Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 25, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba A13 Winnipeg free press comment editor Friday August 25, 2006 Gerald flood 697-7269 and beyond alienation of Muslim youth must be halted t he arrest of Muslim youth in Canada and the United kingdom on terrorism related charges is extremely disturbing to the mus Lim immigrant Community in the West. What is most alarming in these situations is that these individuals were born in Western countries and grew up in Middle class environments. A troubling ques Tion facing Western muslims is Why our Young people feel alienated from the society in which they were born and raised. Or. M. Qadeer professor emeritus of Queens univer sity studied the social Geog Raphy of ethnic neighbourhoods in the greater Toronto area and identified three distinct categories of muslims. The largest group in his study is what he Calls the spiritual muslims. They believe in the fundamentals of islam but Are flexible in their interpretations. They May not Pray five times a Day and May be relaxed in dietary Laws. For them religion involves a very personal act of belief and behaviour. The next group is made up of muslims who Are More observant in dress code. They regularly attend mosques yet they Are not involved in extreme religious activities. The third category of muslims according to Qadeer Are those who Are not Only strictly religious but prefer to Wear flowing beards and demonstrate their religiosity by wearing Middle Eastern clothes. They take it upon themselves to influence others to adopt an austere Puritan ver Sion of islam As promoted by the Salami scholars of saudi Arabia. Chances Are that the Home environment of this group is conducive to youth becoming intolerant of other faiths and receptive to violent Means to achieve their objectives. The majority of muslims have come to Canada for economic reasons. Muslims in North America Are Well educated and highly motivated to work hard. According to a Survey done in the ., the average income of a Muslim immigrant is in the Range of $70,000. In Canada this May be Little less but this is in Sharp contrast to the United kingdom and Europe. The situation of youth in Britain is different from their North american counterparts. Britain has never aspired to be a melting pot and even second and third generation immigrants in England Are Likely to identify themselves As belonging to their family a country of origin. The general perception about British muslims is that the current generation of Young people whose parents moved to Britain in the 1960s to work in the factories in the midlands and in the North Are More inclined to be at Odds with British society than North american youth. Many of the immigrants who arrived in the 1960s were from Rural Pakistan spoke poor English and were not integrated. Their children now coming of age Are caught Between the traditional ways of their parents and of the Western culture they have been born into. The outcome can be toxic. Another complicating Factor according to Sarah Lyall of the new York times is that British mus lims ties to tradition Are reinforced by frequent visits to where their families came from and by arranged marriages to cousins who Are Likely to come from the villages of Pakistan. Most of these Young people find themselves marginalized and unemployed and turn to local mosques to seek guid Ance from imams who themselves have moved from Rural Pakistan. The leadership in Canadian mosques is also of concern As Over 90 per cent of our imams Are born and trained outside of Canada. Most of these imams Are trained in highly traditional and conservative religious schools of the mid dle East. They bring to the West a highly pronounced and rigid Frame of reference of religious traditionalism and Are incapable of reinterpreting islam to muslims who have made their Home in the Western countries. Most of these for eign imams know Little about the intricate features of Western society or about its positive traits like tolerance of religious differences or the benefits of engaging in a dialogue with other faiths. They do not consider learning Western ways to be worthy of their time or Effort. When Muslim youth Are exposed to such sources of religious education they create their own Frame of reference that is characterized by rigidity cultural superiority and Lack of tolerance for alternative Points of View. This is further reinforced when youth see their parents remaining culturally separate from Western society. Foreign subsidies to islamic institutions should be of concern to muslims and to the government since they Are used to promote the philosophy or ideology of the donor. The majority of Muslim institutions in Canada depend on foreign funds to operate it is a matter of record that the largest and most influential organization Isna Canada has received a $5 million Dollar Grant from saudi Arabia. Muslim leaders in the West Are reluctant to Dis