The Misfortune of Misunderstanding
A spokesman for the Ottawa Somali Community in Ottawa claims they are unsettled by observing their youth being singled out by intelligence agents as a source of potential problems within the country. It is no secret that many Somali youth have taken to joining street gangs. That alone presents as a social problem. The larger problem lies with the fact that some youthful members of the Somali immigrant community have taken temporary leave of Canada, and the United States, to travel to Somalia to train with Al Shabab, the al-Qaeda-affiliate Islamist group that has taken over part of that country and which is intent on unseating the current government of Somalia.
Fears are, as the head of CSIS recently pointed out, that these radicalized youth, absorbed in a vicious brand of actively violent Islamism will return to North America with the intention of putting their new skills to good use here, on behalf of militantly radical Islam. It was, incidentally, recently revealed that the RCMP had been contacted by the American CIA because of concerns that a Somali jihadist was thought to be travelling through Canada en route to the United States, before the inauguration of then president-elect Barack Obama, to mount an attack.
Little wonder then, that one of the concerns cited was the questioning of some members of the Somali community by Canadian security at that time, an obviously, under the circumstances, reasonable occurrence. An advocate for the Ottawa Somali community quotes fully ten individual instances in the past year and a half where he claims CSIS to have made approaches to young male Somali Canadians. Those numbers may seem excessive to the Somali community, but a mere ten young men being approached during the time frame of one and a half years given the circumstances of justified suspicion seems modest.
"For some it was a phone call asking them to come to CSIS and talk, for others it was a visit at home or at their workplace, unannounced", according to Mohamed Sofa. "They said the questions asked were very general and vague - "Did you go to this lecture? Do you know this person? They left not understanding what had just happened." These descriptions do not in any measure resemble extreme harassment. And if the young men in question had nothing to hide and responded with clarity and honesty they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Yes, this is a form of profiling, but a legitimate one, given the obvious circumstances.
The shoe fits in a vague manner, but in most instances not snugly enough to be worn. In which case it is discarded and one gets one with life. Given the fairly simple facts, that it is from members emanating from within specific ethnic, religious and cultural communities that society at large has been threatened, assaulted and terrorized, the logical step is to look within that community for assistance to apprehend further such disastrous events. Events which have also taken the lives of Muslims, as well as Christians and Jews. It is obviously in everyone's best interests to apprehend the march of terror.
"People were afraid and they thought that they were being accused or they had done something wrong, when in fact it was a routine check or sometimes even for recruitment purposes", further explained Mr. Sofa. "The way the CSIS field officers handled it created a lot of talk and negativity about CSIS in the community. It seems like a recruitment tool gone south." Which is an unfortunate perspective, one which a spokesperson for CSIS clarifies: "We receive useful information from all segments of Canadian society and we are grateful for this assistance to help keep all Canadians safe.
"Individuals are targeted because they engage in specific threat-related activities, not because they come from a particular ethnic group or community." That said, those engaged in such threat-related activities, do in fact, tend to emanate from particular ethnic or religious groups. This is an incontrovertible fact, not fantasy, not a shield for a propensity to harass any particular immigrant group. It is reality, not racism, that compels intelligence authorities to focus on groups which have proven to produce threats.
And the large numbers of young Canadians of Muslim, Arab, African heritage who are potentially vulnerable to be targeted as recruits for militant Islam, resulting in a small number of young men succumbing to radicalization, represent a true cause for concern. The country has experienced more than sufficient events - all, to this date apprehended as a result of careful monitoring - to more than rationalize the attention given to groups representing these potential recruits. To complain that young Somali-Canadians were resentful at being turned back while attempting to enter the U.S. during the 2008 inauguration proceedings is to feign ignorance of that reality.
The RCMP is concerned about the reality of Canadians travelling to Somalia "to fight and then return, imbued with both extremist ideology and the skills necessary to translate that into direct action". This is not a slur against the Somali community, it is recognition of what is occurring and what may be increasingly occurring. And it is this which should concern the greater Somali community, not the fact that since it is occurring, intelligence and policing agencies are actively attempting to stem the tide.
CSIS and the RCMP are being open and candid enough, having spoken with the executive director of Canadian Friends of Somalia: "They [Somali youth] also understand now that law enforcement agencies rely on informants and some of them are there to provide misinformation that can cause tremendous suffering for innocent people." And when Aw Osman met with representatives of both agencies it was confirmed to him: "CSIS told me they are interested in recruiting people from our community, that our community is one of the communities of concern.
