ACT!
For Canada previously issued special reports on The National Council
of Canadian Muslims (formerly CAIR-CAN) and Jamal Badawi.
Here is another in-depth report on the Muslim Association of Canada by
the intrepid website Point de Bascule. Anything researched and written
by them deserves a careful read. They do the best investigative journalism on
Islamic infiltration in Canada, bar none.
While the media, surprisingly or not,
barely mention the major role Chiheb Battikh played within the largest Islamic
organization in Quebec and also in Canada, it is good to be reminded what this
organization is all about before reading Battikh’s absurd
6 year sentence for kidnapping.
A brief bullet point MAC summary: (MAC = Muslim Association of Canada)
1. MAC
controls several schools in Quebec (and across Canada) - At least one is
funded by the Quebec government.
2. MAC
controls several daycare in Quebec - At least one receives funding from the
Quebec government.
3. MAC
organizes summer camps where Islamic preachers, already internationally known
for their ultra-radical discourses, where invited to preach in front of ‘young’
participants.
4. MAC
regularly host, support or invite known ultra-radical preachers – Twice, these
speakers were the subject of a motion condemning their presence on Canadian
soil by the Quebec National Assembly.
5. MAC
controls the leading halal certification agency in Quebec. Olymel acquires the
halal certification seal from this agency for tens of thousands of dollars per
slaughterhouses.
6. MAC
transferred important sums of money towards a terrorist organization fund
collector. The fund collector lost its charity status because it funded… a
known and listed terrorist organization.
7. MAC
published a Press Release openly defending a known and listed terrorist
organization that regularly threatens the West and Canada in particular.
8. MAC
also received important sums of money, through its schools, from countries such
as Saudi Arabia. One of the organizations that funded (at least one government
subsidized) these schools, had its charity status revoked by the Canada Revenue
Agency because of its direct link with none other than Al-Qaida.
9. Days
after MAC’s former president, Wael Haddara, resigned, he became a key advisor
to Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. This demonstrate
Haddara’s intimacy with the International Muslim Brotherhood network and
agenda.
10.MAC
demands that governments, may they be Municipal, Provincial or Federal,
implement measures to counter “Islamophobia”…
11. Battikh
was not only the head of the educational department for the MAC, a Board of
Director and an administrator for several of their schools, he was part of the
Executive Committee (EC) of the MAC as well. The EC is distinct from the Board
of Directors…
12. Battikh
also ran other organizations, one of which was a Mosque in Mississauga Ontario
(1997-2004). This Mosque transferred no less than $877,393.oo to
MAC recorded in 2005.
Beyond the fact that MAC would
not only endorse an individual like Battikh as part of its key leadership
infrastructure and that several of its leaders are also linked with
radicalization, it continues to sponsor, invite, defend and associate with individuals
and organizations that are known to be incubators of radicalism and/or
supporters of violence and terrorism.
According to Global Muslim
Brotherhood Daily Watch a website monitoring the Muslim
Brotherhood around the world, MAC and Hamas (Charter – Article 2)
are among the rare sections of the network openly acknowledging their links
with the Brotherhood.
And now, the report…
Respected
Muslim Association of Canada Leader pleads guilty to toddler kidnapping
The kidnapping of a 3-year old child in Montreal on December 19 was well
covered by the media. On the other hand, the main suspect Chiheb Battikh’s
Islamist background and his role within the Muslim Brotherhood local
infrastructure have gone unreported since his arrest.
Point de Bascule presents a list of organizations run by Battikh that we
have been able to identify so far.
.
Battikh confesses
When police arrived on the scene they immediately arrested
Battikh, who had a stun gun, pepper spray and car keys on him.
Officers found Battikh’s car parked on Elmwood Street, just
near the park. It had a fake licence plate, and inside the trunk were an X-Acto
knife, electrical tape, plastic ties, and a briefcase containing two cans of
pepper spray.
