On Feb. 24, the Teaching Palestine: Pedagogical Praxis and the Indivisibility of Justice initiative held an online open classroom on Islamophobia to examine historical and contemporary forms of anti-Muslim racism, immigration enforcement, and political repression. The event, titled “Enemy Alien/ICE, Racism & Empire,” was the first session of their Ramadaniyat[Read More…]
Tag: Islamophobia
A welcome until it wasn’t: The double standard of Quebec’s secularism
Montreal’s city hall recently took down a welcome sign in its lobby that portrayed a woman in a hijab, less than a year after its installation. This decision comes amid a series of changes implemented under Quebec’s Bill 21 and the continued movement towards secularization—the separation of public institutions from[Read More…]
McGill hosts Mosab Hassan Yousef talk despite students’ objections
Faced with criticism from 14 student groups and over 3,000 students, McGill moved—but did not cancel—a talk by Mosab Hassan Yousef from the McIntyre Medical Building to Zoom on Nov. 26. Yousef is the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef. Defecting from Hamas in 1997, Yousef acted as a[Read More…]
French sporting authorities must be held accountable for their Islamophobic policies
On March 18, the men’s football international break began and hundreds of footballers joined their senior and youth national teams for international friendlies to prepare for the Copa America and European championships this summer. Wearing the badge, if only once, is their ultimate aspiration. Most can only dream of standing[Read More…]
Along Party Lines: Quebec prevents the nomination of a professor specializing in multiculturalism, systemic racism, and Islamophobia
Denise Helly, a full professor at the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS)—a branch of the University of Quebec (UQ)—focuses her research on multiculturalism, Islamophobia, systemic racism, and the anti-woke movement. On Dec. 20, Helly received word that Quebec’s Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, had struck down her candidature[Read More…]
Targeting Elghawaby is a bigoted political play
On Jan. 26, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Amira Elghawaby as the country’s first federal representative on combating Islamophobia. Within mere days of her appointment, various politicians and Members of Parliament began calling for the resignation of the Canadian journalist, communications professional, and human rights activist. Elghawaby was accused[Read More…]
Bill 21 promotes hatred, not secularism
Organized by a collective called “Coalition Inclusion Quebec,” over 400 people took part in the latest of many recent protests against the highly controversial Bill 21 on May 5. Those present at the demonstration linked arms around Montreal’s courthouse to demonstrate their opposition to the bill. Introduced by the Coalition[Read More…]
Addressing hate is a collective action
On March 28, the Quebec government tabled its proposed secularism law, which would bar anyone working in the public sector in a ‘position of authority’—including bus drivers and teachers—from wearing visible religious symbols such as the hijab and kippah. Like the failed 2013 Charte des Valeurs , Bill 21 is[Read More…]
Let Muslim women wear whatever they want
Newly-elected Premier and leader of the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) François Legault recently shuffled his cabinet, naming Isabelle Charest the new Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Charest sparked controversy in early February for insisting that the “hijab is a symbol of female oppression.” When criticized for her comments,[Read More…]
Reflecting on the Quebec mosque shooting two years later
I remember crying when I first heard about the Quebec City Mosque shooting. I saw the faces of my father, my uncles, and my friends in the faces of the victims. I remember asking how this could have happened in a country that claims to value immigrants and diversity. I[Read More…]