Moderate Muslims struggle to make their voices heard
Raheel Raza
Special to the Sun
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Taliban recently sent an open letter to “the Canadian people,” threatening to kill more aid workers and target Canadians unless Ottawa pulls out of Afghanistan.
Stephen Harper’s government called this “a propaganda exercise.”
I’m not sure which of the two is more worrying — the Taliban threat or the Canadian government’s inability to see a looming crisis until it’s too late. It’s as though we haven’t learned anything from New York, Madrid and London.
If and when a disaster hits, there will be the usual rallying cry of Where are the moderate Muslim voices?
Hello, we’re here. But who’s listening?
I’ve lived in Canada for two decades watching the slow deterioration of our system and the confusion created especially in the aftermath of 9/11. One concern (which the Canadian government is aware of) is that Muslim youth are still being radicalized at various venues and through various means.
One method is through the Internet where al-Qaida messages, which are highly disdainful of the West, are posted and then distributed widely.
Secondly, Muslims are converging on Canada from all over the world. In their struggle to settle, many parents don’t have time to spend on their kids, so they hand over their religious education to people who have no credentials and are mercenaries preying on exactly such kind of vulnerable newcomers.
