforethe terrorist attack on the mosque, we noticed somehate crimes at the mosque … for example, the month of Ramadan right before the attack, after theprayer we found a pig head … another time we found graffiti at the back of the mosque … it was likea sign of what was to come.” Accepting any form of hatred or intolerance — no matter how small one might think it is —legitimizes Islamophobia and provides a platform for this hatred to foster and grow.

Islamophobia and Discrimination in Employment Wehaverecentlyembarkedonapioneeringstudyentitled, “Muslims at theMargins:Islamophobia&(Un)Employment.” It is a twelve-month, Canada-wideproject exploringtheintersectionof race,religion, class and gender in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of howMuslims inCanada are experiencing Islamophobia in their respective fields of (un)employment. The project’s long-term and societal outcome is Islamophobia’s eradication in the Canadianworkplace— something presently often unnoticed and largely acceptable.

In the short term, the project’s aim is an increased practical awareness of how to combatIslamophobiainrespectivefields of employment—whichwillbeachievedthroughworkingtowardsindividual, collegial and institutional behavioural changes —by addressing systemic racism, hatespeech, microaggressions, and improving HR processes and representation. This current research was inspired by our earlier “In Their OwnWords” report (above), whichwasfraught with stories of workplace discrimination.

In fact, our report revealed that many of these 4 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-barbaric-cultural-practices-law-1.3254118 | Page3 |

incidents inCanadaarepresentlynot evenreportedtotheemployee’s HRunit, aphenomenonthatparallels Statistics Canada data on police-reported hate crimes (2019), 5 which states that overtwo-thirdsof hate crimes go unreported. Throughout the development of this earlier report, we spoke to a number of individuals whoidentified their workplace as the location in which they experienced the greatest degree ofIslamophobia. Notably, some of these workplaces included government offices.

Workplacediscriminationcanbeformal, clearlyevident,andeveninstitutionalised.Forexample,weheard from one woman in Calgary who was the subject of verbal harassment for months beforebeingphysicallyattackedbyacoworker, havingher hijabtornoff her head. Inanother instance,wespokewithateacher fromQuebecwhowassuspendedfromherteachingposition—andcameveryclose to permanently losing her job — because of her choice to wear the hijab. Notably, workplacediscriminationcanalsobeinformal andmuchmoresubtle, throughtheformofmicroaggressions.

In these cases, workers can beleft out of critical decision-making, madetobeasocial outcast, passed over for promotions, or thesubject of condescendingconversations, amongother things. These hard realities are causing economic disparities and further marginalisation of Muslims inCanada.

Examining the sources of Islamophobia Although there havebeennegativetropes inWesternsocietysurroundingIslamandMuslims sincethe Middle Ages – and especially when used to justify the Crusades – the specific term‘Islamophobia’ dates fromaroundthestart of this century, but themeaningandourunderstandingof the term continues to develop over time. While Muslims are not a ‘race,’ Islamophobiais racism. Scientifically, nopopulationis arace; racesarecreatedbybundlingtogether commonfeatures andmappingthemontoapopulation.Resultingracial hierarchies treat outsiders as an inferior ‘Other’.

When Muslims aretreatedas such, it is anarticulation of racism and Islamophobia. As a formof racism, it is widelyrecognizedthat Islamophobiais closelylinkedtowhitesupremacy,which seeks to maintain white dominance and privilege over other races andbeliefs. It is, for thatreason, related to other forms of racismanddiscriminationincludinganti-Semitismandanti-Black,anti-Asian, and anti-Indigenous racisms. However, Islamophobiais not just a“Muslim” issue; it is aCanadianproblemofinjustice,inequalityand discrimination facing Canadian and global citizens.

