(The Guardian) – Hibaaq Osman has a glow that
changes the energy in a room, or in her case, the energy of the restaurant her
family owns in Karmel mall, the oldest Somali mall in Minneapolis. The cafe is
right near the mosque on the top floor of the building, past rows of entrepreneurs
selling wares in individual stalls, sipping hot drinks in small cups and
chatting in Somali.
Osman retains her glow, even in anger. And
after a press conference held outside the mosque, she is upset.
“I feel like we as a community need to wake
up,” she said. “We need to wake up and say, ‘You know what? Enough is enough.’
We are citizens, we are taxpayers, we own businesses, we need people to
understand that we also are part of this country just the way anybody else is.”
With a population of at least 30,000, the
Somali people are a significant presence in the Twin Cities, home to more 3.5
million people. Because they have been coming to Minnesota since the
1980s, the people who come now have family and friends who have already
established a life in the midwest. They love it – besides the cold winters.
Rooted as they are in Minnesota, many in the
Somali Muslim community are alarmed at a US attorney-led program that they
believe singles them out as more blood thirsty than other ethnic or religious
groups, and makes them vulnerable to surveillance.
Led by a taskforce of 15 Somali Americans and
a traditional community grant-making organization, the Counter Violent
Extremism (CVE) program is the brainchild of the chief federal prosecutor for
Minnesota, Andrew Luger. Later this month, it will launch a number of
yet-to-be-announced grants to programs aimed at creating educational and
professional opportunities among the Somali Muslim community in Minnesota. The
goal is to prevent youth recruitment by overseas extremist groups such as Isis
or al-Shabaab.
But even before any specifics of the program
have been announced, the program has engendered dramatic hostility and division
within the Muslim Somali community. Those opposed to the premise of the program
point out that 96% of domestic terrorism is committed by white men. The exact
figure is disputed, but all statistics have it at more than 90%.
“The idea that this Muslim community needs
help, itself for this issue is problematic,” says Jaylani Hussein the executive
director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN). “Because now
you’re saying that countering violent extremism is only from one community. The
threat comes from one community, the threat is only identified within one
community, that community needs a program. The whole premise is wrong. This
program, no matter how good it is, is flawed from its principle.”
Those who support the program are welcoming of
new resources to their community, particularly if they will keep any brewing
problem contained.
The conflict derives from the perceived
radicalization of several individuals from Minnesota. Between 2008 and 2013,
about 40 young men left Minneapolis to join al-Shabaab, the militant, radical
Islamist insurgent group at war in Somalia, between approximately 2008 and
2013. Since then, 11 people from the Twin Cities have been charged with
planning to leave for Syria to join Isis. Authorities believe Isis is focusing
its US recruitment efforts on Somali Muslims in Minnesota because of the
state’s history, and a potential pre-existing recruitment infrastructure.
Six young men charged with planning to leave
Minnesota for Syria to join Isis are awaiting trial in February. The boys claim
they were entrapped, but one is now expected to change his plea to guilty.
“We have a terror recruiting problem in
Minnesota,” Luger said in April.
Opponents of the CVE program point out that
these 40 individuals make up less than 0.3% of Minnesota’s Somali population.
Osman says that even though she is the mother
of two young boys, Isis has “no relevance” to her life. “I don’t even think
about [Isis] – I look at the news and I’m like OK they’re just talking rubbish,
and I turn it off. Because my life is already more of just trying to think
about how I am going to raise my family, what is good for them, my boys are my
number one priority.”
Already, the CVE pilot program has been
re-branded with a new name, Building Community Resilience. Luger’s office says
it captures the essence of his vision: to keep teens from Minnesota from
traveling to the Middle East and blowing themselves up. Luger says it will do
so by providing $216,000 in federal funds – in addition to other local and
private support – which will be disbursed to community groups through a
grant-making organization.
The social services supported by the funding
serve as crime prevention, he contends.
But a statement issued from a coalition
protesting the program asserted: “The Minnesota Muslim community is united over
its growing concerns of the CVE pilot program, which so far has only alienated
the very communities it was seeking to influence. While attempting to derail
the communities’ own initiative to enhance its ability to build community
resilience.”
Inherent distrust
When Luger became US attorney in February of 2014,
he rolled up his sleeves and made it a priority to meet with Somali Muslim
community leaders across the state, learning their feelings, thoughts and
concerns. The CVE product was directly shaped by the issues raised to Luger,
though it’s now being protested by some of the same people with whom Luger
consulted.
There’s distrust of the seemingly direct
involvement from the attorney general’s office, as well as the funding from the
federal government. Those opposed also think the pilot program’s emphasis on
violent extremism does not accurately reflect the problems facing the
community.
“I came to America when I was a child, when I
was seven years old. I have seen a lot of the issues that our kids are facing.
You know, I have been to a classroom where I don’t understand anything,”
remembered Saciido Shaie, a member of the Minnesota Juvenile Justice Advisory
Council. “I don’t understand the language. I don’t understand what the teacher
is asking me. I take my homework home and my mom doesn’t speak the language,
doesn’t write the language. And I’m stuck with all this homework, no one is
helping me, all these things. So for me going to school was going to hell.”
Shaie is one of many parents who are concerned
about Somali Muslim youth. Minnesota has the worst or second-worst graduation
rates among for non-white students, and the possibility of falling in with a
gang or into a life of crime is high. “Many kids don’t know where they belong –
Isis, al-Shabaab or a gang. They join all that is available to them,” she said.
