Christie Blatchford: What if Toronto man’s not a terrorist, but the middle-of-the-road Muslim his family says he is?

2014/06/27 Leave a comment

More quotes from the wiretaps of Mohammed Hersi and Blatchford insinuating that these are normal part of Muslim Canadian discourse:

But in the excerpts of wiretap recordings that were played for the jurors, though the focus was on Hersi’s interest in Al-Shabab, he also talked at length about his unhappiness with Canada and his longing to live as a real Muslim.

“But you know I … long term I wanna live in the Muslim land and never come back, right?” he told the UC once. “I wanna live in a Muslim country where I can be … practise my religion and be a good person right?”

His scorn for non-Muslims was evident.

“But talking to a non-Muslim about morality and shit, they don’t even know what morality is, Christians. You know what I mean?,” he said. “Talk to a Christian about morality and they believe Jesus died for all their sins, oh man. That’s [lunacy] right there,” he said.

In that same conversation, he said flatly, “I realize this country has no future for me in it.” In another, he recalled warmly the month he spent in Saudi Arabia, and how, “the life is very peaceful, I felt very at home my heart was content, you know?”

On one occasion, he told the agent, “Living in Somalia today is much better than living in Toronto ‘cause when you live in a place where there’s Islamic law, there’s harmony, there’s no more raping or murder.

“In Toronto, there is rape and murder happening right now every day every minute…”

She lost her religion altogether, right. Very tyrannical

Once, he talked to the agent about a Tunisian girl he’d read about online who was critical of the hijab.

“See how secular her mind is,” he said. “She’s against the hijab, this is something that’s from Islam, right?

“She’s against it, you know. Allah tells the believing woman to cover up, right? And she’s against it ‘cause she does … she lost her religion altogether, right. Very tyrannical.”

In other excerpts, Hersi talked admiringly about some of the sermons he’d heard at his mosque and how the imam there liked to slip in things he believed might pique the attention of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service.

As he put it once, though Canadians want mosques to talk faith and faith only, “politics is a part of Islam, right?”

Hersi came to Canada as a refugee when his mother fled the civil war there. Though raised in public housing, he managed to get a degree from the University of Toronto.

As prosecutor Jim Clark said, arguing that Hersi should receive the maximum five-year sentence for both offences for a total of 10 years, and that he should serve half before being eligible for parole, “What we have in Mr. Hersi is a smart, educated guy who knew full well what Al-Shabab was all about…”

Even if Mohamed Hersi is that rarest of birds, the man who really did want to join a bowling league precisely so he could not bowl, it’s a shattering prospect that he might also be what those who love him claim — a typical, middle-of-the-road Muslim.

Christie Blatchford: What if Toronto man’s not a terrorist, but the middle-of-the-road Muslim his family says he is?

CBC story on prosecution asking for maximum penalty of 10 years:

Federal prosecutor James Clark urged an Ontario Superior Court judge to condemn Hersi to 10 years in prison to set an example.

“Canada has an international obligation to prevent the exportation of terror,” Clark said in court in Brampton, Ont.

Hersi’s defence counsel Paul Slansky, who has already pledged to appeal, said his client should get three to four years, calling him “youthful and immature.”

Throw book at Ontario terrorism convict, Crown urges

Hersi is a likely candidate for revocation under the new Citizenship Act, given that he was convicted in a Canadian Court. But of course, his radicalization occurred in Canada (he came as a child) and he would be treated differently than a Canadian without dual nationality (or the right to same), raising Charter and related issues.

Of course, if the Government decides to revoke his citizenship, it would essentially be enabling the “exportation of terror.”

Filed under Multiculturalism, Radicalization, Religion Tagged with ,

Toronto man convicted on terrorism charge – Mohamed Hersi Case

2014/06/02 Leave a comment

Update on the Hersi case (see earlier Toronto man told undercover officer it was ‘God’s Will’ for him join terror-group Al-Shabab, trial hears):

A university graduate, Mr. Hersi had been working as a security guard downtown. And that was where the undercover officer went, on the pretext that he was a consultant conducting opinion surveys of security guards….

The officer testified that Mr. Hersi confided much – including that he knew a Toronto man who had previously joined al-Shabab. They also discussed an English-language al-Qaeda propaganda article that was making the rounds at the time: “How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.”

Mr. Hersi relayed that he was planning to join al-Shabab, the officer testified. During testimony, the accused denied this, saying he simply wanted to live in a Muslim country.

Searches of Mr. Hersi’s laptop revealed downloads of The U.S. Navy Seal Sniper Training Syllabus and The Anarchist Cookbook.

He now faces up to 10 years in prison.

In light of the Governments proposed measures on revocation for those convicted of terrorism in C-24 Citizenship Act revisions, this may provide an early case. He was convicted in a Canadian court and is likely a dual national (he was born in Somalia although raised and educated in Canada for most of his life).

So would the Government choose to strip him of his Canadian citizenship and send him to Somalia (where he would likely not have to serve jail time) or have him serve out his term in a Canadian jail?

Ironic situation: being convicted of intending to travel to Somalia to commit terrorism; ending up there following revocation.

Toronto man convicted on terrorism charge – The Globe and Mail.

Filed under Citizenship, Revocation Tagged with , , ,

Toronto man told undercover officer it was ‘God’s Will’ for him join terror-group Al-Shabab, trial hears | National Post

2014/03/27 Leave a comment

Revealing words on how the extremist mind thinks:

“Here everything is anti-prayer, anti-Islam … even if it’s a tyrannical place, it’s better than Canada,” he said. “I want to live in a place that’s better than this.” Somalia was better than Canada, he said, “because you can live in a place where there’s Islamic law.”

In his rambling conversations, he decried what he considered Canada’s hostility to his faith, claiming that “all non-Muslims hate Islam.” But he appeared to display intolerance himself, saying that “talking to a non-Muslim about morality and shit, they don’t even know what morality is, Christians.”

He also complained that “brothers” at Toronto’s Salahedin mosque had been arrested on security certificates (used to deport foreign nationals deemed threats to Canada’s security), and said nobody cared because only Muslims were affected. Asked how he knew, he said, “My imam talks about it.”

“It’s pretty tyrannical,” he said.

Given that Hersi was born in Somalia, he would, if convicted, likely be someone the Government would consider for revocation under the proposed provisions of the Citizenship Act.

Toronto man told undercover officer it was ‘God’s Will’ for him join terror-group Al-Shabab, trial hears | National Post.

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