To save who we are at this stage will mean becoming something else. Hesitation is loss: Links 1 on March 11 – 2015

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1. Man screams ‘heads will be cut off’ outside Miami Beach synagogue

2. Religious group incensed with Muslim girl carrying a dog

GEORGE TOWN: The picture of a young Muslim girl carrying a small dog at an adoption drive called “Opt to Adopt”, has incensed a religious group here, who want action taken against her.

The picture, reportedly taken by a male individual using a mobile phone, has been making its rounds on the Facebook pages of Penang Kini and Penang Times Square.

Mohamed Hafiz Mohamed Nordin, who heads the Badan Bertindak Jaringan Muslimin Pulau Pinang (JMPP), urged the Penang State Religious Department (JAIPP) to take appropriate action against the young girl seen in the picture, cuddling a stray.

(Speaking of muslims and Dogs…)

3. Second dog ‘dead’ in Crufts murder mystery as poisoning victim Jagger the Irish setter is cremated

A second dog is reported to have died after appearing at Crufts, amid fears that at least six of the animals were deliberately poisoned at the world famous show.

The shih tzu is believed to have died over the weekend, just hours after the ‘murder’ of Irish setter Jagger. The three-year-old died on Friday after eating meat which his owners say was laced with poison.

Today, Jagger’s bereft co-owners are preparing to cremate the prize-winning dog at his rural home in Belgium, before scattering his ashes across a field where he used to love walking.

It comes as the show’s organisers, the Kennel Club, warned that anyone found putting the dogs’ lives at risk could be prosecuted – a crime which can lead to 51 weeks in jail or a £20,000 fine.

The group last night said it was investigating claims that six dogs – including two Shetland sheepdogs, an Afghan hound and a West Highland terrier – were targetted, raising the possibility that one or more poisoners was at work during the four-day competition.

4. Iran Offers to Mediate Talks Between Republicans and Obama

TEHRAN (The Borowitz Report)—Stating that “their continuing hostilities are a threat to world peace,” Iran has offered to mediate talks between congressional Republicans and President Obama.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, made the offer one day after Iran received what he called a “worrisome letter” from Republican leaders, which suggested to him that “the relationship between Republicans and Obama has deteriorated dangerously.”

5. Trudeau’s intelectual slight of hand

6. Pakistan soldiers raid MQM’s Karachi headquarters

muslims being peaceful in Pakistan

 

Security forces have raided the Karachi headquarters of Pakistan’s fourth biggest political party, detaining “hardcore criminals” and seizing arms.

Col Tahir Mahmood said troops acted on information that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) was hiding criminals.

Schools and businesses across the city closed down amid fears of a backlash.

The MQM, which has urged a national protest, has long been accused of using violence and intimidation to control Karachi – claims it denies.

Thank you WTD., M., CB Sashenka, Don C., and all. More to come.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

49 Replies to “To save who we are at this stage will mean becoming something else. Hesitation is loss: Links 1 on March 11 – 2015”

  1. For the record, the New Yorker piece on Iran offering to help negotiate a truce between Republicans and the White house is a joke.

    The URL for the article tells you it is a joke, as it is filed under “humor”.

  3. Australian Preacher Incites to Jihad against the Jews: “They Are the Most Evil Creatures of Allah”

    In a Friday sermon, Ismail Al-Wahwah, spokesman for the Australian chapter of Hizb ut-Tahrir, said: “The Jews are the most evil creatures of Allah. Moral corruption is linked to the Jews.” He further said: “There is only one solution for that cancerous tumor: It must be uprooted and thrown back to where it came from.” The video was posted on the Internet on March 3 by the Hizb ut-Tahrir channel.

  5. 2/ The long day waned, now darkness deepens in Malaya.

    Burgess: Malaya — ruminations of the Abang

    • Cairo teacher to face trial over pupil death

      A teacher at a school in Sayeda Zeinab is accused of killing a schoolboy by striking him on the head with a baton

      A teacher accused of beating a primary school student to death was referred to a criminal court on Wednesday, a few days after his detention pending investigation.

