Recent Coverage


ISIS urges attacks on Canadians

Stewart Bell | September 21, 2014 National Post The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham called for attacks on Canadians on Sunday in an apparent attempt to deter members of the military alliance that has formed to challenge the terrorist group... . . . The National Council of Canadian Muslims called the invitation to attack Canadians “un-Islamic and deeply repulsive,” and stressed that Muslims have an Islamic obligation to report any plan to cause “hurt or harm.” But it is unclear ISIS has the capability to strike beyond the swath of ...

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ISIS creates dilemma for Western nations

By: Michelle Shephard, National Security Reporter Toronto Star | September 22, 2014 In the latest propaganda released by the Islamic State — a 42-minute audio message distributed on social media that threatens Western audiences, noting Canada in particular — there was this truth amid all the bluster: “If you fight it, it becomes stronger and tougher. If you leave it alone, it grows and expands.” . . . . . . The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) on Monday also condemned the terror group’s actions and messages as “repulsive” and “un-Isla...

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Police investigating anti-Muslim hate crimes in Alberta

By Eman Bare, Global News September 16, 2014 EDMONTON — Police are investigating after a string of anti-Muslim incidents in Alberta in recent days. A Fort Saskatchewan home that’s often used as a place of prayer for the community’s small Muslim population has been targeted twice. On Monday, eggs were thrown at the home, with anti-Islam insults written on the shells. A few days before that, on September 11, a large red cross was spray painted on the front of the home... The two cases of vandalism are among three anti-Muslim incidents in Alberta in less than ...

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Anti-Muslim vandals strike Alberta town

National Council of Canadian Muslims notes recent rise in anti-Islam sentiment By Andrea Huncar, CBC News September 16, 2014 Members of Fort Saskatchewan’s Muslim community are once again cleaning up after a home that they use for prayer was vandalized with anti-Islam insults twice in the past week. Waseem Akhtar, who lives in the home, awoke to the sounds of something striking the side of the building early Monday morning... . . . Muslim organizations in Canada say they’ve noticed a spike in reports of anti-Islam sentiment in recent weeks. Last week, ...

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Mother of radicalized Calgary man wants to make a difference

BILL GRAVELAND The Canadian Press | Thursday, September 11, 2014 A woman whose 22-year-old son was killed while fighting with Islamic extremists in Syria says she doesn’t want her son to have died in vain. Chris Boudreau of Calgary spoke Thursday at a conference on the radicalization of Muslim youth... . . . Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said community-based programs aren’t always the best way to find isolated and marginalized youth — the ones most at risk of being targeted. “We have young Canadians ...

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Local Muslims pray for peace, end to extremism

ISIS violence in Iraq an affront to their faith By Carol Sanders | Winnipeg Free Press August 23, 2014 Local and national Muslim leaders are denouncing the atrocities of ISIS terrorists and pledging support for federal government efforts to protect Canadians in the region. "We call on the federal government to take all measures to ensure the safety of any Canadians in the region, and to continue to promote the safety and well-being of all religious minorities," the National Council of Canadian Muslims said in statement Friday. "Our thoughts and prayers are ...

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The tenuous human bridges in Canada’s fight against ‘homegrown’ terror

By Laura Broadley | Global News August 6, 2014 Twice in the past few weeks, families have approached Hussein Hamdani with a dilemma. They’re worried their children want to go fight in Syria, and they don’t know what to do: Leery of law enforcement on the one hand, they also don’t want their kids to die among extremists in a foreign country. The Hamilton lawyer is used to this: He and counterparts across Canada have become de facto human bridges between community members concerned about troubled youth and police on alert for so-called “homegrown” terror ...

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Police investigating attack as possible hate crime

By Nicole O'Reilly | Hamilton Spectator July 17, 2014 Two McMaster engineering graduates were attacked on their way home from a late-night prayer session at the Downtown Mosque Thursday. Hamilton police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. The Muslim community is "shaken" by the attack, especially since it happened during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said in a press release Thursday night. "Such hateful and cowardly acts are abhorrent to all Canadians who stand united in condemning all ...

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Muslim group demands Doug Ford retract ‘jihad’ remarks

Showwei Chu CityNews Toronto | July 4, 2014 The National Council of Canadian Muslims, an Ottawa-based Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization, condemned “jihad” remarks that Councillor Doug Ford made this week. On Thursday, the Toronto Sun asked Ford about an integrity commissioner complaint filed against him recently by a father of an autistic child who took issue with his comments about a group home. The councillor replied, “It is a full out jihad against us right now.” He also took issue with a line of questioning by CityNews reporter Cynthia ...

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Calgary man ‘seemed like a regular guy’ before he became a suicide bomber in Iraq

Stewart Bell National Post | June 4, 2014 A suicide bomber who attacked an Iraqi army base last November was a Calgary business analyst who disappeared after his wife divorced him, friends said Wednesday amid rising concerns about the flow of Canadians to overseas terror groups. Those who knew Salman Ashrafi in Calgary said they had lost all contact with him after he left Canada in late 2012. And now they know why: He apparently died seven months ago after detonating a car bomb north of Baghdad.... . . . . In a statement Wednesday, the National Council of ...

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