Just normal behavior for Muslims...and yes, they get it from Islam which
they get from the mosques.  Until the authorities and the press stop dancing
around this issue, nothing will be solved and nothing will change.

Bruce

 http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060606/1019852.asp

As with the Lackawanna Six, mosque raises passion of young


________________________________

Storefront center in Ontario shows again that radical religion and the
disaffected can be a dangerous mix.

By LOU MICHEL and DAN HERBECK
News Staff Reporters
6/6/2006        MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - In Lackawanna, some fiery words from
a traveling preacher helped to persuade a group of young men to travel to
Afghanistan and train with the forces of Osama bin Laden. 

Here in Mississauga, some of the young men and teenagers accused of plotting
bombings reportedly had spent time with a radical elder at a modest
storefront mosque known as the Al-Rahman Islamic Centre. 

While police found no direct links between the Lackawanna Six and the
Ontario group, experts see striking similarities between them. In both
cases, disaffected young people and radical religious leaders made for a
dangerous combination. 

Authorities have said Juma Al-Dosari, a native of Bahrain who is now held in
the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, helped recruit the Lackawanna
Six. 

In Mississauga, published reports indicate that Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, was
an elder with anti-American views who often spoke with young people at the
mosque, including six of the suspects. 

In fact, Jamal recently gave a speech at the Ar-Rahman Islamic Centre
condemning Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, according Aly Hindy, imam at
the Salaheddin Islamic Centre in the Scarborough section of Toronto and a
friend of Jamal's family. 

"He told the audience that Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan went there to
rape Muslim women," Hindy said. 

Hindy said he disagrees with that sentiment. "They are good soldiers,"
Hindy said of the Canadians, adding: "But I am not sure about the American
soldiers." A spokesman spent much of Monday trying to distance the mosque
from those who were arrested and anything connected with terrorism. 

"We are frightened about what happened, and we feel betrayed by the
suspects," said Taria Shah, the mosque's attorney and spokesman. "The
management of this mosque dissociates itself from anyone who doesn't love
Canada. . . . Canada is the place where we choose to live and to raise our
children." 

Jamal held no official position of authority at the mosque, and any
discussions he had with young people there were not sanctioned by the
mosque, Shah added. 

"A mosque is an open place of worship," Shah said. "Among the managers of
this mosque, Mr. Jamal was not an influential person." 

Dangers of extremism 

The entire issue of Muslim extremists and their ties to mosques is a very
touchy one for law enforcement in both Canada and the United States,
according to two former FBI agents who now teach counterterrorism courses in
colleges. 

"It's difficult for a law enforcement agency to investigate any case that
involves a religious organization," said Jeremiah W. Doyle Jr. of the
Buffalo State College criminal-justice program. "You have to be very wary of
violating anyone's rights. If you go into it heavy-handed, you'll have more
disaffected people." 

Still, Doyle said, it's difficult to ignore the ties between Muslim
extremists and terrorism activities. He cited several cases, including
convicted "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who worshipped in a London mosque
before his conviction for trying to blow up a Paris-to-Miami airliner, and
Omar Abdel-Rahman, a blind sheik who is serving life in prison for plotting
to blow up the United Nations building and other New York City landmarks. 

"Law enforcement recognizes the danger of religious extremists, and every
religion has its extremists," said Robert J. Heibel, a counterterrorism
expert who teaches intelligence studies at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa.
"There have been problems with Muslim extremists, but also with
white-supremacist groups like the Arayan Nations and the Christian Identity
group." 

"Something happened' 

So far, authorities have found no ties between the Lackawanna and Ontario
cases, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn said. He said federal agents will be
talking with Canadian police agencies to determine whether there is any
connection. 

There are some striking parallels between the two cases, according to Doyle.


"The most ominous thing about both cases is that they involve young Muslim
people who grew up in the U.S. or Canada," Doyle said. "And yet something
happened in their lives that turned them toward terrorist activities." 

The Mississauga mosque, a storefront in a nondescript shopping plaza, was
closed Monday. Signs posted on its windows directed the news media to
contact Shah with any questions. 

Allegations swirling around mosque members were upsetting to Angum Ahmed,
who owns the Hasty Market, a convenience store in the same plaza.


"This is a very bad thing that has happened," Ahmed said. "I am shocked." 

Ahmed said he was not aware of any mosque members who held radical beliefs.
He was surprised by a Toronto Star report that called Jamal a "radical
thinker with anti-Western views." 

Jamal lives in a townhouse complex about a mile and a half from the mosque.
One of his neighbors, Caleb Jovin, said he does not believe Jamal is a
terrorist. He said he saw Jamal being arrested Friday night by Canadian
police SWAT teams. 

"I was appalled by what happened. My kids and the neighbor's kids were in
the street, playing, and three SWAT teams just drove up," Jovin said.
"If he was as bad as a terrorist, we wouldn't be here. He would have blown
us all up. . . . He's a family man who plays with his kids." 

A need for due process 

Wahida C. Valiante, national vice president of the Canadian Islamic
Congress, asked Canadians and the media not to jump to conclusions about
those who were arrested. 

"I know there is an issue of terrorism going on. These are things we hear
every day," she said. "But we have a legal system with due process.
Let's hear all the evidence. If they have done this and are convicted, let's
deal with it." 

For three years, Valiante said, her organization has been trying to get
funding from Canada's government for a study of why some Canadian young
people feel so disaffected and angry. She said the weekend arrests point to
the need for such research. 

Valiante said she is upset that media reports keep labeling the Ontario
suspects as "Muslim extremists." 

"When people in Ireland are charged with being in the [Irish Republican
Army], the media don't keep calling them Catholics," Valiante said. 

Dr. A. Fuad Sahin, 83, imam of the mosque in Niagara Falls, Ont., said that
"99 percent of Muslims" are strongly opposed to any kind of terrorist
activity. He said he would never allow anyone with terrorist views to
lecture at his mosque. 

But he also expressed the opinion that aggressive actions by the U.S.
government in the Middle East have angered many Muslims in the United States
and Canada. 

"The American people are so nice, so fair, so wonderful. But your people
deserve a better government," Sahin said. "Your government has to stick its
finger into every hornet's nest where it doesn't belong. And that's part of
the problem." 


Staff Reporter Vanessa Thomas contributed to this report. 

        

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060606/1019852.asp



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