Of course one wonders why they need a special bar association for their community, never-the-less if they are teaching Somalis that they must not use their clan system for meting out justice in America and must follow the US Constitution maybe that is a good thing. However, there is no mention in this article at MinnPost about sharia law—maybe the next public meeting will tell Somalis they can’t use that in America either!
How many special ethnic-oriented bar associations do we have in America? I would like to know!
Attendees at the launch of the North American Somali Bar Association. Photo: Ibrahim Hirsi
On a recent cold winter night, Maya Sheikh-Salah, assistant Hennepin County attorney, stood tall before nearly 100 Somali-Americans at Safari Restaurant and Event Center in Minneapolis, passionately addressing the community about a little known topic: The U.S. criminal justice system.
[….]
The assembly last Thursday marked the launch of The North American Somali Bar Association (NASBA), birthed by Minnesota Somali legal professionals as a way to address their community’s legal needs,to inspire young African immigrants, and to provide mentoring services to current law students.
Even though the gathering was the association’s first meet-and-greet event, it presented some important lessons for many in attendance: Sheikh-Salah, a founding member of NASBA, explained what it means to have a justice system, a constitution and the many parallel branches of the justice system, among other things.
Criminal justice system is a system that’s key to the law, it’s key to the peaceful society and it’s key to a government to function well,” she said.
There is a lengthy discussion about how the clan-system of justice works and an example of why not to practice it here. Then this:
The audience even received a brief introduction to the U.S. Constitution: “This document is the oldest and shortest constitution in the world,” Sheikh-Salah said as she held the constitution high.
She continued: “And as a matter of fact, I’m going to add, the most contemporary document. It has 7 articles, 27 amendments, 4,400 words. The United States constitution gives rights to individuals. And the presumption of innocence preserves the dignity of the individual. You’re not guilty, until proven guilty.”
For new readers who are wondering how we got so many Somalis in Minnesota, visit our 2011 post. Minneapolis was targeted as a “welcoming” site by the US State Department and its contractors Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services of MN, and World Relief MN which has recently changed its name to Arrive Ministries resettled them there where the welfare was generous.
Thousands turned out to march for Khalid, the murdered Muslim, when they thought some crazed PEGIDA supporter had knifed him to death.
We didn’t mention the story (the murder) when it happened mostly because it seemed too convenient that just as the anti-immigration (anti-Islamization) movement PEGIDA was expanding dramatically, and the Paris slaughter had just occurred, the media directed us to ‘look over here’ where some German right-winger MIGHT have murdered a poor African migrant in Dresden.
January 15th: Here is just one of MANY articles that came out after an Eritrean Muslim ‘asylum seeker’ was found dead in Dresden:
Germany’s recent upsurge in anti-Islam sentiment appears to have taken a dark new turn, as a 20-year old asylum seeker was murdered in Dresden this week.
Khaled Idris Bahray, a Muslim originally from Eritrea, was found stabbed to death close to his home in southern Dresdenon Tuesday morning. The previous night, an estimated 25,000 demonstrators from the far-right Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) group, which proclaims to oppose Islamic extremism, had marched through the center of the German city. Many have now linked the murder of the 20-year-old to the ongoing increase in racist attacks there.
[….]
Immediately following the incident, questions were raised regarding the increasing prevalence of anti-immigrant and anti-Islam sentiments in the city. Just days before the attack, neo-Nazi graffiti, including a swastika, was painted on the door of the flat in which Khaled was living, accompanied by the message “We’ll get you all.”
Many foreigners feel insecure on the streets of the city amid the upswing in attacks in Dresden. After a PEGIDA demonstration in December, a group of “foreign-looking youths” came under attack in a Dresden mall, with several injuries reported. An Eritrean speaker at a vigil held in memory of Khaled told the crowd: “We are afraid. Help us,” before claiming that most asylum seekers in the city want to leave.[So let them leave!—ed]
The rise in hostility towards refugees and migrants has been linked to the ongoing PEGIDA demonstrations, which began in October 2014 and have now risen to attendance levels estimated at 25,000 people.
Then get this! Thousands turned out to proclaim,”Ich bin Khalid!”
Under the slogan “Rights and security for refugees – in memory of Khaled,” the march on Saturday aimed not only to remember Khaled I., but also to show a sign of solidarity with asylum seekers and refugees in Dresden, particularly in light of an apparent increase in xenophobic sentiment in recent months.