      The teacher allegedly hit the boy on the head with a baton, causing the fifth-grade student to lose consciousness before he died in a hospital.

      A forensic report confirmed the victim died due to a brain hemorrhage.

      According to testimonies from other students at Al-Shuhada Elementary School in the working-class Cairo district of Sayeda Zeinab, the public school where the incident took place, the teacher beat the victim because he had talked in class.

      While testifying before prosecutors, other students said the teacher beat them with a baton on a regular basis, according to Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

      During interrogation by prosecutors, however, the teacher denied assaulting the victim.

      The defendant will remain in detention pending trial after being officially charged with beating the student to death.

      Education Minister Moheb El-Rafie has ordered the temporary closure of Al-Shuhada Elementary School until prosecutors conclude their investigations.

      El-Rafie was appointed in a ministerial reshuffle earlier this month.

      According to studies, cases of abuse are common in Egypt’s public schools, where teachers, who are usually low-paid, lack proper supervision.

      In 2008, a math teacher in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria killed an elementary school student by kicking him in the chest. He was sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter.

      An amendment to several provisions of the Child Act of 2008 mandated the protection of children “from violent acts and physical and emotional abuse.” A ministerial decree in 1998 prohibited corporal punishment and physical assault against students in all its forms.

      http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/125010/Egypt/Politics-/Cairo-teacher-to-face-trial-over-pupil-death.aspx

      pic of the teacher on Egyptian tv :

  15. Official: Man, Boy in IS Killing Video Are French Citizens

    A man and a boy featured in a chilling Islamic State propaganda video showing the killing of a Palestinian have been identified as French citizens, and investigators are looking into whether the man is related to an extremist who attacked a Jewish school in southern France in 2012, an official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

    The official, who has close ties to intelligence services but was not authorized to speak publicly about the inquiry, also said another French fighter whose death in a suicide bombing was announced this week by Islamic State is a young teenager.

    The man in the video, released late Tuesday, speaks with a southern French accent and looks like the step-brother of Mohammed Merah, who killed seven people in attacks on a Jewish school and paratroopers in the south of France beginning on March 11, 2012 — exactly three years ago. In the video, the man praises attacks on Jews “in your own stronghold in France” as he and the boy stand behind the man about to be killed.

    In addition to the 2012 killings in Toulouse, Jews in a kosher supermarket were among the targets of three days of terror in the Paris area this year that left 20 people dead, including the three gunmen.

    “Here are the young lions of the caliphate,” the man says in the video. Soon afterward, the child is shown shooting the man in the head.

    French government spokesman Stephane Le Foll described the video as a “dreadful” killing, but refused to comment Wednesday on the nationalities or identities of the man and boy.

    The French official with intelligence ties also confirmed the nationality of a French fighter whose death was announced this week by the Islamic State group. The group said Abu Ali al-Firansi died in a suicide bombing in Tikrit. The French official described him as a young teen.

    About 1,400 people, including entire families, have left France to join extremists in Syria and Iraq, and many have returned. Security officials fear some will arrive with honed skills as fighters, and with passports that allow free travel.

    “Nearly 90 French citizens have died there, weapons in hand to fight against our values,” French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told France’s iTele on Sunday.

    About 3,000 Europeans are part of the fight, Valls said, adding: “There could be 5,000 before the summer and without a doubt 10,000 by the end of the year.”

    http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/official-man-teen-killing-video-french-citizens-29553112

  16. CANADA – TORONTO – ISIS sympathizer arrested after plotting to bomb U.S. consulate in Toronto: CBSA

    TORONTO — A Pakistani man arrested by immigration officials this week is an ISIS supporter who had plotted to bomb financial buildings and the U.S. consulate in Toronto, the Canada Border Service Agency alleged at a hearing Wednesday.

