What Canada's Muslims feel they must do

the globe and mail ^ | July 16, 2005 | MARINA JIMÉNEZ AND MICHAEL VALPY

[US admirer]

Just after dawn broke in Toronto on Thursday, July 7, Tarek Fatah heard the news of the London bombings. He recalled his first thought: "Please, may it not be a Muslim who is responsible."

That is not often the way terrorism's narrative runs these days. And so, by 6:30 a.m., Mr. Fatah, a hospital technical writer, had made telephone contact with the 15 board members of the Muslim Canadian Congress, the liberal Islamic organization he helped found a few years ago.

The group members went to their computers, signed on to the MCC's e-mail list-serve, and began working together on a statement that would condemn the bombings as "barbaric and cowardly" and "a crime against humanity."

The same process, in one way or another, took place in many Muslim organizations across the country.

The executive of the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) circulated a draft statement to its 11-member national board and affiliated mosques before issuing it to the news media. The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) had a statement posted on its website before the day ended.

The Canadian Islamic Ihya Foundation announced it would present a concert for peace "as a strike against those who choose to terrorize the civilian population of the world."

It is what Canada's Muslims feel they must do for their self-interest and protection, leaders of the country's mainstream Islamic organizations said in interviews.

The Canadian Roman Catholic Church didn't feel it had to issue statements denouncing Catholic terrorism in Northern Ireland. Canadian Orthodox churches felt no obligation to publicly condemn the ethnic cleansing carried out by Serbian Orthodox Christians in the Balkans.

"But being a visible minority, you do not have the privilege of distancing yourself from your [global religious] community," Mr. Fatah said.

Wahida Valiante, CIC's national vice-president, said: "I don't know Osama bin Laden. I've never met the guy. I'm a Canadian. But [the Canadian media] takes the position that you're not a good Muslim unless you speak out.

"It's always called Islamic terrorism. Islam has become synonymous with terrorism," she said, "and so when something happens we've got to pay attention to what mechanics [make] us into the guilty party.

"Generally now, since 9/11, there's an understanding within the community that we have to condemn the acts."

But she acknowledged there isn't an "exact consensus" within the 600,000-member Canadian Muslim community on the constant requirement to denounce jihadi [so-called holy war] Islam and what, in reality, is foreign terrorism.

Omar Alghabra, president of the Canadian Arab Association, for example, said he is tired of fielding media calls and of being viewed as belonging to some subversive "fifth column" who must apologize for the acts of terrorists. His organization chose not to put out a statement.

The e-mail drafting session by MCC's board members lasted three hours. One member, Toronto lawyer Aris Raza happened to be in London. He gave the group the latest news about the bombings.

Mr. Fatah wrote the first draft, which included a quote from the Koran that the killing of one human being is the same as killing all humanity.

Toronto information technology specialist Keyvan Soltany argued against including the Koran reference, saying this was not a discussion about Islam but about a political act. "Once you invoke texts, you turn it into a religious debate," he said.

One by one, the rest of the group agreed. "I was the last," Mr. Fatah said. "After all, it was my text. And I genuinely feel my religion has been usurped by these bastards."

The statement was then posted on the MCC's general membership list-serve. Mr. Fatah's wife, Nargis Tapal, argued with her husband over the words "barbaric and cowardly," saying it risked the group being targeted by militant Islamists.

The statement was also sent to MCC's sister organization in the United States, the Progressive Muslim Union of North America, which rejected it because it blamed President George W. Bush for fanning the fires of Islamic terrorism into a worldwide movement.

"They felt as Canadians we were slighting their president," said Mr. Fatah, who also sits on the PMU's board.

By 10:30 a.m., the MCC statement had been sent to media organizations across the country on the Canada News Wire. It was three days before the PMU issued its statement.

The Canadian Islamic Congress also got its statement out early. However, it immediately found itself facing a barrage of media criticism for saying, in addition to condemning the bombing, that it hoped "Canadian Muslims do not pay the guilty-by-association price" -- a declaration several editorialists and columnists labelled inappropriate and fanciful.

Ms. Valiante said there was no debate within the organization's leadership about putting in the guilty-by-association reference. "You have no idea how terrified the Muslim community feels -- following 9/11 when we found our mosques under surveillance by police and CSIS and Bill C-36 [anti-terrorism legislation] was passed."

CAIR-CAN's Riad Saloojee in Ottawa echoed Ms. Valiante's view.

"As a human being and a father I felt a sense of revulsion . . . that also generated a sense of ownership over the issue of making Canada more secure," he said. "As a Muslim, I worried it would lead to scapegoating and guilt by association."

He described a community struggling to articulate a response to terrorists who claim to be pursuing goals in the name of their religion. While some Canadian Muslims question why they must apologize for "crazies" who follow their religion, others feel they cannot cede to the terrorists the ground of representing Islam, Mr. Saloojee said.

The MCC's Mr. Fatah noted that while the imam at one Toronto mosque explicitly condemned the London bombings on the Muslim Friday Sabbath the day after the attacks, he was disappointed that the imam at another mosque didn't even mention them.

The Muslim community's discomfort is aggravated by a widespread conviction that it is seen as the Other in Canada -- an alien group -- even though Muslim leaders point out that Muslims are likely more securely integrated into Canadian society than in any other Western country.

"We haven't been able to make the case [about ourselves] to the ordinary WASP Canadian," Mr. Fatah. He is organizing a conference on how Western Muslims can combat jihadi Islam.

[Man50D]

The Canadian Islamic Ihya Foundation announced it would present a concert for peace "as a strike against those who choose to terrorize the civilian population of the world."

Islam's idea of Peace is not what you think.