Following in the footsteps of mourners across the world who last weekend remembered the Paris attack victims with the slogan “Je suis Charlie,” many of those marching in memory of Khaled I. on Saturday were seen holding signs bearing the words “Ich bin Khaled” (I am Khaled).
Amid claims that Khaled I.’s stabbing could have been racially motivated, the participants at the march also demanded an explanation for his death and criticized the anti-Islamization group PEGIDA, which the marchers accuse of turning Dresden into a “center of xenophobia.”
Another asylum seeker arrested in the murder!
January 22nd: Oopsy! Deutsche Welle, with no apology for its previous reporting, tells us that Khalid’s roommate, another Eritrean, has been arrested in the murder. Shouldn’t the press now be asking about the sorts of people being allowed to reside among German citizens?
The Dresden district attorney’s office confirmed on Thursday that an arrest warrant for manslaughter had been issued in the case of an asylum seeker who was found dead a little over a week ago. The accused killer had been remanded into custody as a result of DNA evidence found on the murder weapon.
The suspect was a housemate of Khaled B., the 20-year old from Eritrea who was discovered dead in his high-rise in Dresden’s Leubnitz-Neuostra district where he lived with other asylum seekers. The police originally issued a report saying there was no evidence of foul play, but reversed this statement when a coroner’s report listed multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest.
The 26-year-old suspect is also thought to be from Eritrea, quelling rumors that the murder was a hate crime, which had been circulating since swastika graffiti was found in the staircase near Khaled’s apartment.The accused has alledgedly confessed while in custody and given his motive as a fight over household concerns that turned violent. [Ha! “Rumors” that Deutsche Welle has been only too happy to perpetuate.—ed]
Have you noticed that the authorities almost never figure out who is doing the graffiti writing—I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t the wannabe new Germans doing it themselves.
Final note: A recent poll (before the atrocity in Paris!) in Germany found that 57% of Germans feel that Islam is a threat! See The Local.
The survey was carried out in November – before the massacre of journalists in Paris by Islamist gunmen – but as the numbers attending anti-Muslim rallies in Dresden and other cities began to escalate.
The Bertelsman Foundation think tank survey looked at the perception of Islam in Germany from the eyes of Muslims and non-Muslims. Of the non-Muslims surveyed, 57 percent thought that Islam was threatening or very threatening to German society.
TNS Emnid, which conducted the survey for the Bertelsman Foundation think tank, said it’s a rise of four percent since 2012 when the study was last conducted. The research institute surveyed 937 non-Muslim Germans for the survey in November 2014.
Even more respondents felt that Islam did not fit into western society: 61 percent said not really or not at all. A rise of nine percent over 2012.
Forty percent felt like “foreigners in their own country” because of the perceived increase in the Muslim population.
Thanks to ‘Pungentpeppers’ for many contributions to this story.
One more in our‘Invasion of Europe’ series. See our previous post this morning—Most Europeans want immigration stopped. Click herefor all we have written about Germany’s migration mess.
In North America 39.3 want immigration numbers decreased.
This is a story put out by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). I mentioned this US government contractor the other day—their role for us is to prepare and ship out the refugees headed for America (I guess other countries too, just never paid enough attention to them). They have a $1.6 billion budget, here. According to USA Spending, the US donated over $375 million to the IOM in fiscal year 2014.
Illegal migrants arrive in Malta. Is it any wonder 76% of Maltese citizens do not want more? Photo: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-23848749
The IOM did a worldwide poll on opinions toward immigration which they say will be out later this year. For whatever reason, they are giving out some preliminary numbers now.
GENEVA: More than half of Europeans want less migration with up to 84 per cent of Greeks against any further rise, the International Organization for Migration said on Friday.
Releasing the preliminary findings of a Gallup poll held across more than 140 nations, the IOM said the trend in Europe went against the sentiment recorded in other regions of the world.
Across Europe, which has been battling to fight an influx of migrants arriving via often perilous land and sea routes, 52.1 per cent said migration levels should drop.
A total of 30.2 per cent Europeans wanted to maintain the status quo while 7.5 per cent wanted more migrants. [Guess that means the cheap labor advocates like German Chancellor Angela Merkel are in the minority—big time!—ed]
[….]
But there was a divide in the continent in North-South terms.
The majority in Scandinavia wanted the level of newcomers to remain constant or increase but countries in the Mediterranean region, an entry point for many migrants, wanted a sharp fall.