    Jhanzab Malik, who came to Canada as a student in 2004, told an undercover police officer he had attended training camps in Libya and wanted to build an explosive device to conduct attacks in Toronto, the CBSA said.

    The planning was elaborate, including discussing with the undercover officer the video message they would leave behind in order to inspire others

    […]“He indicated his support of the attackers in Paris,” she said, referring to the deadly attack on the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

    http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/11/isis-sympathizer-arrested-after-plotting-to-bomb-u-s-consulate-in-toronto-cbsa/

    • Interesting: Joining together in a war against a common enemy as a nation-building exercise. At least you can sing the same songs around the campfire.

      • Hitler and Napoleon are laughing their butts off.

        Given what is happening in Europe this idea is both too soon and too late, the civil wars will probably start before anything is done, and most of the European nationals won’t accept this idea until well into the civil wars.

  22. Bahrain detains student, teachers over Koranic recitation to music

    (Reuters) – Bahrain’s public prosecutor has charged a high school student and two teachers with insulting Islam in connection with a video showing the student reciting verses from the Koran to musical accompaniment, state news agency BNA reported on Wednesday.

    According to Islamic tradition, tajweed, the recitation of Islam’s holy book, adheres to strict rules of intonation which vary according to a number of recognized reading styles.

    Footage allegedly showing the student reciting Koranic verses while a teacher played an instrument to accompany him were posted on social media, BNA said.

    The Ministry of Education investigated the video and found that the school had entered a competition for Koranic recitation, commonly held for children around the Muslim world.

    Two teachers and the student were subsequently questioned by the public prosecutor.

    “The public prosecution … charged them with violating the Islamic religion and insulting its rituals,” the agency said. “It also ordered them detained protectively over the case.”

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/11/us-bahrain-koran-idUSKBN0M71UL20150311

    ===========================================================
    Bahrain arrests student for singing verses from Quran

    DUBAI: A Bahraini high school student and two teachers have been charged with “insulting Islam” after the boy sang verses from the Quran accompanied by musical instruments, the official BNA news agency reported Wednesday.

    Islam allows intonation of Quranic verses, and recordings of chanting are frequently heard in marketplaces or on the radio and television, but singing them to musical accompaniment is prohibited.

    Prosecutor Adnan Fakhro said authorities have “investigated the incident of a video published on social media of a student singing verses of the holy Quran, accompanied by musical instruments.”

    The report, which did not identify the instruments used, said the incident took place during an art competition.

    Authorities have questioned “the student who sang and the two teachers who trained him on the song and played music,” Fakhro’s statement said.

    The trio are being held pending further investigation.

    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Mar-11/290408-bahrain-arrests-student-for-singing-verses-from-quran.ashx

  23. 1/. I think you’ll find it was the same man outside a maternity hospital shouting “foreskins will be cut off”. Whatever is pleasing to God.

  24. UK – British Muslims condemn terror laws for creating ‘witch-hunt’ against Islam

    Strongly worded public statement, which includes signatories from Cage and Hizb ut-Tahrir, condemns ‘crude and divisive’ government election tactics

    Anti-Muslim rhetoric and “endless ‘anti-terror’ laws” are in danger of creating a McCarthyite witch-hunt against Muslims, according to the signatories of a strongly worded public statement, who include several controversial figures.

    The statement accuses the government of “criminalising” Islam and trying to silence “legitimate critique and dissent”, and decries what it describes as “the ongoing demonisation of Muslims in Britain [and] their values, as well as prominent scholars, speakers and organisations.”

    Signatories of the statement include Moazzam Begg, director of outreach for Cage, the organisation that came under fire last week after it sought to explain the radicalisation of Isis killer Mohammed Emwazi. Members of Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in several countries including Germany, have also signed the statement.

    It comes after it was revealed earlier this week that the Home Office is planning a “more assertive” stance against extremism, with a series of measures including imposing penalties on benefit claimants who do not learn English and making visa applicants commit themselves to “British values”.

