The hunt is on to determine just where a radical Islamic conference aimed at defeating the “colonialists” is set to take place in Mississauga.
While scheduled to be held Jan. 18, so far the location is a secret. What isn’t secret is the meeting’s theme.
“The Khilafah, eliminating the obstacles that are delaying its return,” states a social media post promoting the conference, where people are encouraged to sign up for the event put on by Hizb-ut-Tahrir Canada.
On its website, Hizb-ut-Tahrir Canada describes itself as a “political party whose ideology is Islam, so politics is its work and Islam is its ideology.”
Khilafah means Caliphate, which is a society run by Islamic rule. Hizb-ut-Tahrir Canada has so far not commented.
However, Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish wrote in a message posted on X that “preaching hate of any kind is a federal criminal offence. All we as a municipality can do is not rent our facilities to potential hate mongers, try to track down where the conference is being held and inform the police.”
Parrish also told the Toronto Sun “our staff is attempting to track down which private facility is hosting the conference so we can share what we know about the Hizb ut-Tahrir with the management” and “we have also alerted Pearson Airport authorities to carefully monitor passports to deny entry to those on Canada’s banned lists.”
Western Standard journalist Jarryd Jager, who brought this information to the public’s attention, describes Hizb ut-Tahrir as group that advocates for Sharia Law and an Islamic world.
A Facebook video featuring an unnamed man, shot with Mississauga landmarks in the background, promotes the opportunity to “learn what it will take for our Ummah to overcome America, Europe, Russia, China, and others from the position we’re in today” and “if you want to help create real change in our Ummah, then get this critical knowledge by attending, Insha’Allah.”
It also says “the colonialists will point to their technology, vast armies, giant economies, and their pervasive influence,” but he said “none of this power compares to the might of Allah” and doesn’t “stand” against “the strength Allah has given our Ummah.”
Wherever it’s held, Meir Weinstein, of Israel Now, said, “We will confront it,” adding, “we are working to have the conference shut down, but if it isn’t, we will be outside protesting a conference that has declared war against Western civilization, which includes Jews, Christians, Sikhs. Hindus and all non-believers, including Muslims who don’t follow this barbaric doctrine.”
It’s always interesting how hard it is for authorities to say something like this needs to be cancelled, yet it was so easy for them to cancel iconic Mississauga resident Don Cherry for merely saying “you people” should wear a poppy at Remembrance Day.
Fascinating how some are offended by saying Merry Christmas but anything else goes. There are so many double standards and Cherry, who playfully mocked the anti-Christmas sentiment in a Dec. 25 post on X, was the catalyst to pointing out all of this madness way back in 2019.
It seems when it comes to radical Islam planting its flag in Canada – like it did New Years Eve outside Union Station – leaders are afraid to touch it.
“Hizb ut-Tahrir is known internationally for its problematic and extremist ideology and has been recognized in other jurisdictions as a extremist entity,” B’nai Brith Director of Research and Advocacy Richard Robertson said. “B’nai Brith Canada has grave concerns about its upcoming conference and the affect if might have on Canadian society.”
But this event, while promoted in the video where what appears to be Taliban flag is prominent, is being billed as family friendly. At this “free event,” Hizb ut-Tahrir offers a lunch and babysitting to hear speakers Abu Omar talk about “nationalism and the regimes and frontline enemies of Islam” and Malik Abu Luqman talk about “the colonialist powers” and Bilal Khan talk about Palestine and Dr. Gelani talk about “despairing in the victory of Allah” in which “trusting him is an obligation.”
“We do have a duty to ensure no one on our staff inadvertently rented one of our public facilities to them and that has been checked and confirmed they are not in one of our buildings,” Parrish said. “Further, as a responsible organization we are checking out banquet halls they have used before to alert the owners.”
This comes at a time when the Greater Toronto Area has experienced non-stop antisemitic, pro-Hamas demonstrations and just weeks after a group who planned a martyrs’ vigil for the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was cancelled at City Hall out of concern it could be seen as something in very bad taste in light of the more than 100 Israeli hostages still being held and the more than 1,200 innocent souls slain on Oct 7, 2023.
At the time the martyrs’ vigil was cancelled, Parrish took a lot of heat for suggesting she could not stop any protest in the public square.
This time, however, she told me it is “quite a different issue from previous marches and vigils in that the group has been banned from our facilities for over ten years based on openly discussing overthrowing democracies including ours.”
Peel Regional Police, the RCMP or the Prime Minister’s office have yet to comment.
“Definitely a federal issue when it comes to refusing admission to Canada by those on terror watch lists,” she said.
But it could be Mississauga’s problem Jan 18th because although last year’s event was cancelled, this one appears to still be on.