North America's wave of Islamophobia -- This is what the start of fascism looks like

Peterborough Mosque target of racist violence

This has been a week where the pretense of civility, acceptance and  multi-cultural tolerance has been challenged in North America not just by the usual suspects that are the forces of right wing reaction, but as well by those who call themselves progressive and who should know better.

Driven by narratives of fear-and-loathing we are seeing a rise in xenophobic, racist and even violent actions and rhetoric both in our political discourse and, far more dangerously, in the "real world".

Most alarmingly is what is happening within "mainstream" discourse in the United States where Republican front-runner Donald Trump, among others, is now openly parroting the worst aspects of 1930's fascism by calling for mass deportations, forcing Muslims to wear identity badges and calling for supporters to physically attack protesters in their midst.

In Canada we have a wave of cowardly violent racist and often misogynist assaults committed primarily by men against primarily female targets. These are growing increasingly disturbing by their very frequency and by the fact that it turns out that 60% of Canadians, presumably due to the attacks in Paris, now oppose the new Liberal government's humane plan to expedite and expand the number of Syrian refugees finding safety in our country by the end of the year. A plan that, sadly, now appears to be being undermined with the Liberals seemingly on the verge of capitulating in part to xenophobic "concerns".

The attacks in Paris have served as a catalyst to liberate bigots and racists from their last restraints and to facilitate a vile and vicious "clash of civilizations" lie driven by North American religious zealots, populists and the always necessary weak-willed fellow travelling "liberals" that are relied upon by the far right to capitulate to their narratives when anything "bad" happens and when the bigots run the flag up the flag pole.

Thus we see the disgraceful sight of many Democrats lining up to support Republican insanity trying to stop Syrian refugees. A cowardice and racist indifference that will go down in history akin to that displayed in the face of those (primarily Jews) who sought refuge prior to World War II and who were turned away with equal ugliness and indifference as to the actuality of their probable fate.

A legacy of which Canada is just as guilty and upon which we should contemplate before we repeat the predictably awful mistakes of the past.

John Clarke  of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty wrote of that faction of the "left" and of "atheists" going along with this as well as on Islamophic attacks generally:

To me, it seems obvious that the Western imperialist countries are looking to demonize Islam in order to justify war and occupation in countries with largely Muslim populations. It is also the chief means by which they hope to win support for guarded borders and domestic repression. This agenda is intensifying horribly.
I am really quite shocked and appalled that anyone who considers themselves an anti capitalist would refuse to challenge Islamophobia and stand in solidarity with Muslim people at this time. The mainstream hatemongers and the fringe elements in Canada who are engaging in threats and attacks are racists who feel at liberty to single out Muslims because they are many people of colour. However, they are also persecuting a religious minority. I have nothing but contempt for the brand of 'enlightened' atheism that opposes all religion but reserves a special hatred for Islam. If body count is the issue, a lot more people have died in the name of Christianity than Islam. If religious practices are to be condemned, I fail to see while its more 'barbaric' to wear the hijab than to drink the Blood of Christ.
A despicable and dangerous attack is underway. That maniac Trump, leading in the race of the Republican nomination, wants to force Muslims to carry special ID. Women are being beaten and having their hijabs ripped off of them in this City. To me, solidarity with those facing this attack and full support for their right to religious freedom is a duty for all of us.

Those on  the "left" who parrot bigotry under the false flags of supposed enlightened secularism are simply fellow travelers of the new emerging fascism and are nothing other -- like Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins -- than the more "eloquent" apologists for the actuality that is the racist political imperialism and narratives of the George Bushes and Donald Trumps.

I have written in the past of how both simplistic "left" narratives about the niqab or hijab feed into Islamophobic racism and of how the actions and rhetoric of Canadian and Quebecois politicians inflamed popular sentiment around these issues in dangerously racist, populist tones.

Now matters seem to be coming to a head with almost daily reports of attacks on mosques, on women wearing hijabs on Toronto's subway, on women simply wearing headscarves in public and more.

