Intelligence Assessment fromthe Integrated Threat Assessment Centre

They seek refuge from life on their native shores. So they reach out through immigration to settle in Europe and North America, leaving their countries of origin behind. Many do so deliberately for the direct purpose of living under a different type of political and social regime. Hoping to leave behind the restrictive constraints on people forced to live in a strict theocracy or under totalitarian rule, or with the constant threat of civil unrest or in societies where freedom and equality is denied.

Europe welcomed them with open arms, and these new settlers comforted themselves with the presence of their religious devotions, since in free and democratic societies they were able to freely practise what they believed in while at the same time selecting those resident values and priorities and social and political and legal advantages that stood them in good stead. Now, countries like Holland, Norway, Denmark, France, Spain, Germany and Britain to name not all but enough, find themselves in troubled times.

An undercurrent of dissatisfaction has erupted from among those representing the native populations of those countries, finding themselves surrounded by people who largely have failed to integrate into their society, who spurn their values, and have every intention of imposing their own values upon the greater society. Suddenly, France, Holland, Switzerland, Hungary have elected parties verging on the right.

It was the reign of the left-leaning parties in Europe that welcomed without restraint or a thought for the future whether Muslims from various countries of the world could represent new citizens readily adaptable to the prevailing culture. Suddenly a confused population finds itself facing a real dilemma; where their original culture and societal norms and values have been upended - and they are not pleased.

They are particularly not pleased with the phenomena of bitter resentment from an immigrant population that appears prepared to ferociously insist that their religious laws take precedence over secular laws. The light begins to dawn that a surreptitiously covert cabal of outspoken fanatics begin to pose a threat to freedoms indigenous populations have long taken for granted in Europe and North America.

The virus of incipient Islamism has infiltrated into North America as well. With a newly released intelligence report from the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, tasked with monitoring threats to Canada's national security reporting that hardline Islamist groups have been established within the country with a plan to build a "parallel society" that would effectively destabilize the country's social cohesion.

There have been more than ample incidents to point to the existence of these groups and their effects on Canadian society, for they foment viciously averse antagonisms against other segments of society in their bid to de-legitimize those targeted segments, inciting to violence against the targets of their hatred. The report focuses specifically on two groups: the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

The Muslim Brotherhood, whose crucible was Egypt, and which has spread throughout the world, seeks to install Islamist sharia law, culture and heritage world wide, by stealth if possible, through violence if necessary. Their most notable act of violence was the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, for presuming to make peace with Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots like Hamas in Gaza are dedicated to the destruction of Israel.

"Even if the use of violence is not outwardly expressed, the creation of isolated communities can spawn groups that are exclusivist and potentially open to messages in which violence is advocated. At a minimum, the existence of such mini-societies undermines resilience and the fostering of a cohesive Canadian nation", reads a portion of the report. The report represents the combined opinion of CSIS, the RCMP, Foreign Affairs and National Defence.

"While the issue of violence by Islamist groups has continued to be a counter-terrorism priority for Western governments and particularly security services for many years, Islamist social ideology appears to have gone unstudied, precisely because the use of violence is either unsupported or understated. Nevertheless, several Islamist movements advocate a rejection of Western society and mores, and encourage self-imposed isolation of Muslims in the West."

The report further advises of its opinion; that Islamists own a dedicated belief that Islam should govern all aspects of society, that Sharia law become pre-eminent; "synchronized" with state law. "By definition, their world views clash with secular ones. A competition for the hearts and minds of the diaspora Muslims has hence begun."

"Isolationism can lead to conditions where extreme messages can incubate and eventually become the catalyst for violence. At a minimum, isolationism undermines a multicultural and democratic society."

For some reading this report, it will appear as a revelation out of the blue, startlingly unbelievable. For many others, it represents a clear affirmation of what has already been observed. And the question now is: What must be done to ensure that these plans do not become reality? And what laws must the country now institute to enable it to uproot and remove these threats to Canadian society?

For obviously, much depends on action to counteract this growing threat.