This entire article is predicated upon the unspoken assumption that every community is equally likely to produce terrorists. On the basis of that, the authors cast the CSIS’ surveillance within the Muslim community as “Islamophobic.” But the grim reality is that many more terrorists come from the Muslim community than from, say, the Mennonite or Amish or Anglican communities. The CSIS would be derelict in its duty if it ignored that in the interests of appeasing the Left. But given the situation in Canada today, watch for that dereliction of duty to become reality, if it hasn’t already.
“CSIS targeting of Canadian Muslims reveals the importance of addressing institutional Islamophobia,” by Baljit Nagra and Paula Maurutto, The Conversation, February 22, 2023:
There has been an uproar recently among politicians who have called for the resignation of Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s first special representative on combating Islamophobia.
The position was created in January 2023 to address the longstanding discrimination, hate crimes and intolerance faced by Muslim communities across the country.
In recent years, Canada has witnessed the highest number of Muslims killed in hate-motivated attacks out of all the G7 countries.
The controversy stems over Elghawaby’s 2019 criticism of Québec’s Bill 21. The law prohibits public servants from wearing religious symbols like hijabs, turbans, yarmulkes and crosses.
The bill has been criticized for unfairly impacting Muslim communities — particularly Muslim women.
There was also criticism of remarks Elghawaby made in response to an opinion piece that said French Canadians were the largest group in Canada to be victimized by British colonialism.
In response, Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet, has called on the federal government to scrap the position of the special representative on combating Islamophobia altogether.
However, our research on the treatment of Canadian Muslim communities by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), shows how vital it is to address institutional Islamophobia.
In our recent study we interviewed 95 Muslim community leaders living in five major Canadian cities to learn about their experiences with CSIS.
This study is the first of its kind to map the anti-Muslim tactics employed by CSIS in its racialized surveillance of Muslim communities.
Muslims face mass surveillance
We found that CSIS adopts specific surveillance practices that are informed by Islamophobic tropes. This works on the premise that Islam and any expression of religious devotion to it represents a potential terror suspect.Consequently, CSIS engages in mass surveillance that brings entire Muslim communities under suspicion. It relies on false radicalization assumptions that depict Muslim communities as hotbeds of extremism that must be contained through aggressive surveillance strategies.
CSIS engages in mass surveillance with devastating and prolonged effects on Muslim communities. We found that mosques have been transformed into sites of surveillance rather than a safe place for religious worship and community gatherings.
CSIS treats mosques as sites of radicalization and incubators of extremism in order to legitimize its intensive policing and infiltration. CSIS monitors who enters and exits them, and members, especially imams, are subject to interrogation and forced to provide intelligence on their congregations. We found there is a persistent deployment of CSIS operatives at mosques.
Muslim youth in particular are heavily targeted by CSIS. Those who attend mosques, are involved in Muslim student organizations, attend Muslim gatherings or summer camps are frequently interrogated by CSIS, often without their parents’ permission.
Muslim university students who we spoke to informed us they have found recording devices in their campus prayer spaces, and had their social media scanned. The result is that Muslim youth are subjected to extreme forms of state surveillance. At the University of Toronto, faculty and lawyers have even set up a support line to help Muslim students and provide representation when they are contacted by CSIS….
John1 says
If life is so unbearable for Muslims in Canada, why don’t they leave?
tim gallagher says
Yes, of course, our western countries shouldn’t bother to carry out surveillance of the Muslim communities. It’s not like Muslims have committed endless terrorist attacks in our countries is it, ( over 40,000 Muslim terrorist attacks since the 9/11 attack) whereas our Buddhist communities and other non-Muslim communities have never committed such offences. Muslims need constant surveillance to keep the non-Muslims in our western countries safe from harm. This islamophobia bullshit should be ignored. Nothing but a way for Muslims to play the victim as they always do. They are the world champions at whingeing and yet, in any country where they have power, they then proceed to treat non-Muslims like crap. “Muslims face mass surveillance” it says in the report above. Good. That is what is needed because of the atrocities Muslims have committed and always will continue to commit because of islam’s hate filled and violent nature.
Conservative says
This Trudeau, Fraser and other Liberal cabinet have doomed Canada. Now these radical Islamists go on harassing people without the fear of law because of the government and police backing. That’s why the crime rate in Toronto has skyrocketed because of no stoppage to illegals entering Canada as well as weak laws, especially against radical extremist Islamists. Here is one of the many that Islam has done over the years – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Islamist_terrorist_attacks#1940s
Kashyap says
How can civilized nations/ societies support a beastly acts of Muslims who proclaim that none other than Muslim has ” right to live”. What is UNHRC / UN doing? Is religion dictate over riding the right toilet? West has encouraged the Muslim terror by their fallacious thinking of letting Muslim religion dictate as their right to kill any non Muslim. Civilized humans should join & fight out the issue.
RLP says
Thank Christ! One Canadian government department is actually doing its job! Well Done CSIS!
OLD GUY says
As much as muslims/islamic followers hate western society you would think none of them would migrate from the utopia of muslim countries. Oh wait they are NOT migrating they are INVADING.
Tatonka says
Muammar Qaddafi wasn’t kidding when he he said ” we will conquer the world one Muslim at a time without firing a gun”
But they can’t do it without the worlds cowardly leaders inviting them in.