cuss the alienation of Muslim youth or even if there is a connection with the Wahabi ideology promoted in some mosques and the disconnect that Young muslims feel from mainstream Western society. In my View the Challenge of the Muslim Community is that no matter How Small the number of alienated youth in Canada it is the duty of Muslim organizations mosques and government agencies to reach out to these groups and devise ways and Means to bring them into the fold of mainstream Canadian society. Or. Asad u. Khan is president of the islamic Educa Tion foundation of Manitoba. Get off the sidewalk pedestrians should to have to Dodge cyclists by Jean Palmer b British industrialist lord Dewar 1864-1930 is quoted As saying there Are two classes of pedestrians in these Days of reckless motor traffic the Quick and the its the same today Only worse. Reckless cyclists Are taking Over and Seaway scooters look like the next Challenge. The Motorist is at least in his Legal track. The adult sidewalk cyclist is not. Only bicycles with a wheel circumference no greater than 410 my child size Are allowed on Winnipeg sidewalks. Read the provincial High Way act. Read also the definition of a pedestrian in the act a person afoot or a person in a wheelchair or a child a Carriage or physically Handi capped person operating a motorized Mobili it never to occurred to i understand him to slow cycling. As a youth in London i Down Dis was proud of my mount and Silver Blue Vox Populis sports let us All Bike. On week pass intends we cycled to safety the coast 80 kilo metres each Way. Our Lance Armstrong of the Day was Reg Harris a three time world professional sprint title Holder who after 20 years retirement won the British championship in 1974 when he was 57 years old. Ride on the sidewalk never. If you did Nice old ladies were More daring then and a tightly rolled umbrella it Rains a lot in Britain in a Young mans spokes could Lead to his Forks piercing his Ball bearing Hub ouch maybe ill try that in my War on cyclists who opt to use sidewalks As highways and who fail to appreciate that they share the sidewalk As a privilege not a Legal right. Here Are a few examples of How the privilege is abused. While walking on the sidewalk a woman cyclist whizzed past me from behind. I jumped aside in Surprise. Photo submitted a cyclist approaches a pedestrian on the Maryland Bridge which has signs telling cyclists to dismount. Thankfully i jumped in the opposite direction to her and the boxed in baby trundling in the rear. Her brains must have been in her Saddlebag. Common sense alone should have warned her that i might be surprised moved into her path struck out or at my age stroked out. Do bikes still have Bells can the riders speak or better still slow Down and is it of to truck a baby around behind an unlicensed conveyance going at Speed the frontal attack is equally threat ening ? a Young Man on a Bike approaching at Speed. Which Way to go i used to just freeze its safer. When i saw he had two Large dogs running leashed on either Side my new confrontational mood kicked in. I stood my ground. He Felt he had the right of Way and told me so. It never occurred to him to slow Down Dis mount and let us All pass in safety. I have yet to see a cyclist in Winnipeg voluntarily get off the Bike and give Way to a pedestrian even when there Are signs up in construction areas ordering them to dismount. Are they glued to their saddles if they Are really pressed for time they should use the Highway. But no its easier to bully moms with baby carriages old dollies like me and kids with fairy cycles joggers wheelchair users and folks emerging in trepidation from their driveways. And then there Are the Bridges. As a pedestrian when sidewalk cyclists Are coming at your fore and aft you have a Hobsons Choice jump into the traffic or the River. The instinct to stay alive veers us towards the Para pet where we cling until the danger is past. A recent morning on the Mary land Bridge was classic. I was out numbered four to one by cyclists two of whom were elderly helmeted and looked like experienced bikers. As they passed i pointed to the Roadway. Their response was the Finger sign and shouts of abuse. No the cowardly cyclists Are not All youngsters. In fact the serious biker knows and asserts his right to the Highway. Many Are Young Folk who know the rules of the Road and Are trusting motorists to respect them. That takes real courage and i Admire them for it. It is not them i am concerned about. It is the cyclist who cannot decide if he is a pedestrian on a Bike or a cyclist using pedestrian paths. They Are even becoming a danger on crosswalks. Having been on the Side walk so Long they Are now behaving like pedestrians on crosswalks. True pedestrians who walk Are in constant jeopardy when crossing Winnipeg streets. Most traffic lights leave us mid Boulevard. We Complete the crossing with native intelligence and Good Luck. We Don to need cyclists on crosswalks to add