"A fair-minded column about free speech on campus should at least note Yousef’s numerous statements that promote violence against Muslims. Wiseman’s column reads as hollow and disingenuous. There are debates to be had about controversial speakers and free speech on campus, but Wiseman is exploiting these legitimate questions to lend legitimacy to professionalized Islamophobia."
December 3 2024
Re: “Opinion: By giving in to threats, McGill sends a chilling message
Stewart Wiseman’s criticism of McGill University for moving Mosab Hassan Yousef’s lecture online was thinly veiled pro-Israel partisanship pretending to champion free speech. His argument fails to reference any of Yousef’s Islamophobic rhetoric, which is probably not of academic interest unless you study hatred. Yousef once stated in a video on his X that “if [he had] to choose between 1.6 billion Muslims and a cow, [he would] choose the cow." He compares Islam to Nazism, says he has “zero respect” for Muslims, and argues all Muslims are violent. A fair-minded column about free speech on campus should at least note Yousef’s numerous statements that promote violence against Muslims. Wiseman’s column reads as hollow and disingenuous. There are debates to be had about controversial speakers and free speech on campus, but Wiseman is exploiting these legitimate questions to lend legitimacy to professionalized Islamophobia.
Lynn Naji and Jason Toney
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East