People need to understand that ignorantly sanctimonious and simpleminded notions about the niqab or hijab  are not an abstraction and are not some pathetic reddit thread populated by white philosophy dropouts typing away furiously in their basement about how Islamophobia cannot be racism because entitled twits with no understanding of how real world racism and bigotry work say so.

Hundreds of thousands of human beings from all walks of life are fleeing the joint evils of ISIS, Syrian government and rebel, and Western (and now Russian) imperialist interventionist mass bombings and mass murders in Syria as well as Iraq. They are fleeing the horrific violence that has killed countless innocents and children. They are fleeing an inconceivably awful reality where there is almost no refuge from the daily degradation of air strikes, mass executions, and staggering levels of destruction and civilian suffering.

One can wax poetic with nonsensically historically blind narratives about how it is not "Canadian" or "American" to turn away those fleeing oppression. Sadly, this is not true. Canada and the United States, while they have both occasionally risen to the occasion,  have a long and despicable history of turning away those in need and fleeing oppression.

The question now is are we to do this again? Are we to allow bigots like Donald Trump or those parroting bigoted rhetoric like Brad Wall to define our policies? Are we going to let  Western racism disguised as pretend concern for women and a supposed rejection of obscurantist religious practices (a concern and rejection that, oddly, seems to be almost exclusively focused on those of the Islamic faith) help to foster a climate of racism and mass ignorance?

Or will we stand up and be counted to stop what is now is developing as one of the defining moments in recent history. A moment where we will affirm that the rhetoric of inclusion that so many of us love to pretend is woven into the fabric of what is ":Canadian" or "American" has some truth to it or where we will show it to be yet another collective lie of our history books already replete with racist lies.

Make no mistake. The sharpened and heightened rhetoric and violence of the last few weeks is what the real beginning of fascism looks like.

We need to stop it now.

See also: ISIS is not Nazi Germany and the "appeasement" argument is ludicrous

Islamophobia, the niqab and dog-whistle racism in the Canadian election

The danger with dog-whistle politics is the very real, very violent angers and emotions it unleashes.

We are seeing this in the ugly and racist campaign the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois are disgracefully waging against the very small number of women of the Islamic faith who chose to wear the niqab face veil.

For many months now the Conservatives have been seeking to shift the focus from real issues -- like the economy, the environment, senate scandals, etc...-- to this total non-issue. They appear to be succeeding.

As they do, we start to see violence directed at those who wear the niqab. There was an attack in Montreal (on a pregnant woman who was, in fact, wearing a hijab as opposed to a niqab -- though to racists such distinctions do not matter) and then another in Toronto.

And, of course, there is an endless proliferation of angry social media posts and absurd and ignorant internet memes.

With no apparent sense of irony these attacks were by men, presumably trying to rip the allegedly oppressive headdress off these women to aid in their "liberation" by assaulting them.

And this exposes the fundamental lie at the heart of the entire narrative the Conservatives and even many liberals and leftist fellow-travelers have constructed around the niqab and Islam. You do not liberate anyone by forcing them to wear what you want and to conform to your cultural norms.

Whatever one thinks of the niqab -- and any number of other similar practices notably not being talked about practiced by fundamentalist sects of Christianity and Judaism -- and what it represents the fact is that it is being singled out and those who wear it are being targeted not because those doing so care at all about the equality rights of these women specifically or even the equality rights of women generally, but rather to inflame racist sentiments against the Islamic "other" for both nationalist and political ends.

Sadly, there is a wing of the left that buys into the pseudo-intellectual argument that Islam is not a race and that, therefore, Islamophobia and simplistic bigoted narratives about the niqab are not, somehow, racism.

Generally these folks tend to be the "I am a white atheist and I took a first year course in being an entitled Richard Dawkins reader" types who are completely clueless about the reality that racism and bias against specific religions intersect in certain contexts.

But there is no doubt that in the here-and-now real world of Canada today these attacks and the actions of the politicians and the people they are provoking are racism. It is racism as this is a religion, in this case, that is clearly associated with people who are, overwhelmingly, not white and who are not  what our Prime Minister would call "old stock" Canadians. The right are using "religion" as a code word for what they really mean. Which is "not us".

