By Zidane Mohamed
 |
| Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian, remains in prison |
On June 23rd, the Egyptian high court sentenced three reporters
for Al-Jazeera to 7 years in prison, advancing the ongoing campaign of
censorship of journalists and activists by the current military dictatorship,
which has the support of the United States and Israel. One of them is a
Canadian-Egyptian journalist, Mohamed Fahmy, who was arrested in December in
Cairo as he was covering the aftermath of the army's removal of Mohamed Morsi
from the presidency in July 2013.
The Canadian government, which prides itself as a champion of human rights, should do its best to intervene in aiding its citizens from the crimes of military dictatorships. But after the Omar Khadr fiasco, and a decade of “war on terror” jingoism, they passed a pernicious bill that would legally absolve the Canadian government of any responsibility to intervene. Bill C-24 reiterates the Harper government’s commitment in continuing institutionalized racism, which discriminates against migrant peoples, who are often racialized. Bill C-24 gives the immigration minister expanded powers over citizenship rights, which include revoking the citizenship of dual-citizens who have “engaged in certain actions contrary to the national interest of Canada”.
The Canadian government, which prides itself as a champion of human rights, should do its best to intervene in aiding its citizens from the crimes of military dictatorships. But after the Omar Khadr fiasco, and a decade of “war on terror” jingoism, they passed a pernicious bill that would legally absolve the Canadian government of any responsibility to intervene. Bill C-24 reiterates the Harper government’s commitment in continuing institutionalized racism, which discriminates against migrant peoples, who are often racialized. Bill C-24 gives the immigration minister expanded powers over citizenship rights, which include revoking the citizenship of dual-citizens who have “engaged in certain actions contrary to the national interest of Canada”.
