By Gudrun Schultz
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, January 24, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – It appears that militant Islamism has gained a foothold in Canada’s parliament with the election last night of Liberal candidate Omar Alghabra in the riding of Mississauga-Erindale. Right after winning the Liberal nomination for the riding last December Alghabra’s mainÂsupporter, Khalid Usman,Âcelebrated the win on stage with the candidate as a victory for Islamic power.
“This is a victory for Islam. Islam won…Islamic power is extending into Canadian politics,” some witnesses allege Alghabra shouted. Other witnesses however report that it was Khalid Usman who made the statement.ÂThis was later confirmed in a press release from the Canadian Coaltion for democracies, a non-partisan advocacy group in Toronto, which first broke the story erroneously attributing the statement to the candidate.
Concern over the incident prompted Victor Fouad, a Liberal activist in the riding, to contact Paul Martin with an account, but he did not receive a reply. As well, the Western Standard reports that the Coalition was accused by the Liberal party of participating in “an ethnic smear” for expressing alarm over the outburst.
Alghabra, a former president of the Canadian Arab Federation, in 2003 openly supported a conference at the University of Toronto calling for the destruction of Israel. He has called for the repeal of all Canada’s anti-terrorist laws, and has complained in the past that CanWest newspapers engaged in “biased reporting against Muslims” for referring to Hamas suicide bombers as “terrorists.” Alghabra has campaigned to bring the Al Jazeera news channel to Canada, a station that is openly anti-Semitic and Anti-American.