One would have to be living under a rock to not have heard about the horrific attacks in Paris that occurred on November 13. A total (as of this date) of 130 dead and 368 injured in what must be described as an act of cowardice by people subscribing to a twisted and evil ideology. A day before a car bombing in Beirut, Lebanon killed 43 people and prior to that 18 people attending a wedding were killed in Baghdad, Iraq. On November 17, 37 people were killed in Nigeria in a bombing that experts suspect was the handiwork of Boko Haram (who have pledged intelligence to
Daesh). Just yesterday we learned that at least 21 people were killed in Mali. And today in Cameroon at least 5 people have been killed in a suicide bombing.
Those killed and injured run the gambit of ethnic, national, and religious origins and include Muslims among their numbers. Looking at the names and countries of origins for those victims of the Paris attack indicates a number of Muslims were killed and injured by extremists. In fact, the religious group most adversely affected by Daesh and their affiliates are Muslims, which is why so many refugees are fleeing Daesh in Syria.
The Canadian government is still admirably committed to taking in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the calendar year. This writer hopes that is just the beginning of Canada's commitment to help refugees. But, despite the good will of the Canadian government (thus far) and most Canadians, there have been a backlash against both the idea of helping refugees as well as Muslim-Canadians.
Much of the backlash comes from places that are not at all unexpected. For example when a
mosque was set on fire in Peterborough, Ontario, Kyle McKee and the folks at Stormfront were pleased as punch: