Booklet against radicalization of muslim youth

The handbook comprises 37 pages.  It tells Muslim parents how to detect warning signs their children are becoming radicalized before it’s too late.

The booklet- a collaboration among the National Council of Canadian Muslims, Islamic Social Services, and the federal police agency,RCMP- was released in a Winnipeg mosque on Monday.

“We do not want them recruited by these criminal gangs”

Shahina Siddiqui, the executive director with the Islamic Social Services Association of Canada, says “All of us have one objective — we want to secure Canada. We want our youth safe. We do not want them recruited by these criminal gangs”.

The booklet provides parents with guidelines on how to counter radicalized messages.  It also offers information to counter the radical’s messages.

“All these verses that the terrorists twist, of the Qur’an, or misinterpret, we have addressed them and we have brought information to back that up,” says Shahina Siddiqui,

It goes on to instruct youth how to deal with people trying to radicalize them and even gives advice to police on how to deal with Muslim youth and terminology to avoid.

It also encourages youth who may be frustrated about foreign conflicts to get involved in Canadian political lobbying and civic engagement in this country rather than travelling overseas to join radical groups and getting involved in acts of indiscriminate violence.

According to the groups behind the handbook, its basic goal is to “disseminate an accurate and responsible anti-violence civic narrative”.

So far there are only 100 booklets available due to the costs, but it will soon be posted online.

Creators of the handbook also state however that they’re facing a somewhat uphill battle against the often very sophisticated videos and website  recruitment efforts of Islamic terrorist groups

There have been several instances of Canadian youth travelling to conflict zones and becoming involved with various extremists groups like ISIS.

In other cases, a few domestic terror plots have been detected and stopped by police.

It is believed that some 130 Canadians have left the country to join extremist groups overseas. It is known that a few have been killed, but also that about 80 have returned to Canada.

However, some controversy has arisen about the booklet.

Released on Monday and listing the RCMP as a contributor, the federal police agency has since backtracked on its support for the handbook.

The RCMP contribution was a section titled “Understanding radicalization and the role of RCMP in law enforcement and national security.”

On Tuesday, the police force noted that it’s not responsible for the material in the rest of the booklet and said it is withdrawing support for the booklet.

A statement issued by the police agency says, “After a final review of the handbook, the RCMP could not support the adversarial tone set by elements of the booklet and therefore directed RCMP Manitoba not to proceed with this initiative”.

In response to the RCMP withdrawing support, the Islamic Social Services Association and the National Council of Canadian Muslims issued a reply which reads in part, “Canadian Muslims are entitled, like all other Canadians, to know their legal rights when interacting with law enforcement. This is a basic Canadian and core democratic concept which we all uphold.

“Our recommendations to security agencies are based on years of direct experience with grassroots communities and the concerns aired by Canadian Muslims during local town hall forums in 2013 in the presence of law enforcement participants,” the statement added.