[For once, it’s nice to see our police forces saying no to a foreign lobby group.]
Calgary cops dismiss hate crime complaint against Muslim website
- 6:35 pm, April 17th, 2013
CALGARY — Complaints that a Calgary Muslim group has been engaged in hate crimes have been dismissed by city police.
Const. Eric Levesque said the charges made by B’nai Brith Canada officials that articles on a Muslim Council of Calgary (MCC) are possibly hate crimes could spark tension in Calgary between its Islamic and Jewish communities.
“The Jewish and Muslim communities in Calgary have a very good relationship and this is a group from Toronto putting out this concern,” said Levesque, the force’s hate crimes co-ordinator.
“These two groups (in Calgary) can work out the issues they have. … I don’t know what B’nai Brith’s motivations are.”
Earlier this week, B’nai Brith staffers alerted city police to two articles posted on the MCC’s website that accused Jews of “debauchery and immorality” and having “deviated from the Torah” in relation to historical Palestine.
Another post quoted the Protocol of the Elders of Zion. citing a Jewish plot to destroy religion. It was removed earlier this week.
The passages could well amount to hate crimes, or at least have the effect of inflaming violent hostility towards Jews, said B’nai Brith Canada’s Anita Bromberg.
“This is anti-Jewish rhetoric. In this case, it’s so blatant,” said Blomberg.
But Levesque said that while the website material may offend some, it’s not at a criminal level.
Blomberg said she was happy city police looked into their concerns.
A spokesman for the MCC didn’t return a call.
The Wall Street JoUrinal. 