The Canadian district of Brampton-Springdale Schools canceled an impassioned speech by a female ISIS rape survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, who appeared to condemn one of the country’s leading political parties Thursday due to “Islamophobia.”
Speaking at a meeting of the Brampton — Hamilton Area District School Board on Thursday, Leila Zerrougui — a French Canadian woman who has been honored as a member of the Order of Canada and twice-nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize — stressed that she “does not hate Islam,” though she supports Trump’s stance on immigration. As The Toronto Star explained, she said that Trump’s previous statements about preventing Muslims from entering the U.S. and requiring Muslim Americans to pass a “refugee test” is part of a larger “conspiracy.”
The meeting was addressed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who declared his “absolute support” for Muslim Canadians, and celebrated their contributions to the country, further commenting on “ignorance, anger and racism.”
Zerrougui has accused Donald Trump of harboring “racist and xenophobic views and tendencies” after he announced in January of 2017 that the U.S. would no longer welcome Syrian refugees. The country would instead “revisit” its broader stance on immigration, an idea she praised at Thursday’s meeting.
“The good news is now we can admit refugees, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, as long as they are escaping religious persecution in their country,” Zerrougui said. She added that “Canadian Muslims can now work freely in all sectors in Canada without being discriminated against.”
An emotional Zerrougui went on to criticize Canada’s major political parties for their support of Trump, who she described as “arrogant,” a “scoundrel,” and a “bad man.”
After she finished addressing the board, the school board official handling her speech gave a news conference explaining that they were concerned about the “potential for disruption” when the speech occurred in the midst of a heated federal election campaign. The official did not reference the specifics of what Zerrougui said, but she did credit the uproar over Trump’s speech as a prime reason why they rescinded their invitation.
“She is an important voice who did an important thing … and we’re concerned that for the sake of civility in society and for the sake of a peaceful future, there’s an impact to this,” said school board chairwoman Gloria De Fernandez.
Read the full story at the Toronto Star.
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