Huda Mukbil

Last updated

Huda Mukbil is a Canadian former security intelligence operative and prominent social activist. [1]

Contents

Early life

Huda Mukbil was born into a middle-class family in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, her family fled during the Ethiopian Civil War in the 70s. She and her family spent some time in Egypt before immigrating to Canada. She graduated from Carleton University and received a B.A. in Law then obtaining an M.A. in Feminist and Gender Studies from the University of Ottawa. [2] [3]

Career

She joined Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) a month before September 11 attacks and became the first "Black Arab-Canadian Muslim spy". [4] In 2005 she worked with British intelligence service MI5 to interpret telephone conversations of London bombing suspect Hamdi Isaac who spoke Arabic and Harari language. [5]

Before leaving her position at CSIS in 2017, she would be part of a seven figure legal action against her employer. [6] She accused CSIS of tolerating racism and sexism within their departments among other charges. [7] [8]

Huda entered politics running at the 2021 Canadian federal election as an New Democratic Party nominee in the Ottawa South riding. [9]

In 2023 she released her memoir titled "Agent Of Change: My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies and Institutional Racism". [10] In 2024 it won the Ottawa Book Award for best non-fiction in its category. [11]

Personal life

Huda Mukbil is a Canadian Citizen of Harari and Yemeni background. She is also a Muslim. [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting, or discriminating against a person based on their ethnicity, religion, or nationality, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves discrimination against minority populations and often relies on negative stereotypes. Racial profiling can include disproportionate stop-and-searches, traffic stops, and the use of surveillance technology for facial identification. Racial profiling can occur de jure or de facto. Critics argue that racial profiling is discriminatory as it disproportionately targets people of color. Supporters claim it can be an effective tool for preventing crime but acknowledge that it should be closely monitored and used in a way that respects civil rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Security Intelligence Service</span> Intelligence agency

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service is a foreign intelligence service and security agency of the federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world and conducting covert action within Canada and abroad. CSIS reports to the Minister of Public Safety, and is subject to review by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Security Intelligence Service</span> National intelligence agency of New Zealand

The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) is New Zealand's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for providing information and advising on matters including national security and foreign intelligence. It is headquartered in Wellington and overseen by a Director-General, the Minister of New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, and the parliamentary intelligence and security committee; independent oversight is provided by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.

Amro Badr Eldin Abou el-Maati is a Kuwaiti-Canadian alleged member of al-Qaeda. He is wanted for questioning by the FBI for having attended flight school and having discussed hijacking a Canadian plane to fly into American buildings. He has been referred to as "Canada's most wanted terrorist".

Terrorism and mass attacks in Canada includes acts of terrorism, as well as mass shootings, vehicle-ramming attacks, mass stabbings, and other such acts committed in Canada that people may associate with terroristic tactics but have not been classified as terrorism by the Canadian legal system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamdi Adus Isaac</span> Member of al-Qaeda

Hamdi Adus Isaac is a terrorist who was found guilty of having placed an explosive at the Shepherd's Bush tube station during the failed 21 July 2005 London bombings. Born in Ethiopia, Hussain is a naturalised British citizen married to Yeshshiemebet Girma.

James Judd is a Canadian retired diplomat and senior civil servant. He served as the Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). He was appointed to the position by Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin on November 29, 2004 and retired from the position on June 27, 2009, before the end of his term. He was succeeded by Richard Fadden, the former Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Harkat</span>

Mohamed Harkat is a native-born Algerian and permanent resident of Canada who was arrested in 2002 and was imprisoned under security certificates after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) concluded that he entered the country as a sleeper agent for al-Qaeda. His court challenge of the government's security certificate proceedings - which could lead to his deportation from Canada - are ongoing. The Harkat case is one of Canada's longest-running judicial matters.

The Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre is an independent federal organization tasked with assessing threats of terrorism to Canada and Canadian interests abroad. It is the only federal organization with the specific responsibility of analyzing terrorism threats related to Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mubin Shaikh</span>

Mubin Shaikh is a Canadian former security intelligence and counter terrorism operative, currently a Professor of Public Safety at Seneca College and also Counter Extremism Specialist for the U.S.-based NGO, Parents for Peace.

