Canadian Medical Association Journal retracts controversial hijab letter

The Canadian Medical Association Journal has retracted a letter it recently published about the hijab following calls from multiple organizations and individuals.

Interim editor-in-chief of the CMAJ, Dr. Kirsten Patrick, apologized on Thursday for publishing the letter, which she said "did not contain appropriate subject matter for publication" and "disgusted many readers across Canada."

The letter, published on Dec. 20 with the headline "Don't use an instrument of oppression as a symbol of diversity and inclusion," was written by Montreal pediatric surgeon Dr. Sherif Emil in response to the CMAJ's use of an image last month of two young girls, one of whom is wearing a hijab, that accompanied a piece on social interventions in primary care.

In the letter, Emil argued that he respects a woman's choice to wear the hijab, a term commonly used to refer to the head covering many Muslim women wear, and said harassment and discrimination because of that decision is "real" and "wrong."

He added, though, that "respect does not alter the fact that the hijab, the niqab and the burqa are also instruments of oppression for millions of girls and women around the world who are not allowed to make a choice.”