Portland Somali Community: Concerned About Other Muslim Youth

December 27, 2010

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We’re grateful the Somali community is pulling the fire alarm on some of their youth
is that something you know about and how do you plan to deal with it?
His answer?

 Some of the friends said they attended mosque and studied the Koran with Mohamed at the Islamic Learning Center in Southwest Portland. A few said they have known him since elementary school and classes at Jackson Middle School. KATU

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/10334-Sw-Ridgeview-Ln_Portland_OR_97219_M17457-39633
“Well, first off, actions of this individual, he’s being held accountable, there are difficult times for the youth in this nation, we have the highest youth unemployment rate in US history, we’ve got schools that are failing to achieve academically, the way we would want, we have tuition being increased exponentially in universities and colleges. That doesn’t excuse the criminal acts, don’t get me wrong, but it does explain when you add to the fact that alot of Somali Americans come from a place that has been in civil war for about 20 years, you do see the vulnerability of Somali youth locally and across the nation.
Is the city’s job to reach out to these?
Not only is it government’s job, not only the police bureau’s job it’s all of our collective  responsibility to make sure our youth have the opportunities afforded us when were the same age

on the jttf:
“you know it’s been five years since we last revisited the issue, I think that this particular event calls for a revisit, I also think that it’s been four or five years since we last looked at the policy, our status… I want to do a fact based review what’s best for Portland and what’s going to make Portland safe.

new white house and now you’re thinking about jttf. is this a political decision or..about safety?
“no when we last looked at this issue there were a series of federal policies and laws in place that meant people could be wiretappedwithout court oversight for issuing a warrant without a real normal probable cause in place. I voted against continuing in the JTTF at the time because I was concerned about our basic civil rights, I think that’s important. We have a new administration, we different local leadership in the FBI and the US Attorneys office it gives me more comfort, more trust but I still want to look at what federal laws are in place and make sure that we’re effective at preventing terrorist acts like this and the police bureau was a part of this partnership but also doing it in a way that respects state law and respects the values of this community.”

security at the square what changes are being made
“People should feel a level of confidence that because the patience and persistence and length of time that the law enforcement partnership put in to this particular incident that there’s no indication that  this individual in any sort of group effort he acted on his own and he chose the tree lighting ceremony as a target of opportunity but it doesn’t appear that there’s any evidence that it’s some sort of ideological focus on Portland. Having said that though, we’ve beefed up patrols… not only downtown to prevent any copy cat efforts, but also to reassure people. And we’ve also beefed up patrols around facilities like mosques and other place to prevent any ill guided retribution against the Muslim American community.”

http://www.startribune.com/local/111014364.html

Community leaders say while Mohamed Mohamud is innocent until proven guilty, there is a need to reach out to youth within the Somali community who may be at risk.
“We need to direct the right and appropriate resources to make sure young Muslim men do not continue to fall through the cracks, do not choose extremism or fanaticism as a real life option,” said Muna Abshir Mohamud.

The idea that “appropriate resources” be directed so young Muslim males do not “fall through the cracks” sounds a lot like a mooch for a big social services handout. Give us lots of money or we can’t guarantee that these wild Somali boys won’t kill you.
Apparently a normal American education of 12 years is not enough to overcome the Islamist ideology those boys get at the mosque or through the Islo-internet. Why do Muslims need more than other immigrant tribes? They don’t seem worth the trouble and danger, to put it kindly.
 http://www.limitstogrowth.org/articles/2010/11/29/portland-somalis-fumble-a-peace-rally/

From KGW here.