Haters of Islam Have Been Emboldened by Rhetoric

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

2-1-2017

Abstract

How does the first hate killings since Donald Trump’s election occur in a place touted for its multiculturalism and tolerance?

Well, Islamophobia is for real. Trump’s executive order banning Muslims from select countries and the terrorist attack on the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec in Quebec City killing six and wounding eight innocent worshippers should lay to rest any doubts.

Right wing nationalists were quick to re-victimize the victims by falsely propagating that one of the alleged perpetrators was a Moroccan and that he had yelled “Allahu akbar.” The fact that even some supposedly respectable media outlets reported such alternative “facts” is telling. Police have now said the sole accused is Alexandre Bissonnette, a white French Canadian who by some accounts appears to be a rabid white nationalist. Very few are asking, how did he get radicalized?

Publication Title

Toronto Star

Link to Full Text

Request a copy that is accessible using assistive technology (link opens in a new window)

Share

COinS