Mosque vandalized after bomb-plot sweep

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The vandalizing of a Toronto mosque on the weekend could be part of a reaction against Islam after police arrested 17 Muslim men and youth in southern Ontario amid accusations of an al-Qaeda-inspired bombing plot, an imam says.

Hamid Slimi, who leads the International Muslims Organization of Toronto mosque, told CBC News on Sunday that it was a “logical assumption” to link the vandalism and news of the detentions under Canada’s Anti-terrorism Act.

In the largest anti-terrorism operation ever undertaken in Canada, more than 400 police officers conducted a series of raids in southern Ontario on June 2, 2006, detaining 12 men and five youths. They alleged the suspects adhered to a violent Islamic ideology linked to al-Qaeda and accused them of planning to attack targets in southern Ontario with bombs made from the fertilizer ammonium nitrate.

Windows at the mosque were smashed and the front door was broken sometime on Saturday night or early Sunday morning, Slimi said.

No one was hurt, nothing inside was damaged and there was no looting or spray-painting, he said.

But Slimi said the vandalism came as a shock at the mosque, which is in the northwest Rexdale neighbourhood and has as many as 20,000 members.

The mosque has good relations with its neighbours, he said.

The mosque, which includes a food bank and school, was forced to cancel Sunday school classes and food distribution because of the broken glass, Slimi said.

Mississauga’s Muslims fear backlash

Even before the report of the vandalism, the Muslim community in Mississauga — a city just west of Toronto —had been expressing concern about reactions to the arrests.

Six of the adult suspects and some of the young offenders had been living in the city.

MORE STORY ONhttp://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/06/04/mosque-vandalized.html

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Re: Mosque vandalized after bomb-plot sweep

Islam not violent, Toronto Muslims say<---------------WHO WILL BELIVE THAT:smack:

Muslim leaders and police took pains Sunday to distinguish between the religion of Islam and the 17 people accused of plotting bomb attacks in Ontario.

Canadian Muslims absolutely condemn an act of violence or threat of violence," Muhammad Alam, president of the Islamic Foundation of Toronto, told a crowded hall where many Muslims expressed concern about the arrests.

“This is not about religion or faith,” but about political and social situations around the world, he said.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair agreed, saying the accused were motivated by an ideology based on politics and violence, not by faith. “This is not the action of the Muslim community.”

The Muslim leaders thanked Blair for his assurances that the police would try to protect Muslims from angry responses to the arrests. Vandals who damaged a Toronto mosque overnight may have been motivated by hatred after the arrests earlier in the weekend, Blair said.

Sheik Hussein Patel, representing the Canadian Council of Muslim Theologians, a group of more than 100 scholars, thanked the police for making the arrests.

“Any threat to Canada poses a threat to Muslims in Canada as well,” he said, adding that the group is concerned that the accused were resorting to “anti-Islamic behaviour.”

On its website, the group posted a statement saying if the allegations are true, “then this is a wake-up call, especially for Muslim leaders and parents, that more must be done to ensure that our children do not get involved in activities that are contrary to the teachings of Islam.”

In all, 12 men and five youths were arrested. Police allege they were inspired by al-Qaeda.

The accused are charged with knowingly participating in a terrorist group and either receiving or providing terrorist training in Ontario.

Muslims attending Sunday’s media conference with Blair and community leaders said they feared the public and media are rushing to judgment.

One man pleaded for the families of the accused.

“Don’t isolate the families. They are the first victims,” he said.