Harper’s anti-niqab rhetoric helps terrorist recruiters: philosopher Taylor
Posted March 28, 2015 10:08 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – Philosopher Charles Taylor says Prime Minister Stephen Harper is playing into the hands of terrorist recruiters with inflammatory comments about the face-covering veil worn by some Muslim women.
Taylor, who co-chaired Quebec’s 2007 commission on reasonable accommodation of cultural and religious minorities, says Harper is fueling anti-Muslim sentiment.
Taylor says that makes Muslims feel they’re despised and unwelcome in Canada, which makes them easy targets for recruitment by radical Islamist terrorists.
Harper has said it’s “offensive” for women to wear the face-covering niqab when taking the oath of citizenship.
And he’s called the niqab the product of an “anti-women” culture.
Taylor says Harper’s comments reflect a rising tide of Islamaphobia in Europe and elsewhere, which he said parallels the stigmatization of Jews in the past.
