#kurdish
Shafei Mosque/ Kermanshahi/ Iran
Photography: alireza moghaddammanesh
It’s the morning of the election, and I have one last too long post before I go vote. I was involved in a bit of a Facebook comment war on a post about the Conservative’s publicly stating on their website that they would support legislation to repeal same sex marriage in Canada. Somehow that turned into an argument about ISIS. That’s not the first time that’s happened. Recently my mom, who still lives back in Regina, informed me that some of her friends were upset about my post about the economy going (the Canadian version of) viral, because everyone but Harper will, “Let all the terrorists in.” No one saying it really believes it, it’s a distraction.
It really drove home the theme of this entire election:
Rich people tricking poor people into thinking that brown people are a bigger danger to them than a government that has repeatedly proved that it doesn’t give a shit about them or their families.
I have a lot of new followers (yo), so some of you might not know this, but I’m very sick. I spend more time with my doctors than my family. I have a great relationship with them, which is probably a good thing since I need them to keep me alive and functional. Even doctors from my past still get in touch to see how I’m doing.
My former GP, who I was with from ages 15-25, who got me through the really awful diagnostic process is a Kurdish refugee from Iraq. She and her husband fled during Saddam Hussein’s Kurdish genocide during the 90s. She was pregnant when she arrived, and despite having a new born baby, she worked her ass off to get re-certified in Canada. Since then she’s won several awards for her volunteer work helping immigrant and refugee doctors get their certification, and as well as mentoring female doctors. She works in a community clinic and invites med students to shadow her regularly. She frequently gives presentations about the unique health needs of refugees, and is just overall an absolute badass.
The idea that refugees like her are bad for Canada is absurd. The fact that someone could demonize refugees like her as a voting tactic so that they can keep more of their money is nothing short of monstrous. Some of the people who made the above statements know her. They know her family. They were there when her husband had a heart attack. They heard all about how her son won a spelling bee. And they STILL did it. Every time I think about it I’m nauseated all over again.
I’ve spent a solid week being furious and not wanting to say anything for the sake of keeping the peace, but yesterday put me over the edge.
So here are a few arguments which I’m breaking down separate posts because no one will read the whole thing. Please take a break from trolling the ICNA Sisters Canada page to click on the argument that is applicable to you, racist Facebook friends!
3. “We have to protect Canadians”
4. “Niqabs/Hijabs/Whichever inoffensive clothing item I associate with Muslim women is oppressive”
Basically, if you have a family income of over $200 000 a year and you say you’re voting for Harper because of terrorism, you’re a fucking monster.
If you have a family income of under $200 000 a year and you say you’re voting for Harper because of terrorism, you’re a fucking moron.
This particular tactic is actually what turned me into a switch-hitter voter. I’ve avoided making any real statement either way because I don’t think it’s particularly important this election, but I’m a life-long NDP supporter. And I really mean life-long. My grandma went to school with Shirley Douglas, who apparently ate too many grapefruits and was kind of a bitch, but I’ve been hearing stories about what a hero Tommy was my entire life.
Then as an adult, I made the decision based on 3 things, listed in order of priority:
1. Who is best for First Nations people
2. Who is best for healthcare (and I include women’s health under this banner. If you so much as make a face during the word abortion, you’re politically dead to me forever)
3. Who is best for unions (I’m not in a union, for the record, despite a weird internet rumour that made it’s way back to me last week)
But this election, I honestly don’t care. All 3 candidates will be fine. We’re going to hate them 6 months from now any way when they can’t enact change fast enough because they’re still trying to clean up Harper’s mess. At this point, I don’t care if our next PM put us 100 billion dollars in debt turning Ottawa into a Tropical Themed amusement park run by toucans.
Literally every single option is better than letting our country continue to be run by a racist. First the Tamil refugees were terrorists. Then the Roma refugees were ‘bogus’. Then all cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women were were solved when Cindy Gladue was found guilty of her own murder in April. Now the Syrian refugees are terrorists too. Who’s next?
Oynamayı bırakın, başkasının sabrını zorlamayın maskeniz düşer
Kürtlüğümle gurur duyuyorum diyenler burda mı ✌