Ahmed Hussen, my kind of Muslim | Tarek Fatah

2017/01/19 Leave a comment

Interesting to see the various sources of praise for the new Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship on both sides of the political spectrum (Candace Malcolm, former Conservative communications assistant and Sun columnist tweeted her support and subsequently wrote a column Ahmed Hussen has shown courage and conviction).

Will be interesting to see how long this lasts as he makes policy decisions or implements existing one’s (i.e., C-6 repealing of the revocation and other provisions  of the previous government’s C-24):

On Jan. 10, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a decision that made ripples throughout the world.

From Singapore to India, to the BBC and beyond, the only news from Canada that made headlines was about Ahmed Hussen, a Somali-born refugee who arrived on our shores in 1993 and rose to become our Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

For spotting talent and lifting a backbencher into the Privy Council, I tip my hat to Trudeau.

For hundreds of thousands of African-Canadian boys and girls, Ahmed Hussen’s story is a beacon of hope.

(Readers should know Hussen is a close friend, though we disagree on much.)

He first came to my attention at the height of Ontario’s historic (and successful) fight rejecting the use of Sharia law in family law arbitration matters in 2004-2005.

On one side was the mosque establishment and many Islamic clerics who had set up quasi courts and appointed “Qazis” to invoke Islamic Sharia in settling family disputes.

Opposing them was a much smaller group of secular and liberal Muslims – including yours truly – for whom this was a do-or-die moment.

We knew how the UK had let this happen many years before, only to discover, too late, the Muslim community of Britain being held hostage by Islamic clerics.

At the time, Hussen was a Liberal staffer with ties to then Ontario cabinet minister George Smitherman.

Along with another Muslim staffer, Hussen helped us connect with Smitherman, where we made our case to ban Sharia courts in Ontario.

While Hussen supported our goals, he never crossed the line to help us more than what was appropriate, transparent and above board.

That same year, the Toronto Star listed Hussen as a “Person to Watch”.

People were already noticing the lanky lad from Regent Park, but I am not sure Hussen knew that at the time.

When asked by the Star if he had political ambitions, the future immigration minister said, “I don’t think I could handle the life of a politician . . . I don’t want to be front and centre.”

A community organizer in Regent Park, when the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) tried to pigeonhole Canadian-born kids of Somali ancestry as “Somali kids” in 2014, Hussen led the fight against this paternalistic orientalism, denouncing attempts by the board to segregate in the name of integration.

He told the TDSB: “Do you need to stigmatize and marginalize people to help them? … In the name of ‘help’ you can actually do a lot of damage if you don’t do it the right way.”

Canadians concerned about the global and Canadian rise of Islamism and jihad should be reassured they have an ally in Hussen.

Here is what he told the U.S. Committee on Homeland Security hearings in Washington in July 2007, in criticizing the idea of treating terrorism only as a criminal offence:

“The strategy of Canadian officials as they confront this phenomenon in my community has been to view this serious matter only through the prism of law enforcement … There has not been a parallel attempt to counter the toxic, anti-Western narrative that creates a culture of victimhood in the minds of members of our community.”

Hussen is already showing his mettle. On Monday, he told CBC News he was committed to bringing non-Muslim Yazidi refugees, victims of ISIS, to Canada, a group that has been largely excluded so far.

Source: Ahmed Hussen, my kind of Muslim | Fatah | Columnists | Opinion | Toronto Sun

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Canadians think immigrants should do more to blend in; immigrants would do well: Tarek Fatah

2016/10/07 Leave a comment

Tarek Fatah on Canadian values and integration:

How else would 30 million Canadians offer three of the most liveable cities of the world – Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary – considering our large size and low population.

It’s our values and culture that makes us the envy of the world. What are those values that we wish all newcomers embrace, as we welcome them to become part of our family?

More than Canada being a liberal, secular democracy, newcomers find our embracing of the disabled, and the intellectually challenged a pleasant shock.

