More than 200 people sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday calling for Amira Elghawaby’s departure and her post to be abolished.

Among them are the President of the Rassemblement pour laïcité, Nadia El-Mabrouk, and many professors and intellectuals, notably Guy Rocher, Daniel Turp and Normand Baillargeon. Among the signatories are activist Ensaf Haidar and actress Nabila Ben Youssef.

According to her, Amira Elghawaby argued that way in 2019a majority of Quebecers were led by a Anti-Muslim sentimentsimply does not have the moral authority to take such a position.

” When it comes to building bridges and engaging in constructive dialogue, it is still necessary to be able to create trust. However, his belated excuses and under high political pressure seem more forced than spontaneous. »

the petitioners (New window) question the existence of Ms. Elghawaby’s title.

For its part, if the contribution to combating anti-Semitism is aimed only at racism, Islamophobia is a more militant term, hackneyed, with vague outlines, which in its use confuses respect for the Muslim person with absolute respect for the commandments of Islamthey plead.

this concept, that the most fundamentalist Islamist regimes and activists around the world are trying to gain acceptance in order to make any “insult” to the Muslim religion look like a crimeis the same that recently led to the stabbing of writer Salman Rushdie, the letter’s authors point out.

These appear as Canadians of all origins. The letter also says it brings together a large number of signatories to the Muslim tradition or faith in Canada who refuse to be associated with a “Muslim community” which is also represented by people who adhere to a fundamentalist vision of Islam.

The appointment of Amira Elghawaby as the federal government’s special representative for the fight against Islamophobia has caused a stir since it was announced on January 26.

In Ottawa, both the Canadian Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois called for his resignation.

In Quebec, the Legault government did the same. There CAQ had even passed a motion in the National Assembly calling for the resignation of Ms Elghawaby, a motion backed by Liberal and PQ members.

Only Quebec Solidaire made its decision under consultation, the time to meet the main prospect, who apologized last week.

The publication of this letter on Monday follows the one that the Mouvement laïque Québécois sent to Justin Trudeau on Sunday.

For her part, Ms Elghawaby enjoys some support from the political class and civil society, starting with the Prime Minister, who, despite the embarrassment of some of his MPs, has defended his appointment on several occasions over the past week.

THE NDP Jagmeet Singh was also pleased with Ms Elgahwaby’s apology.

Last Friday, about thirty personalities published a letter of support to defend him.

Among them: Imam Hassan Guillet, who briefly wore the colors of the SPS in 2019 and who, in a comment posted Monday in The pressWrite that we must focus not on the person but on the scourge of Islamophobia, its dangers and the means of eradicating it.