Politics may be hindering Canadian Muslim effort to combat radicalization

Ever since the 9/11 terror attacks there’s been a steady demand for Canadian Muslims to speak out against radical Islam.

But it appears an effort to do just that may have been partly derailed by politics.

The RCMP suddenly pulled out of a news conference Monday to launch United Against Terror [PDF], apamphlet produced by two Muslim organizations with the help of the Mounties, who contributed a chapter to it.

Members of the Muslim community, surprised by the move, worry it could undermine efforts to build trust between law enforcement agencies and young Muslims who they hope to keep from becoming radicalized.

“It doesn’t look good to have the RCMP and other institutions at public odds about an issue that is really important,” Sheema Khan, an author and commentator, told Yahoo Canada News.

“This event sets things back. It sends a very wrong message.”

The 38-page pamphlet was the brainchild of Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Winnipeg-based Islamic Social Services Agency (ISSA), following a June 2013 town hall meeting about how to stop the trickle of young Muslim men going abroad to join extremist Islamic groups. The meeting, which included RCMP representatives, drew about 200 people.

More than 130 Canadian Muslims are thought to have joined various jihadist organizations from Somalia to Syria, including the Islamic State now rampaging across Syria and Iraq.

The booklet is designed to answer questions about things such as extreme interpretations of Islam, the real meaning of jihad, the lure of radical ideas for the young, Muslims’ rights and responsibilities as Canadians and the protective role of the RCMP, CSIS and other agencies.

Since 9/11, some Muslims have complained about being harassed by CSIS agents and Mounties over their associations and attitudes, making segments of Canada’s million-member Muslim community leery of helping the authorities.

Tasleem Bhudwani, a clinical psychologist working for the RCMP, was one of the contributors to the pamphlet.

Besides the ISSA and the RCMP, the other main partner in the project was the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), whose involvement may provide a clue to what happened.

The Mounties were on board with the pamphlet as late as last Friday, when the RCMP sent out a media advisory saying a representative from D Division headquarters would be at the news conference at a Winnipeg mosque to help launch it.

But Siddiqui got word Monday morning the Mounties would not be showing up.

“They said NHQ [national headquarters] had some concerns and so they could not participate in the release,” she told Yahoo Canada News on Wednesday.

The following day, the RCMP issued a cryptic statement:

“After a final review of the handbook, the RCMP could not support the adversarial tone set by elements of the booklet and therefore directed RCMP Manitoba not to proceed with this initiative.”

The statement explained the Mounties had contributed to only one chapter and was not responsible for content of the rest of the booklet, mirroring a small-print disclaimer in the pamphlet itself.

The statement does not elaborate on what exactly the RCMP deemed adversarial. A spokesman at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa told Yahoo Canada News the force would not expand on its posted statement.

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Siddiqui said she’s also received no explanation.

“Am I confused?” she said. “Yes, I am and like you I’m hoping to get some answers. If there is a concern let’s talk about it.”

NCCM human rights co-ordinator Amy Awad said from Ottawa they didn’t hear of the Mounties’ objections until the statement.

“Before that we had been collaborating,” she said from Ottawa. “They had opportunities to vet the content on several occasions and we hadn’t heard about any concerns.”

The ISSA and NCCM issued a joint statement Tuesday calling the project a success despite the apparent disavowal by the RCMP.

“This initiative has been a true success as it brought law enforcement, community leaders and Canadian Muslim communities together with a common focus on safeguarding Canada and addressing youth radicalization towards criminal violence,” the statement says.

“The handbook does take an adversarial stance against violent extremists and those who seek to recruit and radicalize Canadian youth towards criminal violence.

“As might be expected, the content of the handbook was shared with all contributors for constructive feedback throughout the 14 month development process. All feedback received was incorporated.”

The inexplicable 11th-hour pullout has some Muslims wondering if the order came from higher up in the government, possibly because someone noticed the NCCM was involved in the project.

The council, formerly known as the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN), launched a defamation lawsuit last May against Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Jason MacDonald, his director of communications, for comments linking the council to Hamas, which governs Palestine’s Gaza Strip and is listed as a terrorist organization in Canada.

The NCCM had demanded an apology after MacDonald lashed back against the council’s criticism of inclusion of a Toronto rabbi as part of Harper’s party during his state visit to Israel last year. Critics have claimed CAIR-CAN’s U.S. parent organization was a longtime Hamas front group.

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“We’re suing them because they [the Hamas connections claim] were false,” said Awad, adding it has no hard evidence the RCMP’s decision was linked to the suit.

“That’s a very logical theory but we don’t have any more information to confirm it or refute it,” she said.

“In terms of what specifically may have occurred and if and how the current governing party was involved, we don’t have any more information than you do about that.”

The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Awad said her group’s relationship with government is not adversarial.

“We’re not partisan and we criticize and compliment every government on the aspects of their policies and actions that we believe serve the long-term interests of Canada,” she said.

Both the NCCM and ISSA said they intend to keep working with the RCMP to combat radicalization of young Canadian Muslims.

“We do need to work together on this because we have raised the level of trust within the community for the RCMP because of our constant outreach to them, and theirs to us, by the way,” said Siddiqui.

The handbook is already a success, she said, and will form the basis for workshops set up by other Muslim groups.

Awad echoed Siddiqui’s promise of co-operation but worried the RCMP’s sudden step back from the anti-radicalization booklet undermined the message to the community. Some believe there’s still some “anti-Muslim animus” within society and law enforcement, she sad.

“Whether that exists or not, definitely there’s a perception of that,” she said. “This might play out as further alienating those people who have that perception.

“If that’s the case, that would be unfortunate and we’ll do everything we can to try to make this a successful initiative and not have that happen.”

Khan, who once chaired CAIR-CAN and whose columns appear regularly in the Globe and Mail, said this incident should not be allowed to hamper co-operation to fight radical influences. The booklet, she said, was a good first step.

“We can’t let this fall apart.”