“All Arabs Are Liars”: Arab and Muslim Stereotypes in Canadian Human Rights Law

Abstract

Stereotypes exclude, stigmatize, and burden Arabs and Muslims in Canada. This article examines three prevailing Arab and Muslim stereotypes: the conviction that Arabs and Muslims have a culturally ordained propensity towards violence; the belief that, regardless of their citizenship status, Arabs and Muslims remain foreigners who threaten Western values and; the notion that Arabs and Muslims are dishonest. The analysis rests on the facts found and conclusions reached in nine claims filed by Arab or Muslim applicants before the British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec or Canadian human rights tribunals. The tribunal decisions reveal that the terrorist profile requires the other two profiles for its efficacy, but the liar/untrustworthy motif and the un-Canadian/existential threat motif also operate independently of the terrorist motif. The cases also suggest that gender, racialization, and religion mediate the way in which the different stereotypes are invoked, and that Arabs and Muslims are stereotyped in diverse contexts including workplaces, schools, and state institutions. The cases also illuminate how stereotyping has profoundly impacted the financial, emotional, physical, and social health of the complainants but the human rights regimes examined do not always recognize the stereotypes that arise on the facts before them.

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