Michael Zehaf-Bibeau: Islamophobia bandwagon already in full swing even before identity known
According to Reuters and NBC News, among other major news outlets, US government sources indicate that the Parliament Hill shooting suspect’s birth name is Michael Joseph Hall, a native-born Canadian who, after recently “converting” to Islam, changed his name to Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.
In spite of these facts, and even hours before the shooter’s identity was known, anti-Islam bloggers and pundits have very predictably jumped on the shootings to push their own anti-Muslim agenda, promoting the same tired old stereotypes and cliches. A couple of virulently anti-Muslim blogs as gone so far as to claim, without any evidence whatsoever, that Zehaf-Bibeau is of Algerian origin or born to Algerian immigrants, even after official sources released the fact that his birth name was Michael Joseph Hall, a native-born Canadian, and known to have recently “converted” to Islam, and possibly has links to the Salafist terrror cult known as ISIS/ISIL/Daesh.
A Canadian parliament official had earlier [claimed that the shooter looked “Arabian”](http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1035449-michael-zehaf-bibeau-idd-as-canadian-shooting-suspect-in-ottawa/), which is predictable given the high level of latent prejudice in much of Canadian society toward anyone perceived or thought of as being of Middle Eastern origin. In Ottawa, which historically has long had a large Lebanese community, most of whom are Christian, this has been known for years. Ottawa also has many Canadians of Italian, Greek, Iranian, and North African background, and our contacts here have stated that ignorance is still widespread in the area and they are often assumed to be “Arab” based on their appearance or name, in spite of the fact that they are native-born Canadians. Those of Arabic-speaking origin or background face even harsher prejudice and misconceptions, and not unlike the US and Europe, are often lumped together in one category in spite of the fact that, like Europeans, Hispanics and Latinos, Arabs are a racially and ethnically diverse group of peoples sharing a common linguistic heritage.
Given the disturbing trend in Canadian society over the past three decades to officially racially and ethnically divide Canada into rigid categories of “majority (White) Canadians” versus “visible minorities” (even when some of those “visible minorities” happen to be “White”), an opposite extreme to the recent trend in Sweden to deny the existence of race altogether, it is abhorrent to witness those whose hatred for Islam and Muslims is so great that they wish to promote a racist agenda that has no place in the 21st century. Their constant demonizing of Muslims and their deliberate ignorance of the facts of these sorts of incidents begs the question: Are they actually hoping ISIS/ISIL succeed in their mission to commit genocide against the Muslims and religious minorities of Syria and Iraq?
What not many are talking about is that this incident reveals further evidence that ISIS/ISIL is having greater succeess in spreading their toxic propaganda and recruiting mentally unhinged non-Muslims in Europe and North America (who constitute much, if not most, of their following) to “convert” to their deviant brand of Islam (which, for anyone who knows anything about Islam, is so far removed from what Islam is about to be unrecognizable) and getting such individuals to act in the manner of “lone wolf terrorists.”
By helping to fund and arm the “moderate” anti-Assad opposition, which in turn handed those funds and arms to ISIS/ISIL, the government of Stephen Harper has created a nightmare scenario for ordinary Canadians who want no part of this mess. And since Harper cut off all diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012 and closed down the Iranian embassy in Ottawa, he has made it impossible for Canada to effectively cooperate with the United States, Europe, and Russia in the fight against ISIS/ISIL. While the US, EU, Russia, and even Israel are working with Iran to destroy ISIS/ISIL, Canada under Harper has been cut out of the loop and made itself a sitting duck, and revealing to the world that it is completely dependent on the US for its security and protection.
Like John McCain and Peter King in the US, Stephen Harper, Peter MacKay, Jason Kenney and the rest of the Conservative Party cronies are personally responsible for creating the conditions for ISIS/ISIL to effectively recruit mentally unstable Canadians to their cause. They’ve got blood on their hands and the Canadian people and military must hold them accountable for their actions.
—Doug Eccleston, in Ottawa