Police arrested Battikh on Dec. 19, 2012 in Outremont near
F.X. Garneau Park. (Radio-Canada)
Battikh first told police the boy’s father attacked him,
but he eventually confessed to trying to kidnap the toddler.
Battikh,
a computer engineer, told police during his interrogation that he no longer had
the means to support his wife and five children.
The kidnapping of a 3-year old child in Montreal on
December 19 was well covered by the media. On the other hand, the main suspect
Chiheb Battikh’s Islamist background and his role within the Muslim Brotherhood
local infrastructure have gone unreported since his arrest.
Point de Bascule presents a list of organizations run by
Battikh that we have been able to identify so far.
Left, La Presse (Montreal – February 8, 2013) announces that Chiheb Battikh
was denied bail after having been arrested for the kidnapping of a 3-year old
boy in Montreal.
Right, on CTV News (June 20, 2011), on behalf of the Muslim Association of
Canada, Chiheb Battikh expressed his opposition to FIFA rules that were
forbidding the wearing of hijab and other political, religious, personal and
commercial symbols on a soccer field.
Part 1 – The Crown
prosecutor stresses that there was premeditation in the Montreal kidnapping of
a child to get ransom
Part 2 –
Chiheb Battikh’s role in the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC)
Chiheb Battikh was a member of MAC’s board of directors
from 2000 to 2002 and a member of its executive committee in 2004-2005. When he
was arrested in December 2012, he was head of MAC Education department.
Part 3 – MAC
aims at progressively implementing sharia in Canada
MAC declares that its ideological origin goes back to the
founding of the Muslim Brotherhood (1928) and that it strives to implement
Islam as understood by its founder Hassan al-Banna (1906-1949).
Part 4 – MAC
/ Canadian Institute of Islamic Civilization (CIIC)
Chiheb Battikh is director of this MAC substructure in
Montreal. The CIIC is a think tank where Islamist leaders with expertise in
various fields develop tactics in order to adapt to the Canadian reality the
strategies of Islamization decided by the Muslim Brotherhood leadership in Doha
(Qatar), at the IIIT or elsewhere.
Part 5 – MAC
/ Springs for Knowledge
Chiheb Battikh is one of Springs for Knowledge instructors.
It is a substructure of MAC Department of Education whose role is to train the
next generation of Islamist leaders who will implement, in Canada, the
decisions taken by the Muslim Brotherhood leadership. On its website, Springs
for Knowledge indicates that it recruits its candidates mostly in high schools
and universities.
Part 6 – Le
Savoir School
Chiheb Battikh was a member of this Montreal Islamic high
school’s board of directors in 2011-2012. The building where the school is
located is owned by MAC.
Part 7 –
Mississauga’s Jamat-E-Islahul Muslemin Mosque
Chiheb Battikh joined the mosque’s board of directors after
he moved to Ontario. He remained on its board after moving back to Montreal in
2004.
Part 8 –
Ennahda
Political party representing the Muslim Brotherhood in
Tunisia. It is the main component of the current government. A Tunisian website
presented Chiheb Battikh, born in Tunisia, as being close to Ennahda.
Part 9 –
Chihed Battikh signed a petition addressed to President Obama with many other
North American Muslim Brotherhood heavyweights
NOTE: There are many variations in the spelling of Chiheb
Battikh’s name in official documents and in those published by the Islamist
organizations to which he belongs. This is only a partial list.
Chiheb Battikh – MAC Springs for Knowledge’s
website
Chehab Battikh – Poster of a cultural and sportive event organized by MAC Youth
Chihab Battikh – MAC’s annual report on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website (2000)
Chihab Battiel – MAC’s annual report on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website (2001)
Chihab Batikh – MAC’s annual report on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website (2002)
Chehab Battikh – Poster of a cultural and sportive event organized by MAC Youth
Chihab Battikh – MAC’s annual report on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website (2000)
Chihab Battiel – MAC’s annual report on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website (2001)
Chihab Batikh – MAC’s annual report on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website (2002)
Part 1 – The Crown prosecutor stresses that there was premeditation in the Montreal kidnapping of a child to get ransom
The engineer Chiheb Battikh, 51, head of the Muslim
Association of Canada Education department is charged with kidnapping a 3-year
old boy with intent to obtain a ransom from his rich family of Swedish origin.
