About 40 posters were discovered by students at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, filled with hateful and obscene language telling Muslims to “keep your barbaric ways … in your 7th century homeland.”
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| Leaders of various Muslim groups show goodwill towards all students |
Source/Credit: Calgary Herald
By Eva Ferguson | October 4, 2016
With fear and anger elevated after anti-Muslim posters were found at the University of Calgary on Tuesday, officials say campus security will be reviewed to ensure students feel safe.
“It’s truly disturbing and makes me personally very angry,” said U of C president Elizabeth Cannon, stressing that the university is checking surveillance video and working closely with police to find those responsible.
“This is something we’ll have to evaluate. We have terrific campus security, our students do feel safe and we take pride in our programs, like safe walk, cameras and just looking out for each other.
“But we do want to analyze this and see if there is more that we can do.”
About 40 posters were discovered by students at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, filled with hateful and obscene language telling Muslims to “keep your barbaric ways … in your 7th century homeland.”
While campus security acted quickly to take them down, other posters and similar hate literature was also found later in parking lots and in residential mailboxes just outside of campus in northwest communities.
“This is my campus, my community, but part of me feels very scared now,” said Lobna Al-Wadeih, a female Muslim student who wears a hijab.
“With my hijab, I feel like my being Muslim is kind of in your face. And out there, if I’m downtown or something, I will get that, I will get the ‘go home,’ from people.
“But you’ve got to try to have a positive mindset and realize that someone who is an enemy today might be a friend tomorrow.”
U of C officials and Muslim student groups reacted quickly, adamant they are part of a diverse and welcoming campus, and encouraging the creators of the posters to become educated and informed about Islam.
“It’s easy to hate and to be misinformed, because it takes a lot of work to actually be informed,” said Moonis Ahmed, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Students Association.
“We’re working hard at U of C to create a positive dialogue, and I would invite anyone, even people who feel such hatred, to reach out and ask us questions so we can have that dialogue with them.”
Umair Tazeem, president of the Muslim Students’ Association, says Tuesday’s discovery of the hateful posters would be especially difficult for students who clearly appear Muslim.
“I don’t wear a scarf, you can’t always tell if I’m a Muslim. But for those that do, this is tougher,” Tazeem said, also welcoming anyone with concerns about Islam to come talk to his association.
“I know there are a lot of bad things happening around the world right now. But that is not a representation of Islam.”
Naveid Dar, a student with the Faith and Spirituality Centre, said when he first saw the posters online he felt “beyond appalled.”
“It’s really upsetting. You get up in the morning, you think it’s going to be a good day but, then, in terms of negative feelings, you go from zero to one hundred in a second.
“We are all human beings, we all live in the same community.”
Those responsible for the posters could face a number of criminal charges.
Under certain sections of the Criminal Code of Canada, inciting hate propaganda against any identifiable group can result in a maximum jail time of five years.
Tuesday’s posters mark the second time in two weeks that hateful literature was distributed on a university campus in Alberta.
On Sept. 19, 12 posters were found at the University of Alberta featuring a picture of a Sikh man, profanity about turbans and a statement calling on people from developing nations’ cultures to leave Canada.
Read original post here: Canada: University of Calgary investigates disturbing anti-Muslim posters
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