Doug Ford’s IHRA Order-In-Council creates a hierarchy for victims of racism By: Khaled Mouammar
Doug Ford’s IHRA Order-In-Council creates a hierarchy
for victims of racism
By: Khaled Mouammar
The IHRA anti-Semitism definition was passed on October 25
by an Order-In-Council (OIC) before two deadlines set by the Standing Committee
on Justice Policy for submitting requests to participate in public hearings and
to submit written material.
This anti-democratic move is fitting for the IHRA OIC, which
poses a threat to freedom of expression and academic freedom.
More worryingly the OIC only addresses the racism
directed against Jews and implicitly relegates to a lesser status the racism
faced by other racial and religious minorities.
An IPSOS poll in May 2019 reveals that almost half of
Canadians will admit to having racist thoughts, and more feel comfortable
expressing them today than in years past. The poll found that 26 per cent of
Canadians believe it has become more acceptable to be prejudiced against
Muslims and Arabs.1
A report released in June 2020 by the Institute for
Strategic Dialogue (ISD), a UK-based think tank, concludes that Canada has
a well-established system of right-wing extremists very much comparable to that
of the U.S. and U.K., and it is part of a global pattern.
According to the ISD report, on Facebook, “Muslims were the
most widely discussed minority community, and the most common target of posts
containing explicit hate speech (23%), with anti-Semitism being the second
largest grouping of hate speech (16%).” 2
A poll conducted by Mainstreet Research in June 2020,
reveals that a majority of Canadians believe Black and Indigenous people are
treated less fairly than white people in Canada when dealing with police and
the criminal justice system and within the workplace. 3
A July 2020 Ipsos poll for Global News found that 60% of
Canadians agree that there is systemic racism in Canada, up 13% since last
year, and 48% agree that institutions like government, the police, the courts,
the education system, and journalists tolerate racism. 4
The above reports indicate that the main victims of
racism are Indigenous people and Blacks, followed by Muslims and Jews. Clearly
then, Ontario needs comprehensive tools to combat all forms of racism.
By only dealing with the racism targeting Jews the Ontario
government is discriminating against other victims of racism, especially
Indigenous people and Blacks who face discrimination when dealing with the
police, the criminal justice system and within the workplace.
Furthermore the Ontario government is brushing aside the
statistics confirming that Muslims face more prejudice and hate than Jews.
Ironically, one can freely criticize racism in Canada but
the IHRA OIC makes it unacceptable to criticize racism against Palestinians in
Israel.
Seven of the eleven illustrative examples provided by IHRA
anti-Semitism definition conflate criticism of Israel with racism against Jews.
In July 2018 the Jewish majority in the Knesset passed
the Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People which stipulates
that “Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have
an exclusive right to national self-determination in it”, thus
subordinating the rights of 22% of its citizens who are Palestinian
Christians and Muslims. 5
One can only imagine the reaction of Canadians if the
Christian majority in parliament passes a law granting superior rights to
Christians over Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists and others.
One of the IHRA illustrative examples claims that “denying the
Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the
existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour” is anti-Semitic. By doing
so, the example implicitly endorses the Nation State Law that was passed by the
Jewish majority in the Knesset.
Hence, this example could be used by the Israel lobby to
target anyone supporting the right of the Palestinian people for
self-determination or anyone advocating for equality in a democratic
non-sectarian state instead of a specifically “Jewish state” which gives
superior rights to Jews – as Israel is currently constituted.
In conclusion, the IHRA OIC is discriminatory since it deals
only with racism against Jews and ignores the racism faced by Indigenous
people, Blacks and Muslims. It also attempts to cover up the
institutionalized discrimination faced by 1.8 million Palestinian citizens of
Israel by restricting free speech and threatening academic freedom as
asserted by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA).
2. https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/canada-online/
4. https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/majority-60-see-racism-serious-problem-canada-today-13-points-last-year
5. https://knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/BasicLawNationState.pdf
posted by Mohamed S Kamel @ 5:38 PM
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