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How whitewashing racism works:
Rebel Media publishes garbage.
Right-wing newspaper columnists write columns based on said garbage.
Politician says legitimate newspapers reported the garbage and he's just asking questions. https://twitter.com/ChantalHbert/status/1354194523967127552
Rebel Media publishes garbage.
Right-wing newspaper columnists write columns based on said garbage.
Politician says legitimate newspapers reported the garbage and he's just asking questions. https://twitter.com/ChantalHbert/status/1354194523967127552
One thing that got me about this story is how Blanchet cites newspaper columns, and the articles report on them, but no one says who wrote them. For the record, the 2016 Journal de Montréal columns were written by Lise Ravary and Nathalie Elgrably-Lévy.
Ravary says Alghabra was in favour of “Islamic tribunals” and Elgrably-Lévy says he’s “known for his enthusiasm for sharia”.
A Canadian Jewish News story from a month earlier said he was “disappointed” when Ontario “declined to permit the use of sharia law.”
Wait, what?
A Canadian Jewish News story from a month earlier said he was “disappointed” when Ontario “declined to permit the use of sharia law.”
Wait, what?
So turns out the Ontario government had allowed disputes under family law to be resolved using religious arbitration instead of the courts, *if both parties consent*. In 2006, it stopped that practice, after people brought up the sharia law boogeyman.
There are legitimate reasons to be concerned, perhaps, that some vulnerable people (like, say, devout conservative women in abusive relationships) might be pressured into accepting religious arbitration that would act against their interests.
I haven’t found a source for the assertion that Alghabra was “disappointed” in the ban on religious arbitration. But assuming it’s true, it’s a far cry from saying he wanted Canada to have “sharia law” (implying he wanted Saudi or Iranian-style code to replace existing laws).
Blanchet also referenced a column in the Globe and Mail about Alghabra. Curiously, a Globe and Mail column by @camrclark about Blanchet’s statements mentions the references to Journal stories but leaves out the Globe. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-the-blocs-sneaky-slur-against-a-mild-mannered-muslim-mp/
Turns out the Globe column in question is this one https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/globe-politics-insider/liberals-take-nuanced-stance-on-israel/article28809310/ by … Campbell Clark.
It says Alghabra "has long been dogged by accusations he is an extremist, even though his positions on Israel-Palestinian issues are mainstream."
It says Alghabra "has long been dogged by accusations he is an extremist, even though his positions on Israel-Palestinian issues are mainstream."
I’ll leave it to you to judge if offhandedly mentioning vague unsourced “accusations” and then mitigating that with a mini fact-check does more to ease or provoke doubts about someone.
The more recent Clark column also makes it clear that Alghabra does not favour “sharia”: "I am not in favour of government enforcing anyone’s religion.” And it notes that Ezra Levant failed to properly interpret Alghabra’s quote to “an Arabic-language newspaper"
As an aside: tracking down the sources of rumours like this would be a lot easier if newspapers referred to each other by name instead of “a (province/language) newspaper” and columnists by name instead of “a columnist"
