Paris attacks: Obama says Muslims should ponder how extremist ideologies take root

The men in the video blast the recent spate of Islamophobic reactions to the Paris attacks, explaining that to hold Muslims responsible for the attacks is akin to holding all Germans responsible for Hitler’s actions or all Chinese for Mao’s.

But they say a few people are not separating the two and Muslims around the world are feeling the backlash.

Mr Fico, who is running for re-election in March next year, said: “We are monitoring every Muslim in our territory”. And often Islam is misinterpreted by those extremists committing heinous crimes but this time Muslims around the globe have taken a stand against terrorism and extremists misinterpretation.

He said he doesn’t consider ISIS members or other radicals to be Muslims.

‘These are criminals and cowards with no regard for the sanctity of human life. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims and to the people of France. You are in our prayers that the Almighty God grant you patience in these hard times.

Here’s to hoping that in our pain and grief in the aftermath of last week’s violence all over the world, we collectively rise above the hatred Daesh hopes to engender, and show compassion instead.

For instance, just a day before the Paris attacks, more than 40 people were killed in a double suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. In Ontario, Canada (a former French colony), a mosque was deliberately set on fire on Saturday, police have confirmed.

“If you don’t like this country, why the f*** did you come?”.

Beeman says it’s important to understand ISIS is not Islam, but that ISIS leaders have cherry picked portions of the Quran to justify their tactics. The group was comprised of a largely Catholic denomination; however, as Butt points out, the world saw these terrorists as fanatics not a group for which all Catholics could identify with.

“We are better off because we spent this money, and we have created these programs, and panic is absolutely not the right response”, said Daniel Benjamin, a former counterterrorism official who now works for Dartmouth College.

“We have to change those ideas”, Maher said of Muslim ideology. But there are also those, a minority, who will use this event as an opportunity to sow discord and division in our society.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt also denounced the attacks just hours after the attacks late Friday. To which Butt states Canada is no different than any other allied nation and should do its due-diligence in fighting this war.