Canada Rejects Christ as "Failed" Refugee Claimant; Border Alert for Bearded Man in Red Suit, Suspected Commie

Canada Rejects Christ as "Failed" Refugee Claimant Jesus to be Deported on National Security Grounds Despite Fears of Persecution; Alert Issued for Unauthorized Entry of Suspected Commie Going by the Name of Claus

(First published in 2004, almost nothing described here has changed in Canada's racist, lethal immigration system).

 A few days shy of his birthday, a young man by the name of Jesus Christ has had his refugee claim rejected by Canada. Christ, locked up in a solitary confinement cell for many months, now faces deportation to torture.

In a related development, two people claiming to be Christ's parents, Joseph and Mary, had sought to obtain refugee status in Canada, but since they arrived in the U.S. first, they were told they could not come here under the new Safe Third Country agreement. Their deportation hearing is expected in the next few weeks somewhere in upstate New York.

Government lawyer Donald MacVishus hailed the deportation order against Christ as a major victory in the war against terrorism. "It is clear this man is a threat, that no one would honestly want him in our midst," he declared. "I think the court can take judicial notice of the fact that this man is not merely a simple coin flicker to beggars on the Jericho Road, but someone who wants to change our whole way of life! He is part of a worldwide conspiracy with connections throughout the Middle East to every known bearded terrorist!"

Christ, looking haggard in a prison orange jumpsuit, his long, wavy hair and flowing beard in a bedraggled state, last appeared in court earlier this week as his lawyers attempted to call forward for cross-examination certain pieces of secret evidence which have been used against him. The Federal Court judge insisted the law allows for such secrecy, and declared that Canadian national security would be compromised if the case against Christ were revealed. After washing his hands, the judge left the court.

Lawyers had asked for information about CSIS interviews with Christ, but because CSIS does not record interviews nor make verbatim notes, there was little to go on. "The Service noted that Christ appeared unusually calm when pressed about his possible association with prostitutes, beggars, and lepers," read a short half page of notes which were eventually declassified. "Christ also seemed hesitant when asked whether an individual named Joseph was his father, a sign that he was withholding the true nature of his character."

A last-minute appeal to Immigration Minister Judiss Sgrewyu on humanitarian and compassionate grounds was rejected with the declaration that "Canada must not become a haven for queue-jumpers and terrorists."

Originally detained for carrying reading materials written in ancient Hebrew which immigration officials found "suspect," Christ was also deemed to be a security threat because he allegedly uses a number of aliases, including Prince of Peace, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Son of God. He had travelled to Canada, like most refugees, on a false passport, because if he had used his real name on travel documents, Roman authorities may have picked him up before he could have fled the country.

Christ was also deemed inadmissable to Canada because of his criminal record; he, like all refugees coming to this country, are considered not worthy of being accepted even if those convictions have occurred in countries where there is no due process or internationally recognized legal system. Worse, refugees who have been convicted of minor offences which would be deemed "summary" (or lesser) offences if convicted here in Canada have their record interpreted as indictable (or more severe) upon their arrival here, regardless of the circumstances.

Christ had fled Palestine due to fears of persecution by Roman occupation authorities, who were concerned about his outspoken statements and actions on behalf of the poor and downtrodden of his country. Unfortunately, since Canada has no refugee appeals division (promised in the 2001 immigration act but still not realized), he has no real options. While his pre-removal risk assessment concluded that Christ was at substantial risk of torture or worse if deported back to Roman occupied lands, the immigration minister's delegate concluded that Christ could pose a danger to the Canadian public and economy.

"This is a man who fanatically and militantly talks about peace which, if it broke out, could cost thousands of military manufacturing jobs and the loss of possible star wars contracts," the immigration report notes. "Under C-36, our anti-terrorism act, Christ's language and subsequent peacemaking actions are both clearly seen as a terrorist threat. Section 27 (3h) marks as a terrorist anyone who 'Interferes with the design, development or production of any weapon or defence equipment of, or intended for, the Canadian Forces, including any hardware, software or system that is part of or associated with any such weapon or defence equipment.'" 

The report also noted Christ has spoken extensively about equitable distribution of wealth and against individual and corporate greed, again marking him as a terrorist in the eyes of Canadian law (Section 27 (3j) of C-36 names as a terrorist anyone who "adversely affects the stability of the Canadian economy, the financial system or any financial market without reasonable or financial justification.")

