By Staff
January 30th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
This article has been updated.
Transforming Minds, Shaping the Future
On Feb. 24th in Burlington, Ontario, an organization called the “i3 Institute” is holding their “Reviving Roots Conference” with the theme of “Reclaiming the Muslim Identity in a Secular World.” One of the speakers is Mohammed Hijab.
Hijab an outspoken antisemite obsessed with Jews and Israel, he’s described pedophilia as “relative,” and he routinely pontificates about the superiority of Islam.
Members of i3 – names of the men were not provided.
i3 institute is a non-profit organization offering classical Islāmic education through a holistic and interactive approach. Impact? Today we have several brands to help Muslims reach their full potential!
We have been serving different segments of the Muslim communities with a focus on youth development through regular halaqas, workshops, conferences, and tournaments for the personal and professional development of our students and volunteers.
Mayor Meed Ward appears to have taken exception to the event – and released the following statement:
Some wondered what the statement was about when it appeared on social media. Struck the Gazette as a little inflammatory.
Reactions like this do not help. The Region has a growing Muslim community – we are no longer a white Judeo-Christian society.
Gazette reader Ted GAmble provided this LINK in his comment.
I believe Hijab’s views are being misrepresented by certain Zionist and pro-Zionist groups. i3 is not some extremist, hateful, Jew-hating group that would invite an “extremist” speaker. I’d be happy to talk to anyone here in the comments section. Let’s sit down and have a civil and calm discussion. sadatba@gmail.com
He is also anti-hindu and uses slurs against Hindus.
The article ends with the line:
“Reactions like this do not help. The Region has a growing Muslim community ”
Well, you also have Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and non-religious.
Not sure why the article is presenting a Muslim viewpoint against all others.
Mr. Ettlewood, I NEVER promote violence. It serves no purpose.
I have to wonder how you would feel if you were attending a private meeting at the Brant Hills Community Centre in Burlington and had to deal with at least 50 Pro-Palestinians circling the building and then coming into the building. They stood outside the room we were in trying to disrupt the meeting.
There was nothing in place to make these protestors leave. The Chief of Police who was in the meeting with us indicated that he could not do this. He did arrange for 2 police vehicles to be stationed outside the facility.
Karina Gould who convened the meeting did go out and tell the group that she would meet with them on a different day. The protestors remained.
The meeting was arranged to try to come up with solutions to PROTECT students both in Burlington and Oakville who had been dealing with anti-semetic and pro-Palestinian rhetoric. How do I know – because I was attending that meeting.
Schools in Burlington allowed students to put up posters encouraging students to attend pro-Palestinian rallies. How do I know this – because I called the schools and was given the information of where and when these rallies would be taking place.
I also was part of a pro-Canadian rally for one of these student rallies, which started from school grounds and had more than students attending.
I realized how quickly things could turn from a peaceful protest to something more dangerous.
Thankfully this didn’t happen, but we did have some of the “adult” students come and tell us we had no right to be protesting.
I hope you are never in this situation.
Ms. Hersh – I believe that we need to diffuse not encourage violent dissent. You tread a tightrope and I’m afraid your lack of balance will be your downfall. I will always support the uniquely Canadian vision of the vertical mosaic. Unfortunately, today’s politicians including Trudeau do not understand it. They say that there is no distinct Canadian identity. There is and it is fashioned from the strengths of our composite cultures minus the prejudices and biases that should have been left behind.
Your are not very wise to the way of the world. I am with the Mayor on this one, and someone should be covering this from the inside.
Editor’s note: Getting inside would be a challenge.
Below is the vision, mission and core values of i3 Institute.
As they say “our values are rooted in the basic principles of Quran and Sunnah and are the key drivers behind everything we do”
Don’t see any mention of Judeo-Christian values – do you?
The theme of the”Reviving Roots Conference is “Reclaiming the Muslim Identity in a Secular World”. Doesn’t sound too inclusive to me. No mention of living alongside with Judeo-Christian values.
One of the speakers is Mohammed Hijab who is coming from the United Kingdom. I would suggest the public take the time to listen to some of the video interviews where Mr. Hijab expresses his views on Jews and Israel, the LGBTQ +community and women and then decide if this man should even be allowed to come to Canada.
I want to thank the Mayor, along with Councillor Kearns for taking this stance. Many residents have been actively working to stop this conference. We have been working with the City of Burlington, The Halton Police, B’nai Brith, and other local grassroots organizations along with social media to prevent this conference from taking place.
Mississauga and Hamilton have prevented groups like this from holding a conference in their cities and Burlington needs to do the same.
The worst scenario could be that should this conference go forward that counter protests at the Burlington Convention Centre where this is scheduled to take place on February 24th could result in violence.
If you agree email or call the mayor, your councillors, Karina Gould, the Burlington Convention Centre, The Halton Police and speak up. This is not the time to sit by and do nothing.
There is no place for this type of hate speech to be taking place in Burlington
Our Vision
Our vision is to help build vibrant, principled and safe Muslim communities that become role models for the wider Canadian society.
Our Mission
We do this by empowering Muslims with a non-secular, intellectual understanding of Islām combined with diverse and innovative life skills to champion the cause of community development & human advancement.
Attendees at Community Events
20,000+
Total Students Taught
4000
Khateebs Trained
50
Core Values.
At i3, we strive to uphold a set of values that govern our work and nurture our communities. Our values are rooted in the basic principles of Qurān and Sunnah and are the key drivers behind everything we do
Ms. Hersh:
I believe that you are walking a very fine line here. Your statement “The worst scenario could be that should this conference go forward that counter protests at the Burlington Convention Centre where this is scheduled to take place on February 24th could result in violence.” might be interpreted as inciting violence and, as such, might be categorized as “hate speech”.
I know that this is not the case. However, I believe that it is incumbent on all of us to bring down the temperature on this. Personally, I find the declarations of the mayor and councillor Kearns to be more self-serving than public service.
Interestingly if one visit’s their website there are no announcements of events and The Editor’s web clip of the institutes goals states that they are a non-profit organization. The web site also states they do not offer tax receipts.
If the comment in regard to one of the speakers is in fact accurate then I agree whole heartedly with the Mayor’s release. Are there details as to other speakers?
I assume this is a private event?
Do you think that the Gazette will be covering this event?
You should and let us all know what was said and if anything fell under the label of HATE Speech?
Editor’s note: I don’t think I would be allowed in. Interesting idea.