On July 8, 2020 VICE published an article written by Steven Zhou about “Toronto-Area Cop Under Investigation for Alleged Islamophobic Posts.” The subtitle reads “Const. Michael Vertolli, a 19-year veteran of the Peel Regional Police and aspiring politician, is alleged to have also shared links aimed at antagonizing the Black Lives Matter movement.”
A convert to Islam, Steven Zhou is a journalist based in Toronto. He is an associate editor with The Islamic Monthly and a contributor on national security issues to left-leaning CBC News online. His writings have appeared on the Qatari state-owned broadcaster Al-Jazeera as well as left-leaning and far-left outlets such as Buzzfeed, Salon, Quartz among other outlets.
On July 10, 2020 I sent to Steven Zhou and Mustafa Farooq, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), three media inquiries about the above mentioned Islamophobia allegations. As of July 11, 2020 both declined to respond and/ or to support with evidence their Islamophobia allegations against Const. Michael Vertolli.
Media Inquiry No. 1
VICE, Steven Zhou
NCCM, Mustafa Farooq
An excerpt from the article:
“Other posts include a video with controversial right-wing commentator Tomi Lahrens, as well as a video from right-wing pundit Daniel Prager’s PragerU (Prager University) YouTube channel, featuring anti-Islam activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali talking about how Islam is a violent ideology.”
An excerpt from Tomi Lahrens’ video
“ISIS and the dozen-plus other radical Islamic terrorist groups exploit this diversity and blissful ignorance and use it to attack and kill Americans. Got it? It’s called “civilization jihad” and it’s not just coming, it’s here. It’s not Islamophobic to point out the radical problem within Islam.”
The transcript of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s video
“I was raised a practicing Muslim and remained one for almost half my life. I attended madrassas, that is, Islamic schools, and memorized large parts of the Qur’an. As a child, I lived in Mecca for a time and frequently visited the Grand Mosque. As a teenager, I sympathized with the Muslim Brotherhood. At 22 while my family was living in Kenya, my father arranged my marriage to a member of our family clan, a man that I had never met. I ran away, made my way to Holland, studied there and eventually was elected a member of the Dutch parliament. Now I live in the United States. In short, I have seen Islam from the inside and the outside. I believe that a reform of Islam is necessary and possible. And only Muslims can make that reform a reality. But we in the West cannot remain on the sidelines as though the outcome of this struggle has nothing to do with us. If the jihadists win and the hope for a reformed Islam dies, the rest of the world will pay a terrible price. The terror attacks in New York, London, Madrid, Paris and many other places are only a preview for what is to come. For this reason, I believe that it’s foolish to insist, as Western leaders habitually do, that the violent acts committed in the name of Islam can somehow be divorced from the religion itself. For more than a decade, my message has been simple: Islam is not a religion of peace. When I assert this, I do not mean that Islamic belief makes all Muslims violent. This is manifestly not the case: There are many millions of peaceful Muslims in the world. What I do say is that the call to violence and the justification for it are explicitly stated in the sacred texts of Islam. Moreover, this theologically sanctioned violence is there to be activated by any number of offenses, including but not limited to adultery, blasphemy, homosexuality and apostasy –that is to leave Islam. Those who tolerate this intolerance do so at their peril. As someone who has known what it is to live without freedom, I watch in amazement as those who call themselves liberals and progressives–people who claim to believe so fervently in individual liberty and minority rights–make common cause with the forces in the world that manifestly pose the greatest threats to that very freedom and those very minorities. In 2014 I was invited to accept an honorary degree from Brandeis University for the work I have done on behalf of women’s rights in the Muslim world. That invitation was withdrawn after professors and students protested my criticism of Islam. My subsequent “disinvitation,” as it came to be called, was no favor to Muslims –just the opposite. By labeling critical examination of Islam as inherently “racist,” we make the chances of reformation far less likely. There are no limits on criticism of Christianity at American universities or anywhere else, for that matter; why should there be of Islam? Instead of contorting Western intellectual traditions so as not to offend our Muslim fellow citizens, we need to defend both those traditions and the Muslim dissidents who take great risks to promote them. We should support these brave men and women in every way possible. Imagine a platform for Muslim dissidents that communicated their message through YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. These are the Muslims we should be supporting–for our sake as much for the sake of Islam. In the Cold War, the West celebrated dissidents such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov, and Václav Havel, who had the courage to challenge the Soviet system from within. Today, there are many dissidents who challenge Islam, but the West either ignores them or dismisses them as “not representative.” This is a grave mistake. Reformers such as Tawfiq Hamid, Asra Nomani & Zuhdi Jasser and many others must be supported and protected. They should be as well known as Solzhenitsyn, Sakharov, and Havel were in the 1980s. If we do in fact support political, social and religious freedom, then we cannot in good conscience give Islam a free pass on the grounds of multicultural sensitivity. We need to say to Muslims living in the West: If you want to live in our societies, to share in their material benefits, then you need to accept that our freedoms are not optional. Islam is at a cross roads of reformation or self-destruction. But so is the West. I’m Ayaan Hirsi Ali of Harvard University for Prager University.”