It’s also how we, over the years, have come to accept gays and lesbians as our sisters and brothers and live next to them as neighbours with who we chat, bake, help clear their snow despite the recognition that just a few decades ago this would not have been possible, but we did it.

Our cities are relatively safe; young women can jog late in the night without the fear of posses of young men taunting and throwing sexual epithets at them.

And then there is that colour bar and anti-black racism that has been largely defeated – even though we have miles to go before we rest.

If there is a nirvana, this is it.

However, this is our inheritance from generations gone before us and it is our duty to ensure these values and this culture does not get tarnished or diluted. Because there is still that awful disease that pushes newcomers into ideological, cultural, ethnic and religious ghettoes of old. Sad to say, anti-black racism still thrives in some corners, homophobia is still common in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and the disabled are still viewed in many parts as a curse from the gods for sins committed by their parents. A visit to Uganda or Pakistan, Somalia or Saudi Arabia, will confirm those observations.

Source: Canadians think immigrants should do more to blend in; immigrants would do well

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Toronto campaign against Islamophobia an insult: Fatah

2016/06/17 1 Comment

OCASI IslamophobiaTarek Fatah over-reacts to the above poster which to my eyes, as a white guy, makes the point regarding prejudice and bias.

Traditionally, virtually all ethnic groups have faced these kinds of attitudes from many ‘old stock’ Canadians, with Canadian Muslims, as the most recent group, along with terrorism events, being the latest ones.

The same poster could have been made many years ago with an ‘old stock’ Canadian and a Ukrainian Canadian, changing the location to somewhere in the Prairies.

None of this to say that Canada’s success in integrating new Canadians from so many parts of the world reflects the efforts of so many ‘old stock’ Canadians, working alongside new Canadians, to achieve this.

In a press release on Tuesday, OCASI revealed, “The City of Toronto and OCASI are launching a Toronto public education campaign to address xenophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiments.”

It quoted Councillor Joe Cressy of Trinity-Spadina saying “OCASI has an extensive history of working with refugees and understand the barriers they face to integration. We appreciate their insights.”

One of the first outcomes of OCASI’s “insights” was a poster that shows a white man confronting a black Muslim woman in hijab, telling her: “Go back to where you come from,” to which the black hijabi woman replies, “Where, North York?”

In one sweep the City of Toronto depicted every white man as a racist bigot and perpetuated the victimhood of Muslims, a goal of all Islamists worldwide who hate the West.

The question to Cressy is this: If you had to show a white male, then why didn’t you put your own face on the poster? Why leave it to an actor?

Or perhaps OCASI could have asked Mayor John Tory to do the honours of being the white racist male?

I am no denier of white privilege in our society and have taken on four white friends in a debate on this subject, so before the allegation of me being Uncle Tom is thrown my way (which I am sure it will), let me state the following: This is the most offensive poster designed by the City of Toronto in years.

Its intention seems to be to cover up the crimes of Islamists and distract Canadians from seeing the real threat to our society — Islamofacism, not so-called Islamophobia.

My son-in-law is white, so are the husbands of three of my nieces. My first boss in Canada was white and my editors at the Sun are white men. This poster is a slap in the face of Tory and all the decent, white males who have stood up for equal rights over the last century.

Bring it down, John Tory, because you are a good man.

Source: Toronto campaign against Islamophobia an insult | Fatah | Columnists | Opinion |

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Canada’s Growing Jihadi Cancer: Unbalanced but captures one perspective – The Daily Beast

2015/12/16 Leave a comment

Dana Kennedy, former correspondent at ABC, Fox News and MSNBC, presents a one-sided account of perceived ‘jihadi cancer,’ citing the usual suspects (Farzana Hassan, David Harris, Tarek Fatah, Raheel Raza), with no attempt to balance that with other views, apart from Mubin Sheikh.

