Dear Editor
Joyce West’s letter in the Jan. 28 issue of The Journal may have echoed the concerns of many of us.
It is well and good to open your doors to people who have suffered civil war that destroyed their cities.
The hope I have is, that they have not brought their sectarian hatreds and race hatred with them. Will Sunni Muslims accept Shite Muslims as equals, for example? Will Muslim immigrants accept Coptic and other sectarian Christians? The immigrants are coming from countries that do not. That is one of the main reasons for the strife and deadly destruction of whole cities in Syria and Iraq.They have not learned to live with one another.
We hope for the best with open hearts. But the growing incidence of vandalism and arson in Montreal against Jews, and the attempt to ferment race hatred on campuses; are conditions unparalleled in the history of Canada in the last 75 years.
We can only hope that the vetted immigrants turn out to be responsible citizens of one the finest countries in the world, and add to the ‘cultural mosiac’ in the same spirit as those generous Canadians who wish to offer them sanctuary, and an opportunity for a new life.
Esther Darlington
Ashcroft
