The idea that Mohamed Hersi suffered discrimination in Canada because he is a Muslim is risible — especially in light of the fact that in virtually all of the Muslim countries that he could have moved to, he would have had fewer rights than he had in Canada. But the idea that he wanted to move to Somalia to escape “Islamophobia” is particularly ridiculous — or even to Egypt, his stated destination. Both are war zones. He thought it would be preferable to be in a hot war zone than to suffer from “Islamophobia” in Canada? Pull my other leg.
“Mohamed Hersi wanted to move to Muslim country to escape Canada’s ‘Islamophobia,’ terror trial hears,” by Stewart Bell, National Post, April 28, 2014 (thanks to Alex):
A Toronto security guard on trial for allegedly attempting to join the Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab testified Monday he wanted to move to a Muslim country because of the discrimination he suffered in Canada, but insisted he did not support terrorism.
“I felt that throughout my time in Canada I felt a lot of discrimination, whether because I’m black or I’m Muslim,” Mohamed Hassan Hersi said. “I felt that if I lived in a Muslim country, I probably would not experience Islamophobia.”
Mr. Hersi, 28, told jurors as he began his defence that his entire clan was “hostile” to the group and its “extreme methods.”
“They do tyrannical things like cut off peoples’ hands,” said Mr. Hersi. “I don’t really like Al-Shabab.”
He insisted he was opposed to terrorism, which he called immoral and anti-Islamic. Terrorists who cited Islam to justify violence were taking the Koran out of its historical context, he added.
As the defence began presenting its case, Mr. Hersi took to the witness stand to counter the prosecution’s portrayal of him as a would-be jihadist immersed in online Al Qaeda propaganda.
In contrast, he depicted himself as an avid television viewer and sports fan, and said the talks he had about Somalia were mostly initiated by an undercover police officer who befriended him.
Mr. Hersi was arrested at Toronto’s Pearson airport on March 29, 2011, as he was boarding a flight. His destination was Cairo but the undercover police officer said Mr. Hersi had confided he would be traveling to Somalia to join Al-Shabab.
In the weeks before his arrest, Mr. Hersi’s laptop was used to search the Internet for terms such as “Somalia AK-47 cost.” He had also downloaded an edition of the Al Qaeda magazine Inspire, an RCMP officer testified.
But his lawyer Paul Slansky said Mr. Hersi had never intended to join Al-Shabab, nor had he encouraged the undercover officer to do so.
The officer was playing the role of a Somali who wanted to join Al-Shabab. One of the charges alleges Mr. Hersi gave the officer advice on how to do so, but Mr. Slansky said Mr. Hersi had an “anti-Al Shabab mindset.”
“Sometimes he just talked nonsense,” Mr. Slansky said of his client, “just a tendency to jabber, but Mr. Hersi will make clear that he never intended to join Al-Shabab.” The lawyer claimed the case was based on police lies.
In his testimony, Mr. Hersi said he was born in Mogadishu and, during a visit to the United States, he came to Canada with his mother to claim refugee status. His father, who worked at the Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia, died before he could join the family in Toronto.
While growing up at a Toronto Community Housing Corp. apartment building, he said he was regularly discriminated against, and described seeing police harassing blacks and Muslims. “I have sort of a love hate relationship with the police,” he said. “I love to hate them, they love to hate me.”
After studying at the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, he wanted to become fluent in Arabic, he said. He planned to spend six to 12 months in Cairo, return to Canada for graduate studies and then move to a Muslim country such as Egypt or Turkey.
But he said he had never had any contact with Al-Shabab. He acknowledged accepting a friend request on Facebook from Abdurahman Guled, an alleged Al-Shabab member. But he said they had been friends in high school and he was not sure Mr. Guled was in Al-Shabab. “I thought he was, but I really don’t know.”
The case is the first attempt to prosecute a Canadian for allegedly attempting to travel abroad to join a terrorist group. The National Post revealed this week the RCMP has set up a program to track and disrupt “high risk travelers” preparing to leave the country.
Al-Shabab was behind last year’s massacre at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that left two Canadians dead, including a Canada Border Services Agency officer. The Al-Qaeda aligned group is fighting to impose its militant version of Islamic law on Somalis.
Charli Main says
No problem there. There will be plenty of Canadians that would be ecstatic at the chance to buy him and his tribe tickets back to the Islamic country of his choice.
dumbledoresarmy says
Yep.