It appears her views reflect more her experience at Fox than the other networks:

The usual Canada’s new telegenic Prime Minister Trudeau, 43, the ultimate anti- Donald Trump, was pictured last week warmly greeting the first of an estimated 25,000 Syrian refugees arriving between now and March 2016. (Canada’s population is about one-tenth of the United States, so that’s as if 250,000 Syrian refugees were arriving in the U.S. in the space of just four months.)

But some worry that the feel-good photo op for Trudeau and his Liberal Party could portend trouble for Canada.

“In a technical briefing for journalists this week, Canadian immigration officials said not a single applicant has been rejected yet,” right-wing activist and lawyer Ezra Levant told The Daily Beast.

“This is a national security threat to Canada, and to the United States, which shares the world’s longest undefended border with us,” said Levant. “The Islamic State has repeatedly named Canada as a target; dozens of Canadian Muslims have gone to Syria to become terrorists. And yet Canada is rushing refugees through, far in excess of our capacity to properly vet them. We simply don’t have sufficient intelligence personnel, let alone those who function in Arabic.”

Toronto attorney and human rights activist David Harris said the new influx of Syrian refugees is part of a “gigantic and overly generous immigration policy,” coupled with a lax vetting process and a philosophy of encouraging newcomers to retain their cultural traditions, that has negative connotations for Canada.

“It’s very interesting to see how the deteriorating situation in Canada and the implications for northern America border security has not been recognized,” said Harris.

“Massive immigration here has created an immigration-industrial complex with all sorts of publicly funded language schools, settlement organizations and lobbying groups that have sprung up like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” said Harris. “Because Canada is so much smaller in population, there are areas of the country starting to resemble tribal homelands and the loyalty is not to Canada. Canada is extremely vulnerable to extremism and terrorism.”

“This is all a Saudi-funded cancer spreading across the world.”

Brian Levin, a former NYPD officer turned counter-terrorism and extremism specialist at San Bernardino State, concurred.

“People talk about Mexico,” said Levin. “They totally overlook Canada. Nobody has any idea what’s going on up there. In my opinion it’s a bigger threat than Mexico.”

Given Prime Minister Trudeau’s good looks, his political pedigree, a one-time TV-anchor wife who the New York Post called “the hottest First Lady in the world,” and his headline-making cabinet featuring many women and minorities, he recently scored a spread in Vogue.

But he’s come under fire at home for what some see as pandering to the Muslim vote and an extreme political correctness. He has said he will revamp aspects of C-51, the controversial anti-terrorism bill that the Conservative Party enacted this year.

Trudeau visited mosques all over Canada as part of his political campaigns leading up to his recent win. He visited a notorious Montreal mosque in 2011, a month before the U.S. classified it as an al-Qaeda recruitment center. He addressed a mosque with ties to Hamas and, unlike his Conservative Party predecessor, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he defends the right for Muslim Canadian women to wear the niqab, a veil covering the face, when they take their citizenship oaths.

In 2011 Trudeau objected to the word “barbaric” in a Canadian citizenship guide for new immigrants that included the passage: “Canada’s openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, honor killings, female genital mutilation, forced marriage or other gender-based violence.”

“There’s nothing the word ‘barbaric’ achieves that the words ‘absolutely unacceptable’ would not have achieved,” said Trudeau, who later retracted his statements after a Twitter firestorm.

…But, at least so far, homegrown attacks in Canada are fairly rare.

Mubin Shaikh, a former Muslim extremist turned counter-terrorism operative who went undercover for Canadian intelligence to infiltrate the Toronto 18, says the low incidence of terror attacks is precisely because of Canada’s policy of multiculturalism.

“Our multiculturalism is a protective factor and one of the reasons why Canada has seen lower numbers [of terrorist incidents]is largely due to the fact that Muslims are treated very well,” Shaikh told The Daily Beast.

“This is the whole point, that when you actively prevent isolation and marginalization, so too do you see a low level of extremism,” said Shaikh. “The problem in the UK is that although there is multiculturalism, there is a colonial history that grievances-centered people can take advantage of.”