to the confusion. Nor do we need perish the thought Seaway scooters to add to the peril. They Only weigh 80 pounds Don to have brakes and according to scientific studies in the Take about five metres to come to a halt when Only going at 12 pm a. They can reach speeds of 20 pm a. Its not called the Seaway human transporter for nothing. When a Seg Way is loaded up special bags Are available capable of holding 20 pounds of gear and hits you you the pedestrian get transported to Hospi Tal. Like the sidewalk sprinting cyclist they Are wearing the helmets not us. Perhaps it is time to get an interim report from University of Manitoba prof. Jeannette Montufar who is into the second year of a five year study of City traffic in Winnipeg. I a focusing mainly on pedestrians she was quoted As saying in the free press two years ago. She also said she wants to see How buses and Large trucks interact with pedestrians and How Road signs Side walks traffic lights and traffic routes could be planned for everyone a Bene fit. In Winnipeg Montufar said 40 per cent of annual traffic deaths Are pedestrians. Is everyone out there Content to sit Back and wait until the study is com plete ask your political leaders what is going on. Lets get those wheels turning on the right Road. Jean Palmer is a retired nurse interested in All aspects of health and human welfare. Mosquitoes Are no better than Ash Well. Nazis i n internet culture there a something called author Mike Godwin said that people were increase to methods employed by the nazis. Well no kidding. In some speeches Hitler praised Godwin a Law. It says that As an online discus singly comparing anything they did to like to such Loon Ness is not the sole province of Amer christianity but we Don to go around saying that the Sion grows longer so does the probability that nazism Hitler and the holocaust. Icons. Pope or the Moderator of the United Church sound someone will invoke a comparison to Hitler or the and that was 16 years ago. Today it is a hyper during the last Federal election one organization just like old Adolf. Nazis. Bolic flood that threatens to Wash away much of supporting Stephen Harper depicted prime minis what Harper should have said is that politicians when that happens those the real horror that was nazi Germany. The exam Ter Paul Martin As a nazi and More than one blog including those in his own party should just shut up who Drew the comparison Are gyrations demean history More than fortify any Ger called Harper a Neo nazi. The stormtroopers about anything being the same As life in the third considered to have lost the current argument. Label has even been affixed to Airport screener Reich. There is nothing that compares. Argument. At his worst Saddam Hussein was not Adolf because of their seizure of such things As iced Tea. To suggest that relatively mundane differences prime minister Stephen Hitler no matter what George w. Bush told euro who knew that Hitler also had an aversion to snacks on Middle East politics or climate change Are Akin harpers parliamentary Sec peans in november 2002. On a plane to War on a global scale and the murder of six Mil rotary Jason Kenney is at his worst George w. Bush is not Adolf Hitler and then there a always Jason Kenney. He has lion people is beyond the Pale. It diminishes Histo apparently not an avid surfer. No matter what some left Wing pundits have written drawn the nazi analogy More than once. A few by and those who died and those who lived through the Calgary my recently Over the past couple of years. Years Back he compared Robert Latimer who killed it. Became the latest politician to and on and on. Al Gores documentary on global his disabled daughter to Josef Mengele the Noto it has also become meaningless. Compare something they did warming has been called nazi propaganda by one rious doctor at the Auschwitz death Camp. At Aneth earlier this year the chairman of the american it like to the actions of Hitler conservative organizer. A Senator said the or time he said assisted suicide was like nazi style nazi party Rocky Suhayda said that Israel a treat and the nazis. This time it Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gases would bring eugenics. Ment of arabs in the occupied territories was very was Hezbollah. It is supposedly similar to the nazi about a blow to humanity similar to that which his latest foray into world history was even party in 1930s Germany because of its recent Brief flourished when nazism and communism flour backed to a degree by Stephen Harper who said now there a the Point at which such comparisons War with Israel even though falling somewhat Short that the comparison Between Hezbollah and the should have ended. Of the resources to March across Europe. . Senators have likened the american envy nazis was fair. When he formulated his Rule of nazi analogies Ron mental Protection Agency to the Gestapo and like All comparisons its True in some ways and George Stephenson is a freelance writer ;