An Alberta woman whose son was killed while fighting with Islamic extremists in Syria is worried anger over the conflict between Israel and Hamas could lead to an increase in radicalization.
Chris Boudreau says she expects extremist groups are going to seize on the conflict.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what they use to engage 鈥� the anger, that burning desire on the inside,鈥� she said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
鈥淗elplessness is a powerful thing. Fear is a powerful thing. And unfortunately, as human beings, emotions tend to prevail over logic.鈥�
Boudreau鈥檚 son, 22-year-old Damian Clairmont, converted to Islam as a teen and died in heavy fighting in the city of Aleppo in 2014 as a member of the Islamic State militant group.
Boudreau, who now lives in France, has spoken out for years about the dangers of youth becoming isolated and radicalized.
鈥淚 think about him every day. It doesn鈥檛 go away. He was very intelligent and empathetic and felt other people鈥檚 pain and his biggest frustration was the political system itself,鈥� she said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what started it.鈥�
Boudreau said she worries rising anger makes young people more vulnerable.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a free-for-all right now. If you look at the weakened state of everybody mentally, the resilience is not there and people are really struggling. So, it鈥檚 a gold mine,鈥� she said.
鈥淵ou can pick and choose (new recruits) right now because it鈥檚 so easy to get people fired up and fuelled up and joining your cause.鈥�
On Oct. 7, Hamas and other militants launched a surprise attack in southern Israel that left about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, dead. Some 240 men, women and children were taken hostage.
Israel launched a swift and sustained retaliatory war in the Gaza Strip. The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory said as of Friday the death toll had surpassed 17,000, with more than 46,000 wounded. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, but said 70 per cent were women and children.
Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor in religion and political studies at Queen鈥檚 University in Ontario, said anger is a legitimate response to what鈥檚 happening and it鈥檚 difficult to determine how to respond.
鈥淚 think this conflict in particular has a bizarre ability to short-circuit people鈥檚 usual commitment to human rights,鈥� said Amarasingam, who has researched terrorism, radicalization and extremism.
鈥淗ardliners on both sides tend to waffle, hedge and discount what 鈥榯heir side鈥� is doing in a way I鈥檝e never seen them do with other conflicts.鈥�
He said there鈥檚 been an uptick in hate speech and hate crimes on both sides.
鈥淭he Palestinian cause has always been a key component of the many grievances that jihadist groups discuss in their propaganda,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hat part hasn鈥檛 changed. But there鈥檚 definitely an increase in the propaganda output by groups like ISIS and (al-Qaida) to try and use the most recent conflict to recruit.鈥�
Imam Syed Soharwardy, founder of Muslims Against Terrorism and the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, has been counselling Muslim youth for years in order to combat radicalization.
He said the current situation is different than when the Islamic State group was attempting to lure disenfranchised youth several years ago.
Soharwardy said he has spent the past few weeks telling young people not to follow the path of violence and to express themselves in positive ways, such as writing letters to newspapers and contacting politicians.
鈥淚t is very hard to satisfy them that you need to control yourself. They listen to me, but I can read their faces that they are not satisfied with my answers,鈥� Soharwardy said.
鈥淚 have never seen our youth so angry this time, even after 9/11. It is worse than what ISIS used to do with the brainwashing. At least with ISIS they knew that these people were a bunch of thugs.鈥�
Soharwardy condemns the Hamas attack but said he鈥檚 disappointed western and European leaders haven鈥檛 criticized Israel鈥檚 response strongly enough. He said anger from the younger generation is also directed at Muslim governments.
鈥淥ur Muslim youth are more angry at Muslim governments than the western governments. Even this time, Iran did not support Hamas as openly as they used to do. Pakistan did not speak at all 鈥� and that is a very dangerous thing.鈥�
Soharwardy said Canada-wide protests have been peaceful for the most part and they allow those who are angry to have an outlet.
鈥淚f they stop these rallies, it鈥檚 going to put everything under the table or under the ground, which is very, very dangerous. This is very important they should blow off steam in this peaceful way.鈥�
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Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
