In an official Toronto Police Service Monday podcast, officers explained how the October 7 massacre brought people closer to Islam and that it was Islamophobic to describe pro-Palestinian rallies as pro-Hamas.
TPS Muslim Liaison officers Farhan Ali and Haroon Siddiqui made the controversial statements during a now-deleted episode of the Project Olive Branch that had been posted on Instagram.
“Through social media, a lot of people, after October 7, started learning about Islam, and they said what is it with the religion that it is so hated, you know what I mean why are they being attacked all the time?” said Siddiqui. “There have been a lot of reverts through this whole process.
Siddiqui continued that “the amount of people reverting to Islam is unbelievable, and I guess through education they’re educating themselves, and saying ‘what [sic] is it that Muslims are being targeted, and why are they being targeted?’ Let me learn about this religion, what are these accusations that they are saying.”
At another point in the episode, which discussed Islamophobia, Ali said that there were Islamophobic undertones when labelling the anti-Israel protests that had frequented the Canadian city as pro-terrorism.
“When someone is calling a Palestinian rally a Hamas rally then all of a sudden people start getting afraid, and they think ‘oh wow these are people supporting a entity that’s been labeled as a terrorist organization,’ but the people that are protesting are there for another cause altogether.”
Ali said that falsely ascribing beliefs to an entire group of people in such a fashion was “active discrimination.”
Toronto police issues apology
The Toronto Police Service issued a statement on Wednesday apologizing for the concern the episode caused the Jewish community, assuring that TPS Chief Myron Demkiw had ordered a review of procedures for the production of impartial and inclusive content.
“We recognize the Jewish community’s profound pain and anguish as a result of October 7 and the ensuing rise of antisemitism,” Demkiw said in a statement on X. “I have personally heard from the community about the impact of this podcast, and I’m truly sorry. Our commitment to protecting our Jewish communities remains unwavering.”
Ali also shared a statement on Instagram, saying that the aim was to foster dialogue, but he recognized that the “episode has been upsetting for some.”
According to the podcast’s YouTube description, the objective of the program is to ” create new and build on existing relationships with Toronto’s Muslim communities” through “collaborative effort and ongoing dialogue.”
Jesus Christ is King
