Islamic Congress Deplores Canadian Media’s Silence On Brutal Murder Of Muslim Woman In Germany

OTTAWA — The Canadian Islamic Congress condemns the brutal murder last
week of a pregnant Muslim woman in a German courtroom and the silence of
Canada’s news media in failing to report on this hate-motivated crime.

Marwa Sherbini, 32, was fatally stabbed on July 1 by a racist attacker in a
Dresden courtroom before shocked onlookers — including her husband and
three-year-old son — because she chose to wear the traditional Muslim
hijab (headscarf) that set her apart as “different.”

The Egyptian-born wife and mother, who had accompanied her husband to
Germany where he is studying for his Master’s degree, was clearly a victim
of the growing tide of Islamophobia that is spreading at an alarming rate
throughout so-called “democratic” and “progressive” Western societies. Yet
it is seldom acknowledged for what it is, or reported accurately (if at
all) by both media and politicians.

“The silence of the Canadian media about the gruesome public murder of an
innocent, law-abiding woman who happened to be Muslim — one who covered
her head as I do —  is very frightening,” said CIC National President,
Mrs.Wahida Valiante.

“To intentionally ignore such an act of brutality, especially one motivated
by hatred of ‘others’, sends a very disturbing message: it tells us that
the Canadian media are still locked into a discriminatory double standard
when it comes to news events involving Muslims,” Mrs. Valiante continued.
“Our media are abdicating their collective responsibility to inform
Canadians fully and fairly about a growing menace that has plagued Europe
for centuries and is now becoming a clear threat to our society as well.”

CIC National Executive Director, Imam Dr. Zijad Delic, added:  “If Marwa
Sherbini’s attacker happened to be a fellow Muslim, the Canadian and other
Western media would have reported her murder widely, with front page
headlines and numerous editorials. Then for days afterwards, they would
deliberate on the case and come to one simplistic and devastating
conclusion – that Muslims are ‘brutal and uncivilized’. But when a racist
European murders an innocent Muslim woman, the silence is deafening, as if
the world is asking, ‘Why did she have to provoke us by wearing the Hijab?’
What a cruel irony!”

In response to this tragic loss of a young woman’s life CIC President
Wahida Valiante appealed today to all Canadians: “Let us stop the phobias
now — including Islamophobia — and send potential hate-mongers and
racists everywhere a strong message that our society will not tolerate
their bigotry, no matter how different we are. If we call ourselves a
civilized society, we cannot afford to care only for selective groups in
our midst; we must care about all people, those ‘like us’ and those who
appear as ‘different’. Only then can we properly honour the life and
example of Marwa Sherbini.”

Mrs. Wahida Valiante, MSW, of Toronto,