28 ICSA TODAY
unconditional adherence to a body
of beliefs shared within a group are
common denominators linking cults
and radical jihadism.
According to a French senatorial
fact-finding mission, which was
made public on March 1, 2017,
efforts at deradicalization in France
have generally failed to make a
difference. The senatorial mission even
characterized the efforts as a complete
fiasco (Bouanchaud, 2017). Instead of
deradicalization, officials who concede
having been mistaken now prefer
terms such as disengagement from
violence or disindoctrination.
In Quebec, schools are vulnerable to
radicalization agents (Fortier, 2016),
such as the preacher Adil Charkaoui
and the imam Hamza Chaoui, who
have motivated nearly 30 students,
some of them converts, to leave for
Syria to fight with ISIS. A report of
the Quebec research group SHERPA,
released on October 25, 2016,
concluded that religion does not play
a major role in radicalization. To the
contrary, critics of the report retort,
jihadi recruiters count on religion
as a significant factor in the path to
radicalization. For critics, the SHERPA
report is mostly a political document
devoid of scientific value. Although
there have been fewer departures
for Syria in the past year, Canada and
European countries are now bracing
for the return from Syria of young
jihadis, including a sizeable number of
women, who may be disenchanted but
still radicalized.
As in Europe, Muslims in Canada have
become one of the most stigmatized
minorities, to which media reports
contribute, if only by discussing
Muslims, which draws attention
to them. More damagingly, as a
researcher has shown, Le Journal de
Montréal recently illustrated 42 out of
49 articles about Islam and Muslims
with pictures of women wearing
either a headscarf or a full-face veil
(Chartrand, 2017).
As another type of response to
radicalism, Sufism has become more
visible, attracting not only Muslims
who are seeking a spiritual path within
Islam but also a substantial number
of converts. In France, for instance,
approximately 10 Sufi brotherhoods
bring together several thousand
practitioners.
Extreme-Right Groups (Quebec and
Europe)
The growth of extreme-right
xenophobic groups corresponds to
the growth of radical jihadism. Since
the killing on January 29, 2017, of six
Muslim men by a nationalist white
supremacist in the Quebec Islamic
Cultural Centre (Quebec City), these
groups have drawn greater public
attention. Created in September
2015 as a Facebook secret group,
La Meute [The Wolf Pack] allegedly
counts approximately 50,000
members, or “wolves,” many of them
Canadian Forces veterans, such as
its founder, Éric Venne, who fought
in Afghanistan. The objective of this
highly organized group is to counter
the rise of radical Islam and to prevent
the implementation of sharia law
in certain neighborhoods, actions
that a perceived weak government
is unable to take. The current leaders
of the group, Sylvain Beaudry and
Patrick Brouillette, go so far as to
consider Justin Trudeau a traitor to
the nation for visiting a mosque. In
their judgment, Trudeau imposes
multiculturalism upon Quebec citizens,
which amounts to a cultural suicide
(Jean, 2017). La Meute’s rapid growth
has led to the creation of similar far-
right groups in France and Belgium,
who use its name and reproduce its
organizational structure. François
Galvaire, founder of La Meute France,
describes his group as equally
“hierarchical, authoritarian and secure”
(Montpetit, 2016). Despite its influence,
La Meute seems confined to Facebook
and remains inactive compared to
similar groups whose members are
publicly involved.
Other extreme-right groups include
PEGIDA Quebec and Les Soldats d’Odin
[Soldiers of Odin], Atalante Québec,
and La Bannière Noire [The Black
Banner]. The latter two participate in
street demonstrations during Quebec’s
National Patriots Day. These two
groups also count members who have
violently attacked minorities, inflicting
serious knife wounds to their victims.
Raphaël Lévesque, lead singer of the
skinhead group Légitime Violence
[Legitimate Violence], is a member of
Atalante Québec. After the January
29 event, Légitime Violence relayed
their song “Défends,” which denounces
the replacement of Westerners by
immigrants and which exhorts Quebec
citizens to defend their identity in
an insurrection for the future, their
homeland, and their lineage (Teisceira-
Lessard, 2017).
These groups are all characterized by
their declared rejection of immigrants.
Like the original Soldiers of Odin in
Finland, created in response to the
massive arrival of refugees in Europe,
the Quebec group wants to resist
immigrants from Muslim countries,
although they contest welcoming
extreme racists in their midst. Despite
the outspoken virulence of these
groups, many people in Quebec do
not yet admit the extent of this form
of radicalization in their country,
and Quebec police often do not take
these groups seriously. A 2015 report
financed by Canada’s Minister of
Public Safety and entitled Right Wing
Extremism in Canada: An Environmental
Scan denounces the apathy of
officials toward this new danger.
Herman Deparice-Okomba, director
of the Center for the Prevention of
Radicalization Leading to Violence,
likens such groups to radical Islamists
and believes they should be just as
feared. The Center is now focusing on
these groups and not only on radical
jihadi groups.
It should be noted that, after the
January 29 attack, some groups such
as La Meute and the Soldats d’Odin
intervened in the media to dissociate
themselves from the shooter. Yet
certain media, qualified as “radios-
poubelles” [trash radios] (Porter, 2017),
which broadcast their message of an
exclusive Quebec nationalism, share
a responsibility for the extremist
leanings of such groups by helping
to advertise them, and perhaps
by contributing to their sense of
legitimacy.
Correspondents
,
Reports
unconditional adherence to a body
of beliefs shared within a group are
common denominators linking cults
and radical jihadism.
According to a French senatorial
fact-finding mission, which was
made public on March 1, 2017,
efforts at deradicalization in France
have generally failed to make a
difference. The senatorial mission even
characterized the efforts as a complete
fiasco (Bouanchaud, 2017). Instead of
deradicalization, officials who concede
having been mistaken now prefer
terms such as disengagement from
violence or disindoctrination.
In Quebec, schools are vulnerable to
radicalization agents (Fortier, 2016),
such as the preacher Adil Charkaoui
and the imam Hamza Chaoui, who
have motivated nearly 30 students,
some of them converts, to leave for
Syria to fight with ISIS. A report of
the Quebec research group SHERPA,
released on October 25, 2016,
concluded that religion does not play
a major role in radicalization. To the
contrary, critics of the report retort,
jihadi recruiters count on religion
as a significant factor in the path to
radicalization. For critics, the SHERPA
report is mostly a political document
devoid of scientific value. Although
there have been fewer departures
for Syria in the past year, Canada and
European countries are now bracing
for the return from Syria of young
jihadis, including a sizeable number of
women, who may be disenchanted but
still radicalized.
As in Europe, Muslims in Canada have
become one of the most stigmatized
minorities, to which media reports
contribute, if only by discussing
Muslims, which draws attention
to them. More damagingly, as a
researcher has shown, Le Journal de
Montréal recently illustrated 42 out of
49 articles about Islam and Muslims
with pictures of women wearing
either a headscarf or a full-face veil
(Chartrand, 2017).
As another type of response to
radicalism, Sufism has become more
visible, attracting not only Muslims
who are seeking a spiritual path within
Islam but also a substantial number
of converts. In France, for instance,
approximately 10 Sufi brotherhoods
bring together several thousand
practitioners.
Extreme-Right Groups (Quebec and
Europe)
The growth of extreme-right
xenophobic groups corresponds to
the growth of radical jihadism. Since
the killing on January 29, 2017, of six
Muslim men by a nationalist white
supremacist in the Quebec Islamic
Cultural Centre (Quebec City), these
groups have drawn greater public
attention. Created in September
2015 as a Facebook secret group,
La Meute [The Wolf Pack] allegedly
counts approximately 50,000
members, or “wolves,” many of them
Canadian Forces veterans, such as
its founder, Éric Venne, who fought
in Afghanistan. The objective of this
highly organized group is to counter
the rise of radical Islam and to prevent
the implementation of sharia law
in certain neighborhoods, actions
that a perceived weak government
is unable to take. The current leaders
of the group, Sylvain Beaudry and
Patrick Brouillette, go so far as to
consider Justin Trudeau a traitor to
the nation for visiting a mosque. In
their judgment, Trudeau imposes
multiculturalism upon Quebec citizens,
which amounts to a cultural suicide
(Jean, 2017). La Meute’s rapid growth
has led to the creation of similar far-
right groups in France and Belgium,
who use its name and reproduce its
organizational structure. François
Galvaire, founder of La Meute France,
describes his group as equally
“hierarchical, authoritarian and secure”
(Montpetit, 2016). Despite its influence,
La Meute seems confined to Facebook
and remains inactive compared to
similar groups whose members are
publicly involved.
Other extreme-right groups include
PEGIDA Quebec and Les Soldats d’Odin
[Soldiers of Odin], Atalante Québec,
and La Bannière Noire [The Black
Banner]. The latter two participate in
street demonstrations during Quebec’s
National Patriots Day. These two
groups also count members who have
violently attacked minorities, inflicting
serious knife wounds to their victims.
Raphaël Lévesque, lead singer of the
skinhead group Légitime Violence
[Legitimate Violence], is a member of
Atalante Québec. After the January
29 event, Légitime Violence relayed
their song “Défends,” which denounces
the replacement of Westerners by
immigrants and which exhorts Quebec
citizens to defend their identity in
an insurrection for the future, their
homeland, and their lineage (Teisceira-
Lessard, 2017).
These groups are all characterized by
their declared rejection of immigrants.
Like the original Soldiers of Odin in
Finland, created in response to the
massive arrival of refugees in Europe,
the Quebec group wants to resist
immigrants from Muslim countries,
although they contest welcoming
extreme racists in their midst. Despite
the outspoken virulence of these
groups, many people in Quebec do
not yet admit the extent of this form
of radicalization in their country,
and Quebec police often do not take
these groups seriously. A 2015 report
financed by Canada’s Minister of
Public Safety and entitled Right Wing
Extremism in Canada: An Environmental
Scan denounces the apathy of
officials toward this new danger.
Herman Deparice-Okomba, director
of the Center for the Prevention of
Radicalization Leading to Violence,
likens such groups to radical Islamists
and believes they should be just as
feared. The Center is now focusing on
these groups and not only on radical
jihadi groups.
It should be noted that, after the
January 29 attack, some groups such
as La Meute and the Soldats d’Odin
intervened in the media to dissociate
themselves from the shooter. Yet
certain media, qualified as “radios-
poubelles” [trash radios] (Porter, 2017),
which broadcast their message of an
exclusive Quebec nationalism, share
a responsibility for the extremist
leanings of such groups by helping
to advertise them, and perhaps
by contributing to their sense of
legitimacy.
Correspondents
,
Reports
