(Ottawa) Muslim groups called on political parties on Thursday to redouble their efforts to eradicate Islamophobia in Canada and not to label any criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic.

Concerns centered on condemnations of pro-Palestinian rallies and advocacy since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

“The response that Canada’s Muslim community has received for months from our elected leaders has been full of duplicity,” argued the CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, Stephen Brown, on Thursday.

Testifying before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice, Brown argued that it is contradictory for politicians to denounce discrimination while vilifying people who participate in peaceful pro-Palestinian protests.

“One says he cares about our concerns, and the other immediately turns around and spreads more misinformation and deliberately attempts to vilify an entire community as hateful and intolerant,” he testified .

His testimony was part of a parliamentary study on Islamophobia in Canada, which followed a similar study on anti-Semitism. Police have reported an increase in crimes targeting Jews and Muslims across Canada since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last October.

Mr Brown’s group called on MPs to pass a motion to denounce anti-Palestinian racism and urge that civil liberties be protected, “including the ability to criticize foreign governments”.

The Council of Agencies Serving South Asians also said politicians had slandered people who opposed Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

“We have seen Muslim communities being targeted by Islamophobia because they support the Palestinian people and Palestinian rights,” said Samya Hasan, head of the Toronto-based group.

“We can no longer hide from this fact, and this government had to address this problem yesterday.”

She also denounced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “shocking silence” during a press conference last week with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who suggested immigrants were behind shots fired at an elementary school for Jewish girls in Toronto.

“If we are to combat Islamophobia, at its ugliest, it is imperative that this government puts its words into action,” Ms Hasan said.

Pro-Palestinian protests against the Israeli military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip have sparked controversy across the country.

MPs from several parties have raised concerns about some rallies, including one in which a supporter called a Toronto neighborhood with a large Jewish population a “Zionist infested area.”

At another rally in April, someone was heard chanting “Long live October 7th. Long Live the Resistance” on Parliament Hill.

Jewish groups have denounced chants calling for Palestinian freedom “from the river to the sea,” which they say calls for the complete erasure of Israel.

Rather, activists say the song is intended to call for peace and equal rights in the region.

Imran Ahmed, founder of the Washington-based advocacy group Center for Countering Digital Hate, argued that social media companies must be financially punished for algorithms that amplify racist ideas.

Ahmed said this would counter social media companies’ incentive to promote emotional and controversial content, which attracts more interaction.

“Users are cattle on social networks,” he testified. They don’t feel any pressure and it’s time to increase the pressure. »

Ahmed said hateful messages normalize attitudes that can encourage people with already violent tendencies and make minorities more vulnerable, because the content they see “makes the world seem more hateful” than others. ‘it actually isn’t.

He called this “the illusory truth effect,” where people repeatedly exposed to an idea are more likely to believe it to be true.

“When we are bombarded with hateful content, we eventually conclude that there can be no smoke without fire, and we begin to normalize hateful attitudes, conspiracy theories and lies,” he said.

Throughout Thursday’s testimony, witnesses made reference to the attack on the Grand Mosque of Quebec in 2017, which cost the lives of six people.

Thursday also marked the anniversary of the 2021 truck attack that killed four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont.

“Muslims in Canada are not immune to violent Islamophobia,” said Stephen Brown.

“Islamophobia is real, it has killed and will continue to kill if this study is not taken seriously.”