    The statement, seen by the Guardian, reads: “We reject the portrayal of Muslims and the Muslim community as a security threat. The latest act of parliament, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, threatens to create a ‘McCarthyite’ witch-hunt against Muslims, with nursery workers, schoolteachers and universities expected to look out for signs of increased Islamic practice as signs of ‘radicalisation’.”

    The signatories state that the “Muslim issue” is being exploited for political capital in the runup to the general election.

    “Exploiting public fears about security is as dishonourable as exploiting public fears about immigration,” the statement reads. “Both deflect attention from crises in the economy and health service, but are crude and divisive tactics, where the big parties inevitably try to outdo each other in their nastiness.”

    Jahangir Mohammed, director of the Centre for Muslim Affairs, said the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act had made the entire Muslim community feel targeted. “Counter-terrorism policies are flawed and alienating,” he said. “This approach is not working and actually backfiring. The entire Muslim community is being blamed for the actions of a violent few and as a result Muslims in Britain feel marginalised.”

    He added that the Act would legitimise public servants’ suspicions of Muslims and their beliefs and political views. “This goes against equality policies that state individuals should not be discriminated due to their political and religious beliefs,” he said. “It will serve to destroy good community relations that have been built over many years and will treat Muslims as a suspect community.”

    Asked if he thought the statement could backfire, he added: “There are those who may want to look at it in a bad light, but in general Muslims are not worried about this: they are very angry and frustrated with the current climate and policies, which target the Muslim community, and want their voices heard.”

    The list of signatories also include the high-profile Muslim converts Yvonne Ridley and Cherie Blair’s half-sister, Lauren Booth, as well as academic Dr Reza Pankhurst, who is a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir and spent four years in an Egyptian jail for trying to recruit others to the group’s cause in 2002.

    Another signatory is Shakeel Begg, the imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre, which was attended by the Woolwich killers, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, in the months leading up to attack on Drummer Lee Rigby.

    The statement goes on to criticise “the continued public targeting of Muslims through endless ‘anti-terror’ laws,” adding that there have been 10 such pieces of legislation since the year 2000. Such legislation gives “huge power to the state”, while fuelling “media hysteria”, it claims.

    The group states that the use of words such as “radicalisation” and “extremism” prevents debate, adding that it is “unacceptable to label as ‘extremist’ numerous normative Islamic opinions on a variety of issues”.

    Dilly Hussain, a spokesman for the group, said the list of 62 signatories included moderate Islamic thinkers alongside names he acknowledged were considered “controversial”. He pointed to the likes of Arzu Merali of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, and Musharraf Hussain , chief executive and chief imam of the Karimia Institute and an adviser to the Quilliam Foundation.

    Asked why the mainstream Muslim Council of Britain, which could not immediately be contacted for a statement, were not signatories, Hussain said that members of the MCB were signatories, but because the organisation itself represents 500 mosques with different opinions, that made it difficult for the MCB to sign such a statement.

    Tauqir Ishaq, a senior spokesman for Muslim Action Forum (MAF), which organised a rally of thousands of British Muslims protesting against cartoons showing the prophet Muhammad, said Muslims were feeling frustrated and disillusioned.

    “People are being asked to compromise their faith and many feel there is no alternative here. The current environment has contributed to issues like young people leaving to go to Syria,” he said.

    Ishaq added that he had been working on deradicalising people for a number of years, but that the government’s counter-terrorism legislation and Prevent strategy had pushed extremism underground. “Raiding mosques and investigating charities is not the way to tackle extremism,” he said. “Every Muslim is being treated with suspicion and heavy-handed tactics are being used against them. Celebrities like Jimmy Savile and Gary Glitter do not represent all British celebrities: why then do a minority of individuals who do something wrong become a representation of the entire Islamic faith?”

    The combative statement declares a “concern about peace and security for all”, but adds: “We, however, refuse to be lectured on peace-building and harmony by a government that plays divisive politics and uses fear to elicit uncertainty in the general public, whilst maintaining support for dictators across the Muslim world, who continue to brutalise and legitimate political opposition to their tyranny.”

