New Muslim newspaperto be launched

[#juan]

british columbia news

Monday, Apr 17, 2006
Muslim newspaper launching in Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto

(CBC) - The Islamic Supreme Council of Canada plans to publish a new national newspaper in four cities on Tuesday, spurred in part by the controversy over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Muslim Free Press was officially launched in a ceremony in Toronto on Saturday. It will be distributed in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

Published in English and French, it will cover topics ranging from Canadian and international news to politics and health issues from a Muslim perspective.

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The council is a Calgary-based national group that tries to promote a wider understanding of the teachings of Islam and issues affecting Muslims.

It said its introduction of the free title was partially due to the international uproar over the published caricatures of Muhammad.

The cartoons were first printed in a Danish newspaper in September 2005 and later by some other Western media outlets, including the Western Standard and the Jewish Free Press in Canada. The publication spurred both peaceful and violent protests by Muslims around the world.

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Syed Soharwardy, council president and publisher and chief executive officer of the new paper, said both the publications and the protests showed a growing misunderstanding

I think these people should be asked why they came to Canada in the first place. I'm getting a little tired of these racial enclaves that keep springing up. This is not a Muslim country. I am fine with people immigrating to have a better life, but did that religion, and way of life do anything for the countries they came from?


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[Jersay]

Alright.

 

[pastafarian]

Excellent! Finally a newspaper worth reading occasionally.

 

[FiveParadox]

I don't see a problem with this. There are similar secular newspapers and on-line newsletters distributed to people of other faiths, so I don't see why Islam should be exempt from our acceptance of those other distributions.

 

[Doryman]

GOOD! I am overjoyed. People cannot protest free speech while actively engaging in it, so this is a step in the right direction. The more viewpoints, arguments and dialogue, the better.

 

[#juan]

The introduction of the Muslim Free Press

according to the publishers, is in no small part due to the uproar over the Danish cartoons. That uproar, I thought was narrow minded and without merit. This new paper is one more step in the isolation of Muslim/Canadians from the rest of Canadians. Rather than setting themselves apart, they should be joining with Canadians in celebrating the the great country that welcomed them and gave them a chance to prosper. Just My opinion.

 

[FiveParadox]

A good point, #juan; however, I would suggest that it should not be deemed less "desirable", per se, for a Muslim newspaper to be distributed, than it should be for any number of newspapers distributed by other faiths (such as Sikhism, or Christianity, which would be the more common faith-based newspapers distributed in Newton—North Delta). We should (in my opinion) accomodate every faith in this regard, or none.

How are you doing by the way, #juan?

 

[#juan]

A good point, #juan; however, I would suggest that it should not be deemed less "desirable", per se, for a Muslim newspaper to be distributed, than it should be for any number of newspapers distributed by other faiths

That is just my point. The Vancouver we had when I was young has gone. Judging by the signs in shop windows, one might think they were in down town Hong Kong. The predominant population in most parts of Surrey is East Indian. We are being inundated with racial enclaves that down the road, will be a problem.

How am I? Crankier every year. :wink:

 

[Jay]

Well Jaun (as I do agree with your idea's here) the first thing we can do to show people we mean business is terminate the Ministry of Multiculturism, eliminate groups rights and start drawing our immigration from traditional sources. We could also lower taxes so people could afford to have children.

As far as the Muslim newspaper goes, I encourage it. It will probably last about a month before it's shut down for hate speech.

 

[FiveParadox]

Re: Hate Speech in Muslim Newspapers

I don't agree, Jay (good morning, by the way [or afternoon, if EST]).

There are a good many Sikh and Christian newspapers distributed around this area, and I don't have any recollection of any of them having been accused of hate speech, nevermind having heard of any convictions. Besides, the Muslim body in this region is moderate, from what I have seen, so I would assume that the same would be true (more or less) throughout Canada.

 

[Jay]

And good morning to you Five (it's 1:30 here) I'm glad your cheery today!

I just wonder how long it will be before they print a holocaust article or something.....we know how Muslims internationally feel about the subject. Are they going to be able to keep that under wraps? Maybe they will be able to successfully knock down the stupid hate speech laws as unconstitutional as they should have been they day after they were enacted.

 

[FiveParadox]

Ah, the joy of our Constitution's Section 1, eh?

Nah, it's due to Section 1 that the hate propaganda laws are given their force by the Constitution Act, 1982, as opposed to their boundaries. I think that whenever the Supreme Court of Canada is forced to come up with an answer to a question in relation to hate speech laws, it must be a hard thing to balance (within the framework of our system as it stands, at any rate).

 

[Jay]

It shouldn't be a hard choice for them because it's clearly illegal, but at the very least the "Free Presses" should drop the word "free" from the titles because it isn't true.

What kind of constitution have we that says you have freedom of expression but you can't say this or that? It’s just crazy double speak stuff, and doesn't mean a thing.

 

[FiveParadox]

Jay, it's not "clearly illegal" under Canadian law.

But nonetheless, we have had this discussion on several occasions, and we both know what is going to happen: You are going to say hate speech limits are unlawful, I'm going to start citing Statute after Statute and mumbling something about "responsible" this and that, and we're going to keep going and going until someone dies lol.

 

[Jay]

AnD since I'm older than you, I will die first! I guess you win!