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1500 Somalis Protest Muslim Defeat - In Minn

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Somali women, including Nadifa Farah, who is holding the sign, joined a demonstration Saturday at Peavey Park in Minneapolis.

Area Somalis want peace for homeland

Many of the 1,500 protesters in Minneapolis were angered that the U.S. gave tacit support for ousting of Islamists.

By Liz Fedor, Star Tribune

December 30, 2006

More than a thousand Somalis gathered in Minneapolis on Saturday to call for Ethiopian troops to withdraw immediately from Somalia.

Their protest capped a week in which transitional government troops retook Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, with the backing of Ethiopian infantrymen.

The U.S. government "gave the green light" to Ethiopia to work in concert with the transitional federal government in Somalia, and that action was "totally wrong," said Hassan Mohamud.

He is the president of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice in Minneapolis, which organized Saturday’s rally.

"We ask the president of the United States, Mr. Bush, and his administration to stop supporting the terrorists. Ethiopian troops are terrorists," Mohamud said to a cheering crowd.

Somali men, women and children gathered Saturday morning in Peavey Park in Minneapolis, and they carried an array of signs. Some said "No more war" and "Islam is the solution."

Lt. Rick Thomas of the Minneapolis Police Department estimated the crowd at about 1,500 people for a rally that ran for more than two hours.

Mohamud said he and other Somalis want the United States to support talks that can yield "peace and reconciliation."

Somalia has not had a stable government in 15 years, but many attendees at the rally said that the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) had brought some peace to the country during the past six months.

When that Islamic group took over the capital in June, many people were optimistic about the future, said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis.

"They brought back security," Jamal said in a telephone interview. "We were all hoping that the moderates would be able to take the lead in the organization of the UIC. But unfortunately, the radicals hijacked the process."

Jamal said the large Somali community in Minnesota "is divided," adding that many local Somalis supported the overthrow of the Islamists over the past few days.

Jamal said he attended the rally as an observer.

While leaders in the Somali community differ over the best political course of action to take for Somalia’s future, many Somalis yearn for a less violent, more stable environment that can better serve the people in Somalia.

Sadia Egal, 23, said she had been planning to visit her parents in Somalia in January. But the recent military actions prompted her to postpone the trip. She is fearful that her teenage brothers in Somalia could be killed in revenge slayings. "My dad asked them to stop going to school," she said, so they could stay home and avoid being targets for violence.

Egal, who lives in north Minneapolis, has not returned to Somalia since she left the country with her aunt when she was 12 years old. She works as a parking attendant and interpreter and has been saving her money for six months to pay for her plane ticket.

Abdullahi Hassan, a small-business owner from Eden Prairie, said, "What brought me here [to the rally] is our country is under occupation by foreign forces." He said the United States should support a process that would allow highly educated Somalis to find solutions to stabilize the country and build hospitals and schools that will serve the people.

A member of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice, Abdul Mohamed of Minneapolis, said the military advances last week by Ethiopian troops created "one of the worst moments in Somali history."

Mohamed disagrees with U.S. policy in Somalia, which he said is driven by "Islamophobia."

Reports in the New York Times and other news organizations characterized the United States as giving tacit approval to Ethiopia’s military actions.

U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., has been heavily involved in working with the Minnesota-based Somali community, said Coleman spokesman Luke Friedrich.

"Clearly, there are many different factions concerned with the future of Somalia, and thus many different voices," Friedrich said Saturday. "In the end, it is in Somalia’s interest and America’s interest for the country to establish a democratic, secure and functional government — one where human rights are protected and terrorists cannot get a foothold."

We should send these people back to Somalia poste haste so that they can do something about this outrage.

(What the hell is going on in Minnesota?)

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This article was posted by Steve Gilbert on Sunday, December 31st, 2006 at 9:50 am. You can leave a response.

24 Responses to “1500 Somalis Protest Muslim Defeat - In Minn”

  1. SG
    December 31st, 2006 at 11:59 am

    Another take on the protest from the St. Paul (MN) Pioneer Press:

    More than 1,000 protest conflict in Somalia

    BY EMILY GURNON
    Sun, Dec. 31, 2006

    MINNEAPOLIS

    Going from prayer to protest, more than 1,000 Somalis took time out Saturday from one of their major holidays to denounce the entry of Ethiopian troops into their native country.

    After attending mosque for the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha earlier in the day, Somalis huddled in the soggy cold of Peavey Park in Minneapolis, singing, chanting and holding up signs that said, “Ethiopia out of Somalia,” and “Their pain is our pain.”

    Thousands of Ethiopian troops entered Somalia before Christmas, bombing two airports and then taking over the capital city of Mogadishu on Friday.

    The city had been under the control of the Union of Islamic Courts, a group denounced by U.S. officials as terrorists but lauded by many of those gathered at the rally.

    “The Islamic Courts are not terrorists!” said Hassan Mohamud, president of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice, which organized the protest. Speaking to the crowd, which was arranged in a large circle, the men on one side, the women on the other, he said, “Ethiopian troops are terrorists!”

    The country’s U.N.-recognized transitional government, which has been considered weak at best, invited the Ethiopians into Somalia. And many local Somalis said earlier this week that they celebrated the arrival of the troops.

    A supporter of Ethiopian troops entering Somalia wandered into the group in the Phillips neighborhood park but was quickly escorted out by police, to the cheers of the crowd.

    “He was creating a disturbance, and he had made reference to al-Qaida,” said Minneapolis police Lt. Rick Thomas. “It was obvious that he was here to cause trouble.”

    The Bush administration also has come out in support of the Ethiopian offensive, a stance criticized by many at the rally.

    “The thing Bush is doing is not right,” said Farhia Siad, 27, who came from Somalia with her two children. She said she was offended that those who supported the Islamists were labeled terrorists.

    After they kicked out an alliance of CIA-backed warlords from Mogadishu six months ago, the Islamic Courts opened the airports and the checkpoints, outlawed the widespread sale and consumption of the drug khat and brought the first peace the capital had seen in years, Somalis at the rally said.

    “They made the whole country a respectable place,” said Salah Warsame, 47, of Minneapolis, another of the rally’s organizers. “Once they started being accepted throughout the country, the enemies of Somalia started getting worried.”

    He said his sister, who still lives in Mogadishu, told him during a phone call that her family had been indoors for three days, afraid to venture out of their house.

    Minnesota’s Somali population was estimated at more than 25,000 in 2004. Many of those at the rally said that, while they love and appreciate Minnesota, they want Americans to recognize the ties they still have to their homeland.

    Sadia Egal, 24, of Minneapolis, said she had airline reservations to visit her parents in Mogadishu on Jan. 16, but they told her that the violence made it too dangerous for her to come. More than 1,000 people have been killed in fighting across the country since Dec. 20, the New York Times reported.

    Egal noted the contrast of the religious holiday and fighting in her homeland.

    “It’s supposed to be a happy day,” Egal said.

  2. illbedogged
    December 31st, 2006 at 1:29 pm

    Do photographers not use a wide angle lens anymore? I don’t see no 1000 people.

  3. sheehanjihad
    December 31st, 2006 at 1:45 pm

    There are a grand total of 21 people there….17 visible, two off camera on the other side of that tree, and the photographer. The rest of the protestors were there “in spirit”, and busy sacrificing the family cat for the holiday.

  4. DEZ
    December 31st, 2006 at 1:54 pm

    Americans had better wake up, Muslims pull this crap where ever people let them live.
    They scream and protest, And demand conversion to their way of life.
    They see themselves as the center of all things, Deserving of all they survey.
    They should be welcome no where.

  5. Teabag
    December 31st, 2006 at 2:40 pm

    Deport ‘em.

    I think “Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America” by Brigitte Gabriel should be required reading for the President and every member of the House and Senate.

  6. amber
    December 31st, 2006 at 3:04 pm

    What is going on in Minnesota?

    I have no idea, I live here and I can not explain it.

    I think the bigger issue is what is happenning to our country? Why is Ted Kenedy not arrested? Why is Richards not in prison? Why is Kerry not executed for murdering innocent Vietnamese? Why is Nifong able to keep his position and not be shipped off to prison? Why is Ramsey Clark still a citizen of the US? Why is Cindy Shehan still allowed to vote? Why is the media allowed to continue to lie about our soldiers? Why are the marines from Haditha on trial? Why do soldiers have to choose between prosecution or death when faced with the enemy? Why? Tell me that, and then you will know what is wrong with MN is what is wrong with the rest of the US. There is a cancer growing and it needs to be killed. I am all for free speech and press and differing political oppinions. What I am not for is people threatenning the life of my president, treating our soldiers like criminals, politicians going outside of the scope of their contitutional mandate, Judges creating law, subversion, these people should be taken care of and quickly. If Bush loves and respects Lincoln so much, he really should take more cues from him.

