Terrorist groups like ISIL are adept at using nuances in basic Islamic concepts to draw youth to their cause, an RCMP expert on the issue told the jury hearing the trial of a young couple facing terror-related charges at the Montreal courthouse.
Terek Mokdad, a recognized expert on groups like ISIL, was being cross-examined by the lawyers representing Sabrine Djermane, 21, and El Mahdi Jamali, 20, on Tuesday. Mokdad, a Crown witness, has been on the the witness stand for a week.
The Montreal couple are on trial on charges alleging they were preparing to leave Canada to join ISIL in Syria and that they were preparing to build a pressure-cooker bomb.
Charles Benmouyal, the lawyer for Djermane, asked Mokdad a series of questions concerning the expert’s impressions of material found on computers seized from a condo the couple was renting on Aird Ave. when they were arrested.
While summarizing some of Mokdad’s previous testimony, Benmouyal reminded the expert that he said groups like ISIL use the nuances in Hadiths, accounts of what the prophet Muhammad said or did, “to lure” young people into violent causes while convincing them they would be protecting the faith by joining their cause. For example, in general, the concept of jihad means defending and supporting the Muslim faith, but ISIL uses nuances in its definition to convince young people to take up arms in Syria.
“You think they (ISIL propagandists) are good at it, don’t you,” Benmouyal asked.
“Absolutely, they are excellent at that,” Mokdad replied.
“But you wouldn’t be fooled by them?” Benmouyal continued.
“No. That is why you see across Canada most of the candidates (for recruitment to ISIL) who buy into the jihadist cause are young and they don’t know much about the faith,” Mokdad said. “They take a bad route, the wrong route.”
The expert also said the key to preventing young people from being drawn to the causes of ISIL is education.
“I guarantee you if you demystify these concepts to Canadians, it is amazing how many would get informed” and avoid joining such groups, he said.
While making the same point, Mokdad also praised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to not let the Canadian military take part in bombing ISIL-held territory in Syria. Trudeau said bomb attacks would kill innocent people and he preferred having soldiers trained to fight ISIL combatants.
“That took the wind completely out of ISIL’s cause in Canada, and I saw it for myself online after he said it,” Mokdad said. “Knowledge and information is the way to go — not terrorist activity.”