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/british-muslims-terror-laws-witch-hunt-islam-cage-hizb-ut-tahrir

    • The statement in full reads:

      Muslim community rejects the state’s criminalisation of Islam and condemns moves to silence legitimate critique and dissent. This joint statement expresses a position with respect to the ongoing demonisation of Muslims in Britain, their values as well as prominent scholars, speakers and organisations.

      We, the undersigned imams, sheikhs, advocates, activists, community leaders, community organisations and student bodies of the Muslim community, make the following points in this regard:

      1) We reject the exploitation of Muslim issues and the ‘terror threat’ for political capital, in particular in the runup to a general election. Exploiting public fears about security is as dishonourable as exploiting public fears about immigration.

      Both deflect attention from crises in the economy and health service, but are crude and divisive tactics, where the big parties inevitably try to outdo each other in their nastiness.

      2) We deplore the continued public targeting of Muslims through endless ‘anti-terror’ laws. There have been around 10 pieces of legislation since the year 2000, all giving huge powers to the state, which have fuelled a media hysteria even though in most cases no crime was committed. This has created a distressing and harmful backlash towards Muslims, especially women and children.

      3) We reject the portrayal of Muslims and the Muslim community as a security threat. The latest act of arliament, the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, threatens to create a ‘McCarthyite’ witch-hunt against Muslims, with nursery workers, schoolteachers and universities expected to look out for signs of increased Islamic practice as signs of ‘radicalisation’. Such a narrative will only further damage social cohesion as it incites suspicion and ill feeling in the broader community.

      4) The expedient use of undefined and politically charged words like ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ is unacceptable as it criminalises legitimate political discourse and criticism of the stance of successive governments towards Muslims domestically and abroad. We strongly oppose political proposals to further ‘tackle’ and ‘crack down’ on such dissenting voices in the Muslim community despite their disavowal of violence and never having supported terrorist acts.

      5) Similarly, it is unacceptable to label as ‘extremist’ numerous normative Islamic opinions on a variety of issues, founded on the Qur’an and Sunnah of prophet Muhammad , implying there is a link between them and violence, using such labels as an excuse to silence speakers.

      6) We affirm our commitment to robust political and ideological debate and discourse for the betterment of humanity at large. The attempts by the state to undermine this bring into question its commitment to its very own purported values and liberal freedoms.

      7) We affirm our concern about peace and security for all. We, however, refuse to be lectured on peace-building and harmony by a government that plays divisive politics and uses fear to elicit uncertainty in the general public, whilst maintaining support for dictators across the Muslim world, who continue to brutalise and legitimate political opposition to their tyranny.

      8) We affirm our intention to hold on to our beliefs and values, to speak out for what is right and against what is wrong based on our principles, whether that be on matters such as the securitisation of society, corporate hegemony, war and peace, economic exploitation, social and moral issues in society, nationalism and racism. Not to do so would be dangerous and leave our community unguided.

      9) We call on all fair-minded people in Britain – including politicians, journalists, academics, bloggers and others concerned about fairness for all – to continue to scrutinise the scare tactics, fear-mongering and machinations of politicians, which do not bode well for societal harmony and only increase the alienation felt and experienced by Britain’s Muslim community.

      It is time that politicians stop diverting the attention of the British public away from its domestic crises and disastrous foreign policies by repeatedly playing the ‘Muslim’ or ‘national security’ card.

