In the midst of controversy, leaders of the Muslim community in Quebec contacted the new Canadian special representative in charge of the fight against Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, to ask her to apologize for having portrayed Quebecers as “anti-Muslim”.
Gathered at the National Assembly on Tuesday to attend the presentation of a motion by the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) to commemorate the victims of the attack on the great mosque of Quebec, some of them contacted her to to assert their opinion to him, revealed the co-founder of the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec, Boufeldja Benabdallah, in an interview with 98.5 FM.
PHOTO FRANCIS VACHON, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Boufeldja Benabdallah, co-founder of the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec
Joined by The Press Wednesday evening, the latter insisted on the importance felt by these representatives of the community to take action in an attempt to calm the discontent surrounding the appointment of Amira Elghawaby to this new position despite past controversial statements.
We didn’t say: “you have to explain yourself”. No, we are no longer in the explanations. It had to be a sentence: “I apologize to the people of Quebec”, period.
Boufeldja Benabdallah
He then insisted that he himself does not consider the Quebec population as Islamophobic and that he only wishes to “live quietly as a Quebecer”.
“Like everywhere else, it’s a tiny minority, but it cries out loudly against Muslims, but it’s not the entire population [du Québec qui est islamophobe] “, he repeated, emphasizing the wave of support and love he received from the population after the tragic attack of January 29, 2017 during which six people lost their lives under the bullets.
Give the runner a chance
“She shouldn’t remain in an ambiguous discourse, she should [qu’elle] say it clearly that: “this is not what I wanted to say and what I am saying is that Quebecers are not Islamophobic”, he explained.
Earlier Wednesday, Amira Elghawaby finally apologized to Quebecers after her meeting with Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet. Words, however, insufficient in the eyes of the Legault government, which continues to demand his resignation.
For his part, Boufeldja Benabdallah judges that we should “give the chance to the runner” and rather intends to judge the balance sheet of Amira Elghawaby according to whether she succeeds in “delivering the goods”.
Remember that the latter has been at the heart of a controversy since her appointment last Thursday, in particular for having already written in a column that the “majority of Quebecers” seemed “influenced by anti-Muslim sentiment”. The executive order confirming her appointment says she will receive a salary of between $162,700 and $191,300 and is due to start on February 20.