Update: The Canadian Islamic Congress has a pdf on their site entitled:
MACLEANS MAGAZINE: A CASE STUDY OF
MEDIA-PROPAGATED ISLAMOPHOBIA
Prepared by:
Khurrum Awan, Muneeza Skeikh, Naseem Mithoowani
LLB (Osgoode Hall Law School – 2007)
Ali Ahmed
LLB Candidate (Osgoode Hall Law School - 2008)
Daniel Simard
LLB Candidate (Osgoode Hall Law School - 2009)
The Canadian Islamic Congress and 4 law students from Osgoode have requested proceedings in our Human Rights Commissions against Maclean's magazine for publishing an excerpt from Mark Steyn's recent book.
Further research into the legal issues was conducted over the Christmas season. This consisted mostly of several glasses of port in front of a roaring fire at the home of the local paterfamilias. He recently retired from the bench, and has more than a passing interest in the variety of issues involved in this case. Apart from all the interesting conversation around justice, multiculturalism, freedom of expression, I also discovered (i think after the 3rd glass) that he has, tucked away in the library, a document signed by Sir John A himself. Great-great Granddad was sworn into judicial office by Canada's first Prime Minister. I wonder what he would make of the case...
Posts at LawisCool are here and here.
Mark Steyn has comments here., and links to the text of the complaints can be found on this page.
In addition, there is this story about a Catholic journal being brought under the same body, for publishing stuff which, well, appears to be the teaching of the Catholic Church:
Today, Catholic Insight magazine has also become a victim of the new anti-religion. We, too, have been denounced to the Canadian Human Rights Commission in Ottawa for speaking out against the activists who agitated for adding so-called sexual orientation to the Hate Crimes Act in 2003 and the legalization of same-sex “marriage” in 2005. The politically correct activists brook no opposition. See the article ”Catholic Insight under human rights attack”, page 10; and David Warren,“Suing for silence”, page 17.
from here
"Suing for silence" - has a nice ring, no?
related post: an interesting article or two on the Mark Steyn affair
Goodbye Oscar.
Food for thought. Commenting at CBC on the death of Aqsa Parvez, the head of the Canadian Islamic Congress (the same person bringing the complaints) had this to say:
"I don't want the public to think that this is really an Islamic issue or an immigrant issue," said Mohamed Elmasry of the Canadian Islamic Congress. "It is a teenager issue."
Even better:
" 'If you know that your girl is good and she practises her faith, she's not hopping around in what we consider lewd behaviour, then for heaven's sakes you know, let the girl have a chance,' Ahsan said."
I've seen a number of iman comments who have said similar things - which is nothing more than the "if she wasn't dressed provocatively she wouldn't have been raped" argument we left behind 20+ years ago.
So "let the girl have a chance" = "good", "practices her faith" and "no lewd behaviour"; the converse gives us what, 'do not let the girl have a chance' = 'no hijab"? Not an Islam thing but a teenager thing? What kind of empty thought is that?
How about - fathers don't kill their children for the way they dress or act? How about - teens are supposed to form their own identity, it is a part of growing up?
What acceptable response is there except to say, unconditionally, 'Islam condemns without pause the murder of children'? Full Stop. As soon as you start trying to explain or contextualize a killing, you are offering a rationale for murder.
When I read these highly conditional statements from leaders in the Islam movement, it makes Mark Steyn sound a lot more sane.
As for the law students - whatever. There has already been an attempt to bring Sharia law into the Ontario mediation system.
Posted by: Matt | December 27, 2007 at 01:22 PM
I think many people do not understand why a complaint was filed against Macleans Magazine. The following YouTube link provides an interview from Khurrum Awan *himself* on the Mike Duffy Live Show explaining the facts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeenAJx-Zjk
Posted by: Mike Savant | February 04, 2008 at 05:07 PM