Nearly a month since Israeli Apartheid Week was held on campuses across North America and Europe, campus and community groups answered back with Freedom and Democracy Week, a series of lectures about home-grown terrorism, religious extremism and the “war on terrorism”. The event, which was held at the Bahen Centre at the University of Toronto from March 5 to 8, was sponsored by Zionists at the University of Toronto, a chapter of Betar-Tagar Canada; B’nai Brith Canada; Hasbara Fellowships; Stand With Us; and the Canadian Coalition for Democracies.
Steven Stein, a psychologist who has offered his expertise to the US Air Force, Canadian Forces and special units of the Pentagon, and is the CEO of Multi-Health Systems, the largest Canadian publisher of psychological tests, presented a lecture titled “The Psychology of Terror: Inside the Head of Religious Extremists”. He said that while some may cite the “Israeli occupation” as the reason for terrorism in Israel, he believes that religion is the main reason. He said that it is the passion for the religion that drives terrorism. “It is a duty, a call to God, it’s what Allah wants.”