TORONTO, April 10 /CNW/ - The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) welcomes
the statement issued yesterday by the Ontario Human Rights Commission in
response to complaints about Maclean's magazine. The complaints, regarding an
October 2006 article titled The Future Belongs to Islam, were filed by law
students Muneeza Sheikh, Naseem Mithoowani, Khurrum Awan and Ali Ahmed in
April 2007.
In its statement, the Ontario Human Rights Commission expressed
"...serious concerns about the content of a number of articles concerning
Muslims that have been published by Maclean's magazine and other media
outlets." Referring to the articles published by Maclean's the Commission
stated:This type of media coverage has been identified as contributing to
Islamophobia and promoting societal intolerance towards Muslim, Arab,
and South Asian Canadians. The Commission recognizes and understands
the serious harm that such writings cause, both to the targeted
communities and society as a whole."The Commission's recognition of the prejudicial impact of Maclean's
targeting of Muslim Canadians and the importance of establishing viable
avenues to challenge racism in the media has vindicated our concerns," said
Sheikh, referring to the Commission's Statement that read:...it should be possible to challenge any institution that
contributes to the dissemination of destructive, xenophobic opinions.Said Mithoowani: "We couldn't agree more with the Ontario Human Rights
Commission when it wrote: 'Freedom of expression should be exercised through
responsible reporting and not be used as a guise to target vulnerable groups
and to further increase their marginalization or stigmatization in society.'"
"The Commission recognized in strong and clear language that Maclean's
has been part of the racism and Islamophobia that exists in the media. This
should be cause for shame and embarrassment," said Faisal Joseph, legal
counsel for the Canadian Islamic Congress. "Maclean's should now try to solve
the problem, not escalate it."
Related complaints have been filed with the British Columbia Human Rights
Tribunal and the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Hearings have been
scheduled for the BC complaint from June 2 to 6 under s. 7(1) of the BC Human
Rights Code which prohibits publications that subject identifiable communities
to hate. The federal commission is investigating the complaints.
The complete text of the Ontario Human Rights Commission's statement can
be accessed on the Commission's website:
http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/resources/news/en/resources/news/statement.
For further information: Faisal Joseph, CIC's Legal Counsel, (519)
640-6342 or (519) 619-8855
