Quebec seeks Muslim support
IN WAKE OF FLINT ATTACK, PREMIER ASKS RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO DISCOURAGE RADICALS
When Islamist terrorists strike in the West, it has become standard for political leaders to stress that the actions of a few should not tarnish an entire community. On Thursday, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard chose a different approach.
Responding to the arrest of Amor Ftouhi of Montreal after a terror assault in Michigan, Couillard said the province’s Muslim community needs to do more to prevent terrorism.
“Unfortunately, you cannot disconnect this type of event — terrorism — from Islam in general,” Couillard said in Quebec City when asked if he was worried the attack would fuel anti-Muslim sentiment. He said he shares the position French President Emmanuel Macron expressed this week in a speech to Muslim community leaders.
“He told them, it’s also your responsibility to act on the theological front, to explain to your people that this (terrorism) is not part of the religion, that it is contrary to the teachings of the religion. There is a dual responsibility,” Couillard said.
His comments came as police combed the Montreal apartment of Ftouhi, a Tunisian-born truck driver and dual citizen who had been living in Canada for 10 years. A court hearing Wednesday heard that he is 49 years old, married with three children.
On Wednesday morning, Ftouhi is alleged to have yelled “Allahu akbar” — Arabic for “God is great” — and plunged a 30-centimetre knife into the neck of a police officer at Flint’s international airport. The officer, Lt. Jeff Neville, survived what authorities have called a terrorist attack. FBI field director David Gelios said information gathered so far suggests Ftouhi, a married father of three, acted alone and without anyone else knowing of his plans.
Gelios said Ftouhi tried unsuccessfully to buy a gun after he arrived in the United States but instead bought a knife.
He entered the U.S. at Champlain, N.Y., on June 16, and was in Michigan by at least June 18, three days before the attack, Gelios said.
He spent some time in public, unsecured areas of the airport before going to a restroom where he dropped two bags before attacking the officer with a 12-inch knife that had an eight-inch serrated blade, the FBI officer said.
Ftouhi wanted to identify an international airport, but, Gelios said, authorities “have absolutely no indication that he had any association with anyone in the Flint area or, thus far, in Michigan.”
He also said that Ftouhi was “neither on the radar of Canadian authorities or FBI or United States authorities.”
Couillard said his government is “completely against” intolerance and discrimination, but there are fears among Quebec Muslims that the latest attack and the premier’s reaction will feed a backlash.
“With remarks like this, saying Islam cannot be disconnected from terrorism, Mr. Couillard is pouring oil on the fire,” said Eve Torres, co-ordinator of a group that works to integrate Muslim women into Quebec society. “He is premier, and not only is he saying Islam and terrorism are inseparable, he says the responsibility for terrorism falls also on the Muslim community. It endangers communities that are already stigmatized.”
Haroun Bouazzi, copresident of the Association of Muslims and Arabs for a Secular Quebec, said community members have for years been working to combat radicalization. When young Quebecers seeking to join the jihad are arrested, it is usually an imam or family member who has tipped off police, he said.
But expecting the community to detect a lone wolf who buys a knife and travels to Michigan is asking a lot, he said.
“This person had an understanding of his faith that allowed him to kill people. That is obviously the reality, and we cannot bring back the words of ‘ Allahu akbar’ inside his mouth. He actually yelled that,” Bouazzi said.
“But to link this fact and the responsibility of Muslim communities to play a special role more than any normal citizen is actually stigmatizing.”
Couillard was inspired by a speech Macron gave before the French Council of the Muslim Faith Tuesday at a meal to break the Ramadan fast. “It is up to you, religious leaders, to fight toe to toe on theological and religious terrain, to expose the usurping of your values, the appropriation of your religion’s history, the negation of 15 centuries of interpretation work done by your scholars,” Macron said. He added, “The battle of thought and faith must be fought on the ground, especially among the younger generations.”
Last week, Statistics Canada published data showing a sharp increase in hate crimes against Muslims in Quebec — even before taking into account the January attack on a Quebec City mosque that killed six. Bouazzi and Torres were among a group of Muslim activists who called on the government to deliver promised programs to combat racism.
Bouazzi said that instead of dwelling on the responsibility of Muslim leaders to prevent extremism, Quebec should be tackling the exclusion of young Muslims that can lead to radicalization.