Amira Elghawaby Deserves a Chance
Too bad she didn’t have one
The announcement by the Trudeau Government of the first Special Envoy to counter Islamophobia was awful. I empathize with Amira Elghawaby, the person who was named to the post. Within hours of the announcement, voices of many Quebecers and members of the Jewish community — my community — expressed their outrage. Given what Elghawaby has written and said before, that was not a surprise.
Some of her statements about Quebecers and Jews are outrageous. None of them should have surprised the Government that appointed her. Nevertheless, the ham-fisted defence of the creation of the position and tepid support of their choice, has all but doomed Ms. Elghawaby from successfully fulfilling her essential mandate of confronting Islamophobia. That is deeply disappointing and bad for our country.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Canada — and that includes Quebec — has a profound problem with racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia and a range of entrenched and resilient forms of systemic discrimination. The numbers from Statistics Canada tell a story of increasing vitriol and violence aimed at Black Canadians, Jews, Indigenous persons, 2SLGBTQIA+ persons and Muslims. Performative gestures of solidarity only go so far. Canada needs dedicated efforts to confront this rising tide of hate and anger. Ignoring it threatens our democracy.
All of us should recognize that whoever would have been picked for that position would have raised concerns. Some would view them as too strident or offensive in their critiques of our country or community. Others would see them as tepid and a token to placate an intractable political problem raised by a growing political constituency.
I have seen similar critiques of Irwin Cotler, Canada’s Special Envoy for Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. He has been accused of Islamophobia because of his profound concern that denying Jews the right to self-determination through the State of Israel, or anti-Zionism, is a form of antisemitism. I have been called a “radical Zionist” and a “promoter of hate against Palestinians” because I express strong support for the existence of a Jewish State. These epithets are hyperbole, yet they remind me of the importance of perspective and the profound challenges of building bridges.
The point is that the role bestowed on an individual as a Special Envoy requires them to reach out to those who have fundamentally different views. It requires someone with deep credibility within the affected community. It demands an openness of spirit to reach out across a chasm of divergent views and striving for reconciliation.
Combatting Islamophobia is a collective responsibility. Finding a Special envoy — a human being — who can do that effectively is difficult. Nevertheless, the role is far more important than the person.
I disagree deeply with Ms. Elghawaby on Zionism, on Quebec and likely on a range of other issues. What I and tens of millions of Canadians lack, and she has in spades, is the lived experience of someone who has faced hatred and vitriol because she is Muslim. She has endured it even more as a woman who wears the hijab.
So let’s not judge her exclusively by tweets or op-eds. While I understand and share the scepticism , let’s give her a chance to grow and learn in her role. Ms. Elghawaby’s experience is valuable, as are the lived experiences of all Canadians. The proof of her effectiveness will be whether she reaches out in her official capacity, understands and acknowledges the effect her words have had on others. We will see if she uses the experience to inform and adapt her approach to combatting Islamophobia by bringing people together.
I would give her that chance. Too bad that many Canadians will not.