  7. 1sttofight
    December 31st, 2006 at 3:15 pm

    amber,
    I raise my B&BW to you . You just said what I think but can not put into words.

  8. DEZ
    December 31st, 2006 at 3:47 pm

    Well said Amber, Very well said.

  9. doingwhatican
    December 31st, 2006 at 5:06 pm

    “Area Somalis want peace for homeland” - article headline.

    If these folks consider Somalia to be their homeland, perhaps they should return there. This is OUR country, not a hotel or a flophouse.

    Why are these people here in the first place? I find it appalling they are living the good life in America while supporting the Muslims in Somalia.

    Send these clowns back to their homeland.

  10. rakkasan
    December 31st, 2006 at 6:59 pm

    What is going on in Minnesota?

    I have no idea. But they (our politicians) keep importing them by the thousands. These immigrants love the Islamic Courts, and look forward to establishing them in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

    It enables Luke Fridrich to state the fucking obvious - that there are many voices on the issue. Some want democracy, some want Sharia law. Norm Coleman and his bitch Friedrich see all opinions as equal. Diversity is bearing fruit, and the fruit is Islamic law. Good job, Minnesota.

  11. 1sttofight
    December 31st, 2006 at 7:09 pm

    Range: 550 yds.
    Wind: 5-8 R to L.
    Temp.: 55 F

    Next target 2 yds L.

    Damn I will love it when muslim season opens.

  12. DW
    December 31st, 2006 at 7:36 pm

    Remember 1st:
    -It is illegal to hunt Muslims within 400 yards of a taxi stand.
    -Party hunting is restricted to groups of 300 or less.
    -Use of live bait such as goats, camels or young boys is prohibited.

    Happy New Year all.

  13. rakkasan
    December 31st, 2006 at 7:40 pm

    1sttofight - Unfortunately that is not how it is. For now we must suffer the influx of Islamofascists, until we reach parity with France, before we start thinking of what to do. It is so stupid it drives me crazy sometimes.

  14. clifcrds
    December 31st, 2006 at 11:18 pm

    Amber - I live right next door to Minnesota and you are forgetting one thing - like the rest of the country Minnesota has it’s own version of the misinforming NY Times . . . The Minneapolis RED Star/Tribune. If I had a parakeet I wouldn’t line its cage with this leftist rag for fear of it demanding a share of my wages as a form imcome redistribution in return for doing nothing but eating, crapping, and running its mouth about things it knows nothing about.

  15. amber
    January 1st, 2007 at 12:13 pm

    clif, I live in MN, I have lived all over the state. I know the MPLS Star is dubbed the Red Star by many conservatives, but the fact remains that the state allowed muslims to determine who they will and will not cary in their cabs (while under government contracts), they elected a muslim who is connected to terrorist organizations, and they have a huge liberal base. MN was the ONLY state to not vote for Reagan.
    However, if you read what I wrote, you would see that my point was that the entire country has screwed up priorities, not just MN.

  16. DW
    January 1st, 2007 at 1:38 pm

    amber,
    First off, your December 31, 3:04 post was both bang-on and well said.
    I know exactly how you feel, given that I’m coming at you from Canada (basically one huge Minnesota but with free -albeit nonexistent- health care).
    SG himself has referred to Canada in various threads on this site as “peacenik”, “liberal” and “socialist”. All true to a degree, but it does not mean that there are not millions of good, respectable, sensible conservative people here. Ditto for Minnesota. You yourself are living proof of that and no doubt you know plenty of others. Imagine how some poor conservative bastard in France must feel !
    You need not apologize for your state (and I realize that you’re not trying to do so). This fight, I suspect, is going to boil down to groups of conservatives -wherever they hail from- simply trying to maintain our way of life. By that point, waving state, provincial or even national flags at each other is just not going to matter.
    Minnesota is a beautiful state in a great nation bordered by another great nation. All of which -as you stated- have screwed up priorities. Hopefully -or God willing (if an old heathen like me is allowed to use that phrase)- together we’ll all be able to eventually bring them back on track.
    Just my .017 (Cdn funds) worth.

