...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

The Globe and Muslim: Yesterday, we had Palestinian journalist Rami Khouri railing about how Israel is “a Zionist foe whose predatory territorial aims are anchored in the ugly soil of 19^th Century imperialism and colonialism”; today, we get CAIR-CAN founder Sheema Khan whinging about how Canada has “two-tier citizenship” since Prime Minister Stephen Harper got a white chick, Brenda Martin, sprung from a Mexican jail but won’t do the same for little Omar in Gitmo or a guy named Abousfian Abdelrazik in Sudan: Don’t look now, but the Ed Greenspon-helmed Globe and Mail seems to have turned into Elmo’s wet dream. Here’s a bit of Sheema, having a good old wallow in fetid swamp of victimhood:

…Furthermore, the contrast between the government's treatment of Mr. Khadr and Mr. Abdelrazik with that of Brenda Martin leave many wondering about the existence of two-tiered citizenship. Or, as Mr. Abdelrazik explained his detention: "The Canadian government has a racist mind. It is because I am black and Muslim."

Conservative supporters will counter with the federal government's stand on Huseyin Celil, a Canadian Muslim imprisoned in China. But this has more to do with the governing party's dislike of Beijing. If the Conservatives acted on principle, rather than politics, they would not distinguish among Mr. Celil, Mr. Khadr and Mr. Abdelrazik, and safeguard their human rights equally.

The spectre of discrimination was also raised last year in an open letter to Mr. Harper by Joe Clark, Lloyd Axworthy, Flora MacDonald, Bill Graham, John Manley and Pierre Pettigrew, who wrote: "The quest for genuine human security must be rooted in international human-rights standards: basic and hard-won standards for the just treatment of all people, everywhere, all the time and under all circumstances - no exceptions. This is especially true in times of danger and public anxiety when governments use so-called 'necessity' to justify the abuse of some people, often those who are already the targets of discrimination." We should uphold these noble principles by also demanding the just treatment of Mohamed el-Attar, an Egyptian-Canadian imprisoned in Egypt on espionage charges. Mr. El-Attar claims he was tortured into providing a confession.

Exacerbation of racism at times of public anxiety is not new. Our own history is replete with episodes of abuses in which the collective rights of identifiable groups were trampled in the name of security. During both world wars, the government interned Canadians of various ethnicities. With the operation of the War Measures Act, hundreds of innocent Quebeckers were rounded up on suspicion of indépendentiste leanings. And since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Muslims and Arabs have come under suspicion - especially if they oppose American and/or Canadian foreign policy.

By all means, let's be vigilant about our security. Yet, in a manner that is consistent with values of basic human decency. Let's not repeat the mistakes of our past, remembering that government excesses cannot be left unchallenged. Canadians of good conscience must join together to fight for basic human dignity of their fellow citizens. With each fresh revelation about human-rights violations perpetrated in the name of security, we must heighten our vigilance against abuses of power, and demand due process for those who are detained or exiled unjustly.

Um, I could be wrong here, but I thought that the Maher Arar affair resulted in an expensive inquiry (in which Arar did not have to provide medical evidence that he’d been physically tortured), coast-to-coast angst and a big payoff for the torturee; there was even a move to try and get his wife, whose travails were covered by an adoring media, to run for Parliament. Is that evidence that Canada is “racist”? I think not. All indications are that we’re still in the grip of our multishmulti delusions, the Kindergarten philosophy that holds every kid in the class is as sweet and as special as every other kid (let’s all join hands, children, for circle time). What Sheema seems to be complaining about is the fact that some Canadians appear to be waking up from the spell and have noticed that a few of kids want to see sharia making strides both at home and abroad--not a pleasant prospect for those of us disinclined to bow and scrape. But you can see why Sheema would want to play the race card. Up till now, it’s been highly effective in deflecting attention away from the jihad by making lefties feel mega-guilty about the West’s success--and the modern Islamic world’s distinct lack thereof.

Posted by: scaramouche at 10:06 | link | comments

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