How can we stop the jihadi tourists? – Margaret Wente

2014/09/26 2 Comments

Wente conflates cancellation of passports with revocation of citizenship.

Not the same at all. Cancellation of passports potentially applies to all Canadians, whether born in Canada or naturalized, whether Canadian citizens only or dual nationals.

Revocation on the other hand, applies only to those with dual nationality (or with the right to another nationality).

So take some examples from the same Calgary terrorism cell. The Canadian-born extremist Damian Clairmont would not be subject to revocation while his “cellmate” Pakistani dual national Salman Ashrafi, who came to Canada as a child, would be.

Both are dead, but there are other comparable cases among the known and likely unknown extremists.

Two different punishments for the same crime. Hard to see how this would not be successfully challenged before the courts.

Far better to use the Australian approach, as stated by PM Abbott, “If you fight with a terrorist group, if you seek to return to this country, as far as this government is concerned, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be jailed for a very long time indeed.”

Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Leader, has said he opposes the Conservatives’ new measures, and that homegrown terrorists should be dealt with through the criminal justice system. “I think that a lot of Canadians, including very conservative Canadians, should be worried about the state willing to, and taking the power to, arbitrarily remove citizenship from people,” he said. “That’s a slippery slope that I don’t think we want to go on.”

But Mr. Trudeau – who is now out of step with the rest of the world – will not be eager to raise the subject again. After all, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has allied himself not only with Britain and Australia, but with Barack Obama and the UN.

It’s a very serious matter for governments to revoke the passports of their citizens, restrict their freedom and deprive them of their citizenship. And people who warn that states might abuse their new powers are right. Without vigilance, they probably will.

Finding the balance between national security and personal liberty is always tricky. But our first obligation is to protect ourselves – and the world – from bad Canadians. The virus of murderous fanaticism hasn’t gone away. And it will be around for a long time to come.

How can we stop the jihadi tourists? – The Globe and Mail.

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Islamic States call to kill westerners has terrorism experts divided | World news | theguardian.com

2014/09/25 Leave a comment

One of the better commentators putting the latest ISIS/ISIL threats into context:

Rodger Shanahan, non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy and a former army officer, told Guardian Australia the video was “not earth shattering”, as Al-Adnani has been saying this sort of thing for years, but the specific mention of Australia had caught the media’s eye.

“My view is that if you give these people oxygen it encourages them to do it more often, that’s the whole point,” said Shanahan.

“It’s a pretty good debate to have: if this had not been widely reported, would it really have amounted to anything other than security agencies noting Australia being mentioned specifically by the IS spokesperson?”

“But if you go back over the last couple of speeches there are general references to the west, the Europeans, the Christians. There’s no change of direction at all. It’s just a continuation of what he’s put out there, but nobody has paid particular attention to it in the past.”

Shanahan said that while security agencies have to take it seriously, anyone who might pay attention to the message in the video is already thinking that way.

“The utility of it in terms of attracting more recruits, I don’t think it’s of utility at all. In terms of interest because it mentions us and Canada and France, yes, it’s interesting, but it’s not an earth shattering thing.”

Islamic States call to kill westerners has terrorism experts divided | World news | theguardian.com.

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Australian PM warns of strict penalties for returning extremists

2014/09/24 Leave a comment

Interesting that the Australian PM made no mention of revoking Australian citizenship. Just punishment in Australian jails, despite earlier signs the Australian government was considering revocation (George Brandis won’t say if Australians fighting in Syria will lose citizenship):

“If you fight with a terrorist group, if you seek to return to this country, as far as this government is concerned, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be jailed for a very long time indeed,” Abbott told Parliament.

At least 60 Australians were fighting in Iraq and Syria with Islamic State and another al-Qaida offshoot, Jabhat al-Nursa, also known as the Nusra Front, the prime minister said.

He revealed that more than 60 Australian would-be fighters had had their passports cancelled on secret service advice to prevent them from flying to the Mideast.

Dozens of suspected fighters have already returned to Australia from the battlefields. Security agencies fear that they now pose a domestic terrorist threat.

Australian PM warns of strict penalties for returning extremists.

Unlike Canadian Minister Alexander, who declined to provide numbers on the number of Canadian passports cancelled, PM Abbott was open – 60 passports cancelled:

Outside the Commons, Alexander cited privacy and security concerns for his refusal to release numbers.

“It’s an administrative issue, it’s an operational issue,” he said in response to questions from reporters after question period.