  17. Gila Monster
    January 1st, 2007 at 5:03 pm

    The muzzy loving AP laments Islamofascist losses in Somalia and hopes for an insurgency.

    http://www.lasvegassun.com/sun.....00136.html

    Fighters belonging to a militant Islamist movement fled into a rugged, forested corner of Somalia from rapidly advancing government forces Monday, and the prime minister offered amnesty if they surrendered.
    The military advance marked a stunning turnaround for Somalia’s government, which just weeks ago could barely control one town - its base of Baidoa - while the Council of Islamic Courts controlled the capital and much of southern Somalia.

    But with the intervention of Ethiopia, which has one of Africa’s largest armies, the Islamic group has been forced from the capital of Mogadishu and other key towns in the last 10 days. Its casualties run into the thousands, Ethiopia said.
    Yet it does not mark the end of the Islamists or their ultimate defeat. The group has promised to wage an Iraq-style guerrilla war if defeated, and a woman was killed Sunday in a mysterious blast in Mogadishu.

    Just six months ago, the Islamic group defeated a U.S.-backed alliance of Somali warlords controlling Mogadishu and then swept through much of southern Somalia. With them came a semblance of order in this chaotic country - but also a strict and often severe interpretation of Islam, which raised memories of Afghanistan’s Taliban.
    But in a message posted on the Internet, deputy al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims in Somalia and elsewhere to continue fighting “infidels and crusaders.”

    So under the mooselimb fanatics, there was “a semblance of order”..?? WTF..?? Not if you were Christian, or a woman, etc, etc.

  18. amber
    January 1st, 2007 at 6:13 pm

    DW, I agree, I love Minnesota (the North), I am old enough to move if I wanted to, but the snow, the lakes, and my friends (conservative and liberal) keep me here.

  19. DW
    January 1st, 2007 at 6:22 pm

    Oh I hear ya, amber. Not many folks on this site can honestly say that they like listening to loons ! And snowshoeing under the northern lights … Oh yes.
    Hang onto your conservative friends. Beat the liberal ones daily until they wise up.
    And we’ll all meet in Fort Frances/International Falls for a brew (plus I need to borrow some ammunition).

  20. nodems
    January 1st, 2007 at 6:49 pm

    A member of the Somali Institute for Peace and Justice, Abdul Mohamed of Minneapolis, said the military advances last week by Ethiopian troops created “one of the worst moments in Somali history.”

    ==================

    Worse than dragging an American serviceman through the streets?
    Worse than using women and children as shields by the dopey Somali terrorists?

    I don’t think so.

  21. wirenut
    January 1st, 2007 at 6:57 pm

    Somalian community, mooselimb community, and so on and so on. Where the hell is the unity for the great nation of these UNITED STATES OF AMERICA? Keep our laws and language FIRST!!!! You’re customs second, PERIOD. Smok’in hot in packer country.

  22. melinwy
    January 2nd, 2007 at 1:37 am

    Amber….I agree with you totally, I’d also like to ask, why our countrymen in great numbers do not realize what the muslims want for our country? They say it loud and clear, yet so many do not seem to take them seriously, and I believe they should not only listen, but realize they mean what they say and if there are any “moderate” muslims around, I’ve not heard about them or their comments on the radical islam. I can only pray for our country and countrymen that they will hear just what the islam/muslim agenda is for us.

  23. sheehanjihad
    January 2nd, 2007 at 8:38 am

    And we’ll all meet in Fort Frances/International Falls for a brew (plus I need to borrow some ammunition). Hey DW! You all out of pellets again? If we all meet in a central location, we can have an ammo swap meet….and DW can get some lead and powder for his Hawkins…..Wirenut still has it though, somali community? That is in Somalia. Here, you are liviing in America, in the double wide community. OH, OH!! Does anyone live near Tulsa Ok? Or, better yet, know of Drumright OK? No somalis there, I here….

  24. abby
    January 3rd, 2007 at 9:42 am

    amber…don’t forget chunky Sandy Berger…what gives there. i was in intelligence…had i done what he did i would be in leavenworth for life. not too many people in this country ask questions. people like “hamburger,” the muslins and mexicans are taking this country through hell and it doesn’t look like there is a return.


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