She wants more resources for the children and
teens in the community, but she doesn’t want it to come with the tag of
“terrorism”, or “violence”. Despite the re-branding of the campaign, her
concerns remain.
But the T-word carries a lot of weight for
organizations seeking support, argues Fartun Abdi, a 24-year-old graduate of
the University of Chicago and a current PhD student at the University of
Minnesota studying the roots of radicalization. “There’s organizations in the
community, and I don’t really feel comfortable to say ‘so and so and so’ but
there’s organizations in the community that do make this a big issue in order
to get more funding.
“That doesn’t mean the funding won’t go toward
social services, but it does come with the ‘terrorism’ tag. ‘Many of our kids
become radicalized at some point’ – that’s what the government wants to hear,
that’s what these folks want to hear. So when you give them that, of course
they’re going to fund you and give you resources and connect you to the right
people.”
That there are imams on the taskforce is also
a concern to imam Hassan Jaamici Mohamud, who believes it conflates church and
state, and could cause distrust among the congregations.
“For the US attorney’s office, the office
that’s supposed to prosecute people, to join social service initiatives, that
creates a lot of suspicion among the community,” explained Jaamici Mohamud.
Some like Sadik Warfa think the program is a
potential forum for government surveillance. He’s suspicious of the chief
prosecutor’s involvement in social services. Warfa also fears the program will
isolate the Somalis in the city, and further pigeonhole Muslims around the
country as a problematic, violent population that requires special attention
and funds.
In 2012 the FBI honored Ka Joog, a
group that provides free after-school and mentorship programs, with the FBI
director’s community leadership award for being “an organization that goes
beyond the traditional sense of community service and has a profound effect on
their community”. But in partnership with the county attorney’s office, a
program dubbed “be@school” tracks students who have a number of unexcused
absences, and then involves their families.
The FBI’s recognition of Ka Joog, and the
participation of two of their staff on the CVE taskforce (one is the chair) has
fueled the fear that the social services proposed are secretly mixing with
surveillance and policing.
Being labeled a potential violent extremist
could be a self-fulfilling prophecy, some parents fear. “Imagine my son being
defined as one of those, you know, at risk for Isis or whatever – it’s like
setting up for a failure out there,” Shaie said.
The media doesn’t help, defining her son as
“Somali” and “Muslim” instead of a kid. “What I don’t want to see is an
innocent child, who grew up here, who was born here, this is what they know, to
be leveled by whatever ideology we have,” she said.
‘Money for soccer
and basketball’
The chair of the CVE taskforce, Abdimalik
Mohamed, is sensitive to the notion that Somalis – out of all Muslims – are
being targeted by the CVE. But he says Somalis are in a lower financial bracket
than their Arab counterparts in America, and that makes them more vulnerable to
recruitment from gangs at home and abroad. That’s why they need the resources.
“How is it a problem for us to get money for
soccer and basketball?” he said.
In fact, he’s appreciative of the government’s
involvement. “How many communities [can call the US attorney] and say, hey we
don’t like what you’re doing, can you do this differently?” he asked.
Abdisalam Adam, a religious leader and another
committee member says that many Somalis don’t trust the government enough.
Abdi, the scholar who is studying the roots of
radicalization, is also a member of the CVE taskforce and the decision of
whether to join weighed on her heavily.
“I felt like it was a responsibility to be
there and at least contribute my perspective,” she said of her choice. Abdi
doesn’t deny that surveillance is an issue: “People have a reason to be
scared.” She went on to point out that some NGOs, even those run by Somalis,
are viewed with suspicion. “When you think about Ka Joog, it’s because of the
work they did with radicalization and the FBI. It’s not an after-school
program.”
Mohamed, the chair of the CVE taskforce and
the director of international affairs at Ka Joog, says even though the
percentage might be small right now, the purpose of the CVE program is
prevention. Mohamed also hates the idea of a Somali Muslim reputation for
violence. That is one of the reasons he is leading the initiative. He said
passionately: “We’re guiding kids toward the right path before they leave [for
Syria] tomorrow and everyone says’ oh look at the Somali community’.”
Fears of more departures were
announced at an event in mid-August. Though he acknowledged details were
hazy: “We’re now telling you that a number of Somalis, including women and men,
have left in previous weeks,” said Abdirizak Bihi, a member of the CVE
taskforce said to a crowd in Somali, according to a video of his remarks
obtained by MPR News. “We’re also informing you that a large number is on its
way to leave.”
Ka Joog will be expanding its projects with
the CVE funds, not inputting new anti-radicalization plans.
The taskforce is frustrated, and worries that
personal politics could prohibit progress. Tit-for-tat press conferences have
been scheduled and nasty emails exchanged. Both sides blame the other for
politicking.
To assuage these fears, the US attorney’s
office and the Somali American taskforce signed a memorandum of understanding
that the program will not be used for surveillance or to collect intelligence.
Abdirizak Bihi, a member of the taskforce
said: “I would like to tell people who are scaring off resources that they
should understand the risks they are creating among our community.”
But Osman insists that she does not consider
her sons joining Isis the predominant risk.
“I’m basically afraid that the generation to
come will be a target of misunderstanding or just defamation of character,”
said Osman. “I’d rather think about how I’m going to pay for college.”
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/14/somali-muslims-minnesota-counter-extremism-program
- See more at: http://www.teaparty.org/obama-admin-spend-hundreds-thousands-bribe-minnesota-somali-immigrants-become-terrorists-119161/#sthash.rYUABh2U.dpuf
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