<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<br>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><br>
<br>
<div dir="ltr">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"><b>School of
Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, <span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"><b>Graduate
Program in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies <span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"><b>and Centre
for Feminist Research at</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"><b>York
University, Toronto, Canada<span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"><span><b> </b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center"><b>Statement on
the Shooting at the Great Mosque in Québec City</b><span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is with great consternation and
profound sadness that we
learned that a crime of hate and of Islamophobia had been
committed at the
Great Mosque in Québec City on Sunday night, January 29,
2017, which cost the
lives of six people and wounded nineteen others. As a
community of feminist
scholars committed to implementing a pedagogy of
anti-racism, anti-violence and
decolonization in our everyday teaching and research, we
offer our sincere and
heartfelt condolences to the victims, families, and
communities affected by the
loss of a husband, a father, a brother, a cousin, a friend,
a co-worker, a
loved one. We stand with the Muslim community in Québec City
and elsewhere in
Canada whose sense of safety has been violated during a time
and in a place of
prayer and peace.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We cannot continue our work without
acknowledging that this
horrendous crime of hatred was committed within a particular
political context.
For years, the Great Mosque in Québec City has been the
target of acts of
harassment and hate speech fed by a small number of vocal
journalists and
opinion leaders who constantly amalgamate Islam and Muslims
with
terrorism. In addition, this crime of
hate happened during a time when entire Muslim communities
are being specifically
named, targeted and threatened with deportation, prevented
from travelling
safely around the world; when American Muslims are
threatened with the prospect
of losing of their jobs, their livelihoods as well as their
professional and
academic futures, and are at risk of racist violence. We
call on York University to become a
solidarity/sanctuary campus for all those affected by the
Trump executive
order, and on the federal government to facilitate the
welcoming of those
seeking refuge in Canada. <span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anti-immigration policies are not new in
the US or in
Canada. We cannot remain blind to the fact that Canada and
the US have
deep-seated racism and sexism within their respective
societies. In the
Canadian context, we call for the repeal of the Barbaric
Cultural Practices Act
and other forms of gendered Islamophobia, where Muslim
communities are being
racially profiled through security, surveillance and
so-called
anti-radicalization practices. We call upon York University
to re-double its
efforts in education and organizing around racism and
Islamophobia.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">During the last few days, we have heard
strong words of
condolences, and sometimes apologies, from politicians and
other public
personalities, including here at York. We welcome these
declarations but at the
same time, we ask all of us to go beyond these words to act
and to denounce the
poisonous political climate of Islamophobia, racism,
homophobia, transphobia
and sexism everywhere and each time it is manifested, be it
in the classroom or
in the community where we live and work.
<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What happened on Sunday, January 29th was
predictable. It is with a sense of urgency that we want to
act in solidarity with Muslim communities and with all
communities that are
specifically affected, targeted and have to pay the price of
racism, bigotry
and violence. As units at York University, we hope to
continue our mission to
provide a safe space for dialogue and to pursue our
anti-racist and
anti-violence pedagogy in and outside our classrooms, in and
outside the
university, as we continue to remember those who lost their
lives and those who
mourn them.<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In solidarity,<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s
Studies<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist and
Women’s Studies<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Centre for Feminist Research <span></span></p>
</div>
</font></div>
</body>
</html>