Perceptions of Muslim Faith, Ethno-Cultural Community Based and Student Organizations in

Countering Domestic Terrorism in Canada

Kawser Ahmed, MPhilAlexander SaltDr. James Fergusson, PhD

Centre for Defense and Security Studies University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB

Sequence:

Part - I• Research Design• Project Phases• Data Collection and Analysis• Research Participants Profile• Research Limitations

Part - II• Factors Contributing to the Causes of Domestic Terrorism• Socio-Political Isolation• Islamophobia• Family Level conflict• Intervention and Community Mobilization• Framing of Terrorism – Jihad, Media and the Socio-Political Discourse•Evaluation of Existing Federal CT Efforts• Hopes and Dreams and the Future Trend of Domestic Terrorism

Part – III• Recommendations

Part – I

• The Muslim community in Canada, if not throughout the West, perceives itself as a community under attack. Every Muslim is a potential terrorist, despite the nuances that exist within government policy statements. If not, why is government engagement undertaken by security agencies only?

• The net result is an atmosphere of suspicion and fear within Canada’s Muslim community, which, naturally, directly affects the engagement process between state agencies and the community.

• Phase One: The reviews of relevant literature, an analysis of existing CT are undertaken. an analysis of pertinent information from STATSCAN datasets (National household survey-NHS, 2011, Profile of Visible Minority Datasets, General Social Survey (GSS).

• Phase Two: The generation of the formal research methodology and questionnaire, tested in a pilot study undertaken involving one FBO and one ECBO.

• Phase Three: Primary research was conducted with a selected FECBOs and few student based organizations through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with leaders/key members.

• We used purposive sampling by only focusing on the key leaders and personalities of each FBO, ECBO and student organization. We collected data from two sources: first from interviewing individuals and also from holding focus group discussions. Participant observations were also carried out in 5 events.

• Qualitative study (ethnographic).

• QSR nVivo 10 used for data analysis and report generation.

What is a ‘community’? Who is included and who is excluded?

• A community might generally be thought of as consisting of individuals, groups and institutions based in the same area and/or having shared interests.

• The term community, however, is complex and widely debated, and subject to different interpretations that cover a variety of more ore less overlapping notions. ‘Communities of interest’ bring together individuals, groups and institutions that have one or more interests in common.

Source: OSCE, Good practices in building Police-Public Partnerships, note 6 cited in Preventing terrorism and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism, a community policing approach, OSCE publication, 2014, p,61-62.

Research Participants’ Profile

Number of participants(n=21)

Distribution (ECBOs and student groups)

Age range

Male(n=14)

N=6 ECBO N=8 Students

40-60 (FECBO members)20-25 (Student group members)

Female(n=7)

N= 3 ECBON= 4 Students

40-50 (FECBO members)20-25 (Student group members)

Note: Among the Muslims, one was from Shiite community, one from the Ahmadiyaa community and the rest were Sunnis.

Number of organizations participated Remarks

Muslim FBO 3 (n=3) MIA, ISSA, CMLI

Muslim ECBO 3 (n=3) Bangladesh, Kenya, Somalia, Syria, Lebanon

Number of student group participated in Focus group discussion

Remarks

4 Mixed group of Arab, Africa, South Asian backgrounds.

PARTICIPANT PROFILE N Age 20-30

Age 40-60

Total 21

Male 14 8 6

Female 7 4 3

Sunni 19 11 8

Non-Sunni 2 2

FBO 3 1 2

ECBO 5 3 2

Student organizations 4 4

Research Limitations

• We could not get access to a greater number of Muslim FBOs due to a prevailing atmosphere of fear and mistrust.

• Such kind of qualitative research where participant observations is involved requires more time to complete.

• English was a second language for some of the participants.

• Bias in data collection might occur from explaining the research context and interview questions, especially when the participants do not have enough information on the topic.

