A new report released on August 6 warned of an alarming surge in hate incidents across Canada since the attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian hate crimes spiking by as much as 1,800% in some regions.

The report, titled “Documenting the ‘Palestine Exception’” and authored by Nadia Hasan of York University’s Islamophobia Research Hub, outlines what it calls a “sharp and dangerous” rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism (APR) and anti-Arab racism (AAR) over the past 21 months.

“In the aftermath of Oct. 2023, Canada saw a rise in anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism that affects many areas of life and work for Canadians,” Hasan said during a news conference in Ottawa.

The report also calls on all levels of government in Canada to officially recognize May 15 as Nakba Day. Palestinians mark the day after Israel declared independence in 1948 as the beginning of the destruction of their homeland.

“Provincial governments should develop curriculum, train staff and educate students on Palestinian culture, identity and history, including the history of the Nakba,” the report said.

It also wants all levels of government to “recognize and adopt” a definition of anti-Palestinian racism (APR) “as a distinct and detrimental form of racism that operates at multiple levels of state and society.”

Nadia Hasan said recognizing both Nakba Day and an official definition for APR would set Canada apart from other countries.

“These are important things for Canada to take very seriously,” Hasan said. “I think it would be a first and an important step for Canada to lead on.”

Based on consultations with 16 Canadian organizations, public data and media reports, the report revealed that Toronto Police Services saw a 1,600% year-over-year increase in anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic hate crimes between Oct. 7 and Nov. 20, 2023.

According to Statistics Canada, a 94% spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes and a 52% rise in hate crimes against Arabs and West Asians were recorded in 2023.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) reported a 1,300% increase in Islamophobia cases in the month after Oct. 7, rising to 1,800% over the year.

The Muslim Legal Support Centre (MLSC) documented 474 human rights complaints between October 2023 and March 2024, including 345 cases of individuals who lost jobs or were placed on leave due to support for Palestine. The Legal Centre for Palestine reported a 600% increase in APR cases over eight months.

Noting that the report captures only a fraction of what communities are facing, Hasan said: “The information included in this report is based on interviews with these organizations, data that some of these organizations provided, publicly available data, as well as media reports from Oct. 2023 to Nov. 2024.”

Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, warned that the findings demand urgent action.

“We see it in the censorship and silencing of Canadians who defend Palestinian human rights with real consequences on their livelihoods and on their futures,” she said.

Stressing that such incidents continue to occur daily across Canada and urging that they be confronted, she said: “Old tropes that surged after 9/11 are back, amplified by the far right and others, and used again to dehumanize our communities, especially Palestinian-Muslim and Arab-Canadians.”

Download the full report HERE.

Source: Anadolu Agency

In political communication, there is an issue called “illusory truth effect”, which happens when repetition of misinformation makes people more likely to accept a big lie as a truth.

Through media outlets and co-ordinated networks, Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian tropes and conspiracies are circulated. Eventually, they become regarded as social facts, especially in times of war, conflict and heightened political tensions.

Since 9/11, two billion Muslims globally have faced collective punishment. The ubiquity of Islamophobia has led to generalized stereotypes of Muslims as being prone to violence and terrorism.

Moreover, when racist narratives are espoused by politicians, they falsely instill fear and moral panic about the Muslim presence in this country and elsewhere.

Public belief in the vilifying narratives of violent Muslims can become second nature to people who watch biased news reports on mainstream media and a variety of social media platforms that circulate anti-Muslim narratives.

Widespread Islamophobic sentiments translate into anti-Muslim policies and practices. Harassment of Muslims, discrimination, killing of innocent people and ordinary citizens just because they are Muslims, etc. are only small part of the actions that the misinformation of people and Islamophobia creates for Muslims.

In the end, during these dystopian times, the public needs to be able to separate fact from fiction as fabrications masquerade as truth. The consequences are dire.

Source: Theconversation.com

The university said: “Allegations made against Professor Greer centred around the content of an optional human rights module which he has taught for 15 years at the University… A QC appointed to review and advise on the content of the module found no evidence of Islamophobic speech and concluded that the material did not amount to discrimination or harassment and was intended as the basis for academic debate by the students who elected to study it.

Nearly 3,800 people signed a petition urging the University of Bristol to take swift action against Greer due to his alleged “use of discriminatory remarks and Islamophobic comments.” The petition said that law students reported that “Professor Greer frequently expresses views in his classes that can be deemed Islamophobic, bigoted and divisive.”

For example, the BRISOC said that Professor Greer provided justification for the Chinese government policy of targeting Uyghur Muslims by stating that “if a particular piece of legislation impacts disproportionately against a group, it looks ‘superficially’ like it is discrimination […] this is the case with China and Muslims in re-education camps.” They claimed he expanded on this by saying that “most difficulties [in reference to the Uyghur’s plight] stem from the Islamic influence upon it.”

Source: 5pillarsuk.com

In 2018, Tata tweeted that Islam was the “most oppressive violent religion I know of” and claimed Obama was a “terrorist leader” who did more to harm the US “and help Islamic countries than any president in history.” In a radio interview, he claimed that the Iran deal came about because of Obama’s “Islamic roots” in an attempt “to help Iranians and the greater Islamic state crush Israel.”

This comes after the appointment of Mark Kevin Lloyd as USAID’s Religious Freedom adviser. Lloyd had a similar history of Islamophobia; Emgage Action spearheaded a coalition letter calling for his resignation.

“It is inexcusable for those in top policy positions to have such Islamophobic views,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action. “Putting such individuals in these positions of power normalizes anti-Muslim sentiment, and will inevitably contribute to policies that are harmful for Muslim communities domestically and abroad. We urge the White House to reject Gen. Tata for this position.”

Source: The Arab American News