In its December 24, 2012 edition, L’Express Outremont / Mont-Royal (Archives PdeB) reported the following
facts about the kidnapping.
On December 19, 2012, the suspect Chiheb Battikh rushed on
a man who was walking in F.-X. Garneau park with his 3-year old child in
Outremont, a Montreal district. After having temporarily overpowered the
father, the suspect grabbed the child and ran with him. After getting back up,
the father chased the suspect and intercepted him with the help of a passerby. They
restrained the suspect and waited for police to arrive.
Apparently, police found all the equipment required for the
kidnapping and the confinement of the child in the suspect’s vehicle (Taser
gun, pepper spray, etc.).
According to the investigation conducted by the Montreal
Police Service, it seems that the suspect had carefully chosen his victim.
When she talked to the media, Crown prosecutor Me Sylvie
Lemieux stressed that there was premeditation:
“I think it’s a person who was responsible, who knew exactly
what he was doing for a good period of time, with the facts that we have in our
file.” (…)
“This was targeted, calculated. There were searches on the
Internet to find the ideal victim for whom he could demand a ransom – a large
amount of money. He made a statement explaining how he found out the ideal
victim, how he acquired the weapons he needed and how he chose the day to act.”
When Chiheb Battikh was arrested for kidnapping in December
2012, MAC Springs of Knowledge’s website listed three of his functions in the
MAC infrastructure:
1.
Head of MAC
Education Department;
2.
Director of the
Canadian Institute of Islamic Civilization (Montreal Chapter), a MAC
substructure;
3.
Instructor of young
Muslims enrolled in MAC’s Springs for Knowledge program.
MAC’s logo is clearly displayed on the Springs for Knowledge’s
website homepage.
On June 20, 2011, CTV News also identified Chiheb Battikh
on television and on its website as a Muslim
Association of Canada’s spokesperson. At the time, CTV interviewed Battikh and Museb Nabil Abu-Thuraia about
their opposition to a decision taken by a Montreal soccer federation to
implement FIFA rules banning the wearing of hijab and other political,
religious, personal and commercial symbols on a soccer field.
According to Montreal La Presse, Chiheb Battikh has
been living in Canada for more than twenty-five years. One of his children, a
singer who performs in Muslim Brotherhood’s activities, has posted his own biography on the Internet. He
describes his family’s moves between Montreal and Toronto.
Upon his arrival in Canada at the end of the eighties, Chiheb
Battikh settled in Montreal. He lived there approximately until 1992 before
moving to Toronto and living there until 2004. That year, he came back in the
Montreal area. When he was arrested, Chiheb Battikh was living in Laval, a
Montreal suburb.
Reports provided by MAC to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
identify Chihab Battikh (sic) in 2000, Chihab Battiel (sic) in
2001 and Chihab Batikh (sic)
in 2002 among the organization’s
directors. Exceptionally in 2000, there is a postal code
beside Chihab Battikh’s name in the CRA file. It is a Mississauga postal code,
a Toronto suburb.
In July 2004 and in October 2005, MAC identified
Chiheb Battikh on its website as the head of the Institutions Department within
its Executive committee, an entity separate from the Board of directors. In
2006, MAC stopped posting the names of the members of its Executive committee.
Chiheb Battikh negotiates the purchase of a Montreal
downtown building for the MAC
Around 2010-2011, MAC tried to acquire a building located
at 615 Belmont in the business district of Montreal as a base for its Islamist
think tank, the Canadian Institute of Islamic Civilization. This building was
originally the head office of the engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.
