Adviser alleges Muslim activists face hiring bans: Report

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A report to Parliament has made the claim that outspoken Muslim activists are facing a hiring ban and discrimination at their workplaces.

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Amira Elghawaby, who didn’t specify any examples of employment hardships faced by those who advocate for “Palestinian human rights,” made the allegation in the report titled A Hopeful Path Forward for Canada’s Muslim Communities, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“Over the past several months Canadian Muslims have shared their growing concerns about an increase in an anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab backlash that has already led to loss of income, threats to current or future employment, harassment, violence, vandalism and exclusion,” Elghawaby wrote.

“We have been watching heartbreaking scenes from the Middle East over the past several months, particularly the distressing number of civilian deaths and injuries. The war has had a direct impact on many in our country including Canadian Muslims and particularly those of Palestinian descent.”

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The claim that vocal Canadian Muslims are facing job bans and discrimination follows Hamas’s attack on Israel last October and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza to eliminate the terrorist group.

Elghawaby, the Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, was appointed to the advisory position in February 2023 following community recommendations made at the 2021 National Summit on Islamophobia.

“Beyond the worry for loved ones many in Canada’s Muslim communities have also been facing ongoing hardship and anxiety about their ability to publicly exercise their civil liberties including freedom of speech, assembly and expression on the issue of Palestinian human rights,” she wrote.

Elghawaby, who had opinion pieces published by the Toronto Star in the past before the war in Gaza, has written that Palestinians in Gaza were “long held hostage by the Israel government” and described Jews as “hostage takers.”

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Elghawaby says she prides herself as an advocate for Canada’s 1.8 million Muslims.

“I have been working to ensure Canada has adequate tools to safeguard the rights and dignity of Canadian Muslims,” she wrote.

“We have launched resources and connected communities to the federal government. We are also working internally towards systemic change called for by Muslim communities. Social change takes time. It must overcome decades if not centuries of outdated tropes, myths and stereotypes about who Muslims are.”

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