After the director of communications of Prime Minister Harper said that the National Council of Canadian Muslims has “documented ties” with Hamas, an ally of NCCM/CAIR, Amnesty International Canada Secretary General Alex Neve, tweeted a message of support for the organization. NCCM/CAIR Executive Director Gardee, Omar Alghabra and Jonathan Kay took part in the exchange that followed.
IHSAAN GARDEE (@ihsaan) is NCCM/CAIR Executive Director. The organization was known as the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) until last July. In the past, CAIR-CAN has identified the Washington-based / Hamas-linked Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as its “parent organization” (p. 14).
ALEX NEVE (@AlexNeveAmnesty) has frequently collaborated with NCCM/CAIR in the past (2005 – 2006 – 2008 – 2013). In 2005, Neve joined Tariq Ramadan and CAIR-CAN Executive Director Riad Saloojee to speak about Security for Canada, although Tariq Ramadan represents everything but an asset for the security of the country.
In a 2004 interview given to an Egyptian periodical, Tariq Ramadan described the Canadian legal framework as “one of the most open in the world,” and he suggested that Muslim leaders operating in Canada should take full advantage of it in order to discretely implement sharia principles one at a time. Ramadan added that “for the time being”, it would be preferable not to openly mention the term sharia since it “is laden with negative connotations in the Western mind.”
In 2011, in Dallas, Tariq Ramadan went along the same lines and openly enjoined his supporters to “coloniz(e) positively the United States of America … with our understanding of Islam, our principles.” A few weeks ago, at the RIS convention, Ramadan repeated the same message and told thousands of Muslims gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre that “We are not here to be accepted. We are here to change the society.” (Video excerpt – Full speech 48:56 – Transcript)
OMAR ALGHABRA (@omaralghabra) is an advisor to federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. Alghabra organized many activities with CAIR-CAN in the past (2004 – 2005 – 2012).
JONATHAN KAY (@jonkay) is the National Post Managing Editor. In 2010, after Kay reviewed Martin Gilbert’s In Ishmael’s House – A History of Jews in Muslim Lands, CAIR-CAN’s human rights and civil liberties officer Julia Williams criticized him for “weav[ing] a narrative that presents Muslims as pathological Jew-haters, and Islam, at its very core, as anti-Judaism.” In his book review entitled A hate reaching back 1,400 years, Jonathan Kay wrote that the Koran itself inspired Muslims to attack Jews in the early years of Islam and that today, these early battles inspire modern jihadists:
“The Koran contains several very specific curses against Jews. And as modern terrorists often like to remind their YouTube audiences, Muhammad himself was a prolific Jew-killer. [A] passage from In Ishmael’s House, for instance, describes events that took place after the Prophet’s soldiers captured members of the Jewish Banu Qurayza tribe in the year 627.”
[…]“To this day, in fact, bloody episodes from early Muslim history involving the killings of Jews are often cited casually in Arab propaganda against Israel. No effort is made to interpret these stories in any sort of allegorical sense; instead, they are celebrated at face value as victories that validate the foundational Muslim narrative of conquest and submission.”
In recent years, NCCM/CAIR’s assessment of Jonathan Kay has changed dramatically. On October 26, 2013, Jonathan Kay was greeted as a “special guest” by NCCM/CAIR leadership in a meeting on Islamophobia. Yet, Jonathan Kay had written in the past that the accusation of Islamophobia is used to censor those who “[c]onnect the dots between Canada’s radicalized mosques and the terror threat”…
Two messages written by Jonathan Kay were retweeted by Ihsaan Gardee. They can be viewed below or directly accessed on Jonathan Kay’s Twitter account (message 1 – message 2) or on PdeB (message 1 – message 2).
Alex Neve @AlexNeveAmnesty
#PMO accuses #NCCM @CAIRCAN of being tied to terrorism. Amnesty International experience, #NCCM tied to human rights.
12:38 PM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
@alexneveamnesty Thank you & Amnesty International 4 your support against baseless, defamatory & undignified accusations from #PMO #cdnpoli
1:50 PM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
MRT @AlexNeveAmnesty: #PMO accuses @nccmuslims of terrorism ties. Amnesty International experience-@nccmuslims tied 2 human rights #cdnpoli
ihsaan @ihsaan
MRT @alexneveamnesty: #PMO accuses @nccmuslims of ties to terrorism. Amnesty International experience, @nccmuslims tied to human rights.
1:43 PM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
RT @kinsellawarren: PMO had better get a lawyer http://shar.es/Ugx7R #cdnpoli
8:52 AM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
MRT @nathanlean: Canada’s PM @pmharper set 2 go 2 MidEast. Who will he take? An anti-Muslim hate group supporter. http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2014/01/20140116-132313.html …
8:12 AM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
MRT @jonkay: If PMO claims Cdn group has “ties” 2 terror, group shud b prosecuted — or statement shud b retracted http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2014/01/20140116-132313.html …
7:45 AM – 17 Jan 2014
CLICK HERETO VIEW JONATHAN KAY`S ORIGINAL TWEET – REPRODUCTION ON PdeB
ihsaan @ihsaan
MRT @omaralghabra: @davidakin When PMO claimed an organization has “documented links” to terrorism. This is serious. What was the evidence?
7:42 AM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
MRT @omaralghabra: We wondered why Conrad Black didn’t challenge Ford when he said that. Should @davidakin have challenged PMO’s assertion?
7:41 AM – 17 Jan 2014
David Akin @davidakin
@ihsaan @OmarAlghabra I thought the assertion – newsworthy on its own merits – quite capably challenged by @ihsaan
8:46 AM – 17 Jan 2014
Omar Alghabra @OmarAlghabra
@davidakin @ihsaan Don’t you believe you have a responsibility to challenge such alarming accusation? Ask why they’re not charging them?
8:49 AM – 17 Jan 2014
David Akin @davidakin
@OmarAlghabra @ihsaan Who says I haven’t? Looking forward to examine the claim.
9:07 AM – 17 Jan 2014
stark @jjmstark
@davidakin @OmarAlghabra @ihsaan hope you do, but there’s a big difference for your audience whether it’s challenged in the moment, or later
9:08 AM – 17 Jan 2014
Omar Alghabra @OmarAlghabra
@davidakin @ihsaan Me too. was just reminded when Conrad Black was called out for not challnging Ford when he accused @ddale8 of pedophilia
9:09 AM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
RT @omaralghabra: Reminds me when Rob Ford accused @ddale8 of being a pedophile
7:40 AM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
MRT @omaralghabra: It’s very serious when PM accuses a Canadian group of having links to terrorism without evidence http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2014/01/20140116-132313.html …
7:40 AM – 17 Jan 2014
ihsaan @ihsaan
MRT @jonkay: I agree – any1 who praises Pamela Geller isn’t sum1 who shud be in entourage of Canada’s Prime Minister http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2014/01/20140116-132313.html …
7:39 AM – 17 Jan 2014
CLICK HERE TO VIEW JONATHAN KAY`S ORIGINAL TWEET – REPRODUCTION ON PdeB
Further reading
Point de Bascule (January 17, 2014): Prime Minister Harper’s director of communications slams the National Council of Canadian Muslims for “documented ties to a terrorist organization such as Hamas”
Point de Bascule (July 18, 2013): National Council of Canadian Muslims: The new name chosen by CAIR-CAN helps cover its links with Washington-based / Hamas-linked CAIR
Goldhawk Live (CPAC – October 31, 2010): Hillary Homes from Amnesty International (AI) and David Harris discuss the relationship between AI and CAIR-Canada
Point de Bascule: File National Council of Canadian Muslims / CAIR-CAN
