JihadWatch: The Huffington Post here spectacularly illustrates the accuracy of my observation here: “When racist, bigoted ‘Islamophobes’ supposedly target Muslims, Muslims are victims. And when Muslims fake ‘Islamophobic hate crimes,’ Muslims are victims. Not only that, but when Muslims scream ‘Allahu akbar’ and murder infidels, Muslims are victims. Always and in every situation, Muslims are victims, to be appeased and accommodated in every possible way.”
Danielle S. McLaughlin writes: “Rather than call for an apology (what good would that do?) from the girl and her family, I believe we owe her an apology for not remembering that, even though she is well-spoken, she is still a child. She even told us, although it was while describing her fear at the fictitious attack: ‘I am a kid.’ Exactly.”
Would Danielle S. McLaughlin be this sympathetic and understanding if an 11-year-old non-Muslim girl had fabricated a story about being attacked by a Muslim? I don’t think so. In any case, McLaughlin’s reminders that Khawlah Noman is just eleven years old lead to an obvious question that McLaughlin never asks: did someone put this girl up to it? Are there forces behind her that were trying to use her to further the spurious narrative of Muslim victimhood that is being used to fuel attempts to shut down the freedom of speech in Canada?
Or if Khawlah Noman fabricated the story herself, why did she do so? Was she issuing a cry to help or trying to protect herself from a dangerous home situation, a la Yasmin Seweid? Even to raise such a question is “Islamophobic” in today’s ridiculous politically incorrect environment, and so the Huffington Post doesn’t raise it. But what if behind their airy avowals that Khawlah Noman is “just a kid” is an ugly reality about her being forced to wear the hijab by a threatening father? There are, unfortunately, abundant precedents. But don’t expect the Huffington Post, or anyone in the Canadian government or establishment media, to be “Islamophobic” enough to investigate such possibilities and, if necessary, step in to protect this girl.
“The Girl Who Lied About Hijab Attack Deserves An Apology,” by Danielle S. McLaughlin, Huffington Post, January 16, 2018:
There is a girl in Toronto who needs a lot of patience and understanding.
This 11-year-old child made a mistake that grew and grew until it became an international story. She told her family, her school and the police that a stranger had followed her and attacked her with scissors, slashing her hijab. Twice. The child’s brother reported that he had been witness to it all. The girl described her attacker and the event in some detail. The man was Asian, he was smiling, he was dressed in black, the scissors had a blue handle.
After the police went to the media with the story, a press conference was held in the child’s school, and she was interviewed by numerous media outlets. Political leaders from three levels of government responded with shock and horror. Even CNN picked up the story. Many people said, “This is not Canada.”
Then the police investigated further, only to find that the story was untrue. It had not happened.
Actually, something DID happen. A girl, for reasons we will never know, felt the need to create a story that quickly got away from her. Did she call a press conference? That seems unlikely. Did she ask the police to release the report to the media? Also rather unlikely.
As a human rights educator, a mother and grandmother, I have had quite a few 11-year-old girls in my life. They can be bossy, rude, mean, angry, independent, easily influenced, sweet, kind, vulnerable, confused, frightened and deeply in need of attention, all at the same time.
I believe we owe her an apology for not remembering that, even though she is well-spoken, she is still a child.
There is a reason that our society does not permit children of this age to vote or to sign contracts. They are not fully formed adults. They are on the way to being critical thinking individuals, but they have not yet arrived there. They can make independent choices, and also big mistakes. The Youth Criminal Justice Act treats people under the age of 18 differently from adults. Our laws recognize children as being less culpable than their seniors and expect those who are in trouble with the law to reform and mature as they age.
Rather than call for an apology (what good would that do?) from the girl and her family, I believe we owe her an apology for not remembering that, even though she is well-spoken, she is still a child. She even told us, although it was while describing her fear at the fictitious attack: “I am a kid.” Exactly.
When did we assign this level of attention to a child’s stories? When race and religion are involved, we seem to lose all perspective. Because the story appeared to be one where hatred was a motivating factor, where a child was attacked for wearing a religious head covering, we felt a kind of national outrage. Did the child know that she was hitting Canada’s sensitive button? We don’t know….
So don’t be surprised when a scared child is interrogated and comes up with her own personal bogeyman. As for the rest of us? Let’s just get a grip!