Eighty-four percent Greeks were against higher immigration. The figures for other affected countries were also steep with Italy at 67 per cent, Spain (56 per cent) and Malta (76 per cent). [Well, heck, if I were running the government in Malta I would surely be shipping the illegal migrants north!—ed]
[…]
At the same time anti-immigration rhetoric is growing across the European Union, fuelled by concerns about faltering economic growth and prompting calls for tougher border controls.
I betcha that they did this survey involving North America before the US border invasion by the children this past summer! And, don’t you wonder how they asked the question and where they asked it!
But in North America, another coveted region for immigrants, the majority would like the status quo maintained (34.2 per cent) or to see the levels increase (22.8 per cent).
They go on to say that 39.3 of North Americans want immigration levels decreased.
I would say that is a very significant number, and possibly more so if we knew when and where they were polling.
See our ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive on the immigration crisis in Europe, here.
About the photo: For our many new readers, we have an extensive archive on the tiny island nation of Malta which has been besieged for all the years (since 2007) we have been reporting. You will be astounded to hear that every year the US State Department takes a significant number of these illegal migrants and transforms them into refugees for resettlement in your towns. Here is just one recent post on that issue. Click here for the whole sad story on Malta and how the US helps to create a “pull” factor for that country.
The town of Almere in the Netherlands has a 6-year waiting list for “social housing.” Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Almere,_the_Netherlands_2004.jpg
More than a quarter of Dutch municipalities are facing problems in providing housing for the people who want to live there. There will be more refugees to the Netherlands and the result is that waiting time for anyone on a waiting list will increase, according to a survey of 326 municipalities. The questionnaire, created by regional broadcasters and NOS, could not get 67 additional municipalities to take part.
Last year there were over 25,000 asylum seekers to the Netherlands which is 10,000 more than the year before. Most of them come from Syria, Eritrea and Somalia and many of them may stay for humanitarian reasons and must be placed from refugee centers in to ordinary housing. [Seems to me that they should just keep them in refugee centers. Duh! If they are offered government subsidized ordinary housing more will come!—ed]
There is an increasing pressure on social rental market, hardly any apartment turnover, housing corporations are selling some of their inventory and fewer rental houses are being built, says Aedes, the national association of housing corporations in the Netherlands.
In the town of Hulst, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen region, there are 300 people waiting for an apartment and the waiting time for social housing in Almere is more than six years. Other municipalities say that there are no houses because the current residents are staying in, or because most of the residents are homeowners.
During the first half of 2014 the municipalities had to accommodate 6,500 refugees and they served over 91 percent of the asylum seekers. In the first half of 2015, the municipalities must temporarily accommodate 14,000 residence permit holders, who are staying in the Netherlands.
Go here for our Netherlands archive. And, here is our ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive.
Our supposed surveillance of the Somali “community” in Minneapolis didn’t catch this jihadist—one of many Somali youths we raised on your dime! http://drrichswier.com/2014/06/20/jihad-cool-muslims-u-s-head-syria-iraq-join-isis-bring-back-caliphate/
Over the last 24 hours two stories came to my attention about how the federal government and local law enforcement supposedly have their hands full and are crafting programs and spending big bucks on surveillance of the Somali refugee “community” in several Office of Refugee Resettlement“preferred” resettlement cities—notably Minneapolis and San Diego. They are looking for budding terrorist activity.
Both articles question how well the spy agencies and local FBI are doing. Both are leading readers to conclude that spying on Somalis is a waste of money and take away their civil liberties.
The first article, published yesterday in theNew Yorkeris too long to keep my interest, maybe it will keep yours! I feel like saying yes, we know about San Diego’s nest of Somalis connected to Al-Shabaab. We have written about them on many occasions (click here for our San Diego archive).
Although the writer is busy trying really hard to show that phone surveillance under the Patriot Act is catching only a small handful of little-fish funders of the jihad in Africa, I was most interested in what it never mentions!
Not once in this giant tome is there any reference to how the Somalis got here in the first place through the Refugee Resettlement Program of the US State Department.
Some readers, new to the whole Somali migration to America issue, would think that Somalis got in some migration ‘line’ in Africa and simply ‘found their way’ to San Diego. Although there is much discussion about where they live in San Diego, again, not a word about the federally-funded resettlement contractors (Alliance for African Assistance, Jewish Family Services, International Rescue Committee, and Catholic Charities) who found them their apartments, or the State Department that flew them there. The word “refugee” appears only once in the article and that is in conjunction with the word “camp” as in “refugee camp.”
