Editorial

Abstract

As if to give the lie to my last editorial, in which I argued that the “war onterror” was a smokescreen covering the imperial ambitions of the UnitedStates’ neo-conservative political elite, on the day that the issue went to press,Toronto’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced the arrest ofseventeen young Muslim men on terrorism-related charges. Five are under18, several are over 30, and the rest are in their late teens and early 20s.The shock permeated Toronto. Non-Muslims were shocked that “itcould happen here,” and Muslims were shocked that some of their own werewilling to kill fellow Canadians. As can be imagined, the following mediafrenzy displayed the usual racism (disguised as attacks on multiculturalism)from commentaries, editorials, letters to the editor, and experts concerningthe “threat” of Muslim extremism in Canada. Muslim organizations andthose with links to the media were back on the media circuit (or is it circus?)doing interviews, hot on the heels of the cartoon controversy, trying toexplain this and to distance themselves and Islam as a religion from attack.There was the usual spike in Islamophobic backlash, although this waslargely contained by Toronto’s Mayor David Miller and other leaders.There was also the usual skepticism and claims of anti-Muslim discriminationfrom some Muslims. While we do not know the veracity of the evidence,and while it may be admirable that the belief is so strong that Islamprohibits terror that we cannot conceive of fellow Muslims doing such athing, it ultimately harms the community that this kind of response is sowidespread. For one thing, the media use this sentiment to mock us and portrayus as cold and indifferent to the threat of terror. For another, although itseems to be painful for some to admit, our community has to take ownershipof the extremism existing in its midst.These men may be innocent and may have been framed or discriminatedagainst, but we have to face up to the results of such extremist interpretations.It is all very well to say that “this is not Islam” and to worry aboutthe media’s portrayal of Islam as a religion of violence, but we must also talkto ourselves and our youths and show them that such actions are beyond thepale of Islam. Moreover, we need to debunk the arguments of those Muslimswho challenge this view ...