Canadian Muslims: Amira Elghawaby and People Radars

canadian muslims: Schools have wrestled with Islamophobia since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 but there was never intense educator interest in combating the problem, said Amira Elghawaby, communications director for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, according to Metro News. That changed, she said."The previous federal election where Islam and Muslims were at the forefront for all the wrong reasons, combined with the arrival of Syrian refugees, suddenly this is on people radars," she said. But as they gear up for this school year, Muslim organizations hope they can turn their attention to another problem: warding off the dirty looks — and worse — that many Muslim students say they get at school. As upwards of 25,000 Syrians have arrived in Canada since November, her organization has begun fielding far more calls about the issue — ranging from people ranting about refugees seeking to change Canadian culture to parents panicked about their child experiencing Islamophobia on the playground. So the NCCM, the Islamic Social Services Association and the Canadian Human Rights Commission have developed a guide for educators to help them understand the impact of the trauma Syrian kids have experienced abroad and also the experience they, and other Muslims, have of Islamophobia here. Teachers, too, were phoning, seeking resources to help them understand the issue and how to respond. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.