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He was past president of PEN.
In 2006, the Toronto Star journalist Haroon Siddiqui was already preparing the way for Canadian schools by writing his book "Being a Muslim. (Groundwork Guides)".
Getting the population young is the smartest way for ideologies to pass on their message. Why not try that for religions as well.
The premise of this book is clearly outlined in the first chapter of the book:
Contrary to the popular belief that the West is under siege from Muslim terrorists, it is Muslims who have become the biggest victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001, as inconceivable as that would have seemed in the aftermath of the murder of 2,900 Americans. Since then, between 34,000 and 100,000 Iraqis have been killed by the Americans or the insurgents. Nobody knows how many have been killed in Afghanistan. In the spots hit by terrorists – from London and Madrid to Amman, Istanbul, Riyadh and Jeddah, through Karachi to Bali and Jakarta – more Muslims have been killed and injured than non-Muslims.Two high school teachers from Manitoba review this book and both find "Being a Muslim":
The approximately 27 million Muslims living in Western nations have been targeted in other ways. They have been victims of racial profiling and frequent identity mix-ups at airports and border crossings, where they may be harassed and sometimes detained. Monitored by both the secret services and the media, they must be careful about what they say in emails, phone conversations and in public. They must think twice about keeping a beard or wearing overtly Muslim clothing and be mindful of their behavior in public. They must keep proving, in school and at work, that neither they nor their faith fit the caricature of Muslims and Islam drilled into the public consciousness.
...a highly-accessible guide to the faith, an exploration of the social and economic challenges faced by Muslims living in societies (both European and North American) founded largely on Judeo-Christian values,One elaborates even further by saying:
As a social studies teacher, I look forward to taking the entire first section of the book as a study of current events and of the effective use of persuasive style in nonfiction writing. . . Siddiqui is unequivocal and effective in exposing double standards and inconsistencies in contemporary media coverage of news stories in which Islam plays a part. One can only hope that a publisher sees the value in taking Siddiqui’s research and clear style and expanding the work into a more comprehensive contemporary treatment of Islam for high school students...”In other words, what these young students are hearing about Islam is all wrong and that Siddiqui counters all the negative reports about Islam in his brilliantly persuasive book. Forget about 9/11 and the 3,000 that were murdered, think about all those Iraqis and Afghans that have been killed by American (and now Canadian) forces. And let's not forget the Muslims targeted in Western countries, those countries founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and whose prime purpose is now to oppress these poor Muslims.
And just like I mentioned earlier, this seasoned teacher was struck by the "effective use of persuasive style in nonfiction writing." This is exactly one strategy that writers like Siddiqui would need to cultivate in order to falsify the information even his ultra-left newspaper reports as true.
Just the way to reach the young Canadian minds.
One more thing, this is a writer who has received the Order of Canada, the highest civilian order, for his "journalistic contributions as well as his voluntary work in helping to forge the new Canadian identity." I suspect in Siddiqui's world, Western civilization is a threat to his Islamic culture, and has no place any more in the "new Canadian identity" that he is forging.