Part – II: Research FindingsFACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE CAUSES OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM

1 : Fam

ily le

vel co

nflict

2 : Fru

strati

on due to unmet

expect

ation

3 : Globali

zation an

d communica

tion

4 : Humilia

tion(takin

g pers

onal res

ponsiblity

)

5 : Idea

lization, so

lidari

ty

6 : Integ

ration pro

blem

7 : Isla

mophobia

8 : Lack

of faith

knowled

ge

9 : Pre

dispositi

on to vi

olence

10 : Socia

l justi

ce an

d equali

ty

11 : Socio

-political

isolati

on

12 : Tru

st defi

cit0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

120.00%

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE CAUSES OF TERRORISM-ORGANI-ZATION WISE

ECBO FBO SO

SOCIO POLITICAL ISOLATION REPORTED BY ORGANIZATIONS

ISLAMOPHOBIA REPORTED BY ORGANIZATIONS

FAMILY LEVEL CONFLICT CONTRIBUTING TO TERRORISMREPORTED BY ORGANIZATIONS

Discussion on terrorism is a social taboo

INTERVENTION AND COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

ECBO FBO SO0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Intervention Tools/Methods Reported by Organizations

A : Academic course on Terrorism B : Acknowledgement C : Awareness of policy makerD : Collaborative intervention E : Dialogue F : Enhancing tools of multiculturismG : Media awareness in reporting terrorism H : Mosque based programs I : ProfilingJ : Relationship forming

USE OF DIALOGUE AS AN INTERVENTION TOOL REPORTED BY ORGANIZATIONS

ECBO FBO SO0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONS IN INTERVENTION

A : Role of Muslim ECBOs B : Role of Muslim FBO

ECBO FBO SO0.00%

20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

120.00%

17.23%

80.63%

96.55%

82.77%

19.37%

3.45%

ROLE OF FAITH/RELIGION IN TERRORIST MOTIVATION

A : No impactB : Some impact

EXCLUSION AND INCLUSION IN THE CT EFFORT REPORTED BY ORGANIZATIONS

ECBO FBO SO0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

35.11%

42.05%

18.44%17.71%

31.54%

0.00%

47.18%

26.41%

81.56%

Does Radicalization Exist?

A : Indifferent B : No-it does not exist C : Yes-it exists

Radicalization

Radicalization of thoughts

Radicalization in actions

JIHAD AND TERRORISM PERCEPTION REPORTED BY ORGANIZATIONS

A : Globali

zed in

formati

on

B : Impact

of med

ia

C : Jihad

and te

rroris

m

D : Scap

egoati

ng, ste

reotyp

ing, pro

pagan

da0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

10.10%

89.90%

0.00% 0.00%

24.56%

34.47%

10.65%

28.11%

9.17%4.08%

13.52%

48.94%

Framing of Terrorism

ECBO FBO SO

‘JIHAD’ AND ITS USE REPORTED BY ORGANIZATIONS

ECBO FBO SO0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Jihad and terrorism

A : Jihad and terrorism

EVALUATION OF EXISTING FEDERAL CT EFFORTS

A : Community effort B : Effectiveness of CT policies C : Provincial effort0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

Effectiveness and CT efforts at community and provincial level

ECBO FBO SO

A : Fear from government machinaries B : Participants general fear C : Peer pressure through isolation0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

Fear

ECBO FBO SO

Fear Matrix

Counter Terrorism is inherently political, thereby it is a struggle to win:

• Through political conversation.

• Influence over constituency and legitimacy.

Source: Professor Dr. Bill Braniff, University of Maryland.

Part – III: Recommendations

• Similar qualitative studies should be undertaken with a larger sample.

• We recommend exploring resources available at provincial and local levels, and ways to link them with federal resources to formulate a comprehensive federal-provincial CT framework based on community mobilization.

• Future research possibilities: the youth radicalization process, ECBOs and their contribution in terrorism interventions and foreign fighters of Canada and its future.

• The language used in the government official publications and strategies must take into account the religious sensitivities of a particular group of people.

• Ethically conducting research is imperative but while supplying the respondents with Informed Consent Form and asking them to sign it created an uneasy situation and it eventually shut down many respondents. We recommend that only verbal consent should be taken to conduct field work in the future.

Two questions:

1. Can we liberate terrorism discourse from ‘taboo’?

2. Have we done enough in terms of community based intervention? Can we do more?

http://www.cagle.com/2013/04/marathon-terrorism/