"To read about an app that was intentionally designed as a tool to report incidents of Islamophobia anonymously to the NCCM was incredibly refreshing and reassuring. The infrastructure for reporting antisemitism is relatively well-developed and robust because of the wide range of Canadian civil society and lobbying groups dedicated to this cause. Self-reporting methods for victims of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism are far less developed, however."
February 27, 2024
To:
Neha Mohammad, Guest Writer, Montreal Gazette
Samira Rahmatullah, Guest Writer, Montreal Gazette
Sehar Gul, Reporter, Guest Writer Gazette
Claudia Meszaros, Guest Writer, Montreal Gazette
Marilena Lucci, Editor-in-Chief, Montreal Gazette
Dear Neha Mohammad, Samira Rahmatullah, Sehar Gul, and Claudia Meszaros,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East to thank you for an article titled “Opinion: How an app can help fight Islamophobia,” published on February 26 in the Montreal Gazette.
To read about an app that was intentionally designed as a tool to report incidents of Islamophobia anonymously to the NCCM was incredibly refreshing and reassuring. The infrastructure for reporting antisemitism is relatively well-developed and robust because of the wide range of Canadian civil society and lobbying groups dedicated to this cause. Self-reporting methods for victims of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism are far less developed, however. In 2018, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage also found that under-reporting was a predictable challenge in fighting racism among Muslim-Canadian communities because some victims have a “fear of engaging with the police” or that they may not be supported or believed if they did so.[1]
Reporting on the factors that contribute to the underreporting of anti-Muslim hate will hopefully, as you write, help relevant communities gain a “better understanding of” Islamophobia’s detrimental impact and, ultimately, help identify concrete mitigation strategies.
As a media analyst responding to articles on Palestine and Israel’s current genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, rarely have I seen as thorough an explanation and covering of underreporting of anti-Muslim racism as this one. Please continue to do so.
Sincerely,
Rose Mardikian,
Media Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
[1] CHPC, Evidence, 1st Session, 42nd Parliament, 25 September 2017, 1705 (Ms. Shalini Konanur, Executive Director and Lawyer, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO)).