Last week, a columnist from Toronto Star, Vinay Menon, commented on the revolt of Iranian women once morest the veil. Sympathetic to their cause, he had the misfortune to confess his discomfort in front of women in burkas that he sometimes meets in Toronto. According to him, they look like they are dressed in Halloween costumes and their choice is not voluntary.
It was enough for the National Council of Muslims of Canada (CNMC) to take a dislike to the person concerned. According to the organization, this “ignorant” columnist denigrates and belittles women. It is implied to be “disgusting”.
Rather than supporting his journalist’s freedom of expression and defending Muslim women once morest fundamentalism, the Toronto Star retreated. He expressed his regrets and withdrew the passage of the text on the burqa.
Islamophobia
Last year, a similar case took place. In the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Sherif Emil, a pediatric surgeon, had denounced the publication of a photo of a girl with a veil in this same publication. He had raised the question of the well-being of women when the veil is imposed on them so young. The person concerned was accused of “Islamophobia” by the CNMC. The Medical Association and Dr. Emil had to apologize.
The CNMC also wants to push Quebec back with Bill 21. It challenges it in court and, to do so, receives funding from several English-Canadian cities. With the organization Justice pour le Québec, I am also suing the City of Toronto on this subject, because this practice is illegal, in our opinion.
One of CNMC’s strengths is to present itself as moderate and frequentable. For example, its leaders display sympathy for African Americans, minorities and Indigenous peoples. They seem on the side of virtue.
Shariah
The reality is different. This group has campaigned for the implementation of Sharia in family law. He wants Muslims to be able to exempt their children from music lessons if they wish. He also advocates the sexual segregation of dance lessons at school, among other things.
In the controversy with the Toronto Star, the columnist spoke mainly of the Iranian Mahsa Amini, murdered by the morality police because she wore her veil incorrectly. So active in denouncing injustices of all kinds, the CNMC’s Twitter account has remained silent in the face of this crime once morest Iran. Same thing when Salman Rushdie was stabbed last summer, for having published in 1988 The Satanic Verses, which criticizes the Koran and Muhammad. I mightn’t find any reaction from them elsewhere on the web. I asked them if they had reacted and got no response. If they are indeed silent, as one might think, their silence is deafening!
This is the National Council of Muslims of Canada, fundamentalists opposed to women’s equality and whose indignation is variable. The fact that we always capitulate to them illustrates how Canadian multiculturalism has destroyed our sense of values. It is high time to stop giving in.