When I read the headline, my very first thought was, “Jolly good, mate, off you go!” Or, alternatively, “What are you waiting for? The airport’s in *that* direction”.
Guy Macher says
Get the heck outta here! Take the rest of your ilk!
DLBB says
Even after living off the taxpayers for so long (is that what community housing is in Canada)? They should pay their own way back.
Vostro says
Out of the goodness of my heart, I’d be willing to pitch in for that one way ticket to Somalia.
Champ says
LOL!!!
Angemon says
“A Toronto security guard on trial for allegedly attempting to join the Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab testified Monday he wanted to move to a Muslim country because of the discrimination he suffered in Canada, but insisted he did not support terrorism.
“I felt that throughout my time in Canada I felt a lot of discrimination, whether because I’m black or I’m Muslim,” Mohamed Hassan Hersi said. “I felt that if I lived in a Muslim country, I probably would not experience Islamophobia.””
Nor would he suffer racism, but i guess he spends more time with the local imam than with Al Sharpton, so he only learned to play one kind of victim. Oh, i’m sorry, he didn’t say that he wouldn’t suffer racism because islam is a racist religion and he knows it.
“Mr. Hersi, 28, told jurors as he began his defence that his entire clan was “hostile” to the group and its “extreme methods.”
“They do tyrannical things like cut off peoples’ hands,” said Mr. Hersi. “I don’t really like Al-Shabab.””
Actually, they’re practicing what’s i the quran:
Quran 5:38 – “[As for] the thief, the male and the female, amputate their hands in recompense for what they committed as a deterrent [punishment] from Allah.”
If mr. Hersi doesn’t like that then he’s being an islamophobe. Perhaps he was trying to join a moderate terrorist group?
“He insisted he was opposed to terrorism, which he called immoral and anti-Islamic. Terrorists who cited Islam to justify violence were taking the Koran out of its historical context, he added.
Yeah, just like muhammad and his companions. Muhammad (supposedly) got the revelations, his companions knew him better than i know my girlfriend and they had no problems cutting off hands, raping, killing, pillaging and enslaving non-muslims.
“In contrast, he depicted himself as an avid television viewer and sports fan, and said the talks he had about Somalia were mostly initiated by an undercover police officer who befriended him.”
Ah yes, the eternal “it wasn’t me” card. Pro-tip: if someone asks you if you want to go to Somalia join a terrorist group you say “NO!”.
“In the weeks before his arrest, Mr. Hersi’s laptop was used to search the Internet for terms such as “Somalia AK-47 cost.” He had also downloaded an edition of the Al Qaeda magazine Inspire, an RCMP officer testified.”
Well, if there’s a good thing to say about him is that he’s a good planner, although a bad judge of characters 😉
“While growing up at a Toronto Community Housing Corp. apartment building, he said he was regularly discriminated against, and described seeing police harassing blacks and Muslims. ”
Even if that’s true it bears no importance to his case.
Jaladhi says
Why don’t all Muslims escape to all those islamic paradises, there are 57 of them in this world, they will be happy and we will be happier!! Morons, they live here and all they do is bad mouth us all the time. If the West is so bad, why are they lining up to get visa to come here??
mariam rove says
I know. They line up to get visas to come here from some of the biggest S…hole. They come here only to change this place to the same s..holes where they came from. M
bill says
I agree, are these people so dim that they do not look up on line what the non Islamic countries are like. That they do not have Sharia law (yet), that women walk around dressed any way they wish; that women and men mix freely; that some times they have sex without marriage; that people eat pork and other pig products and drink alcohol. Surely they would be much more comfortable if they stayed where they were. What is it that attracts them to our terrible countries?
dumbledoresarmy says
They are engaging in the “hijra”, the migration-to-spread-Islam.
See ex-Muslim Sam Solomon’s book, “Al Hijra: The Islamic Doctrine of Immigration”.
Mirren10 says
”In his testimony, Mr. Hersi said he was born in Mogadishu and, during a visit to the United States, he came to Canada with his mother to claim **refugee status** ( my emphasis: Mirren).
So, he needed a ‘refuge’ from Somalia, because it’s a war zone, and he might have been killed, but now he wants to go back there, because Canada is ‘islamophobic’ ? 🙂
Do these moral cretins ever actually **listen** to themselves ? Rhetorical question.
mortimer says
He wanted to leave the terrorism of Somalia and now wants to go back to participate in terrorism.
gravenimage says
A Toronto security guard on trial for allegedly attempting to join the Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab testified Monday he wanted to move to a Muslim country because of the discrimination he suffered in Canada, but insisted he did not support terrorism.
