Day: June 8, 2010

Finland: Attack of the Somali clothes police

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is one of those diversity is strength alerts!   According to this publication from Finland, Somalis and Kurds (also Muslims) got into a scuffle recently when Somali immigrants charged the Kurdish immigrants with not dressing in sufficiently Islamic attire.  I know this sounds like a big joke, but in fact this is one of the joys of multiculturalism we can all look forward to as Muslim immigration to the US is stepped up!

Representatives of two immigrant minorities believed to have been involved in Sunday’s group fight at Linnanmäki have sharply condemned the melee. The incident has highlighted tensions that sometimes emerge between Somalis and Kurds in Finland. Some Somalis have taken issue with the dress and habits of Kurds, who are often fairly relaxed in their interpretation of Islam.

Dozens of young people with immigrant backgrounds took part in Sunday’s melee – mainly Somalis and Kurds. Kurds have said that there have been tensions between the groups before, because some of the Somalis, many of whom are devout Muslims, have been known to chide Kurds for their more worldly dress and behaviour.

A woman, interviewed by the late-edition newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, said that one of Sunday’s fights started with an argument over the use of head scarves. According to the 25-year-old woman, the Somalis denounced Kurdish women for not wearing scarves.

Ahhhhhh!  There was also an incident in which a Kurdish woman wore a bikini!

Sabah Abbas Ali, the chair of the Finnish-Kurdish Friendship Society, says that there have been similar cases before.

“Unfortunately, this is not unique. What happened at Linnanmäki has happened before.”

Ali mentions a case at a public swimming pool in Vuosaari, where a bikini worn by a Kurdish woman sparked a conflict. Ali is occasionally told of cases in which a devout Muslim will take issue with the dress or activities of a worldlier Kurd.

But, it will all be O.K. because surely the Finnish-Kurdish Friendship Society will keep it under control.

Note to Nashville the Kurdish capital of the US, keep an eye out for the Somali clothes police!

NJ Somali professor blames radicalization on internet and mosques

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

An American born Somali professor of history at Rutgers University in NJ expressed dismay in the wake of the arrests of two would-be Jersey Jihadists about the radicalization Somalis are getting in mosques here in the US.  He worries that the Somali community will now be watched by the FBI (hope so, but don’t hold your breath!).

From Voice of America:

A Somali-born U.S. professor is blaming the radicalization of young Somalis on Internet exposure and indoctrination in mosques.

This comes as police in New York Sunday arrested two men who they say were allegedly preparing to join an al-Qaida-linked militant group in Somalia.

Said Samatar, professor of African history at Rutgers University in the state of New Jersey told VOA he lives about an hour’s drive from the homes of the two suspects identified as 20-year old Mohamed Hamoud Alessa and 26-year old Carlos Eduardo Almonte.

He said he fears the arrests will be bad for Moslems in general, and for Somalis in particular.

It’s those Afghan and Pakistani Imams!

He expressed regrets that young Somalis were being brain-washed and radicalized by the Internet and some mosques.

“As you know, the world, because of the Internet, has become one global village now. So, the indoctrination they received through the Internet, plus going to these mosques where they are brainwashed by these Pakistani, Afghani mullahs, the guys with the long beards who would tell them about this world of pleasure that is waiting for them,” he said.

What?  No world of pleasure!

Be sure to revisit the comments by Khadra, here.