In another mark against Christ, the minister's delegate points out one particular incident in which the refugee applicant was "particularly violent, overturning a table used by moneychangers in a temple frequented by Canadian money speculators." Canada's criminal code notes as well a terrorist is anyone who "damages property outside of Canada because a person or entity with an interest in the property or occupying the property has a relationship with Canada or a province or is doing business with or on behalf of the Government of Canada or a province." 

"Therefore," the immigration report concludes, "we determine that the threat which Christ poses to Canada is greater than the risk to him if deported."

Human rights groups have criticized the occupation Roman Empire for ongoing torture, racial and religious profiling, crucifixions, and a general climate of repression in the Holy Land. They have also noted that Christ's life would be in grave danger if deported. 
Canada, which claims not to deport individuals to torture, is nonetheless prepared to deport Christ just as they are doing in the cases of Mohammad Mahjoub and Mahmoud Jaballah (both Egyptian refugees), whom the government's own pre-removal risk assessment found to be at substantial risk of being detained, tortured or worse if deported. Refugees and long-time secret trial detainees Hassan Almrei, Mohamed Harkat and Adil Charkaoui face similar fates if deported to Syria, Algeria and Morocco, respectively.

In a related development, critics of Canadian policies are also concerned about a border alert which has been issued to U.S. Homeland Security and Canadian Border Services Agency outposts looking for a bearded man in a red suit who may be expected to arrive in this country later this week. 

The individual, a noted Red, or Communist, is, according to the bulletin, "NOT a U.S. or Canadian citizen, carries no passport, goes under a number of aliases including Jolly Old Saint Nick and Kris Kringle, carries suspicious looking sacks and avoids customs, has attended a non-registered flight school with respect to flying unauthorized aircraft that often include the use of animals, wears religious headgear, travels without reservations, has a big beard, and visits Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, and other suspect countries every year. The man is also known to promote dangerous notions of social equality. If this suspect individual is seen, please alert the CIA, RCMP and CSIS immediately, and do not be lulled into a false sense of security by the individual's seemingly laid back demeanour."

Generals at the Canadian-based NORAD early warning system, upgraded earlier this year to become more in tune with U.S. space weaponization plans, announced they are fully prepared to launch kill vehicles if necessary to stop this threat.
More information on these issues can be found by contacting Toronto Action for Social Change, tasc@web.ca, www.homesnotbombs.ca

Islamophobia Rising: Gap Widens Between Trudeau’s Rhetoric and Muslim Fears

By Matthew Behrens

During a funeral oration for victims of last January’s Quebec City mosque massacre, Justin Trudeau promised that “we will rise from this darkness stronger and more unified than ever before. That is who we are.”

But two years into Trudeau’s mandate, many Muslims in Canada could be forgiven for wondering whether the prime minister’s self-assured paean to diversity and tolerance is, in fact, “who we are.” An Angus Reid poll two weeks after the massacre found 46% of Canadians hold negative views of Islam, while the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s newly released Taking the Pulse report found that 44% of Ontario residents believe “police are at least sometimes justified in profiling or targeting” Muslims.

While some of the blame appears linked to Donald Trump’s Muslim travel bans and Islamophobic tweets, they tend to overshadow a historic home-grown discrimination that saw a 253% increase in police-reported hate crimes against Canadian Muslims from 2012-15. And in the lead-up to the last federal election, the Trudeau Liberals voted to support some of Stephen Harper’s most regressive legislation, from the inflammatory  Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act to the infamous C-51 (Anti-Terrorism Act), both of which disproportionately target members of the Muslim community.

“Canadians should not be smug nor take for granted the impact of global trends and also the role various Canadian actors may play in promoting Islamophobia here at home,” says Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM). “This rise in Islamophobia also occurs against the backdrop of a time where there has also been an alarming and well-documented rise in the growth of far-right extremism which targets not only Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim but Canadians from other racial and religious backgrounds as well.”


CSIS Refuses to Recognize Far-Right Risk
While that hatred has also been manifested on the streets of Toronto and other Canadian cities by white extremist demonstrations – part of a national trend of violence committed by well over 100 racist groups – Canada’s spy agency, CSIS, has studiously avoided treating far-right agitation as a security risk. Instead, the latest public CSIS threat assessment named “Islamic” extremism as the nation’s number one threat, despite a paucity of evidence.