Disagreements occurred between the owner and MAC. In a motion submitted to the
Superior Court on February 15, 2012, MAC asked the tribunal to transfer the
ownership of the building to its name. In section 22 of the motion,
Chiheb Battikh is referred to as MAC’s representative responsible for the
purchase of the building. His name is also mentioned in sections 24, 25 and 26
of the document.
On the Canadian Institute of Islamic Civilization’s website
(section Building), the
organization’s head office is at 615 Belmont in Montreal.
In an undated document posted on the Portail des musulmans du Grand Montréal,
Mohamed Hamrani announced, on behalf of MAC, the acquisition of the building
located at 615 Belmont. However, information available at the City of Montreal Property Assessment Service
does not indicate that MAC owns the building on the day this article is being
published (February 22, 2013).
According to documents submitted by MAC to the Canada
Revenue Agency, Mohamed Hamrani was one of its directors in 2006.
MAC Springs for Knowledge website
Br. Chiheb Battikh, Head of MAC Education Department and Director of the Canadian Institute of Islamic Civilization. (Montreal Chapter)
Br. Chiheb Battikh, Head of MAC Education Department and Director of the Canadian Institute of Islamic Civilization. (Montreal Chapter)
MAC implements the Muslim Brotherhood program in Canada. On
its own website, it states that
its “modern roots can be traced to the Islamic revival of the early twentieth
century, culminating in the movement of the Muslim Brotherhood … MAC adopts and
strives to implement Islam … as understood in its contemporary context by the
late Imam, Hassan Albanna (1906-1949), the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
In his 50-point manifesto, Hassan
al-Banna urges his supporters to abolish political parties and replace them by
a single party system. He favours the modification of laws so that they conform
to sharia and calls for the multiplication of associations dedicated to
promoting the spirit of jihad amongst the youth.
In his essay On Jihad, al-Banna explains
that “it’s an obligation for us (Muslims) to fight against them (the infidels)
after inviting them (to join Islam), even if they do not fight against us”.
In another text (To what Do We Invite Humanity?),
Hassan al-Banna refers to Adolf Hitler as a role model for Muslims looking for
“success and fortune”.
According to GMBDR, a website monitoring the Muslim Brotherhood around the
world, MAC and Hamas (Charter – Article 2) are among the rare
sections of the network openly acknowledging their links with the Brotherhood.
MAC has even openly defended Hamas in a press release more than a
year after the Canadian government added the organization to its terror list on November
27, 2002.
From 2001 to 2010, MAC transferred $296,514 to
IRFAN-Canada, Hamas’ fund collector in the country. In April 2011, the Canada
Revenue Agency (CRA) revoked IRFAN’s status after having concluded that, for
the period 2005-2009 alone, it transferred $14.6 million to the terrorist
organization Hamas (GMBDR – Toronto
Star).
Hamas’ leaders frequently advocate for an Islamic conquest
of the West (2008 – 2011 – 2012) and the terrorist organization has vowed to wage jihad
against Israel until it is wiped off the map (Charter – Article
13).
In spite of its charitable status that forbids involvement
in politics, MAC radicalizes the Muslim community by regularly inviting in
Canada foreign Islamist leaders who promote the implementation of sharia in the
country.
Tariq Ramadan is one of these speakers invited by MAC. In a
2004 interview granted to an Egyptian magazine, Tariq Ramadan enjoined
Islamist leaders operating in Canada to use the flexibility of the Canadian
legal framework to their advantage and introduce sharia in the country. Ramadan
warned that “for the time being”, it would be preferable not to openly mention
the term sharia in Canada while doing so. “The term shariah in itself is laden
with negative connotations in the Western mind. There is no need to stress
that”, he concluded.