Others disagree and say multiculturalism has spawned a more subtle type of fundamentalism taking over some communities to the point where they look like areas of the Middle East with a corresponding mind-set—and dangers.

“If you’ve been out of Ottawa for just two months, you’ll come back and be astonished at how many more hijabs and niqabs you see on the street in just that short amount of time,” said attorney Harris. “There’s a significance and symbolism to that whether you believe it or not.”

Source: Canada’s Growing Jihadi Cancer – The Daily Beast

Filed under Multiculturalism, Radicalization Tagged with , , , ,

The myth of de-radicalization of Islamic radicals​ | Tarek Fatah

2014/11/27 Leave a comment

One view:

The challenge, I said, is to prevent radicalization and the way to do so was to:

1. Lay hate speech charges against any Muslim cleric who hides behind religious rights as he attacks and demonizes other religious faiths or people of no faith at all.

2. Every mosque must be monitored for such hate speech where the word ‘kuffar’ is invoked to hide the real target — Hindus, Christians and Jews.

3. Any mosque indulging in active politics must have its charitable status revoked.

4. Donations of more than $20 at all religious institutions must be made by cheque or credit card to cut off the possibility of money laundering.

5. Ally with anti-Islamist Muslims from among the victims of Islamist oppression — the Kurds, Baloch, Darfuris and Iranian exiles.

6. Treat the PKK Kurdish Workers Party and the MeK Iranian Resistance as allies, not adversaries.

And finally I recommended that immigration from Pakistan, Somalia, Iran, Iraq and Syria must be suspended until Canada can be assured that security documents, identity papers and university degrees cannot be bought on the black market or from state agencies.

Part of the challenge in countering radicalization is that if one only speaks to the Tarek Fatah and other secular Muslims, some ferociously so, one will not engage with those closer to those most susceptible to radicalization.

The myth of de-radicalization of Islamic radicals​ | Fatah | Columnists | Opin.

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No, A Canadian Mosque Is Not Teaching 4-Year-Olds to Behead

2014/10/09 Leave a comment

Sun News Network at its best in distortion, with Tarek Fatah, not necessarily known for soft views on Muslim extremism, trying to provide Sun host Brian Lilley with some needed context:

However, Lilley admits that he is no expert on Muslims or their faith, and asks his guest on the show, liberal activist/author Tarek Fatah, author of The Jew is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism, to explain the play to him, asking if it was similar to Catholics teaching their children about Jesus by having them conduct a play on his crucifixion.

Fatah replies that the scenarios are actually quite similar, as the play depicts the martyrdom of Muhammad’s grandson and brother.

“It’s a Shiite school, and it’s commemorating one of the great tragedies in Islamic history, which is the slaughter of the Prophet Muhammad’s family by the caliphate of the time,” says Fatah, who also notes that he himself watched these plays as a boy growing up in Pakistan.

“The children really go out to participate,” he explains. “Looking at it from a Canadian context, I was deeply disturbed because it means that the indoctrination of 3, 4-year-olds that has been going on for centuries – and which even I as a child in Pakistan thought it to be perfectly normal – how much damage it would do in desensitizing me or my friends or buddies who are now in their 60s as to what is ‘martyrdom’ and why would anyone wish death was a good thing.”

However, Fatah notes that he does not believe that the parents, or teachers, at the Islamic Jaffari Centre are “trying to make the kids into radicals.”

“After all, these are the victims of radicals,” he says. “Most Shiite Muslims today are being slaughtered by fellow Muslims. So that context has to be there. This was not some ISIS or al-Qaida or Taliban type of people.”

…..In the news segment, Fatah acknowledges that someone needs to talk to the leadership of the community – particularly the Islamic Jaffari Centre – and explain to them that “celebrating death, no matter what, is a bizarre experience. It desensitizes bloodshed among kids.”