Elena Miller, originally known as Yelena Borisovna Olshanskaya, is a Russian who, as alleged by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), lived in Canada as a spy, using the name of a dead child as a cover. Olshanskaya later lost the right to immigrate back to Canada to live with her second husband, Canadian Peter Miller.

Abdellah Ouzghar is a joint citizen of Canada and Morocco, who was arrested in Canada shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, on suspicion of ties to terrorist organizations. A man in Taiwan had been found to be using Ouzghar's passport, which had been doctored. France charged Ouzghar with "forgery, uttering a forged document and two related conspiracy charges".

Rita Katz is a terrorism analyst and the co-founder of the Search International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group, a private intelligence firm based in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kiriakou</span> American counter-terrorism consultant

John Chris Kiriakou is an American author, journalist and former intelligence officer. Kiriakou is a columnist with Reader Supported News and co-host of Political Misfits on Sputnik Radio.

Abousfian Abdelrazik or Abu Sufian Abd Al-Razziq is a Sudanese-born Canadian dual citizen.

Robab Farahi-Mahdavieh is a member of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) who was arrested by Canada in 1992, and in 1993 she was deported from Canada back to the United Kingdom on the grounds of national security. She was arrested under one of only 28 security certificates ever issued in Canada.

Mahnaz Samadi is a member of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa</span> Terrorist attacks in Ottawa, Canada

The 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill were a series of shootings that occurred on October 22, 2014, at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. At the National War Memorial, Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a Canadian soldier and reservist on ceremonial sentry duty, was fatally shot by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. Described as mentally unwell, Zehaf-Bibeau then entered the nearby Centre Block parliament building, where members of the Parliament of Canada were attending caucuses. After wrestling with a constable at the entrance, Zehaf-Bibeau ran inside and had a shootout with RCMP officers. He was shot 31 times by six officers and died on scene. Following the shootings, the downtown core of Ottawa was placed on lockdown and majority of schools in Ottawa were on lockdown while police searched for any potential additional threats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamophobia in the United States</span> Prejudice towards Islam or Muslims in the US

American Muslims often face Islamophobia and racialization due to stereotypes and generalizations ascribed to them. Due to this, Islamophobia is both a product of and a contributor to the United States' racial ideology, which is founded on socially constructed categories of profiled features, or how people seem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Intelligence and Security Service</span> Intelligence agency of the Ethiopian federal government

The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) is an intelligence agency of the Ethiopian federal government tasked to defend, protect and advance the national security and interests of Ethiopia. It collects, analyzes and disseminates intelligence for decision makers. It also is one of two national law enforcement agencies in Ethiopia next to the Federal Police Commission. It tackles drug trafficking, cybercrime, arms trafficking, human, and other domestic or international organized crime.

References

  1. Hammond, Joseph. Ex-employee alleges discrimination over Muslim faith at Canada’s top spy agency. Broadview.
  2. Diversity and Inclusion: A National Security Imperative. University of Ottawa.
  3. Mukbil, Huda. Agent of Change My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies, and Institutional Racism. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 3–4.
  4. Paradkar, Shree. She was a Muslim spy at the forefront of CSIS’s fight against terrorism. Then, she turned whistleblower. Toronto Star.
  5. Veil of Secrecy: The Muslim-Canadian Spy Who Took Down London Extremists. SPYSCAPE.
  6. Burke, Ashley. A Muslim former intelligence officer says systemic racism at CSIS is a threat to national security. CBC NEWS.
  7. Mukbil, Huda. Book excerpt: Huda Mukbil writes on racism at CSIS, Canada's spy agency. Ottawa Citizen.
  8. CSIS whistleblowers faced hurdles seeking justice and telling their stories. CityNews.
  9. Khan, Tamanna. First time Ottawa South NDP candidate fights for an equitable Canada. Capital Current.
  10. "BOOK TALK | Huda Mukbil- Agent of Change". McGill-Queen's University Press.
  11. Three local writers win 2024 Ottawa Book Awards. City of Ottawa.
  12. Hamamdijan, Daniel. Huda Mukbil, CSIS's first Black Arab-Canadian Muslim spy, opens up about her fight against terrorism and discrimination. CTV NEWS.
  13. Mukbil, Huda. Agent of Change My Life Fighting Terrorists, Spies, and Institutional Racism. McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 30.