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bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem
In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
=== News Update ===
Racist francophones :
brainwashed by the ideology of ethnic nationalism propaganda and
moral superority
show true Islamaphobic face in Laval
Laval divided at accommodation hearings
Jeff Heinrich, Montreal Gazette
Published: Tuesday, November 13
Wading into its most ethnically diverse city yet, the Bouchard-Taylor
commission heard from many Arab Muslim immigrants Tuesday night in
Laval - and also from people who think they're a big problem.
It was as if the room was divided in two, with Muslims defending
their faith and the rest telling them to how to live.
"You don't integrate!" one woman yelled in French after a Lebanese
immigrant man said Muslims like him do all they can to find their
place in Quebec society, such as speaking English as well as French.
Another Muslim immigrant warned Quebecers they have no interest in
him giving up his heritage or religion to blend in with the majority.
"Don't ask me to make myself poorer, because if I do, you will be
poorer for it, too," said Saad Hamidi, one of more than 170 people
who showed up for the reasonable accommodation commission's open-mike
night at a Highway 15 hotel.
Saying he's been mocked with the nickname "arachide" (peanut) - and
even been called "my favourite terrorist" - Rachid Ababou,
nevertheless, wished Quebecers well.
"You'll get the country you deserve, insh'Allah."
Some Muslims were critical of religious conservatives in their communities.
Lebanese immigrant Hussein Bahsoun said it's too bad that
fundamentalist Muslims are given a platform to preach for their
"sects" in Quebec, which he said are no better than the Solar Temple
and other Christian sects.
Another Muslim, Aziz Rahhali, said "as a Muslim I feel the silent
majority is proud of its religion and doesn't want special
accommodations to practise it."
But that didn't appease some in the crowd.
"People have had enough, seeing exorbitant advantages going to
certain communities," said Claude Magne, a French immigrant, citing
refugee claimants he said just have babies, don't work and live on welfare.
Terrebonne resident Christiane Leroux said it's ridiculous that
crucifixes are being removed from classrooms in Quebec while Muslims
are allowed their own prayer rooms. "It's provocation."
Laval resident Pierre Trudel said he's married to a Mexican and is
open to immigration, but Quebec needs to choose its newcomers more
carefully to avoid people like "immigrants from Arab Muslim
countries" who don't believe in the equality of the sexes.
However, another Laval resident said Quebec has lost its Roman
Catholic core and is "sliding into immorality."
Quebecers need Arabs and other immigrants with strong family values
"in order to become a more respectable people," Sylvain Caron said.
With hearings resuming today and tomorrow, Laval is the commission's
15th stop in a 17-city tour of Quebec that began in Gatineau in early
September and concludes Dec. 14 in Montreal.
Home to 377,000 people - 15 per cent of them born outside of Canada -
Laval is the third-most-populous municipality in Quebec.
Though overwhelmingly francophone, it also has a lot of allophones -
one in five people.
The largest "ethnic" communities are Italian (eight per cent),
Armenian (four per cent) and Greek (three per cent).
The city is predominantly Roman Catholic, but about 10,000 Muslims
also live there.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The full story in
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=2001d8ac-8290-452a-8c35-464cec41aa7b&k=43372
===
-muslim voice-
______________________________________
BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW