“Quebec Premier François Legault says he doesn’t “really” believe Muslim women in the province who say they’ve been the target of Islamophobic incidents since the government passed a law making it illegal for some civil servants to wear religious symbols. Several Muslim women who wear either the hijab or niqab have told CBC News that since the legislation was tabled in March, they’ve been harassed, made the target of hateful comments, even spat on.”
Far too many Muslims have cried wolf for too long, claiming victimhood status, even where none may have existed. A notable recent incident involved a case which was publicized by the CBC where an “Islamophobia” screaming niqabi terrorized a bus driver after the driver drove by her without picking her up. Most people who use public transit have either themselves experienced or otherwise witnessed a driver zoom on by a waiting passenger that the driver may not have seen. But the zealous niqabi called up a friend, followed the driver, yelled her down and then subsequently filed “complaints with the Montreal police hate crimes unit and Quebec’s human rights commission”, prompting a union representative with Société de transport de Montréal to state: “a normal Quebecer would have waited for another bus.” CBC unfortunately linked the case to Quebec Bill 21 to restrict religious symbols in the public sector, stating: “the incident occurred as Quebec politicians are set to vote on a proposed law that restricts where religious symbols can be worn in the province”, and that “Muslim women in the province have reported being the target of an increasing number of Islamophobic incidents since it was tabled in March.”
Bill 21 passed into law and Muslim women wearing coverings continue to complain about “Islamophobia” (and “racism”). One cannot deny cases that may exist of anti-Muslim bigotry as with all bigotry, and in such cases, there have long been worthwhile programs to combat discrimination. Such programs however are now hijacked by Islamic supremacists and their socialist allies. All discrimination has become secondary to so-called “Islamophobia”.
A disadvantage of Bill 21 is that it targets all religious symbols despite the fact that Canada operates under a Constitution that enshrines religious rights and freedoms. Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies, stated about the bill:
“It’s mainly driven by the hijabs, and the other religious symbols are collateral damage,” said Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies. “Clearly, what is underlying (support for Bill 21) is negative sentiment toward Islam, Muslims and hijabs. It’s not about Christian religious symbols. The historic baggage of Catholicism and its negative role in Quebec isn’t part of the identity of a lot of Quebecers, despite what we hear from a lot of thought leaders.”
“Quebec premier shrugs off charge new religious symbols law makes Muslim women more vulnerable to racism”, by Jonathan Montpetit, CBC News, June 27, 2019:
Quebec Premier François Legault says he doesn’t “really” believe Muslim women in the province who say they’ve been the target of Islamophobic incidents since the government passed a law making it illegal for some civil servants to wear religious symbols.
Several Muslim women who wear either the hijab or niqab have told CBC News that since the legislation was tabled in March, they’ve been harassed, made the target of hateful comments, even spat on.
A women’s advocacy group, Justice Femme, recorded more than 40 Islamophobic incidents around Montreal between late March and early May.
Muslim community leaders have shared stories on social media that suggest the incidents of harassment have not died down in the two weeks since the law came into effect.
Legault was asked Thursday on CBC Radio whether he believes the new law — which bars public teachers and other authority figures from wearing religious symbols — makes some Quebecers more vulnerable to racism.
“For the people dealing with this bill … they say that they have received a greater level of harassment and intimidation and even attacks since the bill passed,” the host of CBC Montreal’s Daybreak, Ainslie MacLellan, told Legault.
“Do you believe those stories — that they are actually facing these things?”
Legault responded: “Not really.”
The premier went on to describe the religious symbols law as moderate, because it applies only to a small number of civil servants: public schoolteachers, school principals, government lawyers, police officers, judges and wildlife officers are prohibited from wearing signs of their faith.
“[The law] is quite similar to what we have in Belgium, in France, in Germany,” Legault said.
He was referring to laws in Belgium that ban face-covering veils in public. A similar ban exists in France, where it is also illegal for students and teachers to wear religious symbols in state schools. Several German states have implemented their own limits on where religious symbols can be worn.
“When I hear some people saying that Quebec [is becoming] racist, does that mean Germany, France and Belgium are racist?” Legault asked….