Photo: Sarah Tamula and Nouhad Mourad.
Two Council of Canadians PEI chapter activists are working to confront Islamophobia and racism.
CBC reports, “Nouhad Mourad and Sarah Tamula are members of the Council of Canadians and are organizing a rally in support of Muslims and refugees in front of Province House in a couple of weeks, as well as a series of workshops aimed at helping the public understand and accept newcomers.”
The rally will take place on December 10, Human Rights Day, starting at 12 pm noon at Province House.
The article notes, “Some of Mourad’s extended family are refugees who were forced out of their homes in Syria and are waiting in hopes of being accepted into Canada. But Mourad said she’s seen and heard countless comments from Islanders online and in person who don’t want them here.” She says, “There’s been security concerns over Syrians coming here on behalf of ISIS or on behalf of terrorism. There’s definitely some racism happening there, and some anti-Muslim sentiments which is just appalling. It’s just ignorance and a lack of education.”
And the article adds, “Sarah Tamula, whose husband immigrated here from Malawi, worries about her family.” She says, “You can’t help but wonder, are we welcome here? I mean I think about my children who are six and things they might have to come up against because of their background.”
Of the rally and workshops, Tamula says, “Hopefully we can get something started and get really honest about where this hate is coming from, where this fear is coming from,” while Mourad notes, “We’re all together sharing a strong message of solidarity, of love, of compassion, of standing in support that refugees are welcome, and Muslims are welcome. And this isn’t a society we want to live in that’s anti-Muslim, anti-refugee, that’s racist.”
To see a 40-second clip of Mourad relating a recent racist comment endured by her mother, please click here.
Further reading
Peterborough chapter expresses solidarity with the Al-Salaam mosque (Nov. 22, 2015)