“There are privacy considerations. We will not be saying how many have been revoked … but we have the power to do that.”

Despite a barrage of follow-up questions, Alexander held his ground and denied that he was “afraid” to give a number.

“We will uphold a longstanding practice, which is not to go into the details of operational national security matters,” he insisted.

“That’s absolutely reasonable.”

But Australia’s definition of “reasonable” in disclosing the numbers strikes me as more reasonable:

Revoking ISIS passports: Government refuses to disclose numbers

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UK and US Muslim communities key to tackling rise of Islamic extremism?

2014/09/22 Leave a comment

Starting with the UK:

‘As the prime minister said, the root of these actions lies in a poisonous political ideology that a small minority supports. In contrast, Islam is a religion which is observed peacefully and devoutly by more than a billion people.’

But commenting on Mr Brokenshire’s remarks, Nadim Nassar said distancing the extremism from Islam would not help the problem.

‘Mr Brokenshire is right to condemn these horrible acts of terrorism in Iraq and Syria,’ he told Lapido, ‘and to work with the community to get some aid to those areas. I do not agree that the problem is purely political and ideological because the extremists are abusing religion for political ends and they are recruiting religious leaders to help them.‘

It is simplistic to say that this is “nothing to do with Islam or any other faith”. Young people are being recruited not through political speeches; they are being recruited by religious leaders that use the Quran and the Hadith. We have to acknowledge that Islamic extremism is not a true representation of Islam any more than the Crusades are a true representation of Christianity; in both cases, however, they are “to do with” Islam and Christianity.’

Muslim communities key to tackling rise of Islamic extremism? | Lapido Media – Centre for Religious Literacy in World Affairs.

And from the US, a more theological message:

The Prophet Muhammad, who was a head-of-state as well as a prophet, established a society that is the model to all Muslims. That state was declared a sanctuary, protecting and securing all members of his community including non-Muslims. He said that the Jews were a community alongside the Muslims. They had their religion and the right to practice their customs and religious laws. Fourteen hundred years later, the advancement of civilization made by Islam remains idealistic to all Muslims today. At the very least, let these ideals can extinguish the venom from ISIS.

That’s the message that needs to be conveyed to Muslims worldwide in order to isolate ISIS from Islam and provide Islam as the antidote to the ideological distortion of ISIS and its destructive ambitions. That’s the substance in countering the narrative of violent extremism. It needs a vehicle and that’s where media, government and civil society can help.

The Key to Defeating ISIS Is Islam

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Hiva Alizadeh — arrested in Project Samosa — pleads guilty to terror plot

2014/09/19 1 Comment

Conviction of one of the Ottawa-based cell members, Hiva Alizadeh, demonstrates that the court system can be effective in addressing serious radicalization and terror plots.

Relatively little in mainstream press on his background but it appears to be Iranian Kurdish and he came to Canada as a young adult, not as a child:

And if on Wednesday the slim, bearded man renounced that desire, telling an Ottawa court in a soft voice that “I realize how much mistakes I have done,” his guilty plea and expressed regret did little to ease the court’s abhorrence at his actions.

“You have effectively been convicted of treason,” said Justice Colin McKinnon, telling Alizadeh he had “no hesitation” in sentencing him to the 24-year prison term recommended by Crown and defence lawyers.

With his surprise plea, Alizadeh avoided a trial and possible life sentence under Canada’s toughened terrorism laws. With credit for the time served since his arrest, his term for possessing explosives with an intent to injure works out to a maximum of 18 years. He will not be eligible for parole for nine years.

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney issued a statement Wednesday, lauding the authorities’ efforts in the case as well as Canada’s counter-terrorism strategy.

“Today’s outcome is a clear sign that the work and the dedication of professionals prevented Canadians from potential harm,” he said.

Will the Government seek to revoke his citizenship? Or will it decide safer to keep him in prison rather than revocation and deportation?

Hiva Alizadeh — arrested in Project Samosa — pleads guilty to terror plot | Ottawa Citizen.

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Unindicted co-conspirator in 1993 World Trade Centre bombing deported to Canada

2014/09/17 Leave a comment

Understand why not welcome in many places:

Mr. Philips did not respond to requests for comment. But in an “official statement” on Facebook, he wrote that, “I have never had any links nor have I ever been accused of having links to any terrorist group.”

