For Immediate Release
Toronto, Wednesday, September 12, 2001… In the wake of yesterday’s tragic attacks throughout the United States, many Muslim communities have indicated that they feel vulnerable to stereotyping that could make them targets of abuse or even random violence. B’nai Brith Canada strongly encourages all Canadians to remain calm and not jump to conclusions or to generalize from individuals to a whole group. “It is important to channel our energies into tracking down the perpetrators and to ensuring safety and security for all citizens,” said Rochelle Wilner, National President of B’nai Brith Canada. “It is wrong to stereotype any group because of the acts of extremists who may share their religion, and we must work together to ensure civil and human rights are not violated at home.”
Following the Gulf War in 1991, the Canadian Muslim community suffered a backlash consisting of threats, harassment, racial slurs and defacement of religious institutions. During that period, the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada reached out to colleagues in the Arab and Muslim communities and created a Jewish and Muslim Dialogue as well as offering its expertise concerning community security for individuals and institutions. Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President of B’nai Brith Canada commented: “For several years the League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith Canada has promoted intercultural and interfaith dialogues that bring together the Canadian Jewish and Muslim communities in the hope of creating a better understanding between them. B’nai Brith Canada calls for the continued building of alliances with all communities in the world who value democracy and freedom.”
Frank Dimant expressed that “we are extremely relieved that the pro-Palestinian rally that was planned for September 15, 2001 in Montreal, has been postponed. We had feared that some of the demonstrators who were likely to attend the rally do not reflect the majority of the Muslim community in this country, and might have had links to groups that carry out, support or give moral justification to terrorism. It is important to de-escalate the tensions at this time.”
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B’nai Brith has been active since 1875 as the country’s senior advocacy and volunteer agency.
For more information, please contact:
Rochelle Wilner or Frank Dimant at (416) 633-6224
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