Bouchard-Taylor Commission hears about religion in Drummondville

On 6 November, the Bouchard-Taylor Commission, which is canvassing public opinion in Quebec concerning reasonable accommodation, held a session in Drummondville, a city of about 67,000 in the Centre-du-Québec region.

During the session, the commission heard from some Catholics who argued against the province's plan to drop the teaching of Catholicism at public schools in favour of the teaching of religion as a general subject. Gilbert Deshaies, a Drummondville resident, stated that "religious thought should be forged in a child before he submits his faith to criticism."

On the other hand, Lionel Émard, a Catholic priest, argued that it was not the role of the state to promote a certain religion, but rather the responsibility of the relevant religious community itself.

Aziza Aboulaz, an immigrant from Morocco, aimed to counter the negative image of Islam held by some by informing the audience that she did not have to get her husband's permission to address the commission, and that she had a car which she could drive. She also said she had worked in the banking sector in Morocco for 15 years. On the other hand, she asked what she called Muslim fundamentalists to be more realistic in the demands they made from Quebec society at large.

Finally, Gérard Malo, a World War II veteran, spoke out against what he considers to be a moral decline in the province. According to him, this decline has set in due to consumerism and a reduction in religious observance. In this regard, he said Christians had a lesson to learn from Muslims, who pray "a lot and well". Malo finished by praising God in six different languages (Radio-Canada).

Alleged terrorist training school busted in Italy

Police in the Italian city of Umbria have raided and shut down what they describe as a "terror school" linked to al-Qaeda. They arrested the imam of the mosque that housed the alleged terrorist training centre, a Moroccan named Korchi el Moustapha, as well as two other Moroccans linked to the mosque, and twenty foreign students suspected with involvement.

According to the police, the mosque provided training in the use of poinsons and explosives, and also possessed instructions on flying a Boeing 747.

Commenting about the suspects, Abdel Qader, the imam or another mosque in Perugia, said, "If any has made a mistake, he will have to pay" (BBC).

Once again, it seems, we are faced with a group determined to ruin the reputation of Muslims and, if the Italian allegations are true, determined to kill innocent people. If only they could me made to understand how wrong-headed their actions are.

Fears of more violence in North Africa

North Africans -- Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians -- are wondering whether the recent violence in Algeria and Morocco was linked. It seems that Al-Qaeda is gaining strength in the region: the formerly independent Algerian terrorist group called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat has recently changed its name to Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, thus becoming a member of the international terrorist organisation.

There are also worrying signs of North African veterans of the Iraq War -- who fought on the side of the Sunni insurgents -- are joining terrorist organisations upon their return home.

Furthermore, growing terrorist activity in the region gives the area's already authoritarian governments an excuse to clamp down further (BBC).

This is just another way in which the Iraq War has made the world a more dangerous place to live in, rather than a safer one.

Hard-won successes for French Muslims

Hamid Senni, a second-generation Frenchman of Moroccan origin, was told by his teacher to change his given name to Lionel if he wanted to achieve anything in France. That advice has so far proven true: after getting an MBA in Sweden and a stint with Ericsson, Senni was offered a job as a travelling vacuum-cleaner salesman in France. He has decided to leave France for Britain, becoming one of 15,000 French people who cross the Channel permanently every year in search of work. In Britain, Senni runs his own consultancy, and has written a book about his experiences.

Meanwhile, Hamid's cousin Aziz Senni launched a shared taxi company in 2000, and is now a political consultant for French presidential candidate François Bayrou. He, too, has written a book about his struggles, entitled The Social Elevator is Broken... So I Took the Stairs. He counters right-wing presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy's slogan of "France, you love it or you leave it" with a more inclusive "France, you love it and you change it" (BBC).

Of course, nobody loses more from placing impediments in the path of immigrants and their descendants than the host nation itself. Despite the way he was treated in France, Hamid Senni dreams of returning there and doing something useful for his country. However, while he remains in Britain, France is deprived of his productive potential, exclusively through its own fault. As long as French Muslims need to package themselves as "Lionel" in order to achieve economic success (or even, simply, to get jobs that match their qualifications), France cannot escape social tensions and divisions. The way to move forward is together, and France would do well to learn from North American countries, where second-generation immigrants, at least, have a much easier time fitting in.

Star Academy winner unites Iraqis

Shada Hassoun, a 25-year old Iraqi woman of Iraqi and Moroccan parentage has sparked raucous celebrations in Iraq by winning the Star Academy Middle East TV show, one of the myriad imitators of the British show Pop Idol. Sunni and Shi'ite Iraqis were united in celebrating Hassoun's victory in the final stage of the competition, where she defeated participants from Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia (BBC).

If a pop-song competition on TV is enough to give Sunni and Shi'ite Iraqis a sense of unity, not much divides them. This response indicates to me that the majority of Iraqis are not keen on observing the sectarian differences that political groups and militias are reminding them of everyday. Let's hope the unity displayed by Hassoun's audience can be translated into other spheres of Iraqi life.