Questions to Steven Zhou and Mustafa Farooq
Tomi Lahrens and Ayaan Hirsi Ali condemned radical Islamic groups like ISIS that execute Muslims for adultery and apostasy. NCCM and the Canadian Council of Imams condemned ISIS and other radical Islamic groups, and argued that they don’t represent Islam. Therefore, why did you describe the statements made by Tomi Lahrens and Ayaan Hirsi Ali about radical Islam and ISIS as Islamophobic?
The article will be published soon, so it would be great if you could respond by 5pm July 10, 2020. If more time is required please let me know. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Eric Stanley Brazau
Investigative Journalist
EricBrazau.com
Media Inquiry No. 2
VICE, Steven Zhou
NCCM, Mustafa Farooq
An excerpt from the article:
“Still other posts are of articles from far-right outlets that feature Muslims ostensibly trying to shut down Oktoberfest in Germany or having their citizenship applications denied by Switzerland for “not assimilating with Swiss culture.”
The Facts – Germany’s Oktoberfest
On September 17, 2015 the Wall Street Journal reported: “Migrant Crisis Clashes With Germany’s Oktoberfest, Highlighting Broader Pushback on Merkel’s Policy.”
At that time two similar Muslim petitions against Germany’s Oktoberfest were posted online:
Petition A – “Ban the Intolerant and Anti-Islamic event of Oktoberfest 2nd ATTEMT!”
Dear City council of Munich,
I am writing this letter to bring to your attention something that I and many Muslims believe is unfair and requires attention. I would like to inform you that the Oktoberfest is an Intolerant and Anti-Islamic event. We tried to ignore the event, but there too many Un-Islamic acts done at the Oktoberfest. Such as alcohol consumption, public nudity etc.
We understand that the Oktoberfest is a yearly German tradition, but we, Muslims, can not tolerate this Un-Islamic event, because it offends us and all Muslims on the earth. We are requesting the immediate cancellation of the upcoming Oktoberfest event.
We also believe that the Oktoberfest might also offend all the Muslim refugees coming from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. The cancellation of the Oktoberfest event will help refugees not to forget their Islamic history. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Yousef Mohammed
Petition B – “Ban the Intolerant and Anti-Islamic event of Oktoberfest”
Dear City council of Munich,
I am writing this letter to bring to your attention something that I and many Muslims believe is unfair and requires attention. I would like to inform you that the Oktoberfest is an Intolerant and Anti-Islamic event. We tried to ignore the event, but there too many Un-Islamic acts done at the Oktoberfest. Such as alcohol consumption, public nudity etc.
We understand that the Oktoberfest is a yearly German tradition, but we, Muslims, can not tolerate this Un-Islamic event, because it offends us and all Muslims on the earth. We are requesting the immediate cancellation of the upcoming Oktoberfest event.
We also believe that the Oktoberfest might also offend all the Muslim refugees coming from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. The cancellation of the Oktoberfest event will help refugees not to forget their Islamic history. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Morad Almuradi
The U.S. Embassy in Malaysia reported:
“In October [2018] Islamic groups, including PAS [Malaysian Islamic Party] members, pressured the government to ban Oktoberfest events saying the events were offensive to Muslims. At least two state governments announced they would not issue permits for Oktoberfest activities, although later they said they did not receive any applications for such events.”
Moreover, in 2012 NCCM’s Mustafa Farooq himself said that Muslims cannot build alliances with the “alcohol industry.”
An excerpt from the article:
“Still other posts are of articles from far-right outlets that feature Muslims ostensibly trying to shut down Oktoberfest in Germany or having their citizenship applications denied by Switzerland for “not assimilating with Swiss culture.”
The Facts – Denying Citizenship
On July 29, 2016 The Muslim News reported:
Headline: Muslim girls’ Swiss citizenship denied for refusing to swim with boys
Author: Elham Asaad Buaras
Text:
Swiss authorities rejected the naturalization application of two Muslim girls who refused to take school swimming lessons because boys were present. The 12 and 14 year-olds who live in Basel, had applied for Swiss citizenship several months ago, but their request was denied on June 28.
