Canada witnesses a 1300% increase in anti-Islamic attacks
The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) has reported a 1300% increase in incidents of hatred against Islam (Islamophobia) in the North American country following the start of the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
MPs on a committee investigating Islamophobia and anti-Semitism were told on Thursday that more Muslims have been killed in targeted attacks in Canada in the past seven years than in any other G7 group of industrialized countries, and that anti-Semitism of Islam has increased rapidly since the start of Israel's war against Gaza last October.
Testifying before the Commons justice committee, Stephen Brown, chief executive of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), said Islamophobia and bigotry is a "dangerous form of racism" that has increased in recent years.
Brown was speaking on the third anniversary of the June 6, 2021 terrorist attack in London, Ontario, when a white Christian man who hates Islam drove his pickup truck into a Muslim family on purpose, killing four of them and leaving him little orphan boy.
The committee was also told that social media algorithms promote anti-Islamic content, and that hate spreads in real society.
Mr. Brown said Muslim communities face unprecedented hatred and violence "from every level of society."
He said that professionals have lost their jobs or have been punished after calling for an end to the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza, while Muslim women wearing the hijab are attacked and harassed in public places.
