Toronto Activists OK with Misogyny and “Treacherous” Jews

In the last year the city of Toronto has become home to some interesting trends in the fields of misogyny and anti-Semitism.

An Islamic school in east-Toronto is currently being investigated by police following a complaint it had been teaching its young students that Jews are “treacherous” and comparable to Nazis.

The East End Madrassah (EEM), a Sunday school for Muslim children that rents space from a public school to teach its courses, had by early Monday removed from its website the controversial Lesson 8 of its curriculum. The 160-page tutorial referred to Jews as “treacherous” and “crafty,” compared them to Nazis, and alleged they plotted to kill the Prophet Muhammad.

The EEM is clearly in violation of the Canadian Criminal Code which states that it is an offense to publicly and “willfully” promote hatred against any identifiable group.

The York Regional Police released a statement that they received a complaint and are investigating. However, I’m not going to hold my breath for any real action.

The recent controversy at EEM is not the first time the TDSB has had their policies challenged by members of the Islamic community. In 2011 another public school in east Toronto permitted an afternoon Muslim prayer service in its cafeteria during school hours, clearly in contravention of the “Education Act” which bars any religion in public schools.

Aside from the issues at the TDSB, a Toronto Islamic book store was recently shamed when it was revealed they were selling a book on how to beat your wife effectively. The book entitled “A Gift For Muslim Couple”–which was “sold out” by the way–was a marriage guide that advised Muslim men on how to beat and control their wives. The 160-page book, published by Idara Impex in New Delhi, India, is written by Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, who’s described in the book’s foreword as a “prolific writer on almost every topic of Islamic learning.”

Its author advises in the early pages of the book that, “the husband should treat the wife with kindness and love, even if she tends to be stupid and slow sometimes.” The book then goes right on to advocating physical violence by advising husband’s to, “beat by hand or stick,” withhold money from her or “pull (her) by the ears.”

Aside from the grotesque nature of this book which stands alone, the story broke during the ongoing trial of Mohammad Shafia, who was subsequently convicted for the honour killing of his three daughters and second wife in the name of a diabolically misguided interpretation of Islam.

So with these stories of misogyny and anti-Semitism coming to light in Toronto, I’d sure like to know where the outraged protesters and activists are.

No worries however, EEM apologized in a statement: “We unreservedly apologize to the Jewish community for the unintentional offense that the item has caused.”

Although the statement was in English, allow me to translate.

Translation: We regret you stumbled on what we teach, and have taught for generations. Now that you’ve raised the issue, you’ve done all that’s expected of you. Nothing more to see here! Make no more fuss or we’ll raise the question of Islamophobia. Now excuse us, we’ve got kids to indoctrinate, I mean, teach.