Islamophobia’s impact on individuals Our 2021 report revealed that short and long-term consequences for those who experienceIslamophobia can include emotional and mental trauma, stress in personal and professionalrelationships, and even long-term physical injury. 5 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00002-eng.htm | Page4 |

As aMuslimNGOwithpredominantlyMuslimstaff, wehaveexperiencedIslamophobiadirectlyandhaveheldmanyinternaldiscussionsaboutIslamophobiawithstaff.Throughoutthesediscussionswehave learned that for many, Islamophobia brings up an array of emotions of varyingintensityandtype–rangingbetweengrief, anger, frustration, anxietyandaloweringof self-esteem. This canbetriggered by being personally attacked and/or fromseeing others in our families and communitysubjected to the impacts of Islamophobia.

In general, the acute and chronic impacts can include the following: - Feeling of marginalisation and exclusion from society- Demoralisation, resentment and a loss of self-worth- Anger and frustration at not being understood or listened to- Increased anxiety for the well-being of children and other family members- Non-participation in mainstream social events- Fear of wearing visibly Muslim dress, going to mosque, etc.- Ghettoization of cultures, neighbourhoods and social cliques- Frustration at perceived government and police inactivity- Loss of faith in prevailing establishment and political systems- Post traumatic stress disorders of varying degrees and types Possible solutions and government responses Islamic Relief Canada presented its recommendations to the federal government at the NationalActionSummit onIslamophobialast year; (seeAppendixbelow).Belowareadditionalguidelineswerecommend the government followin order to provide proper support to Canadians impactedbyIslamophobia and effectively uproot Islamophobia from Canadian society. ● The federal government must be proactive—as opposedtoreactive—inits responsetoIslamophobia in Canada. ● It is essential that anyandall measures byactionedinanappropriatemannerthatdoesnotallowfor any newinitiative or commitment to be perceived as ‘special treatment’ for theMuslim community — which, as we know, is a favored trope of white supremacist groups ● Islamophobiais oneof themanyconsequences of whitesupremacist ideologies.Inordertoeradicate Islamophobia, the government must take a whole of government approach touprooting white supremacism from every level of society. | Page5 |

APPENDIX Islamic Relief Canada’s Recommendations to the Federal Government re: National Action Summit on Islamophobia (July 2021) 1) EstablishaworkingdefinitionofIslamophobiathroughasix-monthconsultativeprocesswithkey communitystakeholdersandtownhallmeetings.We needaunifiedbroad-baseddefinitionof Islamophobiasupported by universities,politicalparties,civilsociety, andMuslimorganizations.Inthiscontext, allsuchmeasuresshouldbeadoptedwiththeperspective ofnotimmunisingareligionfromcriticism—but, rather, protectingbelieversandothersassociatedwithareligion.Any

definitionshouldrelate to theprotectionsaffordedby thelegaldefinitionof racism— buthere extendedto apply to theracializationof acommunity associated with Muslims and Islam 2) Thefederalgovernmentmustinitiate a planto strengthenraceandhatecrimelegislation under the criminal code. 3) Thefederal governmentshouldestablisha wellpublicisednationalreportinghotlineon Islamophobiaandotherhate crimes.In our research, manyindividualstoldusthatthere is a lackofknow-howonreportinganti-Muslimhate,andthereisafearthatreportswouldnotbeacteduponortakenseriouslyby relevantparties.Any suchhotlineshouldbeinclusiveofallhatecrimesandshouldbeheavily advertisedandaccessible.It shouldrespectanonymityandworkwiththenecessarypublicsafetybodiesacrossthecountry.