Fatah is right. We need to start a dialogue so that leaders do not expose young children to such scenarios. But by that rationale, is it not equally detrimental for children to conduct a play on the Crucifixion of Christ?

If this centre is indeed spreading propaganda that compares Jews to Nazis, or are indeed teaching children to behead others with the intentions of becoming radical jihadists, then news agencies, condemn away. But to publish misleading headlines that will only add fire to the flame and ostracize Muslims from Western society – just as during this summer Jews and Israelis were ostracized ample times for supporting an “apartheid” state – is wrong.

Violence and discrimination against Muslims today, whether in the West or in Iraq and Syria, is real, just like such violence and anti-Semitism against Jews is real, and taking place right now. We cannot blame the entirety of Muslims for the threat of ISIS, just as we cannot blame the entirety of Jews for the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir.

Despite the percentages, despite the terrorists, despite Jihad, it is unfair to accuse an entire religion of people for what a group of individuals do. There may be a higher percentage of Muslims who support joining religion and state as opposed to other religions, and there may be even more Muslim terrorists than there are Jewish, Christian, Hindu, etc., but that doesn’t justify always assuming the worst of Muslim people,

That goes against the fundamental principles of what makes Canada and the United States a haven for open-mindedness and democracy. Worse, it goes against everything we are supposed to stand for.

No, A Canadian Mosque Is Not Teaching 4-Year-Olds to Behead – Page1 – Shalom Life.

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Panelists decry Muslim anti-semitism | The Canadian Jewish News

2014/06/11 Leave a comment

Panel discussion organized by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies’ (FSWC) at the inaugural Leadership Policy Conference on Anti-Semitism., with Raheel Raza, Tarek Fatah and Tahir Gora:

The three Muslim panelists spoke out vehemently against what they characterized as a pervasive anti-Semitism found in Canada and across the Muslim world and which, stoked by Islamic extremism, often forms the underpinning of anti-Israel rhetoric, Israeli Apartheid Week and the boycott, divestment and sanctions BDS movement.

Raza, who is also president of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow, a group working to “reclaim Islam” and oppose extremism and violence in the name of religion, said it’s important for the Jewish community to ask itself, “Who are our real friends?”

She warned against “seemingly innocuous” displays of anti-Semitism, such as those that she said sometimes emerge under the pretext of interfaith dialogue.

“Some aspects of anti-Semitism you see flat out, like Israeli Apartheid Week. But then there are those subtle forms that come under the umbrella of interfaith dialogue – the whole term interfaith dialogue has been hijacked by [extremist] Islamists.

”She said hatred of Jews is often embedded in early Islamic education, and that Jews cannot afford to “stand by silently anymore” regarding things like anti-Israel activities on university campuses.

“If anti-Jewish sentiment is taught early in mosques, then is there any wonder you have Israeli Apartheid Week and BDS campaigns in places of education?”

Having been involved in more than a few discussions on antisemitism, and having my own take (see Is criticism of Israel anti-Semitic?), these sessions could be strengthened by a broader cross-section of  panelists, not just three who agree with each other.

Pardon the phrase, but it is preaching to the converted; the challenge is to engage with those with whom one disagrees with.

Suspect the organizers were less pleased with Tarek’s other remark:

Fatah also asserted that without a two-state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state, Israel’s and the Jewish Diaspora’s problems won’t cease.

“Palestine has to be a state and Israel has to get out of the West Bank… there is no choice. And this is the Israeli consensus. It’s only in North America where Jewish organizations question the two-state solution… A lot of time in the Jewish Diaspora is being wasted on unnecessary arguments that have no outcomes.”

Panelists decry Muslim anti-semitism | The Canadian Jewish News.

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I say ‘Vote PQ to save Canada’! | Tarek Fatah

2014/04/03 1 Comment

I think Tarek in his consistent opposition to Muslim fundamentalism lost it in this column on the Quebec election, and the usual casting of aspersions of Couillard’s time in Saudi Arabia (which was no different from many other Canadians and others).

