The coloniality of Canadian Islamophobia – and anti-Islamophobia

In Canada, ‘anti-Islamophobia’ is being used as yet another tool to consolidate the Islamophobic status quo.

In the wake of the latest fatal targeted assault on Muslims in Canada – the third in four years – “anti-Islamophobia” is being used as yet another tool to consolidate the Islamophobic status quo. Political leaders have shed tears for the Afzaal family mown down in London, Ontario on a public street, while maintaining policies that brutalise Muslims largely out of sight: increasing military spending; selling arms to states that slaughter Muslims; attempting to deport Muslim refugees to the risk of torture; and spending millions of dollars to fight the compensation claims of “War on Terror” torture survivors in court. Politicians across the political spectrum have embraced the use of counterterrorism to combat “right-wing extremism,” further entrenching legal weapons wielded overwhelmingly against Muslims in the name of protecting Muslims. For example, when the Proud Boys were listed as a “terrorist entity” earlier this year, nine other Islamist-identified groups were also quietly added to the list – exacerbating the list’s Muslim-centrism under the cover of anti-racism.