Given that, in reality, race is a largely fictional socially constructed notion anyway, what else is this vitriolic, angry, blind and ignorant backlash against a tiny number of women on the outside of the Canadian "mainstream"  if it is not racism?

It is certainly not reasoned secularism. It is certainly not about inclusion.

It is certainly not at all about women's rights.

When the racist bigots and dog-whistle politicians who dwell upon and pontificate about Islam and the niqab equally turn their eyes to any number of misogynist and extremist practices by Jews, Christians and others, then perhaps we could debate as to whether it is secularist bigotry or misguided silliness.

Now it is what it clearly is. Racism. Plain and simple racism.

As progressives, liberals, social democrats and leftists we should never help it along by pretending it is some kind of intellectual exercise in terminology detached from the vile actuality of what it results in.

And what it results in is violence, discrimination and government action against a marginalized and racialized community.

Our government and our government officials are using the niqab to create a climate of fear and loathing that will help them back to power.

They are actually using all available legal means to try to keep stopping a woman from taking an oath at a symbolic ceremony a front and centre election issue.

This is disgusting. It goes against everything Canada is supposedly about.

And it is a shocking expression of official, governmental racism.

image via flickr Osama Saeed

See also: Stephen Harper's dog-whistle: Islamophobia and Canadian politics

See also: Stop sharing the false -- and racist -- Ontario niqab driver's licence meme

Stephen Harper's dog-whistle: Islamophobia and Canadian politics

It is rare that a politician, elected or otherwise,  openly admits that he or she is capitulating to the bigoted and "irrational" fears of his or her constituents, but that is exactly what Shawinigan, Que. Mayor Michel Angers did on Friday.

At a press conference he held to explain his council's frankly inane decision not to allow the minor rezoning of an industrial park so that a small mosque could be built there, he bluntly acknowledged that, in opposition to his own beliefs, pressure from people "across the province" had motivated them.

While it is nice to see honesty from our political class, it makes the decision of him and his council no less gutless.

Angers went on to say "people in Shawinigan aren't afraid of Muslims", which is a rather absurd contention after calling these same people out for being irrationally afraid! It is obvious that growing numbers of Canadians, and by no means just in Quebec, encouraged by the media and the rhetoric of right-wing politicians, are very much afraid, irrationally so, of Islamics, Canadian or otherwise.

Fear of the "other", of the immigrant or perceived outsider and the use of racially charged or bigoted rhetoric has long been a staple in the right's political armoury and 2015, an election year, is certainly proving no different in Canada.

Stephen Harper, rebounding in the polls and looking for a wedge issue to use to campaign, as Ricochet's Derrick O'Keefe phrased it, on the politics of "fear instead of hope", has seized on the supposed threat of "jihadists" and "radical Islam" and is openly pulling out the dog-whistle around issues like Bill C-51 and now the terrible decision of his government to appeal the clearly unconstitutional law that forces women who chose to wear one to remove their niqab facial coverings during a Canadian citizenship swearing ceremony.

The government, in other words, will spend a considerable amount of money in what they almost certainly know will be an unsuccessful appeal to fight to keep in place a law that applies to only a tiny number of people and that accomplishes absolutely nothing given that there are many other ways to establish identity.

It does accomplish one thing, however. It allows Harper to stand up in the media and call a specific type of religious dress "offensive" both during a citizenship ceremony and more generally, and that is, in fact, the entire point of the legal appeal.

Sadly, he is likely not wrong that this will pander to many Canadian perceptions as other commentators, like Kelly McParland in the National Post, have noted.

And not just right wing Canadians. Unfortunately many on the left and many secularists have bought into simplistic narratives around the niqab, as I have written about before, and have helped to enable and embolden the right by allowing them to cloak themselves with the claim they are standing up for women's rights, when this is not what they care about in any way..

Regarding the denial of a zoning change, one Shawinigan resident said "I'm afraid so, I support the decision. I'm afraid of attacks...Muslims have the right to live just like us, as long as they stay very, very calm."

This is the type of ludicrous and Islamophobic thinking among Canadians, and voters, that Harper has in mind when he makes the comments he does.

Women's rights and human rights have nothing at all to do with it.

picture via wikimedia commons