He said there was nothing to the U.S. allegations against him. “In normal language, ‘unindicted’ simply means ‘no charges have been filed against me due to lack of evidence,’ and ‘co-conspirator’ means ‘guilty by association,’ that someone who the authorities arrested had my name in their telephone book, or they were seen shaking hands with me, or they prayed next to me in a mosque, etc…”

He vowed to clear his name and return to the Philippines. “In banning and demonizing us, they have created a vacuum of information which continues to be exploited and filled by extremist elements who easily recruit youthful impressionable followers with emotional messages to their savage, violent and merciless unIslamic methodologies and ideologies.”

Unindicted co-conspirator in 1993 World Trade Centre bombing deported to Canada

From the Globe, not a model of integration:

However, Mr. Philips is seen with suspicion by authorities because he advocates a staunchly orthodox, literal form of Islam.

“If Salafi means that you’re a traditionalist that follows the scripture according to the early traditions, then yeah. I’m not a modernist. I’m not a person who makes his own individual interpretations according to the times,” he said.

He has in the past been accused of inciting hatred for saying that, under sharia law, homosexuality is punishable by death. And he believes Muslims owe allegiance to their religion first, before their country. “My message … really is for Muslims to be Muslims first, and then nationalist after, whatever their nationality is. So you’re a Muslim first and you are a Canadian second. You’re a Muslim first and an American second,” he said.

“This is looked at as some kind of fifth-column movement; we’re creating a group of people whose first allegiance is not to their country.”

Controversial imam Bilal Philips says banning him won’t stop his message

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Not everyone who went to fight in Syria goes on to live life as a Jihadi: Some return fed up with the experience

2014/09/15 Leave a comment

A caution that some policies meant to reduce radicalization can be counter-productive:

“The whole jihad was turned upside down,” the militant recently told Shiraz Maher, a senior researcher for the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College London. “Muslims are fighting Muslims. I didn’t come for that.”

The fighter’s disillusionment, experts say, has become a recurring theme among some of the thousands of young men and women from around the globe who have answered ISIS’s call for holy war but have found the reality is significantly less glorious than what they were promised.

For those trying to stanch the flow of fighters and combat extremism here in Britain, it’s a perspective that could be the perfect antidote to ISIS propaganda. And yet it’s one that is seldom if ever heard here, in part because of government policy that focuses on keeping Brits who have gone to war from returning home — and locking them up if they even try.

“A lot of them feel trapped by [ISIS] not letting them go, and by the British government not letting them back,” said Richard Barrett, a former counterterrorism director with Britain’s foreign intelligence service, MI6. “But if you want people to understand that it’s bloody terrible out there, you have to hear from these people.”

Not everyone who went to fight in Syria goes on to live life as a Jihadi: Some return fed up with the experience

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How ISIS Is Recruiting Women From Around the World | TIME

2014/09/11 Leave a comment

Small numbers but start of a trend. Last para captures the mentality:

The exact number of women who have joined jihadi groups in Syria is impossible to ascertain, but terrorism analysts at London’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation estimate there are some 30 European women in Iraq and Syria who either accompanied their jihadi husbands or have gone with the intention to marry members of ISIS and other militant groups. That may be less than 10 percent of the number of Western men currently estimated to be fighting in Syria and Iraq, but the fear is that the number of women involved may grow more quickly. A recently established French hotline for reporting signs of jihadi radicalization has seen 45% of its inquiries involve women, according to the Interior Ministry, and there have been several cases of women, one as young as 16, arrested at France’s airports under suspicion of trying to travel Syria to join Islamist rebels.

….But for any woman who thinks coming to Syria and joining ISIS might bring new opportunities or equal rights, Al-khanssa is clear. “The main role of the muhajirah [female migrant] here is to support her husband and his jihad and [God willing] to increase this ummah [Islamic community].” She follows with a quote culled from a salafist website. “The best of women are those who do not see the men, and who arenot seen by men.” ISIS’ recruitment may take place with 21st century technology, but when it comes to women, its ethos is firmly ground in the seventh.

How ISIS Is Recruiting Women From Around the World | TIME.

National Post also has a good article, focussing on British women, some converts, some not, going to Syria and Iraq and enforcing their version of the Islamic dress code and behaviour on other women:

British women join ISIS police force responsible for punishing Muslims who break strict sharia law

Lastly, more on one of the Gordon brothers, two Canadian-born extremists, and the wondering why they chose this path. A reminder that the factors and influences that push people over the edge vary and do not fit any particular pattern:

[Thompson Rivers University political science professor] Cook said many people on campus are shocked by the revelation about Gordon, and those who knew him and still care about him are understandably worried.

