Thank God for Canada

Dubai eye

The writer is a Middle East based
columnist.

Just when you think there’s little hope for the world, something happens that restores your faith in humanity. Only those who have long suffered at the hands of their own, been driven from their homes, and are desperately looking for refuge would truly value the gift Canada has offered to the Syrian refugees.

In comparison to its big neighbour, Canada has always known to be more generous and welcoming when it comes to immigrants and is decidedly more liberal in its policies in general. Yet nothing could have prepared anyone for the warm and generous welcome offered to the first planeload of Syrian refugees arriving in Canada last week.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who looks more like a young rock star than a politician, made it a point to be personally present at the airport in Toronto to receive the new arrivals. “Welcome, you are home!”, he said to each one of them as he presented them with winter kits and toys for children.

“This is a wonderful night where we get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, but we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult situations”, said Trudeau.

“Tonight, they step off the plane as refugees. But they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada, with social insurance numbers, with health cards, and with an opportunity to become full Canadians.”

Can anyone beat that? And there are some who are asked to prove their loyalty and patriotic credentials all their lives even if generations of their ancestors lay buried in the country.

A group of Canadian children even put together a special performance on this occasion, re-enacting the song that young Ansar girls would sing 14 centuries ago to welcome the Prophet (pbuh) when he arrived in Medina from Makkah, looking for refuge:

“Oh, the white moon rose over us/From the Valley of Wada

And we owe it to show gratefulness/Where the call is to Allah

Oh you, who were raised among us/Coming with the Word to be obeyed

You have brought to this city nobleness,/Welcome the best caller to God’s way”

The performance of the classical Arabic song, ‘Tala’ al-Badru Alaina’ by the students of Ottawa’s École Secondaire Publique De La Salle touched a billion hearts around the world – and rightly so considering the emotional, defining nature of the Prophet’s (pbuh) migration and how it changed the course of history.

The song went viral on YouTube and social media amid the buzz over the arrival of Syrian refugees despite the the language being classical Arabic. But then love knows no barriers of language or man-made borders. Understandably, the Syrian refugees were incredibly moved by the welcome, most of them teary-eyed.

After all that they have been through over the past few years and the death and dangers that they have braved to reach to safety in Europe, America and elsewhere with thousands of them perishing along the way, like Aylan Kurdi and his family, you can imagine their reaction on being welcomed the way they have been in Trudeau’s Canada. Or in Angela Merkel’s Germany, which has agreed to accept nearly a million refugees this year.

No wonder Time magazine has chosen Merkel as its Person of the Year. This is truly leadership at its finest, responding to the calls and challenges of humanity and a globalised world.

This courage under fire is all the more remarkable considering the sharply rising paranoia and intolerance of all things Islamic in the West and around the world. Islamophobia is at its highest peak right now.

If these aren’t the best of times to be Muslims, they are also perilous for anyone to stand up for them or even show them occasional sympathy. Muslims are the 21st century’s Jews. Or perhaps worse.

The audacity of hope and generosity of spirit demonstrated by the Merkels and Trudeaus is therefore truly noble. May their tribe grow.

Clearly, leadership makes all the difference. Compare Canada’s response today with the hate and cynical scaremongering that had been peddled when it was led by Stephen Harper. Or compare it with the petty, incomprehensibly small-minded response of politicians in the great, rich land of opportunity south of Canada.

Last night, I stumbled across the Republican presidential debate on CNN. And it was truly a sobering experience to see all those worthies competing with each other to project themselves as the most combative commander-in-chief to beat the hell out of “Islamist jihadist terrorists” which in their view more or less all Muslims are.

If you thought Donald Trump is one loony exception, wait till you hear Ted Cruz, the Tea Party favourite, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, former New York governor George Pataki, Florida senator Marco Rubio or even former neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

You couldn’t have put together such a mind-blowing combination of fire and brimstone and pure, unadulterated lunacy in one room even if you sincerely tried. The only sane and moderate voices were those of Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO, but then they are nowhere in the reckoning when it comes to winning the Republican nomination.

If you heard any of these Republican hopefuls speak, you would think Islam, or “radical Islam” as they all insist, was the greatest threat and clear and present danger to America and the world right now and every Muslim out there is an Isis extremist, only waiting to blow up the blessed land of the free.

Of course, none of them would dare to or care to show the other side of the reality. Like who or what created a monster like Isis? Or how the catastrophic US and Western wars and their criminally reckless, lopsided policies have destroyed much of the Middle East and turned the Muslim world upside down, unleashing the chaos that is now beginning to touch their own lands.

But of course we are not supposed to go there.

This vicious cycle of hatred feeding hatred, however, will only get worse in the times ahead if there’s no sincere attempt to understand, by both sides, what is feeding it. Clearly, the US politicians and even those in Europe are tapping into the massive fear psychosis and ignorance that ordinary Americans and Europeans have developed after decades of hateful propaganda and blatant lies targeting Arabs and Muslims.

According to recent opinion polls, a significant majority of Americans thinks that their country is at its most vulnerable since 9/11. Many of them have convinced themselves that things are bad and America is not winning, whatever that means, only because of the Middle East and Muslims.

No wonder politicians think the easiest way to win polls and power is by raising the bogey of ‘Islamist terrorism’ or by bashing Muslims. In France, Marine Le Pen’s party has performed well in regional elections held after the Paris attacks. Other right-wing parties across Europe are also hoping to do well in polls ahead, playing on the fear of many that hordes from the Middle East will invade the continent.

Unfortunately, all these years little has been done by Arab and Muslim countries to address these fears and concerns in the West. Notwithstanding substantial financial resources at their disposal, few of these have invested in world-class media, think tanks or reaching out to Western public opinion and political establishments.

Given the fact this is a battle of ideas and perceptions, which by the way the West has mastered over the past few centuries, how can you face it with bare bodies and not even a stone in your hands?

Instead of earnestly praying for Hillary Clinton’s victory, why can’t Arabs and Muslims be a little more proactive for a change? By the way, considering Hillary’s proximity to Israel and corporate criminals, she isn’t such an alluring option either.

Email: aijaz.syed@hotmail.com