Salim Mansur
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Salim Mansur is a professor emeritus of
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
at the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. He is a former columnist for the ''
London Free Press ''The London Free Press'' is a daily newspaper based in London, Ontario, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Southwestern Ontario. History ''The London Free Press'' began as the ''Canadian Free Press'', founded by Willia ...
'' and the ''
Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...
'', and has contributed to various publications including ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'', the ''
Middle East Forum The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative 501(c)(3) think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who now serves as its chairman. Gregg Roman serves as director of the forum. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 19 ...
'' and Frontpagemag. He often presents analysis on the Muslim world, Islam, South Asia, Middle East. He is also a member of the Freedom Party of Ontario. Mansur was a candidate for the
People's Party of Canada The People's Party of Canada (PPC; ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party was formed by Maxime Bernier in September 2018, shortly after his resignation from the Conservative Party of Canada. It is placed from the right to the far ...
for the 2019 federal election.


Biography

Mansur was born in
Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, and moved to
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada where he completed his doctorate studies in political science.Biography
Fraser Institute
Mansur is a member of the board of directors for the Center for Islamic Pluralism based in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, a Senior Fellow with the Canadian Coalition for Democracies, a group which seeks to support democracies and placed particular emphasis on calling for the
Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...
to adopt a pro-Israel stance. Salim Mansur was one of the founding members of Canadians Against Suicide Bombing, a group that has lobbied to amend Canada's Criminal Code to cite
suicide bombing A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...
as a
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
crime, efforts which resulted in the passing of Bill S-215 in December 2010. He is an academic-consultant with the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C. He has been a consultant with CIDA on development issues and has published widely in academic journals on foreign policy matters and area studies of the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
. He is featured on the documentary Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West produced by the
David Horowitz Freedom Center The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was ...
. He also unsuccessfully ran for the
Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...
party in 2000, being defeated by Sue Barnes. Mansur said he was ostracized after writing columns condemning the
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
and comparing it to the
Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...
of
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
. According to Mansur, the severe backlash has prompted him to stop going to his local mosque. David B. Harris claims there have been two
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
s issued by unspecified individuals against Mansur, calling for his death. At a press conference on 2 October 2008, Mansur stated that: "Islam is my private life, my conscience... utmy faith does not take precedence over my duties... to Canada and its constitution, which I embrace freely... I am first and most importantly a Canadian... Only in a free society will you find Islam as a faith and not a political religion." Mansur expressed the view that former
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
Leader
Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on T ...
had: "gone to bed with Islamists".Barbara Kay, The Islamist elephant in the room no politicians will acknowledge
by Barbara Kay,
National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.
, 2 October 2008.
Mansur was a candidate for the
People's Party of Canada The People's Party of Canada (PPC; ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party was formed by Maxime Bernier in September 2018, shortly after his resignation from the Conservative Party of Canada. It is placed from the right to the far ...
for the 2019 Federal election. Mansur wrote in an Op-ed to ''
Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Water ...
'' ,that he wrote the PPC immigration policy. He previously held the Conservative nomination in London North Centre but was disqualified by the party leadership.


Notable viewpoints


Views on Israel-Palestine conflict

In 2008, Mansur congratulated
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
for its 60th anniversary, and declared that the Jewish state "deserves admiration": "Israel is a tiny sliver of land in a vast tempest-ridden sea of the Arab-Muslim world, and yet it is here the ancient world's most enduring story is made fresh again by Jews to live God's covenant with Abraham as told in their sacred literature." In 2010, he wrote: "The story of modern Israel, as many have noted, is a miracle unlike any ..It is a robust and inclusive democracy, and is at the leading edge of science and technology ..What hypocrites demand of Israelis and the scrutiny Israel is subjected to by them, they would not dare make of any other nation." Mansur wrote that a
Palestinian state Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as th ...
was ''de facto'' created by
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
in
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
by partitioning its
Palestine Mandate The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...
in 1922, and the
Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
would have had a state of their own, had they accepted Israel and reconciled themselves to the rights of the Jews in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
and the
Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
.


Criticism of the Arab and Muslim world

Mansur writes that, from
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
to
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, from
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
n republics to
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, the entire Muslim world: "has turned its back on modernity". He says the Muslim world must stop blaming the West for its own ailments. Mansur's criticisms of other parts of the world have extended so far that he has testified on 1 October 2012 to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration that Canada should stop immigration from Muslim countries. Mansur stated: :The flow of immigration into Canada from around the world, and in particular the flow from Muslim countries, means a pouring in of numbers into a liberal society of people from cultures at best non-liberal. But we know through our studies and observations that the illiberal mix of cultures poses one of the greatest dilemmas and an unprecedented challenge to liberal societies, such as ours, when there is no demand placed on immigrants any longer to assimilate into the founding liberal values of the country to which they have immigrated to and, instead, by a misguided and thoroughly wrong-headed policy of multiculturalism encourage the opposite. Based on his association with the People's Party and his candidacy in the 43rd Canadian Federal Election, coupled with his anti-Islamist views, Mansur was denied a spot at an all-candidates debate being held on October 6, 2019, at the London Muslim Mosque. He has indicated that he may pursue legal action, as he was the only candidate who was not invited.


Skepticism about mainstream scientific position on climate change

Mansur said in 2009 that Climategate revelations "falsified" a theory associated with the claim of man-made global warming. He has also suggested that climate scientists, "corrupted by the lure of money and influence, subscribed to the UN-based scheme for the largest global tax grab and revenue transfer -- some version of global
carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions from producing goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the hidden Social cost of carbon, social costs of carbon emissions. They are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emis ...
-- by raising false alarms about impending planetary doom in the name of science."S. Mansur, "Dubious Science Drives Climate Fears," Toronto Sun, 5 December 2009.


Electoral record


Books

*1994: (with N.K. Choudhry) (eds). ''The Indira-Rajiv Years: The Indian Economy and Polity 1966-1991''. Toronto: Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto. *2009: ''Islam’s Predicament: Perspectives of a Dissident Muslim''. Oakville, Canada and Niagara Falls, NY: Mosaic Press. *2011: ''Delectable Lie: a liberal repudiation of multiculturalism''. Brantford, ON: Mantua Books.


References


External links


Robert Fulford: Canada's angriest 'moderate'
21 November 2009, by Robert Fulford, National Post. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansur, Salim Indian emigrants to Canada Canadian Zionists Indian Zionists Academics from Kolkata Bengali people Bengali activists 21st-century Bengalis Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian political scientists Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario University of Toronto alumni People's Party of Canada politicians Critics of multiculturalism Former Muslim critics of Islam