Many minorities in Canada and the U.S. suffered discrimination initially, especially during wartime. Still, the current wave of Islamophobia will have a dishonourable place in history.
What’s said and tolerated about Muslims and Islam is not about other people and their religions. Self-restraint is also missing when violating the privacy and dignity of Muslims, disproportionately. Their every move and word is parsed, to nail them for some real or imagined radicalism.
Our public discourse has been allowed to be hijacked by those whipping up fear of Muslims and Islam.
Islamophobia cannot be censored out. But it should be subject to the critical scrutiny of a democracy. Often it is not. So it feasts on wild accusations, double standards and being happily disconnected from reality, even logic. Here’s how.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1055678--the-clever-tactics-of-islamophobeshttp://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/09/18/toronto-prayer-protest.html