The girls said their religion prevents them from participating in compulsory swimming lessons with males in the pool at the same time. Their naturalization application was rejected because the sisters did not comply with the school curriculum, Basel authorities said.
President of the naturalization committee, Stefan Wehrle, said, “Whoever doesn’t fulfill these conditions violates the law and therefore cannot be naturalized.”
Under Swiss rules naturalization can be denied citizenship, even if the applicants are employed, have lived in the Switzerland for long durations and are fluent in one of the national languages – German, French or Italian.
Local councils make initial decisions on naturalization applications. If they decide a candidate is not an upstanding member of the community, the application will be denied and not forwarded to canton (state) and federal authorities for further processing.
In April, members of an immigrant family in the Basel area were denied citizenship because they wore sweatpants around town and did not greet passersby – a sure sign that they were not sufficiently assimilated, the naturalization board claimed.
Another recent case sparked widespread outrage in Switzerland when two Muslim brothers refused to shake hands with their female teacher, also citing religious restrictions. Shaking hands with a teacher is a common practice in Swiss schools.
After that incident was widely publicized, authorities suspended the naturalization request from the boys’ father, an imam at the Basel mosque.The swimming case involving the two girls is the first to deny naturalization applications for not complying with a school program, setting precedence for future cases, Wehrle said.
In 2012, a family was fined $1,500 for forbidding their daughters to participate in swimming classes. The matter eventually ended up in the Supreme Court, which ruled that no dispensations from swimming lessons should be made on religious grounds.
Questions to Steven Zhou and Mustafa Farooq
As noted by NCCM’s Mustafa Farooq, Islam prohibits producing and consuming alcohol. The story about citizenship applications denied by Switzerland was published by many media outlets around the world, including the Muslim News. Why did you describe the Facebook posts on these issues that were shared by Const. Michael Vertolli as Islamophobic”/
The article will be published soon, so it would be great if you could respond by 5pm July 10, 2020. If more time is required please let me know. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Eric Stanley Brazau
Investigative Journalist
EricBrazau.com
Media Inquiry No. 3
VICE, Steven Zhou
NCCM, Mustafa Farooq
An excerpt from the article:
“Screenshots from 2016 and 2017 posts on Vertolli’s personal Facebook page show that Vertolli allegedly posted a number of links with titles including “Civilization Jihad is Here,” or “SHOCKING video of Radical Islam in Canadian school.” All push Islamophobic ideas that Muslims, due to their religious beliefs, are a threat to peace and women.”
The text in question:
“This is a very disturbing video, but not a surprising one. This is a classic example if a culture which follows an ancient religion tenaciously, regardless of anything that exists in the surrounding environment. It preaches complete obedience to the religion at all costs.
One must realize that this is a traditional Muslim play and the people being beheaded are not infidels but rather Mohammed’s brother and grandson. Yet it portrays violence. Ruthlessly so. And the audience is not composed of adults, but, rather, children, some as young as nursery school age.
The mosque where this play took place, the Islamic Jaffari Center in Thornhill, Ontario, could claim that the play is a traditional cultural play. Perhaps not in sync with views of modern child psychology. But when one discovers that the mosque was also known for planning a massive, Muslim only condo complex in a very Jewish neighborhood, or having schools, associated with the mosque, teach from textbooks that include propaganda about “crafty Jews being compared to Nazis in disturbing passages on jihad.” It makes you wonder what belief system is being passed on to these young Canadians.
This is a significant phenomenon which needs to be investigated and publicized as much as possible. It may be the only way to prevent it from repeating itself.”
Beheading and stoning to death are integral part of the Islamic judicial system (Sharia) and culture. Senior scholars emphasize that Muslims who reject the Sharia, including the capital punishments, are apostates.
The commentary of the Quran (Saheeh International) that is promoted by leading Islamic organization reads: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment.”
A textbook for the school year 2014 and 2015-16 used by Islamic schools in the Greater Toronto-Area contains chapters dealing with the wisdom of the capital punishments in Islam in cases of major sins.
Homosexuality is depicted as a “major sin” and as “one of the most heinous sins” punishable by death for both partners to the sexual act. The punishment is similar to that inflicted on the people of Lut, meaning by stoning and/or by fire.
Homosexuality is prohibited, one of the textbooks explains, because this behavior interferes with the natural state of human beings and spreads moral corruption and diseases like HIV.
The textbook suggests that early marriage and executing the fixed punishments on homosexuals can protect the society from homosexuality.
