CNW Telbec (Communiqués de presse), Canada
June 13 2008
Muslim Canadian Congress disappointed at TDSB decision
Armenian module should have been dropped entirely
TORONTO, June 12 /CNW/ – The Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) expresses
deep disappointment at the TDSB decision to include the Armenian
Genocide in the grade 11 curriculum without any provision to teach
students about the ethnic cleanising of Muslims from the Balkans and
southern Europe leading up to World War One.
The mandate of the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) includes advocacy
for human rights and the integration of Muslims into Canadian
society. We never shy from criticizing our own community when we we
feel they have acted against Canadian values. Likewise, we are equally
forthright about any public policy issues that we feel will contribute
to the further marginalization of Muslims and inhibit their smooth
integration into Canadian society.
In this context we feel that the Toronto District School Board (TDSB)
should have excluded the Armenian module from the Grade 11 history
course (CHG38M). We say this not because we deny the pain and
suffering of the Armenian community. In fact we recognise that
hundreds of thousands of Armenians were massacred and died in the war,
but to call this a Genocide committed by Muslims against Christians is
a dangerous precedent and covers up the horrendous ethnic cleansing of
Muslims in Christian majority states leading up to the war.
The subject of Genocide is an important one and should be discussed.
However unlike the Holocaust and Rwanda case which represent clear
instances of genocide, there is a lack of consensus on describing the
Armenian deaths as a genocide. We feel that in the absence of an
independent and neutral legal tribunal that would weigh the records of
all sides involved in the conflict, the label of "genocide" is
improper and is a serious stigma that will stay with young Muslim
students in the TDSB school system.
The Western narrative on late Ottoman history has almost exclusively
focused on Christian suffering. Western education ignores the
contemporaneous Ottoman Muslim experience of ethnic cleansing from
their homes. Hundreds of thousands of Muslim civilians, at a minimum,
were also massacred or died of starvation and disease. This selective
focus is in part a reflection of long established bias in our Western
education system, which mischaracterizes the events circa 1915
exclusively as a classic case of Muslim oppressors and Christian
victims. Unfortunately, this course perpetuates that stereotype.
The TDSB could have included books by respected historians such as
Justin McCarthy, who wrote "Death and Exile: The Ethnic cleansing of
Ottoman Muslims, 1821 to 1922," and others like him. But the TDSB
appears oblivious of the tragedies that befell Muslims of the time and
region.
CHG38M has many worthy goals, among them to explore in depth, think
critically and debate, leading to understanding and empathy for all
victims, regardless of faith or tribe. But this learning process is
only possible if students receive a full historical context, not
selective history. In its present biased form, the Armenian module
will ensure that the existing stereotype of Muslims, as an inherently
violent people, will be further strengthened by a very one-sided view
of events during the early 20th century decline of the Ottoman
Empire. If the TDSB cannot include in the curriculum Muslim suffering
at the hands of Christians during the early 20th century, then the MCC
believes the Armenian module should have been dropped entirely.
For further information: Farzana Hassan, (905) 274-5650
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