While I was away...

...my own city became the latest front in the cartoon jihad:

A Muslim leader in Halifax says a recent editorial cartoon in The Chronicle Herald has local Muslims feeling unsafe and unwanted.

Zia Khan, director of the Centre for Islamic Development, has complained to Halifax Regional Police and the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission about an April 18 cartoon by Herald staff cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon.

It depicts Nova Scotia-born Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal holding a sign that says "I want millions!" in reference to her and her husband’s bid for government compensation and what they would do with the money.

Ms. Jamal’s husband, Qayyum Abdul Jamal, was jailed for 17 months without trial in Ontario on allegations that he was a member of a group plotting terrorist attacks in Canada. The charges were stayed last month, and now the Jamals want to sue Ottawa for compensation.

Mr. Khan, who said he speaks for 20,000 people, said the cartoon is extremely offensive and has far-reaching implications.

He said Halifax Muslims are "law-abiding citizens born and raised here, (who) speak English, eat french fries, eat hamburgers and at the same time (are) living in an environment where you have made it a hateful environment."

[...]

Mr. Khan said police and the human rights commission are both looking into the complaints and he will consider his options when the investigations are done.

Dan Leger, director of news content for The Chronicle Herald, has said the newspaper would vigorously defend the cartoon and that investigating the editorial content of a newspaper does not fall within the commission’s mandate.

Spokeswoman Theresa Rath of Halifax Regional Police said officers are investigating a complaint under Section 318 of the Criminal Code, which deals with hate propaganda. That section says: "Every one who advocates or promotes genocide is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years."

It's always about cartoons, isn't it? In theory, Ms. Jamal could pursue legal action against MacKinnon and the Chronicle Herald for defamation, but she would have to hire her own lawyer and incur substantial legal fees. Why go through all that trouble, when the police and/or human-rights commission will do it for you?

Damian P.

Update: a couple of readers note that the charges against Ms. Jamal's husband were stayed, so the cartoon is grossly unfair. A fair point - but is that a question for the police and/or human-rights bureaucracy to decide, or the civil courts?

For the record, Ms. Jamal is not even the complainant in this matter. It's a Muslim activist whom, it appears, believes that any association between her faith and terrorism is, by nature, "hate speech."

Posted by damian at May 20, 2008 07:38 AM