Anti-Islam Protesters Rip Qur’an At Ontario School Board Meeting

2017/03/25 Leave a comment

Certainly qualifies as Islamophobia under any definition. Image the outrage if the Torah or Bible was ripped apart:

Anti-Islam protesters ripped a Qur’an and walked over its torn pages during an Ontario school board meeting Wednesday evening, as they demanded that Muslim students be banned from praying at school.

At the meeting — held by Peel District School Board in Mississauga, Ont. — a group of enraged parents pressed the board to end religious accommodation. They presented a petition signed by 600 people that wants to stop students from gathering at school for about 15 minutes each Friday for Jummah prayers.

The meeting derailed when the school board, which must provide accommodation under the Ontario Human Rights Code, said they would not address the issue at this meeting.

A spokesman from the school board, Brian Woodland, told The Globe and Mail about 80 people attended the meeting and shouted some “fairly horrific” Islamophobic comments.

“I was actually deeply shaken by what I heard. I’m not sure I’ve ever in my life seen this level of hatred,” he said.

In a Twitter video posted by a Vice News reporter Tamara Khandaker, protesters can be heard yelling across the room.

“Islam will kill you,” a man shouts at one point.

Police eventually intervened, and the trustees proceeded with a closed-door meeting.

The Ontario government, which unanimously passed an anti-Islamophobia motion last month, spoke out against the hate speech Thursday.

“Ontario schools are places that must be beacons of equity and inclusivity. All students must feel that they belong in school and that they feel safe when they are there,” Education Minister Mitzie Hunter said, according to CBC News.

Source: Anti-Islam Protesters Rip Qur’an At Ontario School Board Meeting

And equally disturbing, from the other side of the divide:

A Montreal mosque is facing a police complaint and rebukes from the larger Muslim community after a video of an imam delivering a sermon in which he asks for Jews to be killed surfaced online.

The sermon took place at the Dar Al-Arqam Mosque in the city’s Saint-Michel neighbourhood on Dec. 23, 2016.

The video was posted to the mosque’s YouTube channel three days later. The imam in the video is Jordanian cleric Sheikh Muhammad bin Musa Al Nasr — he was reportedly an invited guest of the mosque.

In the video, the imam says in Arabic, “O Muslim, O servant of Allah, O Muslim, O servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”

Part of the phrase references an Islamic hadith, which interprets the words and actions by the Prophet Muhammad.

CBC independently verified the speech and its translation.

CBC Montreal has reached out to the Dar Al-Arqam mosque for comment and was told no one was available.

Accused of inciting violence

The video was brought to the attention of B’nai Brith Canada, which filed a complaint with Montreal police on Monday.

The organization said it is totally unacceptable that a mosque would allow this to go on.

“This is inciting violence, and this is inciting radicalization,” said Harvey Levine, regional director of B’nai Brith in Quebec.

“It’s against the law and has to be stopped,” he said, adding that the complaint was filed with the Montreal hate crimes unit.

Montreal police confirmed they received a complaint, but would not provide any more information.

Mosque should apologize, says Muslim council

The president of the Muslim Council of Montreal, Salam Elmenyawi, wants to know why the imam was invited. He says the mosque should apologize.

He added that the Dar Al-Arqam Mosque is not one of the more than 40 institutions the council represents.

Imam Ziad Asali of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects told CBC Montreal’s Daybreak Thursday that he was also mystified as to why the cleric was invited to preach.

“I do not understand how this person was invited to come and give a sermon and spread this hatred in Montreal against any community,” he said.

The hadith is one of more than 100,000 that are written in many books, some of which are considered authentic, while others are not, said Asali.

“To use the themes of the Prophet to spread hatred is actually something that is disrespectful towards the Prophet himself,” Asali said.

There are mosques in Montreal, the imam said, that embrace a more extremist message.

“These people, not only do they show hatred towards non-Muslims, they even show hatred to us Muslims,” he said.

Source: Imam calling for Jews to be killed in sermon at Montreal mosque draws police complaint

Filed under Hate crimes, Multiculturalism, Religion Tagged with ,

Peel school board issues fact sheet to ‘quell misinformation’ on religious accommodation

2017/03/24 Leave a comment

While unlikely to change the minds of those spreading misinformation, it is nevertheless appropriate to counter misleading or inaccurate information:

The Peel District School Board issued a fact sheet Wednesday to quell “misinformation and errors” it says are circulating in the community and on social media regarding religious accommodation.

It’s the school board’s response to a campaign to end the accommodation of Muslim prayer in schools, launched by self-described “concerned parents” and Canada First, a group whose mission is to protest M-103, the federal Liberals’ “anti-Islamophobia” motion.

“The issue around religious accommodation and the legal requirement to provide prayer rooms has become confused, shall we say, by many people who are intentional in spreading misinformation,” board chair Janet McDougald told the Star.

“By putting it out in print . . . and communicating the actual facts, we’re hoping it will clarify the issue.

“But we are under no delusions that those that wish to spread prejudice and hate will continue to do so. I believe they have intentionally targeted this issue around religious accommodation to create unease.”

Parents behind the online petition declined to comment to the Star.

“Quite frankly, our board meeting agendas have been monopolized and disrupted by these very loud, albeit a minority, of people,” said McDougald. “There’s so much noise around this subject that people haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and say what this is really about.”

The school board doesn’t track how many Muslim students take part in Friday prayers.

“It varies by school,” said board spokesperson Brian Woodland. “Some have none, some have a few, some might have a hundred. Not all Muslim students request (to participate). It’s not a significant number compared to the student population.”

Religious accommodation, the fact sheet says, is required under the Ontario Human Rights Code. McDougald said the board has also had “several legal opinions about it and we’re on very firm ground here.”

The fact sheet points out that religious accommodation has been taking place in Peel schools for over 15 years.

“The Peel board does not tolerate any campaigns that discriminate against a faith,” the sheet says.

It has been “frustrating and disheartening” to see hatred and prejudice toward a single faith group disguised in a supposed campaign about religion in schools, the board said in a public statement.

“This is a campaign against Islam — counter to the laws of the country, the Ontario Human Rights Code and our board values.”

Source: Peel school board issues fact sheet to ‘quell misinformation’ on religious accommodation | Toronto Star

Filed under Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

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