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| Great White North |
| For Muslim students, school can alienate |
| 2006-06-07 |
| Offensive remarks can fuel anger at society, some say `They judge you just because you're wearing a scarf' A darker side of Toronto's diversity is emerging on school campuses in the aftermath of arrests in an alleged terrorist plot involving at least five suspects younger than 18. Most of the other 12 are in their late teens or early 20s, which raises the question: How could young people brought up in our own backyard, in a place that seemingly affords them every opportunity, be motivated to carry out a potentially horrific act of terrorism in Toronto? While speculation has focused on mosques and prayer halls as possible places of indoctrination, students across Greater Toronto are suggesting that alienation might just begin at school. One of the accused is Saad Khalid, 19, a former student at Meadowvale Secondary School in Mississauga. He and two other former Meadowvale students charged in the case — Fahim Ahmad and Zakaria Amara — were known by some of the teenagers the Toronto Star talked to there this week. The current students declined to be identified, in part because of an announcement made by a school administrator strongly encouraging them "to refrain from talking to reporters." But white students, as well as those of South Asian or Middle Eastern descent, painted a picture of a divided student body, with a so-called "brown corner" at one end of the school where Muslim teens hang out, often speaking in their mother tongue. They also pointed to the trend among some Muslim students to take on a more visibly orthodox appearance as they progress through Meadowvale. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #19 I would suggest living among a different demos. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2006-06-07 19:07 |
| #18 Islam isolates these children, who are taught to avoid the infidels and shum non-islamic activities and connections and thoughts. Islamism aleinates these children and provides them with the reason for their their isolation - global jihad and khalifate. The stricter the muslim, the wonkier the kid. Burqa-mommy doesn't have a face. Other kids mommy's have faces. Other kid's mommy's are evil and must die. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-06-07 18:14 |
| #17 School can alienate, cartoons can alienate, the sight of a woman's ankle can alienate, the fact that the infidel exists can alienate... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-06-07 15:59 |
| #16 Googled it. Is that it? Qutb started the contemporary Islamic debate on separation by his re-interpretation of separation (mufassala) and migration (hijra). He argued that the first Muslim community developed in clearly defined stages that must be emulated today. First was the proclamation of the message (daÂ’wa), then the separation (mufassala) from unbelievers, and finally the fight to implement GodÂ’s new society on earth (jihad). Separation from jahili society is a necessary step for establishing boundaries and identity. It is not conceived of as total physical separation, but as a spiritual separation whilst staying on in society to proclaim and recruit. In the Islamic golden age, when a person became a Muslim he made a clean break with his past, separating himself totally from the jahili environment, and starting a new life with the Quran as his only guide. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2006-06-07 12:33 |
| #15 There's a word for it - Mufassala. Google it. |
| Posted by: Admiral Allan Ackbar 2006-06-07 12:28 |
| #14 Canada, and Toronto in particular has seen a large number of Asians immigrate into the area in the last 20 years also. But you don't hear about chinese kids in Canada causing trouble of any kind. I'm sure there is the usual street gang stuff, but they don't try to build 3 ton bombs and behead the Prime Minister. The only people up there doing things like that are well... how can I put this? Oh yeah, Islamonuts. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-06-07 12:01 |
| #13 At least they have been paying attention in Quran class. Quran 4.89: They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they flee in Allah's way; but if they turn back [to their homes], then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-06-07 11:58 |
| #12 I can't add anything of substance to this discussion, but I just wanted to say: righteous fisking, RC! |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-06-07 11:51 |
| #11 For Muslim students, school can alienate Ye, so? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2006-06-07 11:46 |
| #10 "For Muslim students, school can alienate" Bullshit. They're alienated because their so-called "religion" **COMMANDS** them to be alienated from all non-believers. IT'S THE ISLAM, STUPID!! |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-06-07 10:22 |
| #9 Wow. How unusual. Kids feeling alienated in high school. That never happened before. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2006-06-07 09:55 |
| #8 "So you might think, The only way I can defend myself is to bomb this place." Embrace MultiCulturism! |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-06-07 09:22 |
