By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Ontario
A Canadian Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization announced Tuesday that it launched a program to report anti-Muslim occurrences, hate speech and crimes.
The action by the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) follows recent incidents of anti-Muslim violence in Toronto and Calgary, the group’s executive director Ihsaan Gardee said in a statement on the organization’s website.
In the Toronto area of North York, vandals spray painted derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad on an apartment building on Sunday. Last week, a Muslim-owned restaurant in Calgary was also spray-painted.
“These cowardly acts are un-Canadian,” Gardee said. “Canadian Muslims know that such acts do not represent the views of the vast majority of our fellow citizens.”
Muslims who believe they have been victims of discrimination or hate crimes can report the incidents on the NCCM website and they will be contacted by the organization for follow-up action. All information will be kept confidential and not shared without consent, the organization said. The website will also contain updated information on anti-Muslim incidents.
“We urge community members to remain vigilant and to immediately report suspicious behavior to the proper authorities, as well as to the NCCM, in order to establish a clear record of such incidents,” Gardee said.
According to the latest available records from Statistics Canada data, there were 45 hate crimes against Muslims in 2012, mainly eschewing violence and reflecting mischief including vandalism.
But those are the reported incidents and the actual numbers may be higher, said NCCM human rights co-ordinator Amira Elghawaby.
“Hate crime is one of the most under-reported crimes in Canada,” Elghawaby told Canada’s largest newspaper, the Toronto Star. “There is often reluctance to go public or to the police, because people do not want to bring attention to themselves or do not think anything will come of it.”
In the past, the NCCM has been critical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in particular in February when in answering a question about a new anti-terrorism bill, he drew a parallel between radicalization and mosques.
At the time, Elghawaby termed the prime minister’s remarks as “extremely divisive”, as reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Following the North York incident, the NCCM has renewed the call for officials to denounce anti-Muslim acts and rhetoric.
“In the wake of this latest anti-Muslim incident, it is incumbent on our elected leaders, public officials and community partners to demonstrate leadership by speaking out forcefully against Islamophobia and hatred in all its forms,” Gardee said.