Islamic Scholar Warns U.S. of Two Faced Muslims

[Dutch Boy]

The islamic terrorist problem could end quickly if the rest of the mulsim would clean house of any radical teachings and publically identify those that hold terroistic ideals. It has to come from within the muslim community it-self.

[Incorrigible]

The Canadian Roman Catholic Church didn't feel it had to issue statements denouncing Catholic terrorism in Northern Ireland. Canadian Orthodox churches felt no obligation to publicly condemn the ethnic cleansing carried out by Serbian Orthodox Christians in the Balkans.

Puuuullleaaase!

The Catholic Church was very clear that the IRA was not welcome and made it a point not to allow known IRA terrorists to be buried in Catholic cemetaries.

Yugoslavia was more of a civil war than an ethnic cleansing and the current actions of the KLA indicate why the militants among the residents of Kosovo were targeted.

[RedRover]

Well, I went on their website and couldn't find the text of the statement. But I did find this analysis of the London bombing:

"The bomb blasts were grimly predictable....by taking Britain into Iraq alongside the U.S., Tony Blair had placed their city on the firing line.

"As I write, the wreckage is being cleared and the casualties counted. But Blair has already appeared on television to address the nation, pledging to defend 'our values' and 'our way of life' against those who would 'impose extremism on the world.' He spoke of the unity of 'civilised nations' in resisting 'terrorism.'

"While the delivery may be slicker, his 'us' vs 'them' world-view was indistinguishable from Bush's. Even by Blair's standards, it was a performance of nauseating hypocrisy, as he sought to seize the moral high ground in relation to violence and destruction that he himself had helped unleash."

So whatever the statement actually says, you can be sure it boils down to, "Bush's fault!" And the Left in Canadian and the US will agree.

[RedRover]

It was Liberals like John Lennon and Ted Kennedy who should have denounced the IRA. It was Liberals in the US and Britain who supported the bastards--not the Church.
This is Liberal hyprocisy at its worse.

[ArmedNReady]

The question is not what muslims must do but rather what must civilized peoples do to rid humanity of this cancer called islam.

[FreedomPoster]

It is past time for statements. We need to see radical Imams publicly removed from leadership positions in mosques and madrasses, laws changed in Muslim countries to allow religious freedom, etc.

Talk is cheap. Cheap talk may have worked on 9/12, but it is almost 4 years later, and we've learned a lot about this "religion".

[SIDENET]

He recalled his first thought: "Please, may it not be a Muslim who is responsible."

Well, who the heck else would have done it? Leprechauns?

[fanfan]

PING

Please let me know if you want on or off the Canada/Adscam ping list

[F16Fighter]

Just after dawn broke in Toronto on Thursday, July 7, Tarek Fatah heard the news of the London bombings. He recalled his first thought: "Please, may it not be a Muslim who is responsible."

Hey Tarek -- The odds of a random "bombing" by anyone BUT a Muslim is .000001%

[backhoe]

The first mistake was letting them in the door.
The second mistake was allowing this "unassimilated" nonsense- if you want to retain your native culture? Stay home.

My vest-pocket take is this:

To put it very bluntly--

I have long ceased having a care about what these creatures think, feel, fear, or care about anymore:

Islam, The Alleged Religion of Peace® ( TARP™ )? Click this picture:

No, I am not exaggerating. Click the pic, go to "last," and read backwards.
If you are not informed about this stuff, you will be made sick. If you are informed, you will be made mad, all over again.

---

...and then, there's this little matter still on the books, waiting to be accounted for:

Where It's 9-11 All the Time...

Click the picture...

The first mistake was letting them in the door.
The second mistake was allowing this "unassimilated" nonsense- if you want to retain your native culture? Stay home.

My vest-pocket take is this:

To put it very bluntly--

I have long ceased having a care about what these creatures think, feel, fear, or care about anymore:

Islam, The Alleged Religion of Peace® ( TARP™ )? Click this picture:

No, I am not exaggerating. Click the pic, go to "last," and read backwards.
If you are not informed about this stuff, you will be made sick. If you are informed, you will be made mad, all over again.

---

...and then, there's this little matter still on the books, waiting to be accounted for:

Where It's 9-11 All the Time...

Click the picture...

[tkathy]

They still don't get it. Whine and blame others and do nothing.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

"It's always called Islamic terrorism. Islam has become synonymous with terrorism..."

Well, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

[WilliamofCarmichael]

The statement was also sent to MCC's sister organization in the United States, the Progressive Muslim Union of North America, which rejected it because it blamed President George W. Bush for fanning the fires of Islamic terrorism into a worldwide movement.

I knew it! Without seeing the statement I just knew that it would not be any Muslim's fault. The "great Satan" is making the Muslims do it.

The PMU of North Amrica got it right -- but even they IMO fell a little sort. Their statement reads in part "Terrorism, and the use of violence against civilians, is never acceptable under any circumstances, no matter who the perpetrators or the victims might be."

Gee, that's news to me. /sarcasm

We know that! What we don't know and is what are you doing to educate your extremists.

With damn few exceptions it's always, "Hey! don't look at us, everybody's doing it."

Well everybody is NOT doing it 24/7 worldwide.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Is this for real?

[Truth29]

This article misses the fundamental point. What Canadian (and American and British) Muslims must do is root out the terrorists in their midst. They must stop giving aid and comfort to the terrorists operating from Islamic centers and other places of worship and actively oppose them.

If Muslims do not take an active role in stopping the terrorism, they will be viewed and treated as the enemy.

[philetus]

It has to come from within the muslim community it-self."

Don't hold your breath.

[ReadyNow]

A dozen muslims explode bombs. A billion muslims silently grin and rub their hands. A hundred of the billion write emails deploring the bombs.

Then the animals repeat it.

[ExTexasRedhead]

Amen to that!!