Friday, February 27, 2009

Somali cartoonist draws death threats

2/28/09
This week, Canadians celebrate the freedom to read.
Every day, a Somali man living in Edmonton celebrates the freedom to draw.
Freedom to Read Week is an annual event in Canada raising awareness about freedom of expression, which we are guaranteed in this country. But Amin Amir doesn't need a designated week to remind him.The visual artist, who has lived in Canada for nearly a decade, is famous in Somali circles around the globe for his political cartoons about Somalia. Satirical, poignant and often controversial, Amir's cartoons -- which he posts at Aminarts.com -- address issues facing his home country: political corruption, war, poverty, famine, murdered journalists and oppressed women. His website gets up to 10,000 hits a day,In one cartoon, Amir depicts how an Islamic militia group undermines society despite its claims that it's helping the country. Al-Shabaab is portrayed as a bulldozer digging deep into the side of a cliff. Above the bulldozer, on a precariously thin strip of earth, Somalia's most vulnerable people -- women, children, the elderly -- struggle to survive. Most of the cartoons are in his native language, Somali.Edmonton's Somali community, which numbers around 8,000, admires the artist for speaking out about the issues back home. "He's a local hero. Everyone talks about him," Accord says. Amir deals regularly with extremists who want him dead because of his cartoons. He gets anonymous threats as often as twice a week.
"They send me e-mails, 'We kill you, we know where you live,' " the artist says with the help of his daughter, Jija, who translates from Somali to English. "I'm not scared. If the (Somali) government does something bad, I want to tell people. "I don't stop my cartoons. I'm still doing my job." When he publishes a controversial cartoon, "the poor people like me" and "the bad people are not happy," he says. But "when the poor people are happy, I'm happy too, I'm satisfied." Amir's wife, Zenaib Ibrahim, is proud, too. "My husband, he talks about the people who don't have a voice, who are poor." Amir and his family left Somalia in 1992. The family moved to Canada in 2000 after a stint in Djibouti, settling in Montreal. They moved to Edmonton two years ago.
Thanks to the freedom of expression in Canada, Amir earns a living as an artist through his commercial website, along with contracts at various publications. He is also a painter and sells his works. In 2007, Amir was one of 18 Edmonton artists to win an Explorations Grant, a program established during the city's Cultural Capital Program. Amir's grant of $7,500 allowed him to create 30 oil paintings depicting the role of Somali women in family and society. He is motivated to speak out on behalf of Somalia's most vulnerable citizens because they can't speak out themselves. "When bad things happen, the first people affected are women and children," he explains through Jija. The cartoons hit home with Mayran Kalah, an Edmontonian who left Somalia in 1995. "When I see his (Amir's) pictures, I know exactly what he's talking about," she says. "As a woman, it touches me." She says Amir's hard-hitting cartoons make Somalians laugh, but also remind those who have left their home country: "Don't forget." When asked if he'll ever return to Somalia, he laughs and says "maybe later." Judging by his grin, and the sarcasm in his cartoons, it would seem that's a very big maybe. "Freedom is good," he says. Pr...By: Elizabeth Withey, Photograph by: Rick MacWilliam,Source: The Edmonton Journal http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Somali+cartoonist+draws+death+threats/1330832/story.html

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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