………………………………
He wanted to go to Somalia because it is a hot JIhad zone, and he wanted to be able to freely wage violent Jihad.
But he believes he may be able to snow the foolish Infidels, always sensitive to bogus charges of “racism” and “Islamophobia”.
I just hope the Canadian judge and jury see through this manipulative crap.
mortimer says
Of course, he denies that jihad is terrorism even though Allah says ‘Terrorize them’ (turhibunna) K.8.60
No Fear says
“They do tyrannical things like cut off peoples’ hands”
We all know where that idea comes from :
“Anyone who fights against Allah or renounces Islam in favor of another religion shall be “put to death or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off alternative sides” (Quran 5:34)
“The male thief, and the female thief, you shall mark, cut, or cut-off their hands/means as a recompense for what they earned, and to serve as a deterrent from God. God is Noble, Wise. Whoever repents after his wrongdoing and makes amends, then God will relent on him. Truly, God is Forgiving, Merciful. (Quran 5:38-39)
sidney penny says
“They do tyrannical things like cut off peoples’ hands,” said Mr. Hersi. “I don’t really like Al-Shabab.”
He could have said I don’t Malaysians.
Did anybody miss this?
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/04/malaysia-muslim-medical-group-says-muslim-doctors-must-amputate-thieves-hands
Muslim doctors must fully support Sharia laws, says i-Medik, and that includes amputation of hands for theft, as per the Qur’an: “As for the thief, the male and the female, amputate their hands in recompense for what they committed as a deterrent from Allah” (5:38).
KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 — The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has disrespected Muslims and Muslim doctors by threatening to axe doctors who perform amputations under hudud, according to Muslim medical practitioners’ group i-Medik.
sidney penny says
To be a refugee you have to have a well founded fear of persecution in your home country.
Jakareh says
Too bad he didn’t move to Turkey. His Muslim brothers and sisters would have called him an “arap” or a “zanci” and he would have been treated like a piece of garbage.
Jeff says
Send him to Somalia with a TFG reception waiting for him. They can do what the want with him. I don’t care.
David says
Before the current Australian government closed the borders, the illegal boat people would sail on their rickety boats passed a number of Islamic countries to arrive at their final destination: democratic Australia! Yet these same Muslims will tell you they love Islam. The only logical assumption from that is they have conquest in mind.
Champ says
I hope other muslims follow your lead and leave civilized society …g’bye!
H.G. Smittenaar says
A Japanese View of the Palestinians
An article written by Yashiko Sagamori on Nov 6, 2002.
If you are so sure that “Palestine, the country, goes back through most of recorded history,” I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine: When was it founded and by whom? What were its borders? What was its capital? What were its major cities? What constituted the basis of its economy? What was its form of government? Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat? Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation? What was the language of the country of Palestine? What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine? What was the name of its currency?
Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise and when did it occur?
You are lamenting the “low sinking” of a “once proud” nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that “nation” proud and what was it so proud of? And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call “Palestinians” are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over (or thrown out of) the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?
I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day “Palestinians” to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won’t work here. The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it “the Palestinian people” and installed it in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the “West Bank” and Gaza, respectively?
The fact is, Arabs populating Gaza, Judea, and Samaria have much less claim to nationhood than that Indian tribe that successfully emerged in Connecticut with the purpose of starting a tax-exempt casino: at least that tribe had a constructive goal that motivated them. The so called “Palestinians” have only one motivation: the destruction of Israel, and in my book that is not sufficient to consider them a “nation,” or anything else except what they really are: a terrorist organization that will one day be dismantled.
In fact, there is only one way to achieve peace in the Middle East. Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in their war against Israel and, as the losing side should, pay Israel reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have visited on it. The most appropriate form of such reparations would be the removal of their terrorist organization from the land of Israel and accepting Israel’s ancient sovereignty over Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. That will mark the end of the Palestinian people. What are you saying again was its beginning? You are absolutely correct in your understanding of the “Palestinians” murderous motives.
I am afraid however that you, along with 99% of the population of this planet have missed the beginning of WWIII (the enemy call it Jihad) quite a few years ago. The siege of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, an event to which the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner had so miserably failed to respond, can be very well used as the day WWIII stepped out of the pages of the Koran and into the current events. I pray the United States and Israel lead the world to victory in this war. Come to think of it, there is no choice, be you a Christian, a Jew, or even, believe it or not, a Muslim.