Canadian Muslim Students Face More Racist Attacks

[Ansar Al-'Adl]

Canadian Muslim students protest racist attacks against them. (Courtesy: Mississauga News)

CAIRO, March 24, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Muslim students at the University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM) have been suffering growing racism and verbal assaults, a local Canadian newspaper reported on Friday, March 24.

"It keeps happening over and over again, and it needs to stop," Shaila Kibria, vice-president of the UTM's Students' Administrative Council, told the Canadian Mississauga News Online.

Kibria said a female student was forcefully shoved in the chest and told to "go back" to her country and "bomb it".

"Since then, there have been a dozen more incidents in which racist comments have been directed towards Muslim students at the school's Mississauga Rd. campus."

Similar attacks were also reported at the Toronto campus.

Kibria said he was told by fellow students that they had been insulted by other students asking if their underarms are hairy.

Another female student reported that she was called a terrorist by a group of students last week, Kibria added.

The number of Canadian Muslims has increased dramatically over the last decade, according to a national census.

Canadian Muslims make 1.9% of Canada's some 32.8 million people, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Islam has become the number one non-Christian faith in Canada.

University Inaction

Muslim student blamed the university administration for the rise of racist attacks against them, saying it failed to even publicly condemn the racist practices.

Fahad Shaikh, the head of UTM's Muslim Students Association, warned Muslims may face more violent attacks unless the university takes further action to eliminate hate attacks and crimes.

Comparing reaction to attacks against Muslims and the circulation of anti-Semitic pamphlets on the campus last November, Kibria said the university was quick to issue a public statement to denounce the pamphlets, but refrained from doing the same on Muslims.

The UTM's Students' Administrative Council and other student groups have called on the university to make a statement denouncing the recent anti-Muslim incidents.

The council has also asked the university to give a directive telling students and staff to show respect to Muslims and refrain from attacking their faith, said Kibria.

Nearly 100 Muslim students staged a rally on Thursday, March 23, to protest attacks against them, the paper said.

The Muslim groups have also called for looking into a series of posters that have appeared on campus showing a picture of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) with a bomb in his turban.

The drawing is among twelve blasphemous others that were first published by Danish daily Jyllands-Posten in September and reprinted by European newspapers on claims of freedom of expression.

The drawings, considered blasphemous under Islam, have triggered massive and sometimes violent demonstrations across the Muslim world.


http://www.islamonline.net/English/N...rticle06.shtml

[HeiGou]

Canadian Muslim students protest racist attacks against them. (Courtesy: Mississauga News)

What is said to have happened in Canada is bad but just so we can keep all this is perspective: people have actually tried to kill other people on campus. And the victims were not targeted because they were Muslims.

Please do not post off-topic articles

[Ansar Al-'Adl]

What is said to have happened in Canada is bad but just so we can keep all this is perspective: people have actually tried to kill other people on campus. And the victims were not targeted because they were Muslims.

I disagree. The outrage at UTM is over a hit-and-run incident where a man tried to run over four somali Muslims.

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Toro...499754-sun.html

U of T soft on racism: Protest

President dismisses complaints

By IAN ROBERTSON, TORONTO SUN

Occasionally crying "shame," student activists yesterday demanded U of T do a better job of ridding the campus and administration of what they say is racism.

But University of Toronto president David Naylor later bristled at claims of racial intolerance made by a handful of speakers at the Student Administrative Council (SAC) building.

"The hardworking faculty and institution has been dealing with these issues long before the current SAC were here and will continue to do so long after they are gone," Naylor said in an interview.

"Our record of admissions and the profile of our students today speaks for itself," he said, after playing keyboard for one of several entertainers at Sounds of Change anti-racism day events on the campus.

'ISLAMOPHOBIA'

In the wake of several recent "very disturbing" incidents branded as "Islamophobia" by the SAC speakers and anti-racism banner-carriers, Naylor promised to "say more" tomorrow at a U of T board meeting.

"This has been a very difficult period," he said.

Protesters repeatedly cited a hit-and-run motorist accused of targeting four Somalis near a science building Sunday as they returned to a Muslim theology seminar.

The group, who SAC vice-president Shaila Kibria said do not want to speak to journalists, claim a drunk white man urinating against a building shouted racial slurs, then drove his car at the group after one of the Somalis kicked it and shouted back at the abusive man.

One man had minor injuries when clipped by the car. A man later surrendered to police and has been charged.

EGG-THROWING

Rally organizers said Toronto Police and U of T should treat the incident as racial and cited recent egg-throwing at Muslim women wearing traditional Najib head coverings, plus a film screening showing Muslim women ceremonially bathing as ethnically motivated or ignorant.

"There have been some incidents on campus," Kibria told a crowd of up to 100 at the rally.

She lauded one dean for accommodating "obligatory" Islamic prayer schedules by switching Friday class times, but "there has been some resistance" by others.

To low calls of "shame," SAC vice-president Jennifer Hassum accused the U of T of wrongfully defending racist statements "as freedom of speech ... they are not."