But, he said, the former volleyball players old acquaintances should be wary of trying to contact him.

“It’s impossible to know whether you can communicate with him because the cadre of ISIS elite control the media. Even if you think you may be engaged with him on Facebook you don’t know that for sure,” Cook said. “If we tried to persuade him to come back, what would happen? Hed be killed.”

“Unfortunately, he’s lost,” Cook said.

The goal now is to ensure others don’t follow the Gordon brothers path, he said.

How ISIS recruited Collin Gordon, former Thompson Rivers University student – British Columbia – CBC News.

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Mother of fallen Canadian jihadi launches de-radicalization effort – Canada – CBC News

2014/09/10 2 Comments

Good grassroots initiative led by Christianne Boudreau, mother of Damian Clairmont, and Dominique Bons, mother of Nicholas and Jean-Daniel Bons, all of whom were Western converts and were killed while fighting in Syria.

No universal strategy but the more grassroots and community level “soft” initiatives, the better, to complement the “hard” security measures. Sheema Khan also advocates a strong role for mothers (Partner with Muslims to root out extremism).

And for the mothers themselves, likely part of the grieving and healing process regarding their sons:

After sitting for hours and sharing lovingly built photo albums of their sons as little boys, parsing their lives and deaths and constantly replaying the questions about signs they saw or missed, they got to work.

Canadian-born Muslim convert Damian Clairmont left Calgary in 2012 for Syria, where he was killed in during battle against a faction of the Free Syrian Army.

The pair decided to form an international mothers group, determined that there must be a way to intervene and stop the radicalization process before it’s too late. They are sharing best practices as they find them and are both poking at their respective governments to step up.

Boudreau has also set her sights on establishing the Canadian chapter of a German group called Hayat. That means “life” in Arabic, and its aim is to work with families to help de-radicalize young men and women.

Hayat is an offshoot of a German organization called “Exit,” which has had good success in deprogramming neo-Nazis; as if plucking them from a cult. Hayat adopts similar methodology and applies it to dealing with militant Islamists.

After meeting with its organizers in Berlin, Boudreau came away convinced that with the right funding and staff, a Hayat chapter could make a difference in Canada.

“Its a sense of reining them [radicals] back in so they are closer to the family again,” she said. “They work with them closely after theyve taken a step back and decided maybe this is not for me, and help them get reintegrated within the community, finding a job, so they focus on the normalities.”

Mother of fallen Canadian jihadi launches de-radicalization effort – Canada – CBC News.

Satyamoorthy Kabilan of the Conference Board has a somewhat naive view of government and social media and its potential to reduce radicalization:

Despite the risk of individual mistakes and the required change in mindset for bureaucracy, I would also argue that the risk of not being a core part of the conversation and simply remaining mute, is far more dangerous. The benefits simply outweigh the risks.

We have recently seen successful uses of social media by authorities in emergency situations such as the 2013 Calgary flood and the tragic shootings in Moncton. Organizations like the Toronto Police Service TPS have had policies in place for some time that allow members of the force to represent the organization on social media. TPS has also been very vocal in sharing experiences. Learning from these and continuing to build a social media presence can help combat the threat of violent extremism in the virtual world. We simply cannot afford to have the extremists leading the conversation on social media.

By quickly occupying the public space around social media before someone else does, we can prevent others from setting the agenda and grant ourselves the opportunity to tell our own story first.

Hard to imagine any federal government taking such risks, let alone the current one, given the need to control messaging. One thing for local issues like the Calgary flood, another for issues related to radicalization where government will be very risk averse.

Better at the community level where there is likely more credibility than government.

To beat terrorists online, let’s raise our social media game – The Globe and Mail.

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Jonathan Kay: Thirteen years after 9/11, the debate about Islam is still dominated, on both sides, by hysteria

2014/09/09 Leave a comment

Good commentary by Jon Kay on the difficulty in having a rational, balanced conversation:

The larger problem here is that, 13 years after 9/11, we still can’t seem to manage to have an adult conversation about Islam. Express any sort of compassion or nuance about the faith, and you’re accused of universal prostration before the Mohammedan hordes. Speak up about the religious and cultural traditions that cause someone to cut a journalist’s head off, and you’re an Islamophobe. Sometimes, it feels like the conversation hasn’t progressed much since the Twin Towers were still standing.

Thirteen years after 9/11, the debate about Islam is still dominated, on both sides, by hysteria

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