The textbook also teaches that adultery is punishable in case a married man/ woman are involved by stoning to death, and theft in certain conditions and terrorizing people by chopping off limbs.
Hamza Sodagar, American Muslim scholar and regular speaker in Canada, said: “Homosexuals the punishment is one of several things: Cut off their head. Burn them to death; throw them off a cliff.”
Zafar Bangash, Canadian Muslim scholar and Imam said: “Brothers and sisters it is not the time to live and coexistence with such people. It is time for us to pick up the stones and stone these people to death for the abomination they are committing.”
Abdi Hersy, Imam in Edmonton, Alberta said: “Why do you need to do jihad against Canada? Spread the Dawah. That will be more productive than exploding the mall or killing bystanders… When it comes to jihad time, when we see the real opportunity a legitimate jihad then we all join including myself. But now, hold your horses, take it easy.”
A book shared by ICNA Canada reads: “Jihad becomes Fard-ul-`ain (an obligation which extends to every individual Muslim) in that case permission of parents to take part in Jihad is not essential because every Muslim is duty-bound to take part in it… Wherever in the world there is tyranny, ignorance and heresy, Muslims are bound to fight such evils and finish them by means of Jihad.”
An excerpt from the article:
“A post he allegedly shared days after a white gunman murdered six Muslim worshippers in the January 2017 Quebec City mosque attack insinuated that the victims had “strong ties to terrorism.” That particular post has since disappeared, but the others were still up as of press time.”
The article in question:
Headline: REPORT: Mosque Attacked In Canada Was Founded By MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD; Donated Money To TERRORIST Organizations!
Author: Ryan Saavedra
Published January 31, 2017 at 1:50pm
Text:
“The Mosque Attacked In Canada Has Strong Ties To Terrorism. In a shocking report released by the TSEC Network, it has has been revealed that the Mosque that was attacked in Quebec, Canada was founded by followers of the Muslim Brotherhood and donated money to front organizations that directly support terrorists groups like HAMAS.
The article says that the Centre culturel islamique de Québec was originally founded by the Muslim Student Association according to it’s own history.
From TSEC Network:
The Muslim Student Association was founded by adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood. The mosque donated money on a yearly basis (2001 to 2010) to the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN). IRFAN, according to the Canada Revenue Agency, was set up to skirt Canadian law and send millions of dollars to HAMAS. The parent organization of HAMAS is the Muslim Brotherhood according to Article Two of the HAMAS charter. IRFAN is now listed as a terrorism entity.”
The author, Ryan Saavedra, summarized a report published by Terrorism and Security Experts of Canada (TSEC Network).
Headline: Terrorist Shooting at Muslim Brotherhood Mosque: Shining the Light on Intelligence, Government and the Muslim Brotherhood
Text:
The investigation into the Quebec City shooting at the Centre culturel islamique de Québec will be complex and far reaching for Canada. The fallout will be significant as it hits intelligence, law enforcement, the Government of Canada and the Muslim Brotherhood itself.
Background on the Mosque
The mosque in the Quebec City shooting was originally formed by Muslim Student Association according to its own history. The Muslim Student Association was founded by adherents of the Muslim Brotherhood. The mosque donated money on a yearly basis (2001 to 2010) to the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN). IRFAN, according to the Canada Revenue Agency, was set up to skirt Canadian law and send millions of dollars to HAMAS. The parent organization of HAMAS is the Muslim Brotherhood according to Article Two of the HAMAS charter. IRFAN is now listed as a terrorism entity.
A regular attendee of the mosque is Abdallah Asafiri, according to his own statement to the press. He was listed as the directeur de la formation et de l’animation religieuse au Centre culturel islamique de Québec. Mr Asafiri is also major leadership figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Muslim Brotherhood itself. He was listed as the “Masul” or the leader for Eastern Canada. He told the press he normally would have been there on Sunday night, but his son borrowed his car and he did not attend when the shooting occurred.
Various Implications
INTELLIGENCE: In the near term, this will come to be seen as an intelligence failure on the part of the Government of Canada. The various agencies have done little significant work on the Muslim Brotherhood in Canada (and their various front groups.) As such, little is understood about this international group that has a structured presence in 81 countries.
LAW ENFORCEMENT: Local, provincial and federal law enforcement agencies depend on intelligence agencies for understanding larger and more complex problems like extremism, terrorism and organized crime. If the federal level law enforcement agencies are not doing their jobs, this make investigations and prevention more difficult for police. This problem was seen earlier in a kidnapping case when Chiheb Battikh of the Muslim Association of Canada attempted to kidnap a child for ransom.
