Adding to Ann’s post, NYT feature article on Somalis today—it is about the call of Allah, the Times story shows, perhaps inadvertently, why these boys were so receptive to the call of Allah. Jerry Gordon talks about their recruitment at a radical mosque in his commentary on the NYT story, and as he says that’s something that has to be looked into further by the government, and not shoved under the rug.
But why did they become susceptible to the call of Allah? Some clues are provided by the descriptions of the boys as teenagers. For example:
If the adults kept their distance from American culture, their children had little choice but to dive in.
At Roosevelt, Mr. Ahmed was a quick study. He memorized Ice Cube’s lyrics. He practiced for hours on neighborhood basketball courts. He took note of the clothing and vernacular of his African-American classmates, emulating what he could.
His pants sagged, but never too much. He spoke of “homeboys” and used the “n” word, but gave careful regard to the school’s rules. When a classmate’s purse was stolen, it was Mr. Ahmed who dutifully turned in the thief.
Much as he tried, he failed to fit in.
You’re not black, his peers taunted. Go back to Africa.
The boys were not interested in Somali politics. They wanted to fit in with the other kids, as most teenagers do. But what was there to fit in with? A toxic culture of rap music and alienation, ignorance and criminality. And an insular culture, that didn’t accept outsiders no matter what their skin color.
At the root of the problem was a “crisis of belonging,” said Mohamud Galony, a science tutor who was friends with Mr. Ahmed and is the uncle of another boy who left. Young Somalis had been raised to honor their families’ tribes, yet felt disconnected from them. “They want to belong, but who do they belong to?” said Mr. Galony, 23.
In the kind of schools these kids had to attend, I am certain there was nothing taught about American culture and history. In days past, immigrants were assimilated through their children, who learned English, American customs (which were far more uniform), standards of behavior, the greatness of America, national heroes and holidays, and so on. That’s what my father and his siblings learned, coming from a poverty-stricken Yiddish-speaking home and all ending up professionals.
But after decades of work by the left in the schools, kids learn to see America as a collection of groups, ethnic, racial, economic, sexual, and whatever other divisions they can come up with. There is nothing there for them, no higher vision than their own group and their own pleasures, as stunted as these are. If they don’t come from homes who can give them something more, then they have nothing, no culture worthy of the name.
When Ethiopa invaded and occupied Somalia,
These events triggered a political awakening among young Somalis in Minneapolis. They had long viewed their homeland’s problems as hopelessly clan-based, but the Ethiopian campaign simplified things. Here was an external enemy against which young Somalis could unite.
Spurred by a newfound sense of nationalism, college students distributed T-shirts emblazoned with the Somali flag and held demonstrations during a frigid Minnesota winter.
The protests took on a religious dimension as well. While the United States had defended the Ethiopian invasion as a front in the global war on terrorism, many Somalis saw it as a Christian crusade into a Muslim land. They were outraged at reports of Ethiopian troops raping Somali women, looting mosques and killing civilians.
The NYT story doesn’t put nearly enough emphasis on the role of the mosque, which all along was trying to radicalize the young people. But what is clear is that the kids were looking for an idealistic cause, something larger than their unsatisfactory daily lives, in the mold of young people everywhere. And here was a cause that was sanctioned, indeed encouraged, by their religion, and called for all the sacrifice that an idealistic young person could want.
As we’ve seen, many of the older Somalis are not in favor of what the kids did, and some are absolutely outraged by it. What a good sign that is. Although they lead difficult lives, and many have little more idea about American history and ideals than their children do, the adults understand that here they have a chance to build a life, and in signing up with the jihad they would have no such chance. What a terrible thing it is that there is so little to help immigrants assimilate, and that poor immigrants have to live in such a toxic culture that their only hope for a decent life is to cling to their own community and their old ways.
For new readers, we have followed the Somali missing youths story since last November, see links here to all of our posts on the topic.