‘Lot of Silencing’: Envoy Exposes Chilling Effect of Gaza War on Canadian Muslims
Amira Elghawaby said in an interview with The Canadian Press that the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip had created a climate of fear and censorship for Muslims in Canada who wanted to express their views on the situation.
Elghawaby said that many members of Canada’s Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities “do not feel fully safe” to share their opinions on the brutal campaign that had killed thousands of people in Gaza, including relatives of many Canadians.
“There is a lot of silencing,” she said, adding that the right to free speech was being undermined by the threat of hate crimes, which had increased against both Muslims and Jews since the conflict erupted in October, and by the accusations of terrorism or antisemitism that were often leveled at those who participated in protests calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Globe and Mail reported on Saturday.
“People have a right to speak about their views on issues without fear of retribution,” Elghawaby said. “At the same time, people have a right to feel safe, and that if speech crosses into hateful rhetoric, that there are consequences.”
She said that it was “unfair” to label all protests as hateful or supportive of a certain ideology.
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The war in Gaza had also sparked hostility toward Muslims and others with Palestinian roots who criticized Israel’s military campaign.
A resident physician at the University of Ottawa and a nephrologist at a hospital in Richmond Hill, Ontario, were suspended over pro-Palestinian posts on social media that were deemed antisemitic by some of their colleagues. Both doctors were later reinstated.
Hundreds of law students, lawyers and professors from across Canada had signed a petition denouncing the “pervasive repression of speech” that targeted those who expressed solidarity with Palestinians or condemned Israel’s actions.
Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office had warned in November of a “worldwide wave of attacks, reprisals, criminalization and sanctions” against people who showed support for Palestinians. The office said that artists, academics and athletes had been blacklisted for their stance.
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Elghawaby said there was a “real trauma in our communities about the horrific loss of lives” in Gaza.
“A very distressing layer to that trauma is the fact that we are seeing increasing Islamophobia and antisemitism that is affecting people’s sense of belonging, people’s sense of safety,” she said.
The Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 7 has killed more than 26,257 people, mostly women and children, while leaving 64,797 others injured.
The relentless attacks against the besieged territory began after Palestinian resistance fighters launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in response to increasing violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories and the desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque.
Source: Agencies
