Bulletin for April 2, 2015

Posted by Anthony Ford-Jones 
on Apr 06, 2015
 
The Minutes of the Rotary Club of Burlington Central, 2nd May 2015
 
 
The meeting was brought to order in the usual manner. Guests were introduced. Pres. Catherine Brady celebrated the Rotary International president's lunch that took place last week at the Art Gallery of Burlington with more than 200 in attendance.
 
Ron Lambert announced a golf tournament partner will be Bereaved Families of Ontario.
 
 
David Dean participated in the Leadership Camp armed with a cane but seemingly back to normal! It was wonderful to see him there and I note that he was present at the RI lunch.
 
Dean Rutty was happy to note the excellent care given to his wife who smashed her wrist on the curling ice and required immediate surgery at the Joseph Brant Hospital.
 
Nancy Brady was delighted to inform us that her son who had been hired as a plumber's "helper" has been successfully taken on as a apprentice.
 
Karmel Sakran announced that he took his daughter Grace to her first Leafs game which was exciting for her if not stellar. At least the Leafs jerseys were 60% off!
 
Juliette, our exchange student won the draw and uttered the words that no teen has ever said before: that she had "too much money!" She was recently in New York City for the day, thrilled by what she saw especially Times Square and thanked the club for the birthday money that made this possible. She was able to see in that short time the Museum of Modern Art, the Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, and to take in an excessive amount of shopping. She was also able to tell us about the honor that she had in meeting the RI President who told her that he too had been an exchange student. She mused that perhaps one day she might become president of Rotary International!
 
Juliet announced the International Food Palooza put on by the International Exchange students that takes place at Wellington United Church on April 11 recognizing the unfortunate conflict with the upcoming bonspiel.
 
 
Karmel Sakran introduced our guest speaker Mr. Hussein Hamdani with a warm introduction that he felt was best done by quoting an article in the Hamilton spectator by Jon Wells. This is a captivating and enlightening piece in which Mr. Hamdani’s extraordinary involvement in trying to bring understanding and respect between members of his Muslim faith and other cultures and faiths in their adoptive country. Mr. Hamdani came to Canada at the age of 12 as a refugee from Kampala, Uganda in East Africa. He grew up in St. Catherine's, earned an undergraduate degree from McMaster in political science, a Masters in international politics from the University of Toronto, and graduated from law school at Western University. For the last 10 years he has been vice chair of the North American Spiritual revival, and sits on the cross-cultural Roundtable on Security that advises the federal government on national security measures. He recently made national news when he served as a spokesman for a Hamilton family whose son was radicalized and reportedly killed fighting for ISIS overseas. In the wake of the latest atrocity in the Western world committed by terrorists who claim to kill in the name of his religion, Mr. Hamdani has been involved in a number of public discussions and meetings with the defense minister most recently. I commend you to the article by Jon Wells entitled "They have hijacked the faith and we shouldn't allow them to do that" from the Hamilton spectator, January 17, 2015.
 
Mr. Hamdani opened by telling us that he was not a politician. He was also emphatically not politically correct and always open to tough questions and as he said, "incapable of being offended". He thought that we should all live our lives according to the Four-Way Test which he read through and poignantly referred to how many of the problems of today would be solved were we all to follow it. "Isn't that what makes us one body and heart together?"
 
Recently he met with Defence Minister, Peter MacKay and was able to present truth to power and reminded us of the beauty of democracy where we do have the opportunity to elect those whom we want and to get rid of those whom we do not, but this has to involve everybody. For him, involvement with young people is a way to get them to vote and to develop a more positive expression in their lives and to provide a pathway for those who find themselves on the path to radicalization.
 
He described four categories of radicalization:
  • firstly the zealots, the fanatics of religiosity whom he described as irretrievable and in need of curbing, arresting and being subject to the full force of the law.
  • The young people, the largest group, usually young men, with grievances about injustice and the absolute need to do something about it. There are so many such causes, the Syrian and Palestinian refugees who are suffering in hundreds of thousands being just one cause.
  • Those who have mental health issues and some form of imbalance that leads them towards violence and extreme actions in the name of Islam though that has no bearing whatsoever on their fundamental beliefs.
  • Finally young people, typically white Canadians, who use Islam as a cover behind which they protest. It's as if they have protesting personalities, frequently ex-anarchists or neo-Nazis; if it's not one such group it will be another.
     
    The first group is quite straightforward: they have to be arrested and dealt with to the full extent of the law. The second group, the idealistic youth, the biggest group, have to have their grievances affirmed. They have to be told that while they have good reason for their grievances, their way is illegitimate and in violation of their legitimate faith. They need to be shown how to review their own faith, actually to look at the Koran and to see the inconsistency between their approach and the reality of what was written. They then need to be shown how to become engaged in civil activities, to be given opportunities for volunteer work, to work in soup kitchens, to help to build schools. Anything that can give them hope and opportunity and a way of giving back to their communities by opening doors for them.
     
    For those with a mental health problem investment in mental health supports is critical. One in five Canadians has a mental health problem which, to this day, continues to bear a stigma. People with mental health problems need support and acceptance and the realization that anybody, in any sphere of life, might developmental health problem at some time in their lives, should motivate Canadians to work towards this end.
     
    There is little that one can do with the angry, raging individuals, the professional protesters who have hijacked the Muslim religion for their antisocial behaviors.
     
    They need to know that by joining ISIS they’re being taken on as pawns, cannon fodder during the development of the so-called Islamic state, and that they may be killed or cast off as superfluous. They need to know that ISIS does not care about them. Typically these are high school or university dropouts who can see no future for themselves in Canada. It's so important therefore to ensure that all young people stay in school and are given hope that they can go forward and work towards a civil society. Mr. Hamdani does not believe that there is any excuse for dropping out of civil society. He says if 15 refugees can live in a two bedroom apartment operating on the warm bed system knowing no English, having no money, being of a different race and religion, and that members of that group can go on to higher education and to enter into the professions, indicates that with effort anything can be achieved. Above all they need to feel that they are part of a  wider family and if we can take these youth and help them to realize that they are important in our society and that they can stay here and build their family they will not feel the need to go and join ISIS to feel important.
     
    On the question of how to find prospective radicalize youth, it's not as if they hide: most of them talk about their aspirations on Twitter and Facebook and can be sought out and approached.
     
    At the end of his talk he was asked about Bill C 51 and the effect that might have on his work. He pointed out the strong criticisms the being leveled at the minister of justice, the nine page briefing of the Bar Association about the deep problems inherent in this bill. In the past, the RCMP gradually became excessively powerful and corrupt and CSIS was developed to gather information, and present that for action to the RCMP keeping a distance between the different levels of justice. This very positive step that has worked well for many years is threatened by the new bill which will allow CSIS to become all-powerful, to allow for collection of information, to incarcerate, to charge and will be at risk of the same corruption.
     
    He felt that the language was far too vague such as the ability to gather and share data about anything or anybody at any time. Mr. Hamdani recommended above all that we should read the legislation, to be aware and to make up one’s own mind.
     
    He was asked about bullying which he saw as an epidemic and perpetrated by people who behave in an opposite manner to the precepts of the four-way test. He said we were all brothers and sisters in humanity without any superiority, that we can all gain and benefit from one another if we respect one another and avoid at all cost, disrespect and the demonization and spread of poison throughout communities.
  • Mr. Hamdani was thanked by our president Catherine.
  •  
     
    Respectfully submitted by your scribe, Anthony Ford-Jones.