Update July 11th: More on why we need to give these brave American Somalis our support, here.
Some Somalis are defying local mosque leaders and telling the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to butt out of the investigation to find out who recruited the Somali former refugee youths to return to Somalia where some have died. We’ve reported that earth shattering bit of news (about defiance) in several posts already, but for newcomers to RRW, here is a little recap:
*Somali young men have gone missing in Minneapolis and possibly other cities and are believed to have returned to Somalia to be trained as terrorists. We know for sure some are there because two have died (that we know of), one possibly assassinated to keep him from returning to the US, and talking.
* The FBI has been investigating, but has been stymied by CAIR which has instructed young Somalis in Minnesota to NOT talk with the FBI without a lawyer.
* Family and friends of one of the dead boys have organized to protest CAIR and local mosque leaders who they claim were involved in the indoctrination that sent impressionable young people to Al-Shabaab (a Somali terroist organization linked to Al-Qaeda).
* The family and friends have held, I believe, two public protests so far demanding answers and criticizing CAIR and the Imams. This action, to buck CAIR, has taken incredible fearlessness. To my knowledge, no Muslims anywhere in the US have taken such brave action and that to me suggests these Somalis want to be Americans and live by an American rule of law and thus deserve our support.
For all the details up to this point I urge new readers to scan our archival post here to see how we got to this point. I readily admit I was pretty hard on these families whose young men went missing because I figured they were silent because they were in on it—in on the Jihad imperative of Islam. It appears from what is happening now, their fear of speaking up was not because they knew and encouraged the return to Somalia, but that they feared the Imams and CAIR—until now that is!
To the latest news.
We previously heard from one of the leaders of the brave Somalis, Abdirizak Bihi, here and I quoted him again here yesterday.
Also, last week I reported that there was one protest scheduled for July 3rd by some other group in Minneapolis supposedly concerned with Islamic terrorism. And, then Bihi’s group was scheduled to protest again on July 4th, but I never did see any press on that one.
Then last night we heard from a “Concerned Somali” who sent us a link to this post at a website called MPLS Mirror. I don’t know who the author is, but the MPLS Mirror confirms what I was thinking yesterday but had no way of figuring out (or reporting my suspicions to you), until that is, this “Concerned Somali” sent me the post which explains a lot. I had to laugh because it was almost like “Concerned Somali” had ESP!
From the MPLS Mirror:
On Wednesday, July 1st, my connections in the Somali community were buzzing about rumored indictments in connection with the recruiting of mainly Somali men from around the U.S. to return to war-torn Somalia for jihad. This might not be considered of such international importance were it not for the fact that the group on the receiving end back in Somalia, al-Shabab, has very close ties to the terrorist group al-Qaeda.
MPLS Mirror author says local media is missing the story and other than FOX, no national media are getting the significance of this story.
Minus the local Fox affiliate, the rest of the local media hacks have chosen to ignore the story. Many of the local boys never seem to tire of running AP stories to fill the gaping holes in their reporting. Perhaps when every national news organization descends on our city to cover the story, they’ll scratch their heads and wonder why they missed out. From my perspective, we have an international situation going on right here and they’re still talking about Michael Jackson, was he or wasn’t he?
The author was in attendance at the July 3rd bogus demonstration.
….July 3rd, a demonstration was held in Peavey Park on Chicago and Franklin Avenue. Somali protesters stood in the street holding up signs reading: Stop the Beheadings and Islam is Against Suicide Bombings. For any non-Somali observing the protest, their message as they gave some speeches was in their native tongue and completely lost on anyone other than the fellow Somalis gathered. Beheadings and suicide bombings, were they protesting the situations in Iran and Gaza? I scanned the signs, but saw no entreaties to stop the recruiting, or any implorations for answers to whoever is behind the disappearance of the young Somali men.
[….]
As I looked around at the crowd, I noticed a lot of familiar faces. Many of them were the people I frequently see in attendance at activities involving CAIR, Abubakar and Da’wah Mosques.
“Hell of living in America” Imam was the main speaker.
The main speaker at this event was Hassan Mohammed, the Imam from Da’wah. He caused some controversy a while back when he requested money in an Internet video, stating, “This is a project that can save you from the hell of living in America.”
The MPLS Mirror post leaves its narrative about the demonstration to fill in some background. What is CAIR up to trying to thwart the investigation with phoney-baloney claims that they are protecting the legal rights of Muslims? A little intimidation going on here?
Here’s another odd occurance that has me questioning, “Why?” I don’t understand why CAIR was reportedly passing out cards on the U of M campus and around town advising young Somalis not to cooperate with law enforcement and FBI agents if they’re questioned about the recruitment. I wonder why Somali community members have told me that they’re quietly told that those that cooperate will be sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. That threat seems to have bought quite a bit of silence. Judging from the Fox News story, not enough for some of those who have something to hide.
Now, back to the July 3rd demonstration.
From an outsiders perspective, I have to say that I got a bit chilled when one of the members of the group stated, “We need people to understand the culture, and the culture is Islamic. Once they understand that, then we can make some real headway and progress.”
Now the average observer might not have caught this, since everyone comes away with a different interpetation of what was said. In spite of the imam’s attempt to clarify, the speaker effectively summerized everything affiliated with this group; it all boils down to Islamic religion and how they view life. By contrast, those speaking out about the missing Somali men have a message that is not so much about the Islamic religion as it is about conforming to the American way of life, while still embracing their religion. They must walk the line between being in the world while not being of it.
My conclusion (and I think the conclusion of the author of the MPLS Mirror post as well): faced with their first real challenge maybe EVER from within their Muslim ranks, radical Imams and CAIR staged this demonstration as a diversion.
Where is the national media? The brave families need support!