Jamal may get some ‘justice’ of his own thanks to Minnesota Rep

Yesterday we told you that Omar Jamal, probably the one and only member of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center, was heading to New York to seek “justice” for the Somali pirate, the only living one, who faces charges in the now infamous Maersk Alabama hijacking.   But it seems his highly publicized involvement is bringing down the wrath of Minnesota State House Minority leader, Rep Marty Seifert.  

This is so juicy!   Thanks to ever-watchful friends in Tennessee for sending it.   From the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Twin Cities activist Omar Jamal said Tuesday he has helped ensure that a suspected pirate is treated justly while in federal custody in New York.

But if a Minnesota legislative leader has his way, it will be the last pirate Jamal helps.

Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, said that he spoke Monday with the parents of suspected pirate Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse and that he has been consulting with Muse’s attorneys. He said he intended to be in court Tuesday, but Muse’s public defender said his presence wouldn’t be necessary.

But House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, responding to “tons of e-mails” from people he said were outraged by Jamal’s actions, said he will seek to block nonprofit status and state grants to any organization that helps foreign citizens accused of piracy or terrorism.

Rep. Seifert says he is introducing legislation to disallow Jamal from getting tax payer funding for his non-profit group.

“Not one dime of taxpayer money if you jet off to New York to support a pirate.”

Funny thing is, I just went to Guidestar and although the Somali Justice Advocacy Center is listed, care of Omar Jamal, there is not one bit of information on file—no IRS determination letter, no financial reports, no Form 990’s.  So who does fund Omar Jamal?   How about a full-blown investigation of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center!

Rep. Seifert, while you are at it, could you find out how Jamal got out of his conviction for immigration fraud!

Refugees International Report from Iraq: no mention of Christians

To further make the point I made yesterday in my post about Refugees International’s pro-Muslim (really if you read it carefully, it is pro-Sunni Muslim) bias, here is a recent RI report from Iraq that discusses “vulnerable” groups, but never uses the “C” word.

The last segment entitled “Focus on the Most Vulnerable” gobbles up nearly an entire paragraph on the much smaller number of Iraqi Palestinians that have been displaced then the Christians who are running for their lives from Muslim persecution.  Here is the whole section, if you didn’t know the circumstances you would never know who the other “vulnerable” might be.

As efforts continue to stabilize and rebuild Iraq, special attention needs to be given to the most vulnerable, and durable solutions need to be found. The stateless Palestinians of Iraq remain one of the most vulnerable groups, and are the subjects of discrimination and attacks by many factions. The hundreds who sought shelter in the camps of Al-Tanf and Al-Waleed at the Syrian border with Iraq must be resettled immediately and the criteria applied should be the same as for Iraqis. According to the UN, there are 10,000 to 12,000 left in Iraq. For this population, resettlement to a third country is likely to be the only durable solution.

The U.S. and the international community must also turn their attention to Iraqis who will not be able to return home, whether they are refugees or internally displaced. They may be too vulnerable to return, or have reasons to fear for their safety. Either way, there are currently no plans to address their needs and plan for their future. The U.S. must engage Syria, Jordan and other host countries on finding durable solutions for these particularly vulnerable groups. As for the 39% of internally displaced Iraqis who don’t plan to return home, they will need assistance to either integrate in their new communities or resettle elsewhere. The political implications for the future of Iraq must be carefully considered, while respecting the will of the displaced.

As for resettling the Palestinians, these Iraqi Palestinians have blasted Arab governments for not helping, here, where they called their co-religionists hypocrites.   I have never seen RI or any other NGO put pressure on Arab governments to take in their Muslim kin and I believe it is either their pro-Muslim/anti-West (US is always bad) bias or that RI is flat-out chicken to take on a Muslim government.    The pressure is always on the West to take-in this group of Palestinians who are persecuted by other Muslims because they were friends of Saddam.

Meanwhile in the US, a Chaldean (Christian) group is helping resettled Christian Iraqis weather the economic down-turn by establishing an ‘Adopt-a-Family’ (note how nice it is to see Iraqi women not covered from head to toe) program where private citizens help Iraqi Christians pay their bills thus placing less demand on the American taxpayer to do so.  I wonder if the Chaldean group can apply for the Emergency Housing money from the State Department.  I’m betting they can’t.