Beware Of "Greeks" Bearing Gifts

I don't know why I feel uncomfortable with this.....maybe because I envision this happening in the 40s and children being given candy and patted on the head before being loaded onto the trains to Auschwitz. I am sure the women involved are well intentioned but their denial is scary. If nothing else the actions of Herouxville allows the reintroduction of 'xenophobia' into the lexicon of the saviours of the world.

Muslims hope to 'dispel myths' in Quebec town

Updated Sun. Feb. 11 2007 3:53 PM ET

Canadian Press

HEROUXVILLE, Que. -- A delegation of Muslim women is visiting a Quebec town that passed a controversial code of conduct aimed at immigrants.

Last month, local officials in the mostly white, French-speaking and Catholic town of Herouxville, population 1,300, adopted a rule of conduct for immigrants.

Included in the code: women should be able to show their faces in public (aside from costumes worn on Halloween), and they should also be permitted to drive and write cheques.

Women should also not be killed in public beatings or burned alive.

Today, a group of Muslim women clad in traditional Muslim headscarves are meeting with about 50 of the town's residents in an effort to dispel myths about Muslims, said Najat Boughaba, a member of the Canadian Islamic Congress.

Town councillor Andre Drouin said the town is eager to welcome its visitors and show residents are not racists. The town council will discuss the norms at the next town meeting and will make changes if warranted but Drouin said the list will remain in place.

Critics have called the code ridiculous and xenophobic, but Drouin told CTV News last month that he has received about 2,000 e-mails of support -- 700 more than Herouxville's population.

"We have just published a small document saying who we are and what's our standard," he said.

Some Muslim leaders have called the code a thinly-veiled example of xenophobia.

"Racism is coming out of the woodwork now, and it's not being obscure or subtle," said Salaam Elmenyawi of the Muslim Council of Montreal.

Two hours away in Montreal, commentators like radio host Stephane Gendron have taken a hard-line stance against making too many accommodations for religious groups.

"We should have zero tolerance for that," said Gendron. "You're just a regular citizen. Religion at home is fine. Otherwise, it's too much."

However, Gendron said Herouxville's code is a step too far.

Jack Jedwab, of the Association for Canadian Studies, said while Gendron may want to distance himself from the code, such commentators are somewhat responsible.

"I think the people who have generated the debate in this particular way are in part of blame for what's happened in this particular town, which has now become a focal point for xenophobia and Islamophobia in Quebec," he said.