On 17 January 2017, the Permanent Mission of Canada, the United States Mission, the Delegation of the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held a High- Level Forum on Combating Anti-Muslim Discrimination and Hatred. #no2hatred
The meeting started with the address by Secretary-General Antonio Gutterres in which he highlighted the fact that anti-Muslimism hate crimes, as well as xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism are on the rise lately. He called for the international community to come together and treat. Antonio Gutterres: “Discrimination diminishes us all. It prevents people and societies from achieving their full potential. Let us draw strength from the values of inclusion, tolerance and mutual understanding. The United Nations are launching an effort to promote safety, respect and dignity for all. We call it The TOGETHER Campaign. TOGETHER, let us build bridges and, TOGETHER, let us transfer fear into hope.”
Full video of the address by Secretary-General Antonio Gutterres here.
The opening remarks were delivered by the following speakers: Stavros Lamrinidis, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights; Ioannis Vrailas, a Special Adviser on Political Issues within the Office of the President of the 71st Session of the UNGA; David Saperstein, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom; Richard Arbeiter, the Director General, Office of Human Rights, Freedoms and Inclusion, Global Affairs Canada; Moiz Bokhari, an Advisor to the Secretary-General, OIC.
Stavros Lamrinidis called the meeting “timely” due to the rising number of crime incidents targeting people of Muslim faith. “Muslim minorities suffer discrimination all over the World. We must have the courage to confront narratives when they are based on prejudices or blatant lies so that they do not become part of the mainstream. Terrorists are trying to highjack Islam for their own purposes. Islam itself is a victim of groups like Daesh. Diversity is what made us rich. Diversity is a part of our DNA.”
Ioannis Vrailas delivered the message on behalf of Peter Thomas, the President of the 71st UNGA: “On 19 September 2016, Member States took a historic step forward in adopting the New York Declaration. In doing so, the General Assembly committed to protect the human rights, and fundamental freedoms of all refugees and migrants regardless of their status. And to combat xenophobia, racism and discrimination in our societies. Looking beyond the UN, Governments, Civil Society and faith groups have an important role to play in documenting the discrimination and hatred. The States are obliged to take administrative and legal measures to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion and belief, and to tackle xenophobia and hatred within their jurisdiction. People should be empowered and provided with opportunities to prosper.”
David Saperstein: “We are here today because the data leaves no doubt that the incidents of anti-Muslim discrimination and hate are on the rise around the World. This alarming development requires our immediate attention and our concerted efforts to address and to reverse it. The role of each of our Governments is to ensure that we are not the ones impeding the full exercise of religious freedom, but rather the champions in the fight for the rights of Muslims across the Globe. In the places where restrictions and violations persist, we must do our part together, using everything possible to end religious prosecution, wherever it takes place. It’s really time for us to act together. We are not the prisoners of the mistakes we made in the past, rather we can be, we must be, and I am confident, with your help we will be the shapers of the better future for all God’s children everywhere around the World.”
Richard Arbeiter: “Muslim communities around the World are increasingly the target of violence and discrimination. Canada is no exception to this phenomenon. Canada is a country of immigrants. One in 5 Canadians are foreign-born. Muslims represent over 3% of Canadian population. Muslim immigrants come to Canada for the same reason as immigrant from elsewhere: they come for access to opportunity, education and employment, for family reunification and, of course, for the wonderful Canadian climate. Effective Settlements and integration of newcomers, irrespective of their country of origin or their ethno-cultural background, is a critical driver of Canada’s historical and continued success as a country. Through inclusive laws and policies and investment in settlement and integration services, Canada enables its immigrants and refugees to contribute their expertise, their perspectives and their entrepreneurship to our country.”
Moiz Bokhari: “The objectives and principles of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is to aspire inter-state relationship based on justice, mutual respect, and good neighborliness to ensure global peace, security and harmony. The OIC is greatly concerned with growing trend of intolerance and discrimination against Muslims, resulting in the surge of islamophobia. The OIC member states are among the countries most affected by terrorism, while concurrently Islam and Muslims remain the primary target and victims of religious and faith-based intolerance and islamophobic policies and discourse. The OIC believes that islamophobia poses a serious threat to diversity, which is an important element of democracy and the fundamental fabric of every multi-cultural society.”
The rest of the meeting was combined of three interactive panels.
The topic of Panel I was “Government policies to combat anti-Muslim discrimination and hatred.” Panel I included the following speakers: David Friggieri, European Commission Coordinator on Combating anti- Muslim hatred; Dermana Seta, Adviser on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims, OSCE ODIHR; Katarina Stephenson, Director, Governance and Engagement Division, Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Canada; Eric Treene, Special Counsel for Religious Discrimination, U.S. Department of Justice; Arsalan Suleman (moderator), Acting Special Envoy to the OIC, U.S. State Department.
Topic for Panel II was “Civil Society Coalition Building” and included the following speakers: Alia Hogben, Executive Director, Canadian Council of Muslim Women; Catherine Orsborn, Campaign Director, Shoulder to Shoulder; Michael Privot, Director, European Network Against Racism; Robert Silverman, Muslim-Jewish Relations Director, American Jewish Committee; Alfiaz Vaiya, European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup Coordinator; Shada Islam (moderator), Director for Europe and Geopolitics, Friends of Europe.
During lunch break, participants were invited to watch the docudrama “The Sultan and the Saint”, the film is about Muslim-Christian Peace. Writer and Director Alex Kronemer.
Ignite talk by Shaarik Zafar: “The famous Muslim philosopher said “Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to hate, hate leads to violence.” That’s the equation. After 9-11, there was a spike in hate crimes against people who are Arab, Muslim, or South-Asian. Where are we now? According to FBI, anti-Muslim hate crimes have spiked 67% in 2015, to the highest level since 9-11. These numbers don’t include unreported cases. What do we do as an International Community? There’s a role for Governments, there is a role for Civil Society, and I submit that there’s a role for Private Sector. With respect to Government, we need leadership from our Senior Officials. I join all of you with the hope and expectation that our Governments, including newly elected leaders in my country and your countries, continue the tradition of respect and tolerance. It is my hope and expectation that this trend continues. Words matter. But, beyond words we need action. Governments have a role of investigating and prosecuting hate crimes. Governments, Civil Society, Private Sector, we need to work together. We’ve got a long way to go, but we will get there, God willing.”
Topic for Panel III was “ included the following speakers: Engy Abdelkader, Senior Fellow (Faculty) & Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service; Corinne Box, Director of Government Relations, Baha’i Community of Canada; Alex Kronemer, Writer and Director, the Sultan and the Saint (movie); Zarqa Nawaz, Director, Little Mosque on the Prairie (series); Dean Obeidallah, Host, the Dean Obeidallah Show;
You can watch complete recording of this meeting here: Part I (Remarks, Panel I and II) and Part II (Ignite talk by Shaarik Zafar, Panel III).
Closing remarks by Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Related resources:
You can find live-tweets from this event on our Twitter page at https://twitter.com/SHU_UN_Studies
European Union External Action Press Release
This guest post was written by Vera Dimoplon. Vera is a graduate student at the Seton Hall School of Diplomacy and International Relations. Her specializations are International Organizations, Global Negotiations and Conflict Management. Vera’s interests are the operation of international organizations in multilateral community, negotiations among multinational actors, and conflict management.