And in Toronto,
By BRODIE FENLON, TORONTO SUN
A week-long conference on radical Islam organized by Jewish student groups at the University of Toronto has stirred up controversy and resentment among Muslims at a time of heightened sensitivities due to world events.
The "Know Radical Islam Week," which includes presentations on terrorism and civil rights violations in Islamic regimes, began yesterday at Sidney Smith Hall just as violent protests swept the globe over published caricatures of Prophet Mohammed.
The coincidence was not lost on U of T student Jonathan Jaffit, director of campus affairs for Betar-Tagar, the Zionist student activist group that helped organize the conference.
"The issue of the cartoons in the European media just goes to showcase even further how radical Islam is suppressing freedom of speech through violence," he said.
"This is about a political ideology that's hijacked a religion," he said of the conference topic. "It will definitely stir up controversy, but we cannot shy away from these events."
Student Mubdi Rahman, academic affairs co-ordinator with the university's Muslim Student Association, said the conference "seeks to divide, as opposed to bridge any sort of dialogue on these issues."
Rahman said he has heard from many Muslim students who feel threatened they'll be viewed as "radicals" due to their beliefs, some of which will be criticized at the conference. The MSA issued an e-mail to its 2,000 members urging them to "exercise restraint and dignity" over the next few weeks.
What's next? Know Radical Judaism Week? Guess it's ok for some but not others
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Toron...29452-sun.html