Is this the beginning of the right reaction to Islamic terror? I consider so, with the rise of right wing Trump to office in US
A not-so-lone wolf
The Quebec City attack exposes Canada’s dangerous right-wing fringe
Islamophobia is a bigger problem than Canadians thought it was
Feb 1st 2017
TERRORIST attacks in Canada are rare. The worst of recent times came from an unexpected quarter. On January 29th Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27-year-old student, allegedly burst into the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City and killed six Muslims at prayer. The victims included a university lecturer, a pharmacist and a halal butcher. More than a dozen other worshippers were wounded.
The attack came amid the hue and cry provoked by Donald Trump’s order to ban citizens of some Muslim countries from the United States. Many people, both there and in Canada, lazily assumed that the perpetrator was a Muslim of some sort. In fact, according to his acquaintances, Mr Bissonnette is an anti-immigration “white supremacist” who supports Mr Trump. Appearing in court the day after the attack, he was charged with six counts of murder and five of attempted murder. He has not so far been charged with terrorism.
The murders have focused attention on Canada’s racist fringe, an uncomfortable topic for a country that prides itself on its tolerance and diversity. Before the attack the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was burnishing Canada’s image by reaffirming its promise to welcome people fleeing persecution and war regardless of their faith. The slaughter in Quebec City is a reminder that not all Canadians feel as he does. Although hate crimes fell overall from 2012 to 2014, those against Muslims more than doubled.
Extreme right-wing views seem to be especially common in Quebec, Canada’s French-speaking province. Radio poubelle (“rubbish bin radio”), as Quebeckers call shock radio, spreads the notion that the province is overrun with Muslims (they account for 3% of the population). In 2007 the small town of Hérouxville (Muslim population zero) enacted an absurd and provocative “code of conduct” that explicitly prohibited burning women alive or beating them to death, as if that were something Muslims in Canada commonly do. In 2013 the provincial government, led by the separatist Parti Québécois, advocated a charter of values that would have, among other things, forbidden public servants from wearing “conspicuous” religious symbols, such as hijabs. The measure died when an election was called. After the Quebec City attack, the host of a show on FM93, a conservative Quebec radio station, reported, without confirmation, that an attacker had shouted “Allahu akbar!” (“God is great!”)
The current Liberal premier, Philippe Couillard, has strived to contain what he calls “the devils in our society”. But even he has had to bow to pressure to curb religious dress. He has presented a new bill to the provincial legislature that would ban anyone wearing a face veil from giving or receiving a public service.
Some Canadians suggest that the anti-Islamic feeling whipped up by Mr Trump inspired Mr Bissonnette. “I don’t feel the new president in the States is helping any,” said a woman at the vigil to mourn the victims in Quebec City. But the potential for such an attack was there before he took office. A paper by Richard Parent, a criminologist, and James Ellis, a scholar of terrorism, warned last year that Canada was ignoring “the domestic threat from lone-wolf right-wing terrorists”. Mr Trudeau is right to say that Canada must cherish its Muslim citizens. It must systematically fight extremist violence as well.
https://www.economist.com/news/amer...ans-thought-it-was-quebec-city-attack-exposes
A not-so-lone wolf
The Quebec City attack exposes Canada’s dangerous right-wing fringe
Islamophobia is a bigger problem than Canadians thought it was
Feb 1st 2017
TERRORIST attacks in Canada are rare. The worst of recent times came from an unexpected quarter. On January 29th Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27-year-old student, allegedly burst into the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City and killed six Muslims at prayer. The victims included a university lecturer, a pharmacist and a halal butcher. More than a dozen other worshippers were wounded.
The attack came amid the hue and cry provoked by Donald Trump’s order to ban citizens of some Muslim countries from the United States. Many people, both there and in Canada, lazily assumed that the perpetrator was a Muslim of some sort. In fact, according to his acquaintances, Mr Bissonnette is an anti-immigration “white supremacist” who supports Mr Trump. Appearing in court the day after the attack, he was charged with six counts of murder and five of attempted murder. He has not so far been charged with terrorism.
The murders have focused attention on Canada’s racist fringe, an uncomfortable topic for a country that prides itself on its tolerance and diversity. Before the attack the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was burnishing Canada’s image by reaffirming its promise to welcome people fleeing persecution and war regardless of their faith. The slaughter in Quebec City is a reminder that not all Canadians feel as he does. Although hate crimes fell overall from 2012 to 2014, those against Muslims more than doubled.
Extreme right-wing views seem to be especially common in Quebec, Canada’s French-speaking province. Radio poubelle (“rubbish bin radio”), as Quebeckers call shock radio, spreads the notion that the province is overrun with Muslims (they account for 3% of the population). In 2007 the small town of Hérouxville (Muslim population zero) enacted an absurd and provocative “code of conduct” that explicitly prohibited burning women alive or beating them to death, as if that were something Muslims in Canada commonly do. In 2013 the provincial government, led by the separatist Parti Québécois, advocated a charter of values that would have, among other things, forbidden public servants from wearing “conspicuous” religious symbols, such as hijabs. The measure died when an election was called. After the Quebec City attack, the host of a show on FM93, a conservative Quebec radio station, reported, without confirmation, that an attacker had shouted “Allahu akbar!” (“God is great!”)
The current Liberal premier, Philippe Couillard, has strived to contain what he calls “the devils in our society”. But even he has had to bow to pressure to curb religious dress. He has presented a new bill to the provincial legislature that would ban anyone wearing a face veil from giving or receiving a public service.
Some Canadians suggest that the anti-Islamic feeling whipped up by Mr Trump inspired Mr Bissonnette. “I don’t feel the new president in the States is helping any,” said a woman at the vigil to mourn the victims in Quebec City. But the potential for such an attack was there before he took office. A paper by Richard Parent, a criminologist, and James Ellis, a scholar of terrorism, warned last year that Canada was ignoring “the domestic threat from lone-wolf right-wing terrorists”. Mr Trudeau is right to say that Canada must cherish its Muslim citizens. It must systematically fight extremist violence as well.
https://www.economist.com/news/amer...ans-thought-it-was-quebec-city-attack-exposes
