Canada's welcoming refugee response praised in Arab media

Canada's welcomingreception of the first planeloads of Syrian refugees has prompted an overwhelminglypositive response in the Arab media, with one Jordanian newssite goingso far as tocall Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau"Superman"for his acceptance ofrefugees.

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Online interest in Canada has seen a huge upswing among Arabic speakers in recent weeks. The number of people searching for the word "Canada"in Arabic doubled in the past month, according to Google Trends.The primary source countriesof thequeries were Jordan and Lebanon, but internet users in Syria,Yemen, Sudan and Libya also generated some of thesearches.

CBC News found tens of thousands of Arabic searcheswithin the past week (Dec.8-15) for "Canada + Syrian refugees."

Commenters use Canada to shame Arab states

When it came to comments in Arab media and on online message boards, the general trend was to thank Canada for its warm reception of Syrian refugees, but there were some dissenting voices, such as onereader on the Al Jazeera websitewhochastised the refugees for not staying to fight the Assad regime in Syria.

Canada's prime minister put Arab rulers in an embarrassing situation when he said, "Welcome to your new home."- WatanSerb

Many other commenterscontrasted Canada's favourable treatment of Syrian refugees with the actions orinaction of someArab countries.

"Canada's prime minister put Arab rulers in an embarrassing situation when he said, 'Welcome to your new home,'"said an editorial onWatanSerb.com, a California-basednews weekly for Arab Americans.

The Jordanian news site Sahafi.jowas particularly keen to compare "the warmness of Canada to the coldness of Jordan," which, according to the UNHCR, has taken in more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.

"It's hard to believe what Canadians are doing for Syrian refugees,"it said inits commentary.Jordanians pointed to the footage ofTrudeau and other government ministers greetingrefugees atthe airportincriticizingtheir own government's mistreatment ofrefugees.

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Readers of AlJazeera.net demanded"clarification on why Gulf countries are refusing to host Syrian refugees." Onereader of the Dubai-basedOrient News, one of the leading newswebsitesof the Syrian opposition,suggested that "history is going to write how Muslims in general and Arabs in particular did not stand upfor Syrianswhereas foreigners did and were more merciful and supportive."

(It's worth noting, however, thatsince the Syrian crisis began in March 2011,Muslim countries have taken in Syrian refugees in far higher numbers than Western states, with Turkey and Lebanon alone taking in more than three million, according to the UNHCR.)

The negative comparisons were not only directed at Arab and Muslim countries. Canada's example also promptedreaders to reflect on how Syrian refugees were being treated by some European states.

"At a time when Canada is opening its doors to Syrian refugees, Berlin is facing criticism ofits plans to contain refugees and the lack of basic life needs," wroteZainabKherfatiof Dubaion thewebsiteof theAlArabiyaTV network.

Similarly, Ahmad Abdel Zaherwrote onthe Saudi Arabia-based site The Message of Islamthat while Canada celebrates Syrian refugees, "Denmark blackmails them," a reference to reports that the Scandinavian country is considering seizing refugees' jewelry and valuables to help offset thecost of resettlement.

The United Arab Emirates newspaper Alitihad contrasted Canada's warm welcome to what it described as the cold attitude of its neighbour, the United States.

Ottawa choir's song welltimed

A performance by an Ottawa-based children's choir of the traditional Muslim song Tala Al Badru Alayna (The Full Moon Rose Over Us)alsotriggered a huge response in the Arab media. The performanceoccurred about a week before therefugees' arrival in Canada, and a YouTubevideo of itbegan to bewidely shared,including by the prime minister, around the time the first refugee planes were touching down in Torontoand Montreal.

The high schoolchoir performs a traditional song from a different cultureevery year andthis year chose an Arabic one, and although the song was not planned to coincide with the refugees' arrival, many interpreted it as a sign of Canada's welcoming multicultural spirit. The Morocco-based news website Cawalisse.com called theperformance"a legendary scene that is hard to be believed" and pointed out that efforts to welcome Syrian refugees were being made not only by government but by ordinary Canadians.

Areader of Orient Newswrote: "You sang a song that is the most cherished to our hearts in a time when many countries of our own skin let us down."

Many articles pointed to the symbolism of the song, which was purportedly sungby residents of Medina in the seventh centuryto welcome another group of migrantsMuslims fleeingMecca with the prophet Muhammad.

Farfesh,a pan-Arab cultural news site,described the performance as "a gesture that signified humanity and superiority." Zaman Al Wasl, a Syrian news website based in Qatar, said that the choir and other ways in which Canada is welcoming the newcomers have put it atthe top of countries that carefor refugees.

Canada challenging 'terrorphobia'

Middle East Online, a prominent news website based in London, praisedCanada for "challenging the terrorphobia" that emerged in the wake of the Paris attacksand cited Trudeau's speech at Pearson airport in Toronto ahead of the refugees' arrival,in which he called on Canadians to "show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily difficult situations."

All that is required from the Syrian refugee now is to work, studyand respect the laws and regulations of their new country.- Erem news website

The action of the Trudeau government was also praised by Alwan Radio, which said Canada acted the fastest in fulfilling its promise to refugees and "created an atmosphere of glee amongSyrians on social media."

The Erem news website, based in Abu Dhabi, challenged the refugeesto take advantage of their good fortune.

"All that is required from the Syrian refugee now is to work, studyand respect the laws and regulations of their new country," it said in an editorial. "In addition, you are required to respect its traditions and customs and try to integrate within their new society as well as working on serving and developing it."