The Canadian Islamic community--Where exactly does it stand on extremists?

The National Post's Chris Wattie (July, 22, 05 A-10) wrote on the response to the London bombings from Canada's Islamic leaders. Some strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in London. However, the resulting declaration was signed only by a small fraction of Canada's imams, and it fell short of a religious fatwa calling these bombings a sin, as was done by England's clerics. Perhaps the most disappointing feature of this condemnation was the revelation from Naiz Salimi, the president of the Canadian-Islamic Congress, who stated that many of the imams who did sign the declaration were themselves guilty of "encouraging separation, extremism, misorgyny, and homophobia on a unparalleled scale". Another critic was Frank Dimant, of Canada's B'nai Brith, who said that the number of signees was very small and asked, "Where are the others?" So was this demonstration simply a PR exercise? A classic example of crocodile tears?

As disappointing as those revelations were, there is the related issue of how our security vigilance has been increased. Ron Moran, the president of the Customs and Excise Union, has contradicted Ann McLellan's statement, that since the first London bombings, there has been beefed up security. Custom officiers from across Canada have called Mr. Frank to say nothing has changed and no new staff have been added to allow necessary secondary inspections. I'm afraid that of the two contradictory stories, I buy Ron's over Ms. McLellan's. In fact, having watched TV most of yesterday and today, I've not even heard the Liberals make any statement, not even condolences. Transport Canada did notify the transportation systems to suggest "increased vigilance was necessary". We had better get with the new program soon, or face dire consequences. If Ron Moran's report is correct, than our air and land borders are the same old sieves as before. We must do better on the government front and our Muslim leaders in their spiritual / cultural realm.

© Bud Talkinghorn

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