In 2011 in Dallas, Tariq Ramadan enjoined his supporters to
“colonize”
The program Springs for Knowledge was set up by MAC to train the next generations of leaders who will steer
the offensive of Islamization in Canada and implement locally the decisions
taken by the Muslim Brotherhood leadership:
This program is aimed to provide the seeker of knowledge
with a basic, yet comprehensive understanding of the Islamic sciences. The
program is the fruit of many years of educational development by the Muslim
Association of Canada and represents one of its leading milestones. The current
program is tailored towards a youth audience from high school to university.
Besides Chiheb Battikh, four other instructors are
identified on the Springs for Knowledge website:
Fatimah Elmasri – Diploma in Islamic Studies, Islamic
American University;
Ahmad Korashy – PhD Candidate in Electrical Engineering,
McGill University
Ibrahim Mashhoor – PhD Candidate in Civil Engineering,
Concordia University;
Chiheb Battikh – Head of MAC Education Department and
Director of the Canadian Institute of Islamic Civilization (Montreal Chapter);
Ayman Oweida – Ayman Oweida, PhD Candidate in
Experimental Medicine, McGill University.
Oweida often writes letters to the editor (Letter 1 – Letter 2) in order to discredit the country where he has chosen to live, to apply
the Muslim Brotherhood’s demoralization program and to convince his readers
that they should capitulate in front of Islamist recriminations. In a 2004
article, CAIR-CAN, the Muslim Brotherhood PR
machine in Canada, figured that it should have paid more than half a million
dollars to purchase ad space in mainstream newspapers to have a comparable
impact to that of letters to the editors written by its activists published
over a period of three and a half years.
Springs for Knowledge website was shut down shortly after
Daniel Greenfield added a link towards the website in a FrontPage article about
the implication of Chiheb Battikh in the program.
Daniel Greenfield (FrontPageMag.com – February 10, 2013):
Director of Canadian Institute
of Islamic Civilization Accused of Kidnapping 3-Year-Old Boy
Springs for Knowledge web pages as they appeared on
February 10, 2013 are archived on Point de Bascule.
Le Savoir Islamic School's file at the Quebec Registry of
Enterprises (NEQ 1165169500) states that Chiheb Battikh
was on the school’s board from November 4, 2011 to October 31, 2012.
Chiheb (Chehab) Battikh is also listed as a
contact-person on a poster advertizing a MAC Youth activity held at Le Savoir School.
Le Savoir School is located at 11950 Gouin W. in
Montreal. According to information available at the City of Montreal Property Assessment Service, MAC owns the building. It
bought the property on April 29, 2008 for $1,450,000. Lazhar Aissaoui signed the agreement on MAC’s behalf
when he was the organization’s treasurer.
Association Le Savoir manages the school. It is
considered a charitable organization by the Canada Revenue Agency since July 1,
2011 (CRA 824216220RR0001). There is no available
annual report in its CRA file yet.
The school’s vice-president and treasurer, Samer Majzoub,
is also the president of the Canadian Muslim Forum, an umbrella organization
representing many Muslim Brotherhood-linked entities. It is active in Quebec.
Point de Bascule published its profile before the 2012 Quebec provincial election.
2001 – A Saudi organization that was
financing al-Qaeda transferred funds to another Muslim school in Montreal (Dar
al-Iman) run by Samer Majzoub
While Samer Majzoub was on the board of directors of
another Muslim school in Montreal (Dar al-Iman), it received $21,890 from WAMY-Canada, the branch
of a Saudi organization involved in the radicalization of young Muslims around the world.
The Canada Revenue Agency’s files indicate that, the same
year, WAMY-Canada funded the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), an
organization linked with al-Qaeda. On February 11, 2012, the CRA revoked WAMY’s charitable status in
light these facts.
GMBDR (March 7, 2012): Canada Revokes WAMY Charitable
Status
Point de Bascule: File World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY)
2003 – Samer Majzoub organized Islamist
Yvonne Ridley’s visit in Montreal
A CNW press release identifies Samer Majzoub as
the spokesman of MAC and three other Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations
that invited Yvonne Ridley in Canada in 2003.