| #7 The problem is two fold. It isn't that other kids are treating them badly (in some cases, I'm sure it's true. Kids have done that forever.) They act like kids from East Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and every other part of the globe never had to deal with the same exact crap they're dealing with now when they were "the new kids with the funny way of talking/dressing/eating". Not only that, but unlike the other groups of "different" kids, they feel that this gives them the right, almost the religious justification, for striking back at the country that is giving them and their families a reprieve from the craptacular hellhole they just crawled out from. Muslim culture's narcissism knows no bounds. |
| Posted by: Desert Blondie 2006-06-07 09:15 |
| #6 My stensons don't have a feather but nobody bothers me. Of course at 6'4 and 230lbs nobody wants to bother an old man like me. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-06-07 09:06 |
| #5 If I wore a cowboy hat with a feather in it everyday, and never took it off no matter what....... I'd be "judged" TOO. Welcome to the world. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-06-07 08:44 |
| #4 Well said, Rob. The stuff in the UK press today is really quite astonishing and not at all good for the blood pressure. I went to a UK school with a mix of ethnic backgrounds. At the time of the Rushdie affair it became patently obvious that some muslim kids had a screw loose. I remember one of them standing on his desk and screaming about his God when challenged in a debating class... he had to be physically restrained by a teacher in the end. The result? Condemned as a nutter by his peers and duly ostracised - exactly what we're seeing on a societal scale in the UK. The more bananas you are the less you'll be liked for it. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2006-06-07 08:36 |
| #3 Are they that out of touch? If so, maybe they need to be awakened, perhaps by a large boom. I'm convinced that would only result in them surrendering faster. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-06-07 08:14 |
| #2 I didn't know oppression in Canada was so extreme. Those poor muzzies! Seriously, this clueless hand-wringing has to end. Do the Canuck moonbats really believe that school-yard taunting (endured by students everywhere since schools began) is a leading cause of terrorism? Are they that out of touch? If so, maybe they need to be awakened, perhaps by a large boom. |
| Posted by: Spot 2006-06-07 08:12 |
| #1 It's official: terrorism is the fault of high school cliques. *grrrr* While speculation has focused on mosques and prayer halls as possible places of indoctrination, students across Greater Toronto are suggesting that alienation might just begin at school. The excuse-making begins. Can't be allowed to look at the parents, the mosques, the religion -- so we have to blame the whiteys. After all, white teenagers *NEVER* make rude comments to each other. one end of the school where Muslim teens hang out, often speaking in their mother tongue Not assimilating. Check. They also pointed to the trend among some Muslim students to take on a more visibly orthodox appearance as they progress through Meadowvale. Becoming more radical -- rejecting assimilation. Check. Abdullah Khan... "Now some Muslim kids think it's cool to be a terrorist. A kid will make a paper airplane and throw it, then say it's like flying it into the Sears Tower. They think it's part of the religion, but it's actually haram (a sin)." Uh-huh. Well, let me tell you, "Slave of Allah", there are a hell of a lot of your co-religionists who not only say it's not a sin, but that it's a requirement. That you can even skip things like daily prayers, fasting during Ramadan, etc. if you're a jihadi, because jihad is the highest service to Allah. Funny thing is, they can support that position with quotes from the Koran and hadiths a lot more easily than your position can be supported. So I'm glad to hear you think it's a sin. Why don't you work on those misguided Muslims; once their interpretation is limited to a literal handful, then we'll be getting somewhere. As he sat outside Mississauga's Thomas L. Kennedy High School, Grade 11 student Roa Farah said the responsibility to prevent kids from choosing a violent path is everyone's, not just members of the Muslim community. It'd be nice if we had signs that the Muslim community was doing anything. You know, like rejecting wahabbist literature, Saudi money, exposing and kicking out Islamist imams, etc. She spoke of the backlash against Muslims when terrorism makes headlines. Of course she did. It's one of -- if not the -- first thing a Muslim mentions when a jihadi strikes. Did the interviewer try to get her to condemn Osama bin Laden or other jihadis? Mighta been fun to watch her squirm, trying her best to give the impression she was doing so while not actually doing it. I've seen it before; it's quite a sight. "The first thing (people) think when they see a Muslim is that you're a terrorist," the 17-year-old said. "It's not a justification, but people get to a point where they're oppressed and spit it out the wrong way." "It's not justification... but..." FOAD, Roa. Pardon me, I'm more than a little pissed off today. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2006-06-07 07:41 |