Look To Yourselves, Heal Yourselves

Canadian Muslims are purportedly in a renewed state of apprehension that a backlash will assault them from a Canadian public fed up with Islam presenting itself all too frequently as a crucible of hate-filled crusades of murderous intention against the West.

That Canadian Muslims - men born and raised in Canada, find themselves torn between an obviously uneven struggle of patriotism versus loyalty to religious custom - are once again beginning to make the news as discrete cells of jihadis planning attacks against this country does not sit too well with most Canadians.

And where on Earth, in any event, do these indecisive-then-decisive jihadis receive their instruction? Enabling them to present as ordinary Canadians with a splendid talent at appearing just like anyone else in society, while submersing themselves in a stew of plans and purposeful revenge. Whose detection succeeds in averting tragedy.

Not, surely, only with contacts made over the Internet, sites that recruit and spew poisonous messages of victimhood and revenge. But of course, there are other, more immediate and perhaps initially more impressively concerning places that successfully recruit and radicalize those whose resentments and visions of victimization make them prime targets; emissaries from abroad speaking forcefully at area mosques and community centres.

Of course there are other, additional arenas of opportunity. For a still-minority community, young Muslims are disproportionately in the news as perpetrators of criminal activities, ranging from murder to petty crime, robberies and assaults. When they land in prison, they're primed and ready to be Islamicized by other inmates where the cancer of violent jihad has already metastasized.

So, not only has Canada and the larger Western, democratized world got a very serious problem with home-grown jihadists, along with imported ones who enter the country on various types of visas, overstaying their welcome, integrating into the Muslim community, passing on their message of the nobility of mass slaughter in the name of Islam, but the Muslim community itself has a huge problem.

One which they have collectively shunned, refusing to believe that good Muslims would resort to such vile activities in the name of Islam.

Well, good Muslims might not, but the bad ones certainly appear to have few compunctions about turning on their fellow Muslims as well as non-Muslims. The issue appears to confuse the broader Muslim community who insist - in response to any new revelations of those among them who pass for 'normal', while covertly planning atrocities - that the community is being unfairly targeted.

So is it?

From received data, the public response to ongoing news that one group after another of jihadis have had their plans for revenge against the kuffars interrupted, has not resulted in the kind of bigotry against Muslims that the community so bitterly complains of. Instead, the continuing misery of racism and attacks against minorities follow a long tradition of anti-Semitism practised against the country's Jews, and discrimination against blacks.

Hate crimes are directed not against Muslims, despite their clamorous claims to the contrary. Instead, Jews, gays, and blacks remain the more frequent targets of hate crimes. Anti-Muslim crimes are far more rare in occurrence. Which speaks more to the paranoia among Muslims, than it does for the reality of their experience. Which makes it even more needful that the Muslim community begin to do a little more strenuous soul-searching.

It is they, and the religion that they worship, that in infrequent instances that seem far too frequent in occurrence and horrendous in impact when successful attacks occur, that impinge on the safety and security of the larger communities in which they live as equally endowed citizens. That they have somehow managed to breed young men who gravitate toward violence and then mature toward jihad in the name of Islam, is a singular issue they must address.

It is past time that the society which nurtures them as equals with all the opportunities and freedoms open to any other segment of society, no longer rush to assure the Muslim community that there is no ill will against them as a backlash resulting from some new or proposed atrocity against a Western target. It surely is time for the greater Muslim community to take responsibility for itself.

There is little point iterating and reiterating that the greater Muslim community is law-abiding and respectful of others, and that it is a relatively minuscule number of Muslims who subvert the tenets of Islam, and who bring opprobrium to the community. It is high time that the Muslim community take steps to defend themselves against the occurrence of violence emanating from their midst.

And in the process take badly needed steps to mature themselves as citizens dedicated to the values held by all Canadians. Not in defence of their reputations as loyal Canadians, but as a responsible, responsive segment of Canadian society from among whom emanates a viciously deranged mindset that urgently requires remedial attention.