TVA Unfairly Targeted Muslim Students
The Azrieli Holocaust Collection at Concordia’s library was established in 1984 by oft-celebrated and oft-criticized Montreal philanthropist and architect, David Azrieli. The collection is expansive and incredibly necessary for those who wish to educate themselves about the history of the Holocaust, which unjustly took the lives of approximately 11 million people, over half of which were Jews.
Not surprisingly, the collection also hosts Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, a book that demonstrates the evils and incredible potential of dangerously violent and radical ideologies. In fact, at the time of this writing, Mein Kampf is currently being taken out of Concordia’s library and will likely be used solely for academic purposes—just as it should be.
So why then, on Feb. 27, did TVA, the French Language Television Network in Canada, not barge into the Webster library, demanding an explanation concerning this anti-Semitic book’s place on its shelves, camera discreetly in hand? What was so special about the books in the Muslim Student Association’s library that their presence had to be documented by TVA journalists?
The answer: nothing. The two reporters did not want to gain an understanding of the benefits of having access to books with ideas that are outside of our ideological and sometimes moral scopes. Instead, they intended to unfairly target Muslim students in a space where critical thought is encouraged, thereby contributing to the perpetuation of racist notions of what Islam is and how it is practiced.
To be clear, we do not intend to compare the content of books on the MSA’s shelves to that of Mein Kampf. Instead, we hope to bring to light the hypocrisy in “conveniently” singling out only certain books, hence acting with bigoted ulterior motives. To the members of the MSA: we stand in solidarity with you.
We hope that the very books that challenge our moral standards and present-day ideologies will be removed from your shelves only if they are no longer of use to your community, not because of unjustified bullying.
In solidarity,
Haley Firkser and Yasmine Filali
(Muslim Jewish Feminist Alliance)