CSIS could learn a thing or two from the NCCM’s continually updated online map of hate crimes, a chilling litany describing tales of racist graffiti, women having their hijabs ripped off, death threats, the firebombing of a mosque, and a bullet fired into an Islamic centre where children were studying. When Mississauga Liberal MP Iqra Khalid introduced the non-binding motion M-103 to condemn Islamophobia and study racial and religious discrimination earlier this year, she received thousands of hate messages, forcing her to change office protocol, from door locks to selective answering of the phones.

Masuma Khan continues to face a daily barrage of mutilation, rape and murder threats almost six months after she posted on social media about the decision of her student council to abstain from Canada150 celebrations

Perhaps few have experienced the growing anti-Muslim sentiment as intensely as Dalhousie University international studies student Masuma Khan, who continues to face a daily barrage of mutilation, rape and murder threats almost six months after she posted on social media about the decision of her student council to abstain from Canada150 celebrations, calling them an “act of ongoing colonialism that glorifies continued theft from, and disenfranchisement of, the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (Canada).” Khan’s subsequent post calling out white fragility resulted in the threat of disciplinary action for an alleged student code of conduct violation.

While the action was only withdrawn after a national outcry – with one Dalhousie professor noting that none of the male dentistry students implicated in the notorious 2014 posting of misogynistic and homophobic messages ever faced such sanction – Khan continues to live with the fallout.

“I get called a terrorist when I walk down the street, I get spat on, I get told to go back home when I was born in Halifax, I get death threats, I get called anti-Canadian when I stand up for Indigenous rights,” says Khan, who questions whether her safety is being taken seriously when, despite the well-publicized threats, the university has not been proactive in offering her security.

This fall, her campus began offering “emergency hijab kits” for women whose head coverings had been spat upon or violently removed. The kits include bystander resources, numbers to lodge complaints, and safety tips. Khan says they are akin to first aid kits, unfortunate necessities on stand-by in the event of attacks.

Despite the threats, Khan says she is refusing to be quiet, noting “even when I’m not speaking out I’m still not safe.” She also points out that a family member who is not involved in her realm of political action is nonetheless on the no-fly list for sharing the same birth-date and last name as someone else the government considers a risk.


Kids on No-Fly List
In Ottawa, the federal government plays a two-track game, issuing anodyne statements about inclusion and diversity while pursuing an agenda that, rhetoric aside, still mirrors the Harper era. While even conservative leaders like Britain’s Theresa May have directly criticized Trump’s incendiary anti-Muslim tweets and actions, Trudeau has been silent. The PM was slow in condemning Quebec’s face covering ban (Bill 62) and  absent the day MPs voted on the contentions M-103 Islamophobia motion. Also of concern was the October decision not to lay terrorism charges against the Quebec mosque shooter, Alexandre Bissonnette, which critics say perpetuates the harmful stereotype that only Muslims are terrorists, and never victims.

During his 2015 election night victory, Trudeau shared an anecdote about being a woman in hijab who reportedly told him she was voting Liberal  “because she wants to make sure that her little girl has the right to make her own choices in life and that our government will protect those rights.”

Two years later, those words rang hollow in a Parliamentary committee room addressing the Liberals’ problematic security legislation Bill C-59. On December 12, London, Ontario’s Zamir Khan informed MPs that his 3-year-old son Sebastien has been marked as a possible security threat on the No Fly List since birth.

“For families with flagged infants, the associated delays further complicate an already challenging travel schedule,” said Khan, who co-founded the fast-growing group No Fly List Kids. The organization is concerned that C-59 promises no proper redress system to eliminate information that wrongfully pegs their youngsters as security risks, a stigmatization with traumatic results.

“As these children grow older, they become aware that they are the reason for the ever-present waiting and security scrutiny,” Khan notes. “When the children grow into teenagers and young adults, particularly young men, their innocence becomes less obvious….Their delays become longer and the scrutiny more intense. This has meant that some families have missed flights and that the kids shy away from air travel for fear of stigmatization. This is not a future I want for my son.”


An edited version of this story appears in the December 21, 2017 edition of NOW Magazine

From the Walk Against Racism, Repression and War, Hamilton to Scarborough, Homes not Bombs, July, 2002