Queensland teenager who fled to join Al Qaeda affiliate became radicalised over the internet, an Islamic leader says
By Kym Agius
Updated yesterday at 1:24pmSat 16 May 2015, 1:24pm
Photo: Oliver Bridgeman (left) moved from the Gold Coast to Toowoomba. (Facebook)
Related Story: Queensland teenager flees country, joins Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria
Map: Toowoomba 4350
The Queensland teenager suspected of joining an Al Qaeda-linked terror group in Syria did not make strong bonds with the local Muslim community and may have been radicalised over the internet, an Islamic leader says.
Only six months ago Oliver Bridgeman, 18, denounced extremism on Facebook however it is now believed he left his hometown of Toowoomba in March to join the Al Nusra Front, the official Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, and several Islamist factions.
How long will we let them get away with calling Islamic Jihadi’s “Loners” or “Lone Wolf” when they are clearly an integral part of the paradigm of Islamic Jihadi Violence.
In November 2014 Tarek Fatah, Founder, Muslim Canadian Congress made submissions to the Canadian Senate Committee
...Let me give you an example of what Islamism is. Islamism is like an agricultural enterprise. Tilling the soil is different from planting and sowing the seed. Irrigating the soil is not the same as spreading pesticide to keep the parasites away. When it comes to harvesting the crop, the act is different than the sale of the crop. Dear senators, some Islamists plant the seed, while others harvest the crop of jihadists as recruiters.
Senator Stewart Olsen: Thank you for your frankness in your discussions on this. I wanted to understand from you the support infrastructure [FOR JIHADISTS] that you believe is here within the country. I'm wondering if you could give me just briefly what is the support infrastructure here in groups.
...Mr. Fatah: The way you look at it, senator, is not how the world works in the realm of Islamism. We don't need a structure. Many of the things that I have pointed out are generated in the minds of infants, of five-year-old boys who are dressed up as medieval invaders of Europe. My name Tarek is a name given to me because of the general who invaded Spain in the year 711. It doesn't need the infrastructure that you are looking for.
...We are living in a different age when states are not attacking us but non-state actors want to kill us, and they're recruiting from within us. These are not deprived, uneducated kids, but two Quebecois, sons of the soil, came from us and killed our own soldiers. Nobody has asked who converted them to Islam. Not a single person has asked these questions: What was that contact point? Who was the individual?
Not journalists, not politicians, no Liberal, no Conservative, no New Democrat, nobody dared ask this question because that would be racist, wouldn't it? If I had to solve a crime, my first point is who recruited you to the mafia? If it was criminal, wouldn't that be the first question?
This guy killed his own countrymen, and we don't want to know who made him do that?
...every Friday prayer is preceded by a prayer asking for the defeat of the infidel at the hands of the Muslims... That prayer has been going on for 1,400 years.