JEDDAH, 2 April 2003 — Saudis studying in Canada are happy with the Canadian government’s stand against the war in Iraq. “Canadian people are more tolerant of immigrants. They support their Prime Minister Jean Chretien in his stand against the war without a UN resolution. He is doing this despite the fact that this is in conflict with Canadian interests vis-a-vis the US and UK,” said a Saudi student who did not want to be identified.
A recent poll showed that even though 59 percent of Canadians are glad Canada decided to stay out of the war, 45 percent of them also said that it is time for Canada to join the US-led war to show support for its closest ally and largest trading partner.
“Many people around the world share my opinion that this war is unjust and will have long-term repercussions for the Arab and Muslim world,” said the student. “Saudis may become future targets in many ways, including limiting our opportunities for advanced education outside Saudi Arabia,” he added.
“I’m surprised about Canada’s role because I think they are going to be affected by this a lot,” commented another student. The fact that the US had turned up its nose at other ways of removing Saddam Hussein’s regime showed that there was an ulterior motive to the war, the student added.
Although Saudis in Canada feel relatively safe there and say that Canadians are treating them well, there are indications of an increase in hate crimes against Canadian Muslims.
According to the Canadian Islamic Congress, hate incidents against Canadian Muslims increased from 11 during the year prior to Sept. 11, 2001 to 173 during the year following Sept. 11. Some of these incidents were directed against non-Muslim individuals mistaken as Muslim, or against places of worship mistaken as Islamic.
Other Canadian Muslim NGOs reported similar data. “We have good reason to believe that the number of hate crimes reported to police is only a small fraction of what is reported to the CIC or other Islamic organizations,” said CIC National President Dr. Mohamed Elmasry.
The CIC found in a recent survey that most local police services are not keeping proper data on occurrences in their own jurisdictions. Dr. Elmasry said that hate crimes reported against Canadian Muslims have occurred in clusters whose peaks were found to be strongly date-related to international events, and he expects another peak during the war in Iraq.
The CIC is seriously concerned that Muslims could be targeted by anti-Islamic hate groups following last month’s move by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to set up a toll-free terrorism tip line. The phone line allows Canadians to report any suspicious activities that could increase the potential for terrorist attacks related to the Iraq war.
“We are as greatly concerned as all Canadians about national security and the safety of ourselves and our children,” said Wahida Valiante, the CIC’s national vice-president. “But we do not want to suffer more stress from potential false accusations based on racial profiling.”
At a gala dinner on March 27 in Toronto, the Canadian Islamic Congress’ Media Research Project was among 20 groups named as finalists for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation’s Award for Excellence presented to organizations that has demonstrated achievement and innovation in combating racism in Canada.
Since 1998, the CIC has conducted a pioneering annual study to monitor and evaluate anti-Islam bias in the media, which has led to a modest overall improvement in the language and terms used to identify Muslims and Islam.