"They said sometimes they go back to the same person again because they know a person will not be convinced to help them on the first contact. But instead, they're causing fear in young people who have never experienced this kind of contact." Perhaps it's time the Somali community bought into the need to reflect their Canadian identity as much as they do their ethnic identity. Perhaps it's time that they reflect on their responsibilities as Canadians to make efforts to ensure their youth disdain radicalization and fully embrace democracy and loyalty to Canada.
Fears are, as the head of CSIS recently pointed out, that these radicalized youth, absorbed in a vicious brand of actively violent Islamism will return to North America with the intention of putting their new skills to good use here, on behalf of militantly radical Islam. It was, incidentally, recently revealed that the RCMP had been contacted by the American CIA because of concerns that a Somali jihadist was thought to be travelling through Canada en route to the United States, before the inauguration of then president-elect Barack Obama, to mount an attack.
Little wonder then, that one of the concerns cited was the questioning of some members of the Somali community by Canadian security at that time, an obviously, under the circumstances, reasonable occurrence. An advocate for the Ottawa Somali community quotes fully ten individual instances in the past year and a half where he claims CSIS to have made approaches to young male Somali Canadians. Those numbers may seem excessive to the Somali community, but a mere ten young men being approached during the time frame of one and a half years given the circumstances of justified suspicion seems modest.
"For some it was a phone call asking them to come to CSIS and talk, for others it was a visit at home or at their workplace, unannounced", according to Mohamed Sofa. "They said the questions asked were very general and vague - "Did you go to this lecture? Do you know this person? They left not understanding what had just happened." These descriptions do not in any measure resemble extreme harassment. And if the young men in question had nothing to hide and responded with clarity and honesty they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Yes, this is a form of profiling, but a legitimate one, given the obvious circumstances.
The shoe fits in a vague manner, but in most instances not snugly enough to be worn. In which case it is discarded and one gets one with life. Given the fairly simple facts, that it is from members emanating from within specific ethnic, religious and cultural communities that society at large has been threatened, assaulted and terrorized, the logical step is to look within that community for assistance to apprehend further such disastrous events. Events which have also taken the lives of Muslims, as well as Christians and Jews. It is obviously in everyone's best interests to apprehend the march of terror.
"People were afraid and they thought that they were being accused or they had done something wrong, when in fact it was a routine check or sometimes even for recruitment purposes", further explained Mr. Sofa. "The way the CSIS field officers handled it created a lot of talk and negativity about CSIS in the community. It seems like a recruitment tool gone south." Which is an unfortunate perspective, one which a spokesperson for CSIS clarifies: "We receive useful information from all segments of Canadian society and we are grateful for this assistance to help keep all Canadians safe.
"Individuals are targeted because they engage in specific threat-related activities, not because they come from a particular ethnic group or community." That said, those engaged in such threat-related activities, do in fact, tend to emanate from particular ethnic or religious groups. This is an incontrovertible fact, not fantasy, not a shield for a propensity to harass any particular immigrant group. It is reality, not racism, that compels intelligence authorities to focus on groups which have proven to produce threats.
And the large numbers of young Canadians of Muslim, Arab, African heritage who are potentially vulnerable to be targeted as recruits for militant Islam, resulting in a small number of young men succumbing to radicalization, represent a true cause for concern. The country has experienced more than sufficient events - all, to this date apprehended as a result of careful monitoring - to more than rationalize the attention given to groups representing these potential recruits. To complain that young Somali-Canadians were resentful at being turned back while attempting to enter the U.S. during the 2008 inauguration proceedings is to feign ignorance of that reality.
The RCMP is concerned about the reality of Canadians travelling to Somalia "to fight and then return, imbued with both extremist ideology and the skills necessary to translate that into direct action". This is not a slur against the Somali community, it is recognition of what is occurring and what may be increasingly occurring. And it is this which should concern the greater Somali community, not the fact that since it is occurring, intelligence and policing agencies are actively attempting to stem the tide.
CSIS and the RCMP are being open and candid enough, having spoken with the executive director of Canadian Friends of Somalia: "They [Somali youth] also understand now that law enforcement agencies rely on informants and some of them are there to provide misinformation that can cause tremendous suffering for innocent people." And when Aw Osman met with representatives of both agencies it was confirmed to him: "CSIS told me they are interested in recruiting people from our community, that our community is one of the communities of concern.
"They said sometimes they go back to the same person again because they know a person will not be convinced to help them on the first contact. But instead, they're causing fear in young people who have never experienced this kind of contact." Perhaps it's time the Somali community bought into the need to reflect their Canadian identity as much as they do their ethnic identity. Perhaps it's time that they reflect on their responsibilities as Canadians to make efforts to ensure their youth disdain radicalization and fully embrace democracy and loyalty to Canada.
Labels: Canada, Crisis Politics, Terrorism, Traditions
posted by Pieface | 5:43 PM
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