Saturday, November 27, 2010

Portland's Somali community unites to condemn alleged Pioneer Courthouse Square bomb plot

pressconference.JPGView full size Imam Mikal Shabazz, director of the Oregon Islamic Chaplain Organization (left), and Shahriar Ahmed, president of the Bilal Mosque Association in Beaverton, held a news conference Saturday at Portland City Hall to condemn the alleged bombing attempt at Pioneer Courthouse Square on Friday.
After an attempted terrorist attack was foiled Friday in Portland, Ahmed Ali  wants only one thing: to tell the world that the portrait alleged attacker Mohamed Osman Mohamud  painted of the Somali community is far from the truth.

"He ruined it for everybody," said Ali, 24, of Portland, as he stood outside Hashi Halal Market,  a Somali grocery store owned by his brother in North Portland. "We are against it. Our religion says we cannot kill innocent people. This is the reason we left Somalia."

As news spread of Mohamud's alleged plan to detonate a bomb during Portland's annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Pioneer Courthouse Square, it sent shock waves throughout Portland's Somali community. Many, like Ali, asked themselves how a teenager from a well-known and progressive family could have chosen such a dark path.

"This is a family everyone looks up to," Ali said. "They are the most educated, modern Somalis. I bet this is their worst nightmare, too."

Several at the grocery store said Mohamud was quiet and mostly stayed to himself. Store owner Omar Hashi  said he remembers when the teenager was a small boy. Ali said Mohamud's father is heavily involved in the community and his mother does not wear a hijab, which signifies the family's modern lifestyle.

Amin Dawid,  who was standing outside the store with Hashi on Saturday afternoon, said he doesn't believe Mohamud understood the opportunities he had as a teenager living in the United States.

"He fell into something wrong," said Dawid, of Portland. "We stand with the family, but we reject all kind of violence."

Ali added, "It's anti-Muslim and anti-Somali." In addition, the Somali community in Portland and others around the country have expressed frustration that Mohamud's alleged actions will paint a negative picture of the city's Somali community, which is estimated to number about 8,000.

Omar Jamal,  first secretary of the Somali mission for the United Nations, condemned the plot and said Somali communities across the country are in shock and disbelief.

"We don't want it to reflect the majority of the Somali community," Jamal said Saturday from New York. "We are all in this together on this war on terrorism."

After Mohamud was arrested Friday, Arthur Balizan,  FBI special agent in charge of Oregon, called local Muslim leaders to tell them of the situation.

"There was a tone of apprehension," Balizan said, "and also a tone of sadness that this had happened."

Saturday evening, two leaders of the Portland-area Islamic community led a news conference outside Portland City Hall denouncing the alleged plot and praising authorities who stopped it. Imam Mikal Shabazz  of the Oregon Islamic Chaplain Organization, standing with Shahriar Ahmed  of Beaverton's Bilal Mosque Association, described his initial reaction to the news as "shock" mixed with "relief."

"We condemn strongly any act of violence, any act that would target innocent people," Shabazz said, speaking on behalf of Portland's Islamic community.

Local Muslims and Muslim organizations had received threats by Saturday evening, Ahmed said. But he downplayed those threats as "inconsequential," saying the Portland incident doesn't have to affect sometimes-strained relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.

"Tensions are what you make of them," Ahmed said. "There is no point in increasing tension. There is no point in flaring things beyond what they need to be."

Both men urged observers to let the legal process play out before jumping to conclusions about Mohamud.

The attempted bombing has spread fear throughout Portland's Somali community. The grocery store, usually a bustling meeting place on a Saturday afternoon was eerily quiet as few shoppers milled around. Ali said most Somalis in the community aren't leaving their homes.

Ali, who has lived in Portland since 1999 and gained his U.S. citizenship earlier this month, said his joy has been overshadowed because he fears racial profiling and assumes people will look at him twice as he walks down the street.

"I never thought this would happen," he said. "Portland is the safest place."

Jamal said that though Somali teenagers living in Ohio and Minnesota have been recruited by terrorist organizations, such happenings have been virtually nonexistent in Portland.

"There are kids in Minneapolis who have been radical," Jamal said. Portland "is the least active city."

Jamal said he believes that close to 20 Somali youths have been recruited from Minnesota and sent to Somalia to fight for terrorist organizations in the past several years. Often, he said, the younger generation is recruited and financed by elders.

"At some point in his life, someone must have put this threat idea in his mind," Jamal said, speaking about Mohamud, the suspect behind Friday's alleged plot. "We want to know who that is. We want to deal with the root of the problem."

Jamal said establishing good relationships between U.S. Somali communities and the rest of the country is key.

"We have to make them believe that this is not a war on Muslims," he said. Several at the grocery store on Saturday expressed support for Mohamud's family, and Ali insists business will eventually pick up again, but he says it will take much longer for the community to feel accepted and safe in Portland again.

"It's going to be different now," he said. "It will bring the community together because we'll be there for each other."

Portland Mayor Sam Adams said he, the police chief and Commissioner Amanda Fritz will be doing outreach to leadership in the Somali community.

The mayor said that he had "trust in Portlanders' sense of fairness" in dealing with the alleged Somali plotter.

"Bad actions by one member of any group does not and should not be generalized or applied more widely to other members of that same group," he said. "Otherwise, as the biggest racial group in Portland, we European Americans would be in deep trouble." Oregon Live

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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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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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