Out of six major Muslim organizations in Canada contacted, only one bothered to reply and condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel and the terrorist organization itself.
True North contacted half a dozen Muslim groups with a presence in Canada to ask them what their stance on Hamas and its incursion into Israeli territory is.
The only organization to respond to True North’s requests was the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow.
Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow president Raheel Raza told True North that her organization has not shied from calling Hamas a terror group, unlike others.
“October 7 brought about with it multi-dimensional tragedies against innocent civilians in Israel including murder, rape and destruction that is unimaginable,” Raza told True North.
“All the work that we do in order to build bridges and try to educate Muslim youth was completely sabotaged by heavy false propaganda coming from The Muslim Brotherhood and its proxies.”
As a member of the Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism, the group also strongly condemned the “murderous attack on Israel and its civilian population by the terrorist organization Hamas backed by Iran.”
Raza is also a policy fellow with the True North Centre for Public Policy, True North’s parent organization.
True North also contacted the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW), the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Muslim Student Association (MSA) to ask whether they would condemn Hamas and its actions on Oct. 7 but did not receive a response from any of them.
Despite not responding, the NCCM has published several statements on its website about the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. The NCCM has lobbied across Canada to demand a ceasefire.
“The Israeli government appears to be committed to an unrelenting siege and unlawful blockade of the Gaza strip. There is no end in sight. Their threats of violence are only escalating,” wrote the NCCM.
In its latest post, the NCCM launched a campaign to “condemn the horrifying statements from Israel’s leaders.”
The NCCM’s advocacy portal states that conflating support for Palestinians with “support for Hamas” was “racist, demeaning and Isalmophobic.” In 2015, the NCCM also launched a lawsuit against former prime minister Stephen Harper after the PMO’s communications directors alleged that the organization had ties to Hamas.
“We have consistently and unequivocally spoken out against terrorism – regardless of who perpetrates it, including naming groups such as al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Al-Shabab,” wrote the NCCM.
As for the CCMW, it has put out several statements on the ongoing conflict, saying that it condemns “all acts of violence that harm innocent lives in Gaza and Israel” while also accusing the Israeli government of being an “apartheid regime.”
A search of the CCMW website did not turn up any denouncements of the terrorist organization Hamas. The organization has said in the past that Muslims and Islam should not be conflated with “terrorism, fundamentalism and other negative name calling.”
MAC has also lobbied for a ceasefire in the region and said it was “deeply concerned about the acts of hate against the Jewish community in Montreal” following targeted attacks.
“These acts of anti-Semitism are part of a wider, troubling rise in hatred that targets both the Jewish and Muslim communities, and we stand firmly against all forms of such bigotry. The increasing anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in our country is unacceptable,” wrote MAC in a recent X post.
In response to a recent report by the French-language outlet La Presse which claimed that the CRA believed that MAC was associated with Islamist extremists and allegedly provided support to Hamas, the organization called the allegations a “deliberate attempt to tarnish” its reputation.
“It is categorically untrue and defamatory to claim that the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) has ever provided support to Hamas, either directly or indirectly,” wrote MAC.
“The CRA’s allegations of links between MAC and Hamas-affiliated groups within Canada were highlighted by an Ontario Superior Court judge as preliminary, unproven, and can only be considered in the context of MAC’s response.”
Meanwhile, ISNA’s latest statement condemned Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes against Hamas in response to the Oct. 7 attack while also calling for hostages held by Hamas to be freed.
“The Biden administration should call for a humanitarian ceasefire, immediately suspend all military support for Israel, and continue its efforts to free all hostages held by Hamas,” wrote ISNA on Nov. 20.
ISNA has also said that it “rejects all acts of terrorism, including those perpetrated by Hamas, Hizbullah and any other group that claims Islam as their inspiration.”
As for the MSA, it recently participated in a walk out alongside other student groups like the Palestinian Youth Movement, which has been linked to recent protests that praised Hamas’ actions. Organizations like the Terrorism Awareness Project have called on MSA chapters to be defunded due to allegedly participating in “hate campaigns.”
