Canadian terrorism probe widens
Former CSIS official Harris claims that Wahhabi Islamic groups are using all kinds of creative strategies to alienate youth and foment resentment toward government, including filing complaints of alleged discrimination before quasi-government institutions like human rights commissions. Some intelligence experts cite a recent case in Alberta, where an imam launched a complaint against the magazine Western Standard for publishing a selection of the incendiary Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that triggered riots in numerous countries last year. In order to establish his legal standing, the imam who filed the complaint, Syed Soharwardy, argued that his human rights were violated for a number of reasons, including, he claimed, because he is one of the "direct descendants" of Muhammad. "Therefore," said Soharwardy, "I am related to him through Ancestry." Soharwardy added the cartoons have "sighted [incited] violence, hate, and discrimination against my family and me."
The Alberta Human Rights Commission accepted the imam's argument for proceeding with the complaint, which, if adjudicated against the magazine, could result in hefty fines and also force the magazine to apologize. The commission also has the power to impose broader sanctions, like sensitivity training for media outlets. The magazine could incur tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees even if the end result is favorable and has called for contributions to its legal defense fund. The province picks up the imam's legal fees.
"It cost him nothing, effectively," says Western Standard editor Kevin Libin. "That's one of the multicultural blessings we have in this country. If someone feels their ethnicity or religion isn't being respected properly, they can essentially marshal the entire forces of government to go after who they claim rightly or wrongly has offended them." Libin says the magazine has received "an outpouring of support" from around the world because many readers and supporters of free speech view this as a "dangerous intrusion of religion into our liberal secular government and that it's an issue of government censorship."
The dispute — which could take years to resolve — shows how some of Canada's major radical Islamic groups, says Harris, "have, with elegant refinement, taken our complete measure." Harris was sued for libel two years ago for a comment he made on Canadian radio that questioned an Islamic group's claims to moderation. A court recently dismissed the lawsuit.
Some intelligence experts assert that several of the groups that have obtained the greatest political support and media visibility are those like the Council on American-Islamic Muslim Relations, Canada (CAIR-CAN) and the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), which have been criticized for what some view as their less-than-stringent denunciation of terrorism. For instance, in October 2004, the head of CIC, Mohamed Elmasry, when pressed by a television talk-show host, tacitly implied that all Israelis above the age of 18, regardless of gender, could constitute legitimate targets for Palestinian terrorists because they automatically become part of the Israeli Army after that age. Elmasry was also a strong advocate for an Islamic sharia law last year when conservative Muslim groups in Toronto were pushing sharia law as a parallel legal system in Ontario, allowing Muslims to settle civil disputes in religious courts much as Orthodox Jews have been able to do.
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