By Michele Mandel (Originally posted March 15, 2016 on The Toronto SUN – re-printed with permission.)
TORONTO – Here we go again. Behold the politically correct as they fall over themselves to warn this latest attack was that of a wingnut, not a terrorist.
That those who think otherwise are guilty of anti-Islamist hysteria. That terrorism is the word that shall not be named.
It is their go-to, reflexive response to these, thankfully few, episodes of violence perpetuated by lone wolves; it is the very same reaction that met the murder on Parliament Hill, the very same reluctance to recognize the obvious.
As if calling it what it was, an attack inspired by Islamic extremism, will be misconstrued as a condemnation of all Muslim-Canadians.
Nonsense. Any right-thinking person can differentiate between the acts of a few radicals and an entire population. Even our usually reticent new Prime Minister recognized the stabbing of two military personnel as an act of terrorism.
“Canadians — and the @CanadianForces — will not be intimidated by terror & hate,” Justin Trudeau tweeted Tuesday. “May the CAF members injured yesterday make a full recovery.”
Montreal-born Ayanle Hassan Ali, 27, is facing nine charges, including three counts of attempted murder in the brazen daytime incident at the federal office building in North York best known for its passport office.
According to Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders, the attacker shouted “Allah told me to do this, Allah told me to come here and kill people,” as he stormed through the Canadian Forces recruiting centre, stabbing two military personnel and attempting to strike a third before he was wrestled to the ground.
Still, the chief issued what should have been an unnecessary public warning: “Don’t go to that Islamophobia nonsense,” Saunders said. “I don’t want this categorizing a large group of people; that will be very unfair and very inaccurate.”
Surely, that’s the rhetoric of Donald Trump and his deplorable race-baiting campaign — and not how Canadians are thinking. Blaming an entire religion for the demonic actions of a few is not only nonsensical, it is dangerous. For those already feeling disenfranchised, that kind of hate may push them right into the hands of those anxious to exploit that alienation.
There was a coincidental reminder on this day that terrorism is hardly synonymous with Islam. While Ali was set to make his first appearance in a Downsview court, Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik was before a judge in Oslo to complain solitary confinement was violating his human rights. Breivik is in prison for the 2011 Oslo bombing and island massacre of dozens of youths attending a left-wing summer camp, killing 77 people in all.
By any definition, Breivik is a terrorist. He was acting, not in the name of radical Islam, but of twisted, far-right, anti-Islam extremism.
And what of speculation that Ali may be mentally ill — the same excuse used to argue that Cpl. Nathan Cirillo’s killer at the Cenotaph wasn’t a terrorist? Lawyer David Burke didn’t request a mental health assessment for his client, but did say that while Ali seemed “an intelligent-enough young man,” he could always ask for one at a later date.
Tweets by Dr. Amarnath Amarasingam, who researches radicalization and terrorism, suggested it may be a factor: “Spoke to very close family friend: his mother diagnosed (with) schizophrenia or bipolar in 2001. Diagnosis affected Ayanle deeply. He went off to study at the University of Calgary in 2009, but didn’t finish. After 2011, family close to him feel he was also suffering from mental illness. Moved in with mother and rarely left the house.
“Watched conspiracy videos, and talked about the illuminati constantly. Not much else is known about changes in his thinking post-2011.”
That the Rexdale man was allegedly watching “conspiracy videos” hardly comes as a surprise: The cyberworld has proven to be a successful recruiting ground for fiery Internet preachers who twist Islam and call for violent jihad. Also not surprising is that those who fall under their spell are the troubled and mentally vulnerable.
So from all we know at this point, it seems rather obvious: Stabbing Canadian soldiers while shouting “Allah wants me to kill people” certainly looks like terrorism. Does giving it a label solve the problem? Of course not.
But neither does pretending it doesn’t exist.