Alldatashouldbedisaggregatedandpresentedmonthly by thisbody to analyzetrendsandpatterns—includinginformationonnon-MuslimsaffectedbyIslamophobia.(Itmight be preferablefor the hotlineto be managedby a NGO, Muslimornon-Muslimsothatpeoplearenotintimidatedinanyway—butwithadequategovernment funding). 4) Thefederalgovernmentshouldimmediatelylaunchanindependentinvestigationinto theCanadaRevenueAgency’s(CRA)unfairprofilingofIslamiccharitiesforaudits.AreportreleasedbytheNationalCouncilofCanadianMuslims/Universityof Toronto andthe InternationalCivil LibertiesMonitoringGroupshows | Page6 |

evidenceoftheCRAdisproportionally targetingMuslimcharitiesinaudits.Asoneoftheworld’smostprominentMuslimNGOs,weconsiderthefindingsoftheNCCMreportveryconcerningandfeelthatit underminestheintentionsandcommitmentof CanadianMuslimsto humanitariancausesbothhere andoverseas.Thereportsby theNationalCouncilof CanadianMuslimsandtheInternationalCivil LibertiesMonitoring Group togetherprovide vitalrecommendationsthatthegovernmentshouldactuponimmediatelytoremovethe practical targeting and social stigmatization of Muslim charities. 5) Inpartnershipwithuniversitiesandlocalcommunityorganizations,thefederalgovernmentshouldestablisha nationalresearch labon Islamophobia.Thepurposeof thelabwouldbeto collectevidence-basedresearchanddataonIslamophobia,conductextensive research into root causes,and providerecommendations on effective counter-programming. 6) In partnershipwithmediainstitutionsandlocalgovernments,thefederalgovernmentshouldcommittoworkingwithcommunityorganizationstolaunchpublicawarenesscampaignsaboutIslamandMuslimsthroughradio,television,andsocialmedia.Localgovernmentsshouldpave theway to outfitpublictransportandotherpublicvenueswithdecalsthatraiseawarenessofIslamandCanadianMuslims.SuchcampaignshavebeensuccessfulintheUnitedKingdominbridginggapsandeducatingcommunitiesonMuslims,aswellasinraisingawareness about hate crimes and how they can be reported. 7) Federal, provincial,andmunicipalgovernmentsshouldimplementsystemicchangesto eliminate Islamophobiain policeservicesandnationalsecurityagencies.Inourconversations,manyindividualstoldusthatwhentheyreportedincidentsinthepast, theyhaveoftenbeendismissedandnottakenseriously.

Aswithallincidencesofhate, anti-Muslimhate incidentsshouldbeactionedbypolice,withtherelevantauthoritiesbeingheldaccountableforfailuresto takeactiononreports.Authoritiesshouldalsobeworkingcloselywithanynationalhotline, (as mentioned in point 3). | Page7 |

8) Provincialgovernmentsshouldincludeanti-Islamophobiaawarenessandbasiclearning on religions/religious communities in Canada in education curriculums. 9) Thefederalgovernmentshouldallocate fundingto anorganizationspecializinginhandlingIslamophobiaanddiversitytodeviseandrolloutatrainingprogramforfaith-basedandothercommunityorganizations.Thetrainingshouldcoverallformsof hate, suchas islamophobia,antisemitism,homophobiaandshouldincludeeducationaroundrelevantlegislationandlanguage.Allorganizationsthatreceive governmentfundingforprogramsshouldbemandatedtoundergotraining as part of their contractual agreements. 10)We needa revisionof thenationalsecuritythreatassessmentandstrictercontrolsoncountering,preventingandbanningwhite supremacyinCanada.Currently, Canadaisamongthetopproducersofonlinehatecontentfromwhitesupremacistgroups.Governmentsshouldbeclearonwhere Canadastandsonwhite supremacy.

We needmore security, betterpreventative measures,andacrackdownongroupsandindividualspromotingwhite supremacistideology.Thisincludescontinuingto addmorewhitesupremacistgroupstotheterroristentitieslist. Currently, theterroristthreatdisproportionately andinaccuratelyprimarily focuses on Muslim and racialized communities. | Page8 |

Document details

Collection	Senate Committees
Citation	RIDR / Brief / islamicreliefcanada_e
Type	committee
Volume / chapter	441 / Brief / islamicreliefcanada_e
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	COMM_SEN
Identifier	a856009bc8a3a4730d7bc1d6f21d1ec2df816cc7

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