Jesse Greener, of the Canadian Federation of Students, said "we cannot sit idly by ... there is a disturbing trend of Islamophobic backlash on campuses.

"Students regularly are bringing forward issues that the university administrations should be dealing with," he said. "Universities are basically throwing their hands up instead of dealing with some of these issues."

It has gotten to the point where Muslims are living their lives in fear of such hate crimes.

[HeiGou]

I disagree. The outrage at UTM is over a hit-and-run incident where a man tried to run over four somali Muslims.

The group, who SAC vice-president Shaila Kibria said do not want to speak to journalists, claim a drunk white man urinating against a building shouted racial slurs, then drove his car at the group after one of the Somalis kicked it and shouted back at the abusive man.

One man had minor injuries when clipped by the car. A man later surrendered to police and has been charged.

It has gotten to the point where Muslims are living their lives in fear of such hate crimes.

They are hardly living in fear if they kicked the guy's car.

Nor is there evidence that he tried to run them down or that he targeted them because they were Muslims. Compare this with the article you deleted where a man, not under the influence of alcohol, deliberately and maliciously rented the largest car he could find to inflict the maximum amount of damage, and then without any provocation at all, ran it into a queue of innocent people.

It is a bad incident. But it is hardly in the same league.

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They are hardly living in fear if they kicked the guy's car.

Nor is there evidence that he tried to run them down or that he targeted them because they were Muslims. Compare this with the article you deleted where a man, not under the influence of alcohol, deliberately and maliciously rented the largest car he could find to inflict the maximum amount of damage, and then without any provocation at all, ran it into a queue of innocent people.

It is a bad incident. But it is hardly in the same league.

Brother, do u have something against Muslims?!

[HeiGou]

Brother, do u have something against Muslims?!

Interesting you would think that.

I think that we need to keep things in perspective. We have to remember all the victims of violence and injustice. Who would argue with that?

[Ansar Al-'Adl]

They are hardly living in fear if they kicked the guy's car.

Actually what happened was that these four somali Muslims were atteneding an Islamic course on theology, and as they were walking back to the university, this man started yelling profanities and slurs at them. A shouting match began with the somali brother and that man, and the somali brother did kick the man's car. The four Muslims then left, and the man got in his car and drove after them. He tried to run them over the first time, but missed so he went around the block and the second time he hit one of the brothers, who was hospitalized immediately. The man then drove off.

Nor is there evidence that he tried to run them down or that he targeted them because they were Muslims.

Actually, I don't think you can argue with me when the University of Toronto has acknowledged this as a hate crime and has decided to take the necessary steps to prevent such incidents:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

- PRESS RELEASE -

CAIR-CAN WELCOMES U OF T STATEMENT AGAINST HATE

For immediate release

(Ottawa, Canada - 24/03/06) - The Canadian Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR-CAN) today welcomes the statement by University of Toronto
President David Naylor against hate at the university. CAIR-CAN says
the statement is an important first step in combating the spread of hate
after a series of alarming incidents on the school's campus.

"The University will not tolerate actions that appear to rise to the level
of a hate crime, or for that matter, any criminal act," says the statement
by President Naylor. "Any action undertaken for the sole purpose of causing
distress to other members of the University of Toronto undermines the basic
purpose of this learning community. Our purpose is to advance knowledge
through teaching and research in an environment of inclusiveness and
respect. Intolerance is a destructive distraction from that goal. It thus
has no moral place at this University, even when expressed through means
that are protected by the principle of free expression."

The statement was released after a series of racist and Islamophobic
incidents at the university. The latest attack saw a hit-and-run against an
African-Canadian Muslim student perpetrated by a man who had been yelling
racial slurs. Prior incidents saw a Muslim student being pushed and called a
terrorist, while other students say eggs were thrown at them. Students also
complained to CAIR-CAN that Islamophobic flyers were being distributed on
campus. For more information on the incidents, please see:
http://www.caircan.ca/itn_more.php?id=2393_0_2_0_C

In a statement released today, CAIR-CAN said:

"CAIR-CAN welcomes the statement by University of Toronto President David
Naylor against the recent hate attacks on the university campus. President
Naylor's statement was an important first step in challenging the
spread of hate and indicating that it will not be tolerated at the
University of Toronto. We hope that the university will continue to work
closely with its students to combat hate and ensure their safety."

Compare this with the article you deleted where a man, not under the influence of alcohol, deliberately and maliciously rented the largest car he could find to inflict the maximum amount of damage, and then without any provocation at all, ran it into a queue of innocent people.

This thread is about recent hate crimes against canadian muslim students. You posted an article about some drunk man some time ago who tried to run down some people. It seems you have no conception of the issue that is being discussed here. I am amazed that you try to draw attention away from hate crimes against Muslims by posting cases of intoxicated attacks that have absolutely nothing to do with this. If Muslims are being intimidated by people shouting at them in the streets, physically assualting them in the universities, and are being run down from vehicles, I think that justifies my comment that Muslims are living in fear today.