Does Tarek really mean to insinuate that Couillard supports Islamic fundamentalism?: see Charte des valeurs québécoises – Le Québec pourrait en payer le prix, dit Couillard where he is very clear “J’ai connu, moi, c’est quoi, un régime autoritaire. J’ai connu, moi, c’est quoi, un régime qui exclut”):

The main opposition to the PQ comes from the Liberal party, led by Phillipe Couillard, who has been called upon in the campaign to explain his relationship with Saudi authorities from the time he worked as a surgeon for a state-owned oil company in the Kingdom and as a consultant to the government in 2010.

Couillard was attacked by Houda-Pepin, who called him a “strategic ally” of Islamic fundamentalists who, she said, use the freedom of religion clauses enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to “impose their political agenda” in Quebec.

I asked the Quebec Liberal leader to comment on his past relationship with Saudi officials but received no response to my e-mail.

In other published reports, Couillard has rejected allegations he endorses Islamic fundamentalism or the policies of the Saudi government, which he said most Quebecers reject.

Just because someone goes to work in a foreign country, he argued, doesn’t mean they automatically endorse its policies.

Still, between Marois, who is fighting against Saudi-based Islamism with her secular charter and Couillard, to whom this issue doesn’t appear to be a priority, I say, “Vote PQ to save Canada.”

I say ‘Vote PQ to save Canada’! | Columnists | Opinion | Toronto Sun.

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In Canada, we’re Canadians | Tarek Fatah

2014/03/29 Leave a comment

I’m with Tarek on this one. It is one thing to celebrate and recognize cultural and religious holidays, quite another to celebrate the national days of countries of origin. Let’s celebrate by all means the rich cultural heritage that different communities bring to Canada, but let’s ensure that is separate from national holidays.

I am all for the “Taste of Danforth” festival that celebrates our country’s Greek heritage and culture and the many contributions the Greek-Canadian community has made to Canada.

But Greece’s Independence Day? Were the people waving Greece’s flag citizens of Greece or Canada?

Just another one of the ironies of the Government’s efforts to strengthen Canadian citizenship, implying strong and exclusive loyalty, while being attuned to diaspora politics, and recognizing the reality that people have more complex and varied identities and loyalties.

In Canada, we’re Canadians | Columnists | Opinion | Toronto Sun.

Minister Kenney issues statement recognizing Greek Independence Day

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It’s Somali vs Somali at TDSB | Opinion

2014/01/24 Leave a comment

Tarek Fatah on the divisions within the Somali Canadian community over whether special programs or enrichment needed to address the poor educational outcomes of some in the community. Not surprisingly, the community is divided, but this also reflects a maturing to have active and diverse debate and participation. We also had debates within government over whether we should “target” or focus on specific communities with specific issues, and I would make a distinction between specific programs  and separate schools for a community:

Liibaan Moalin, a father of three children in the TDSB system, started an on-line petition addressed to Chris Bolton, Chair of the TDSB and Premier Kathleen Wynne, asking, them to “Stop Ghettoizing Canadian Children of Somali descent.” The petition, which already has over 500 signatories, says:

“We are parents of Canadian children of Somali descent who find the idea of the proposed TDSB-funded “Somali Task Force” extremely offensive and racist. We believe if such a program is implemented, an entire community that is already part of a marginalized group, will further be stigmatized and segregated from the mainstream Canadian community.”

School Superintendent Jim Spyropoulos of TDSB, who is spearheading the “Somali Task Force” proposal acknowledges, “Labelling and stigma are an issue,” but told me, “it’s the Somali-Canadian community that is insisting on having the label ‘Somali’ attached to the taskforce.

“We met with hundreds of Somali-Canadians at meetings held in the Abu-Hurraira Mosque and the IMO Islamic Centre in Rexdale,” he said.

It’s Somali vs Somali at TDSB | Columnists | Opinion | Toronto Sun.

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