      Signed:

      1. Abdurraheem Green, iERA

      2. Anjum Anwar, teacher/chair of Woman’s Voice

      3. Arzu Merali, Islamic Human Rights Commission

      4. Dr Abdul Wahid, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Britain

      5. Dr Musharraf Hussain, CEO and chief imam, Karimia Institute

      6. Dr Reza Pankhurst, author and academic

      7. Dr Saeed Al-Gadi, presenter at Islam Channel

      8. Dr Shahrul Hussain, Birmingham

      9. Dr Uthman Lateef, Hittin Insitute

      10. Hodan Yusuf, journalist

      11. Ibrahim Hewitt, Leicester

      12. Ibtihal Bsis, barrister, broadcaster, Hizb ut-Tahrir

      13. Imam Abdul Wahhab, east London

      14. Imam Abdul-Malik Sheikh, imam and khatib, London

      15. Imam Abdul Mateen, east London

      16. Imam Aziz Ibraheem, Iman Trust Community Centre, St Helens

      17. Imam Irfan Patel, Jamiah Masjid, Gillingham

      18. Imam Shakeel Begg, Lewisham Islamic Centre

      19. Jahangir Mohammed, Centre for Muslim Affairs

      20. Lauren Booth, journalist

      21. Mahmud Choudhury, secretary, Poplar Shahjalal Masjid

      22. Massoud Shadjareh, Islamic Human Rights Commission

      23. Moazzam Begg, director of Outreach, Cage

      24. Muhammad Mustaqeem Shah, Al-Mustaqeem Centre, Bradford

      25. Shaikh Abu Abdissalam, London

      26. Shaikh Haitham Haddad, MRDF

      27. Shaikh Haitham Tamim, chairman of the Utrujj Foundation

      28. Shaikh Khaled Fekry, imam, London

      29. Shaikh Omer Hamdoon, Muslim Association of Britain

      30. Shaikh Sulaiman Gani, south London

      31. Shaikh Zuber Karim, Intelligence Finance Consultancy

      32. Shaikh Tauqir Ishaq, CEO, Hijaaz College

      33. Ustadh Kamal Abu Zahra, lecturer on Islamic studies, London

      34. Yusuf Chambers, freelance community activist

      35. Yusuf Patel, SRE Islamic

      36. Azad Ali, Muslim Safety Forum

      37. Asghar Bukhari, Muslim Public Affairs Committee, UK

      38. Roshan Muhammad Salih, broadcaster and journalist

      39. Ghulam Haydar, director, Myriad Foundation

      40. Shoaib Khalid Bhatti, Muslim Lobby, Scotland

      41. Dr Daud Abdullah, British Muslim Initiative

      42. Shaikh Chokri Majoli, imam, London

      43. Yvonne Ridley, vice-president, European Muslim League

      44. Muhammad Shofiq, Ramadan Foundation, Rochdale

      45. Hasan Al Katib, journalist

      46. Mazhar Khan, Manchester Muslim Forum

      47. Saaqib Abu Ishaaq, Project Medinah, Rochdale

      48. Omar Ali, chair, Brighton and Hove Muslim Community

      49. Sofia Ahmed, Muslim Women Against Femen 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      50. Nalini Naidoo, Newham Muslim Women’s Association

      51. Irfan Hussain, Bradford Dawah Centre

      52. Leyla Habibti, humanitarian activist

      53. Tasmin Nazeer, freelance journalist

      54. Ali Anees, Eccles Mosque

      55. Saeed Akhtar, Cheadle Mosque

      56. Yousef Dar, Community Safety Forum, Manchester

      57. Dr Shameel Islam-Zulfiqar, humanitarian campaigner

      58. Majid Freem, humanitarian aid worker, friend of Alan Henning

      59. Laura Stuart, humanitarian aid worker, journalist and activist

      60. Fatima Barkatula, scholar and director of Seeds of Change

      61. Ibrahim Kala, Bolton Council of Mosques

      http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/british-muslims-terror-laws-witch-hunt-islam-cage-hizb-ut-tahrir

  31. UK female military health worker has Ebola (BBC, March 11, 2015)
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31841432

    “A female British military healthcare worker in Sierra Leone has tested positive for Ebola.

    She is currently being treated in the Kerry Town treatment unit in the country and her next of kin have been informed.

    Public Health England said that medical experts were making sure appropriate care was being delivered.

