The Terrorist Sleeper Cells

Islamist Gate, by Azza Radwan Sedky

A Cardiff man, believed to be Nasser Muthana, 20, appears in an online video entitled 'There is no life without Jihad'. (Photo: AFP)

The integration of immigrants in the American social structure is known as the “melting pot.” The term explains how heterogeneous groups of various backgrounds become a homogenous one. It also shows how immigrants get immersed in the American society gaining more from their new country and becoming full-fledged American citizens soon afterwards. 

In Canada, similar integration is called a “Mosaic”: different ethnic groups together form one big country. In this Canadian multicultural society, newcomers assimilate into their new homeland but are expected to remain true to their origin and identity. Ethnic associations flourish; patrons frequent restaurants catering to all cuisines; festivals promoting one country/culture or another occur regularly; and mosques, temples, and various houses of worship enhance the Canadian city skylines.

Undoubtedly, multiculturalism works well in Canada, for prejudice, sectarian strife, and biases are quite uncommon.  Canadians intermingle unaware of these boundaries, for ethnicity and religion don’t construe much. However, while hundreds of ethnic minorities coexist in harmony, some immigrants go against this norm by maintaining a link so strong to their ethnic backgrounds and religious ideologies that it forces them to uphold terrorism, favour extremism, or even go against new homelands.

The picture depicted here has very little to do with the official stands that Ottawa, the White House, or 10 Downing Street take. With millions of immigrants, the framework around which these societies are built is open and accepting. 

Examples of those who remain dedicated to the deeply rooted extremist ideologies are numerous. Some financially support terrorist groups overseas. Gomma Abdrabba, a school governor in Birmingham, England, of Libyan origin, is alleged to have used a charity organization, to “transfer documents and funds for terrorist activities overseas [the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)].” 

Others boast openly about their ability to recruit ISIS fighters. Anjem Choudary, of London, was quoted as saying, “I have no shame whatsoever in saying these people [ISIS members] were at times in some way or other affiliated with us.”

Others go as far as denouncing or even threatening the security of their new homelands.  In 2013, the US citizens, the Chechen brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, exploded two pressure cooker bombs at the Boston Marathon, killing three and injuring hundreds.

ISIS has many westerners, including many British extremists, joining its combat in Iraq and Syria. These recruited members are originally Iraqi or Syrian, or from neighbouring countries.  They brought their extremists’ ideologies with them to the West, took them back to the Middle East, and will return with an even more radical version to the West yet again.

Al Hayat Media Centre, an ISIS-affiliated group, created its own online magazine that encourages westerners to fight with ISIS. Its video, titled “No Life Without Jihad,” calls on westerners to join the fight in Iraq and Syria. A recent video that went viral on social media showed a speaker, one with an Australian accent, recruits British Jihadists.

Unabashed and brazen, extremists in the West seem unstoppable in their bold defiance.  However, the West is waking up to the threats to and the consequences of such an open and inviting society.  The West is finally acknowledging the imminent danger that such newcomers may bring upon their societies.

Mohammed Hersi is a case in point. In an unprecedented and pre-emptive move, in June 2014, a Canadian court found Hersi, a Canadian of Somali origin, guilty of “attempting” to join a terrorist group: Al Shabab of Somalia. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Al Shabab is the group responsible for the killing of dozens of innocent bystanders in a Nairobi shopping mall, and it continues its assault on neighbouring countries. As far as Hersi, himself, is concerned, he had not done anything wrong, yet, which is quite true. As far as the Canadian authorities are concerned, Hersi’s intention to inflict terror overseas deserved incarceration, and his return to Canada afterwards would have endangered Canadians.

And cases against diasporas flocking to homes of origin to join terrorist groups are multiplying. In clear defiance and in an unexplainable allegiance to countries they haven’t associated with for years, these men have definitely not immersed themselves in their new societies and haven’t gained enough from the multicultural societies they have been exposed to.

Western extremists basically want the cake and eat it, too. They want to live in the West, which is inexplicable, but opt to return to torn-apart territories to fight an extremist war, which is even more inexplicable.

via www.islamistgate.com