One thing that is mentioned as if it is just your normal every day occurrence is the discussion about Somalis (refugees remember! who have escaped PERSECUTION) simply traveling back and forth to Somalia (in one case to find a wife). If Somalia was safe enough for regular visits why in hell did we bring them here!
Through remittances your money is holding up hell holes around the world!
Then there is this section in the New Yorker piece (one of the few that got my attention!) that is only used to describe why the Somali star of the story needed to get involved with a hawala, Shidaal Express, a money transfer agency. (We first wrote about Shidaal Express in 2009 and have mentioned it a few times since, here).
In 2013, foreign remittances to Somalia reached $1.3 billion, which accounts for roughly half of the country’s G.D.P. Most of this money moves through hawalas, informal networks of Islamic money-transfer agents. Some U.S. hawalas are underground; some are affiliated with licensed banks. It’s difficult for authorities to track which hawala transfers buy food and other necessities in Somalia and which might be support for militant groups. But most agree that the current system is preferable to Somali émigrés’ making periodic trips with bundles of cash. “Somehow the money’s going to move,” Carol Beaumier, a former federal bank examiner, said in a recent interview with American Banker.
Although some of the $1.3 billion goes from other countries to Somalia, much of that comes from YOU (the US taxpayer)! through the myriad welfare programs and other state and federally funded “programs” Somali refugees tap into.
Only last month we learned about a fraudulent day care scheme in Minneapolis where funds skimmed from the state were allegedly being sent to Africa!
I will bet a buck that those ‘economic’ studies being used in cities by the pro-open borders propagandists at Welcoming America, which claim that immigrants and refugees bring boom times to troubled cities, do not include how much of a city’s money is leaving the country.
You can read the whole New Yorker story (hat tip: ‘Pungentpeppers’) yourself, if you find something you think needs to be flagged, add it as comment to this post.
The Intercept
The other story that came to my attention yesterday is from Minneapolis where the news magazine—The Intercept—a publication created and funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar exposes NSA information in the wake of the Snowden leak.
The article entitled, ‘Spies Among Us: How Community Outreach Programs to Muslims Blur Lines between Outreach and Intelligence,’ is apparently trying to make the point that the Somali “community” of Minneapolis is being snookered (and spied upon) by the FBI.
Last May, after getting a ride to school with his dad, 18-year-old Abdullahi Yusuf absconded to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport to board a flight to Turkey. There, FBI agents stopped Yusuf and later charged him with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization—he was allegedly associated with another Minnesota man believed to have gone to fight for the Islamic State in Syria.
To keep other youth from following Yusuf’s path, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger recently said that the federal government would be launching a new initiative to work with Islamic community groups and promote after-school programs and job training–to address the “root causes” of extremist groups’ appeal. “This is not about gathering intelligence, it’s not about expanding surveillance or any of the things that some people want to claim it is,” Luger said.
Luger’s comments spoke to the concerns of civil liberties advocates, who believe that blurring the line between engagement and intelligence gathering could end up with the monitoring of innocent individuals. If past programs in this area are any guide, those concerns are well founded.
Documents obtained by attorneys at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, and shared with the Intercept, show that previous community outreach efforts in Minnesota–launched in 2009 in response to the threat of young Americans joining the al-Qaeda-linked militia al-Shabab, in Somalia—were, in fact, conceived to gather intelligence.
A grant proposal from the St. Paul Police Department to the Justice Department, which the Brennan Center obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI, lays out a plan in which Somali-speaking advocates would hold outreach meetings with community groups and direct people toward the Police Athletic League and programs at the YWCA. The proposal says that “the team will also identify radicalized individuals, gang members, and violent offenders who refuse to cooperate with our efforts.” [I believe they need to be watched, but this is dumb!—CAIR must be jumping for joy!—ed]
“It’s startling how explicit it was – ‘You don’t want to join the Police Athletic League? You sound like you might join al-Shabab!’” said Michael Price, an attorney with the Brennan Center.
Read it all. Sure sounds like there is a movement afoot to throw cold water on any attempt by the federal government to monitor the growing Somali COMMUNITY for possible Islamic terrorist connections.
Meanwhile, another arm of the federal government, the US State Department, is importing new Somalis to America at record speed!
The State Department has admitted well over 100,000 in the last three decades, here. 9,000 were admitted in FY 2014 here. And, in this fiscal year (three months old) we have already admitted 2,801. If we keep that pace, FY2015 will see 11,204 NEW Somalis!
So while everyone has angst about keeping an eye on them, many more are coming in every single day!
And, remind me! What does America get out of this?