Barbara Kay wrote an article about Yvonne Ridley’s
positions when she visited Canada on another occasion in 2007:
In 2006, Ridley pointed out in a debate at the London Imperial
College that she supports Hamas (“pretty much in line with Hamas”). Hamas is an
organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the implementation of
sharia worldwide;
Ridley stated that Shamil Basayev who planned the 2004
children massacre in a Beslan school (Chechnya) had become a “shahid”, a martyr
whose place is assured in paradise after being killed;
In 2006, Ridley incited Muslims in London not to cooperate with local
police.
Barbara Kay (The Suburban – October 8, 2008): Yvonne Ridley guest speaker for
Islamists in Canada
Chiheb Battikh joined the mosque’s board of directors
after he moved to Ontario. He remained on its board after moving back to
Montreal in 2004.
This mosque has a charitable status. According to data
available on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website, Chiheb Battikh was a director
of the mosque from 1997 to 2004 and its treasurer from 2004 to 2011. Data for
2012 are not available.
In 2005, while Battikh was treasurer
of the Jamat-E-Islahul Muslemin mosque, the CRA report indicates a transfer of
$877,393 to the Muslim Association of Canada.
The Tunis Tribune website paid some attention to the Chiheb Battikh affair since he was born
in Tunisia. In an undated article that was published after Battikh’s arrest,
the Tunisian website presented him as being close to Ennahda, the Muslim
Brotherhood organization in that country. It did not provide any details
however. Ennahda is the main component of the current Tunisian government.
http://news.tunistribune.com/?q=tag/chiheb-battikh
Chiheb Battikh – Canada: A Canadian of Tunisian descent close to Ennahda is charged with the kidnapping of a child
Chiheb Battikh – Canada: A Canadian of Tunisian descent close to Ennahda is charged with the kidnapping of a child
Part 9 – Chihed Battikh signed a petition addressed to President Obama with many other North American Muslim Brotherhood heavyweights
At the beginning of Barack Obama’s presidency, Chiheb
Battikh joined many other Muslim Brotherhood heavyweights and signed a petition asking him to break ties with
authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. Since then, many of the targeted
leaders were forced out of power by the so-called “Arab spring”. Subsequent
events demonstrated that the Muslim Brotherhood’s coming to power in Egypt, in
Tunisia and elsewhere did not improve the situation of human rights in these
countries.
However, these Muslim Brotherhood supporters do not take
a stand against the current human rights abuses in Egypt or the arrest of
journalists in Turkey as they support these regimes.
Besides Chiheb Battikh, who signed the petition on behalf
of MAC, there were many other Muslim Brotherhood leaders and fellow travellers
among the signatories:
Mohammad Fadel
University of Toronto
Point de Bascule
University of Toronto
Point de Bascule
Lise Garon
Université Laval
Point de Bascule
Université Laval
Point de Bascule
John Esposito
Georgetown University
GMBDR – Investigative Project
Georgetown University
GMBDR – Investigative Project
Louay Safi
Islamic Society of North America
GMBDR – Investigative Project – JihadWatch
Islamic Society of North America
GMBDR – Investigative Project – JihadWatch
Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad
Minaret of Freedom Institute
Point de Bascule – GMBDR
Minaret of Freedom Institute
Point de Bascule – GMBDR
Salam Al-Marayati
Muslim Public Affairs Council
GMBDR – Investigative Project
Muslim Public Affairs Council
GMBDR – Investigative Project
Ghulam-Nabi Fai
Kashmiri American Council
GMBDR – Investigative Project
Kashmiri American Council
GMBDR – Investigative Project
Yvonne Haddad
Georgetown University
GMBDR
Georgetown University
GMBDR
Ingrid Mattson
Hartford Seminary (now at Huron College)
GMBDR – Investigative Project
Hartford Seminary (now at Huron College)
GMBDR – Investigative Project
Further reading
Point de Bascule: File Chiheb BATTIKH
Point de Bascule: File Muslim Association of Canada
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