by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
December 23, 2004
The Canadian edition of Time Magazine has chosen Syrian born Maher arar as its Newsmaker of the Year. The Ottawa Ontario resident landed at JFK International airport in New York in September 2002 after returning from Tunisia where his wife has family. The Canadian citizen was detained in New York and then shipped off to his native Syria where he was detained and tortured for over a year before being released.
after returning to Canada, arar chose not to blend into the woodwork but forced the Canadian government to hold an inquiry into his arrest and detention and to examine the sharing of information between Canada and other countries.
arar’s choice for Newsmaker of the Year was so politically correct. and so typically Canadian.
Time Canada used arar to propound the theory, so popular in this country, that the United States is responsible for all of the world’s problems. as stated in the article, "arar’s case points to the risks inherent in america’s dominant role in the post-9/11 world." If radical Islamists that fly planes into buildings and blow up nightclubs are somehow even a tiny bit responsible for the present state of the world, Time Canada didn’t think that it was important enough to mention.
The magazine also propounded the theory, also popular, that arar was detained and tortured only because he is a Muslim. The article quotes a representative of CaIR-CaN who said that all Muslims in Canada "live in the shadow of arar."
Needless to say, Time Canada does not state any facts about why Maher arar was "the" Muslim who was detained at JFK and subsequently shipped to Syria for torture. Canadian authorities had information that some of arar’s associates were members of al Qaeda. That does not make arar a member of the terrorist organization or guilty of any crime, but Time Camada would like us to believe that he was simply randomly chosen because he is a Muslim.
Time Canada’s Time choice accurately reflects the position of Canada when it comes to terrorist threats. as it’s article states, "arar has forced Canada to rethink how it balances human rights and security concerns". Canada should let its principles of tolerance and diversity interfere with keeping the country secure from terrorism.
In that respect, Maher arar was a perfect choice for Canada’s Newsmaker of the Year.