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA: Much of the Federal Government’s policies on Islamist extremism and immigration seemed based on platitudes or fluffy thinking. This case may force the Government of Canada to examine how a two extremist (terrorist) shooters came to shoot up a mosque founded by an extremist group which was attended by a high profile extremist figure.
THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD
The actual motive of the two (one?) alleged shooters is yet to be determined. But such an attack on a mosque attended by a high profile figure such as Abdallah Asafir may be seen as a challenge to them. The Muslim Brotherhood has, on a global basis, a systemic problem as younger members want greater action (read violence) while the group’s elders are seeking retrenchment after their disastrous handling of their time in power in Egypt.
This attack is also poorly timed for the Muslim Brotherhood, as a variety of American officials, including President Trump, Senator Cruz and Secretary of State Tillerson are all advocating for the Muslim Brotherhood to be listed as a terrorist group in the USA. Such a listing will have a major impact on the persons and money crossing the US/Canadian border by the Muslim Brotherhood front groups.
On May 13, 2017 the Centre Culturel Islamique De Québec hosted the Saudi Imam and scholar Muhammad Al-Luhaidan. Here are excerpts from prayers recited in recent years by Muhammad Al-Luhaidan (originally in Arabic):
O Allah, destroy [take revenge of] the Jews, the Christians, the Crusaders, the hypocrites, the Shia [Shiite Muslims] and all their collaborators
Make conflicts among themselves
Create division and disunity in their ranks
Turn the misfortune upon them
O [Allah, You are] The Strong, O [Allah, You are] The Almighty
O Allah, destroy [take revenge of] their enemies [enemies of the Muslim believers and the mujahideen] such as the Jews, the Christians, the Communists and their collaborators, O the Lord of the worlds.
O Allah… I’m asking you at the blessed hour to give victory (help) to our brothers, the mujahideen [Muslims who practice jihad] everywhere
O Allah, give them victory with Your support
O Allah, give them victory with Your support
O Allah, tie their hearts together
O Allah, set firm their feet
O Allah, make accurate the aim of their weapons
O Allah, spare their blood
O Allah, spare their blood
[…]
O Allah, put Your heavy pressure on the Crusaders, the Jews, the unjust, the hypocrites, the Shia [Shiite Muslims] and all their collaborators
O Allah, create division and disunity in their ranks
Turn the misfortune upon them
O Allah, count their number’ slay them one by one, and spare not one of them
O Allah, destroy [take revenge of] the Jews, the Christians, the Crusaders, the hypocrites and the Shia [Shia Muslims] and all their collaborators, O the Lord of the worlds.
Make conflicts among themselves
Create division and disunity in their ranks
Turn the misfortune upon them
O [Allah, You are] The Strong, O [Allah, You are] The Almighty
O Allah, raise the flag of jihad
O Allah, raise the flag of jihad
O Allah, raise the flag of jihad
[…]
Grant us the martyrdom in Your path when we are facing [the enemy], not turning back [from the battlefield], with Your mercy, O the Most Merciful
O Allah, give victory (help) the mujahideen everywhere
O Allah, make this month a conquest for the mujahideen everywhere around the world, O Lord of the worlds.
[…]
O Allah, give them [the mujahideen] victory (help) in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir and the Philippines
O Allah, give victory (help) to the leaders (commanders) of the mujahideen in Afghanistan
Questions to Steven Zhou and Mustafa Farooq
The Sharia Islamic law sanctions beheading and stoning to death in case of major sins. These Hudud (fixed punishments) are presented by senior Canadian Imams and scholars as the true teachings of Islam that have to be implemented under Islamic rule. The Facebook post shared by Const. Michael Vertolli about the Quebec City mosque linked to an informative article that summarized an Intelligence report by Terrorism and Security Experts of Canada (TSEC Network). Moreover, just a few months after the terrorist attack the mosque hosted a radical Saudi Imam and scholar who publicly prayed for the destruction of the infidels, Chrustians, Jews and even the Shia Muslims (who are deemed disbelievers by the Salafists). Neither Vertolli nor the author of the article “insinuated that the victims had strong ties to terrorism” as alleged by Stephen Zhou.
Why did you describe the Facebook posts on these issues that were shared by Const. Michael Vertolli as Islamophobic?
The article will be published soon, so it would be great if you could respond by 5pm July 10, 2020. If more time is required please let me know. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Eric Stanley Brazau
Investigative Journalist
EricBrazau.com
Mustafa Farooq (CBC), Steven Zhou (Facebook)
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