Saturday, September 18, 2010

Issue of Muslims' place in Canada won't disappear

Issue of Muslims' place in Canada won't disappear: "We have all been unsettled by the unfolding situation involving a terrorist threat aimed at Canadians that was headed off by the law enforcement authorities working together."

The shock has not worn off, and just thinking about what could have happened sends shivers down our collective spine. A recent poll suggests about two in five Canadians feels less safe in the aftermath of the arrests.

It is fair to say that, considering the gravity of the situation, the reaction on all sides has been mature and responsible.

But we would be delusional to think the matter of the place of Muslims in Canada will disappear, that everything will slide back into functional normalcy. There are worries on all sides, worries that should not be ignored and have not been ignored by responsible leaders.

Let's begin with the obvious. The agenda on all sides should be nothing less than that the Muslim community is welcome in Canada and that the Canadian reality is fully embraced by the Muslim community.

In this age of instant communication, there are no secrets. Canadians hear the shrill sounds of hostile takeover, of the call from some quarters to impose Sharia law everywhere, including Canada. They may have dismissed this until recently, but not any more. Christians and Jews in Canada, as in other countries, hear themselves being branded as infidels. Previously, they may have laughed this off, but not any more.

The Muslims I know do not embrace this ideology, and are model Canadians, but Canadians are worried about this ideology, and Muslims are worried about how they are perceived by Canadians. How do we address this situation such that Muslims will feel comfortable in Canada and Canada will feel comfortable with its Muslims?

There has been some debate about who has to make the first move. We need to avoid the Kansas conundrum. There is a law in Kansas that goes something like this: When two trains arrive at the same station, each must come to a full stop, and neither of them shall move until the other one has left!

With such an approach, we will be stalemated. We all need to make moves in the reconciliatory direction, in the direction that creates a climate of respect and trust. We did it before, after 9-11, when this community's leaders banded together and declared its solidarity, even in the face of incendiary remarks. It said then that everyone would deem an attack on one religion as an attack on all religions.

That spirit prevails today, but, in the light of the recent scare, we need to move far beyond that very necessary foundation.

The first step we must all take is to purposefully remove hate from the agenda, in public and private discourse.

I am not talking about legislation. I am talking about self-monitoring, about all communities rejecting hateful expression and not allowing such expression from its religious and secular leaders or anyone else.

The next step is for us to all think creatively about how we can work together on issues of common interest, such as we have done with blood donation, with organ donation, with fund-raising for CHEO, among other endeavours.

With your indulgence, the Muslim community, I propose some thoughts in the spirit of friendship. This is not a lecture; it is some shared reflections based on our history.

It is an unfortunate fact that Jews were not welcomed into Canada during the Second World War; instead they were forcefully excluded. That decision and policy was hate infused. And Jews endured anti-Semitism in so many quarters, public and private, for many years before, during and after the war.

Anti-semitism still exists, but it is hardly a potent presence. Jews are involved in every area of life in Canada and probably feel as welcome here as they have felt in any other country in their rich and turbulent history.

How did they achieve this? By patient, determined involvement in helping Canada shape itself, by philanthropy, by volunteerism, by political engagement, by educational zeal and by being undeterred whenever hatemongers stood in their way.

By now, the Jewish contribution to Canada is well entrenched and appreciated, but it did not come easily, or instantaneously. It came after years of persistent hard work.

And we still do not take Canada for granted. We are blessed, and count those blessings regularly.

To our Biblical cousins, I plead that you take a number of steps, steps that will take patience and courage, but which will help us all.

- 1. Do not let others define you. Let your appreciation of "Canada as it is" be a constant in your heart and on your lips. Clearly reject the values that, if ever implemented, would destroy Canada as we know it.

- 2. Be fully engaged in the community. I know that some of you are already fully engaged, but let it be almost a required component of your lives.

- 3. Make your schools and mosques places wherein the appreciation of Canada and its prevailing values is taught, wherein profound respect for all faiths is transmitted.

- 4. Do not allow conflicts in other parts of the world to be imported to Canada. Appreciate that the battle Canada is fighting, with the sacrifice of many of its youngest and most devoted men and women, is so people all over the world have the freedoms we here enjoy and cherish.

- 5. Have confidence that your community, properly devoted to the well being of Canada and all Canadians, will be more than properly embraced by fellow Canadians.

If you take these steps, as your defining agenda, and Canada as a whole stands by you supporting and applauding these steps and happily welcoming you, then any incident such as what occurred a few weeks ago will be dismissed as totally unrepresentative of what you are all about.

In truth, as many of you realize, we are not yet at that point of being able to dismiss such horrible behaviour, which is why we are all worried.

But this wake-up call can be turned into an opportunity to confront a situation that we all wished would go away, but will not go away unless and until we drive it away.

Canadians are with you in this and wish you well in your desire to be a vital part of the Canadian mosaic.

I know you can do it because your cousins did.

Reuven P. Bulka is rabbi of Congregation Machzikei Hadas in Ottawa and former co-president of Canadian Jewish Congress.

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