[afriend]

But what good will it do?

After all the anti-war protests, all sorts...It's no use...the result is zilch.....

There must be a stronger force within to conquer this problem.

[HeiGou]

Actually what happened was that these four somali Muslims were atteneding an Islamic course on theology, and as they were walking back to the university, this man started yelling profanities and slurs at them. A shouting match began with the somali brother and that man, and the somali brother did kick the man's car. The four Muslims then left, and the man got in his car and drove after them. He tried to run them over the first time, but missed so he went around the block and the second time he hit one of the brothers, who was hospitalized immediately. The man then drove off.

Sure. I read it the first time. But they were clearly not living in fear. They did not run off. They did not turn the other cheek. They kicked the guy's car. He ought to be in jail, but let's not over-state what happened.

Actually, I don't think you can argue with me when the University of Toronto has acknowledged this as a hate crime and has decided to take the necessary steps to prevent such incidents

I would not like to even try.

This thread is about recent hate crimes against canadian muslim students. You posted an article about some drunk man some time ago who tried to run down some people. It seems you have no conception of the issue that is being discussed here. I am amazed that you try to draw attention away from hate crimes against Muslims by posting cases of intoxicated attacks that have absolutely nothing to do with this. If Muslims are being intimidated by people shouting at them in the streets, physically assualting them in the universities, and are being run down from vehicles, I think that justifies my comment that Muslims are living in fear today.

Actually it does not draw attention away from hate crimes against Muslims and it is clearly on target for what we are discussing here. The problem is blind hatred and a lack of understanding. A man who was not drunk, as it happens, but very sober and clear-headed, drove a large car, the largest he could rent, into a crowd of people intending to kill as many as possible. As opposed to this incident in which a sudden argument blew up with a drunk man who aimed his car at some people who happened to be Somali. Now the problem clearly is, in my opinion, hatred and a desire to kill. If anyone is being intimidated, if anyone is being run down by vehicles, if anyone is being targeted because of their religion or nationality that is worthy, in my opinion, of condemnation. Which is what I did.

Unless of course you think that the two cases are not equivalent or even similar because there is no basis for comparing a Muslim who tries to kill as many non-Muslims as he can with a non-Muslim who tried to run down four Somalis. If that is your position, why do you think that? Surely hatred is hatred and murder is murder?

[Ansar Al-'Adl]

Sure. I read it the first time. But they were clearly not living in fear. They did not run off.

They did when the man tried to run them over in the car. They didn't touch his physical person at all, let alone harm him; yet he drove straight into one of them with his car.

Actually it does not draw attention away from hate crimes against Muslims and it is clearly on target for what we are discussing here.

Really? This thread is entitled, "Canadian Muslim students face more racist attacks" - can you please point out the Muslim students subject to racist attacks/hate crimes in that article? When you feel compelled to derail threads concerning crimes against Muslims it tells me that you are on a campaign to convey a certain image about Muslims.

[Ansar Al-'Adl]

Islamic Congress Asks U Of T President To Ensure Safety Of Muslims On Campus

WAVE OF HATE ATTACKS CAUSING ALARM AMONG MUSLIM STUDENTS


A recent increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslim students at the University of Toronto has prompted the Canadian Islamic Congress to urgethe university's senior administration to take the matter more seriously.

In a statement prepared for U of T president David Naylor, the CIC warnsthat "Islamophobia is a serious threat whenever and wherever it occurs inour society. When it breaks out in openly racist actions, whether in print,spoken words, or physical assault, it must be met with immediateconsequences for the perpetrators. What has been happening on your campusand others in Canada is nothing less than hate-crime."

The CIC was asked to respond to a growing wave of campus attacks, includinglast week's washroom assault on a female Muslim student by a non-Muslimfemale assailant, who was campaigning in favour of the controversial anti-Islam cartoons published recently in a Danish newspaper.

This and other confrontations have been accompanied by coarse language,such as "go back to [your] f***ing country and bomb it," and "F***ing Muslim terrorists..." In one incident, female students wearing hijabs (headscarves) were pelted with eggs

Although a joint investigation by U of T campus police, Toronto Police, theOffice of Community Safety, and the Office of Anti-Racism is ongoing, manyMuslim students and community leaders feel the latest string of incidentsis not being treated with the concern it deserves.

"To find such a level of anti-Muslim feeling on a university campus isespecially distressing," the CIC statement concluded. "In the places whereCanadians are supposed to be learning to build a better world and a moreunified human family, racism and bigotry have invaded like a dread disease.But the cure for it is also among us -- if we act now."

[abdul Majid]

:heated: :heated: :grumbling :grumbling

[------]

:heated: :heated: :grumbling :grumbling

Exactly my thoughts.

[Kent Nielsen]

I'm sorry this has happened :offended: In every campus community or every community in general there are fools like this.I honestly hope everyone here realizes that most Canadians are not like these clowns.:grumbling