Faces of Canadian Islam
Reader comment on article: Faces of American Islam[: Muslim Immigration]

Submitted by Jeff Bercovitch (Canada), Aug 17, 2002 at 13:38

As usual, Dr Pipes has written another thought provoking article about people who speak a very foreign language and practice a religion Americans know even less about.

The article could have been called Faces of Canadian Islam. Within the last 12 years of the Federal Liberal Governing Party Canada has seen a huge influx of Muslim Immigrants (both Arab & non-Arab) who have no intetnion of leaving their hijabs and their hatred of Israel and America back in their native countries.

On more than one occasion I have heard assemble marchers in Downtown Montreal screaming : Bush Assassin, Sharon Assassin, etc.

I can understand to a certain degree their dislike of Israeli Prime Minister Sharon give the massacre of revenge by Phalangist Arab Christians over Palestinians in those awful refugee camps but I am odds about understanding their dislike for President Bush.

Whenever local talk radio shows discuss the Middle East the phone lines are blazing with angry young Arab Muslims voicing their support for suicide bombers and a completely different historical knowledge than that I have read about my entire adult life re: ' 48 War of Independence, Israel v. Arab World, '67 6 day war, ' 73 Yom Kippur War and even the recent negotiations between Former PM Barak and Y Arafat.

The signs in front of their shops are predominantly in Arabic and the employees in their stores are only of Arab descent.

I do not believe that they have any intention in assimilating into Canadian society they way immigrants from other countries have.

Jeff Bercovitch
Montreal, Canada

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