Punishment should not be Discriminative

Posted by Sumaira Shaikh Sep 3, 2006

A 63 year-old Edmonton man receives a 16-month sentence to jail for publishing material on his website that was anti-Semitic and promoted hate towards the Jewish community. This is something that is a just and reasonable action by the government. But the justice system has not been just with everyone in the community and has not punished such action everywhere it should have.

Punishment should be given wherever it is warranted, as in this situation, but discriminatory and selective law, leads to the dismantling of the justice system and may erode the system and create a state with an erratic form of justice. While the law has come strong onto people like Ernst Zundel,the controversial holocaust denier, which is well-deserving, the fact is that, it has let the widespread speeches, blogs, media presentations, and much more, go unnoticed and unpunished against the Muslim and Arab community.

As bad as anti-Semitism is, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment is equally as bad, and we should not require another holocaust on the Muslim and Arab communities to finally get equal treatment. It is a basic human right.