    A decision on whether she will be evacuated to the UK for treatment has not yet been made….”

  34. Spokane county prosecutor Larry Haskell is speaking out and apologizing for comments his wife made online. Haskell says this doesn’t affect his work now or moving forward…

  35. Quebec Muslims question Montreal plan for ‘anti-radicalization’ program

    The city of Montreal is creating a centre to battle extremism. But members of the city’s Muslim community say they haven’t been consulted, and fear being unfairly targeted.

    Quebec Muslim groups have raised concerns that members of their community may be unfairly targeted by a proposed centre to combat extremism in Montreal.

    Mayor Denis Coderre announced the creation of a centre to prevent radicalization earlier this week.

    “The goal in all of this is to prevent violence,” Coderre said.

    The program is expected to be operational in a few weeks, the city said, and will involve educators, community groups and public safety officials, including the police.

    But Salam Elmenyawi, head of the Muslim Council of Montreal, said he was “dismayed” by the announcement.

    “This is another bashing of the Muslim community,” Elmenyawi said, dismissing Coderre’s argument that the program would not focus its work on Muslims specifically.

    “(This is) a serious action that directly targets our community, regardless of what the mayor says.”

    The centre will include a telephone hotline for people to seek advice if they are worried about a family member or friend espousing radical views.

    The hotline will be manned by the police, a fact that Haroun Bouazzi, co-president of the Muslim and Arab Association for Secularism in Quebec, said raises a red flag.

    “We have trouble seeing how people thinking that their son is in danger of radicalization will call the police,” said Bouazzi, adding that potential consequences under Canada’s proposed Bill C-51 will deter people from calling even further.

    Bouazzi said he received a call from the municipality shortly after the program was announced, asking for his opinion. He said he hoped to meet the mayor to discuss it, but that so far, no meeting has been scheduled.

    “We know that Muslim communities and institutions must play a major role. The first person these people call is the imam or the community leader … rather than the police,” he said.

    Last month, six young Quebecers reportedly left the province to join the Islamic State group, which controls large areas in Syria and Iraq.

    The news came amid heightened tensions, especially in Montreal, where local authorities took several measures related to the Muslim community.

    A Montreal borough changed its zoning regulations in early February — banning community centres from hosting religious events — in order to block a controversial imam, Hamza Chaoui, from opening an Islamic centre.

    A few weeks later, two Montreal schools revoked the permits for an Arabic and Qu’ran program run by Adil Charkaoui, a Moroccan-born Montrealer who successfully challenged a Canadian security certificate against him in 2009.

    One of the youth who left for Syria reportedly briefly took courses at Charkaoui’s school.

    In a telephone interview from Montreal, Charkaoui, who leads the Quebec Collective against Islamophobia, criticized the city for trying to deal with a problem that he said has not been proven.

    “There is a total absence of proof of the phenomenon, and an absence of a definition of radicalization, which will open the door to all forms of discrimination,” Charkaoui said.

    “People (in the Muslim community) are asking, ‘What are they talking about?’ You have to consult the mosques, the schools, local cafes – do they see a radicalization of Muslims?”

    Jean-Philippe Warren, a professor in Concordia University’s sociology department and an expert on Quebec society, said while the debate around immigration and how to deal with extremist ideologies is global, it has taken on distinctive features in Quebec.

    Unique social issues — including relatively high unemployment rates among Muslims and a history of immigration from French-speaking, Muslim countries — and “nationalistic concerns” influence the discussion, he said.

    “(It) becomes one of my little, threatened, besieged community against anyone that is coming in,” Warren said.

    He added that the anti-radicalization centre, which many suspect will target Muslims, will likely exacerbate the problem.

    “A more open and transparent perspective and approach to these matters . . . is really the way forward.”

    http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/03/11/quebec-muslims-question-montreal-plan-for-anti-radicalization-program.html

  37. Canadian PM Stephen Harper says the niqab & Justin Trudeau outside Canadian mainstream