Thinking About Somalians in the News and the Somalians I Know

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Posted by Gale Petersen  July 14, 2009

The Extensive New York Times Article >>

On Sunday, The New York Times published a very long article about the more than 20 young American men from the Minneapolis area who have traveled to Somalia to fight for al Shabaab, a militant Islamic organization that is waging an insurgency against the country's government and that may have ties to Al Qaeda.

I thought I would simply put a link to the news story and it would appear on our home page along with other news items. But then, every paper I opened and link I followed  seemed to have a story about the conflict and pain Somali people are experiencing here in the United States and in Somalia. I became troubled just from reading about these seemingly intractable situations. What is it like to have lived through them?

Monday, Reuters reported on fighting in Mogadishu that killed 43 people in the Somali capital.

In my local paper, an Associated Press story told of the grief of the family of Jamal Bana, one of those young men who went to Somalia to fight. His parents identified his dead body in a photo online and days later wept through a news conference. "My son had no clue about Somalia," his mother said. "He must have been disillusioned, indoctrinated."

Yesterday, too, a story ran about an indictment in February that was unsealed this week: 2 Somali Americans Charged with Aiding Terror .

When I read each article I thought about  the people I have met on the New Routes projects who are working so very hard. Once again, I feel myself admiring anew those of you I've gotten to know a little who are working in concrete ways to bring health and peace to your local Somali communities. May Saeed Fahia, Muhktaar Gaadasaar, Hussien Mohamed, Dr. Omar Mohamed, Sara Rhode, Steve Brunsell, Sam Marie Engle, Ericka Tucker, and Joan Baptist experience peace.

Tags: al Shabaab, Depression, F.B.I., FBI, Health, peace
Topics: Building Community, Family, Immigrant Integration, Immigrants, News, Receiving Communities, Refugees, Youth