![flower_child flower_child](https://doctorbulldog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/flower_child.jpg?w=450)
Somehow, I do not think the DHS is up to this task.
by Laura Yuen, 4 February, 2009, Minnesota Public Radio
St. Paul, Minn. — The department’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is planning to launch a so-called “engagement program” with Somali Americans in Minneapolis. The office has conducted similar outreach efforts with Muslims, Arabs and South Asians across the United States, including Chicago and Los Angeles.
-And yet ¾ of US mosques still teach hate, good job DHS.
One of the goals of the program is to prevent the radicalization of those groups.
-Then rewrite the Koran and convince them all to read and follow the replacement book.
Now, federal officials are trying to start a dialogue with some of the tens of thousands of Somalis living in the Twin Cities.
David Gersten is a top official with that civil-rights office. He said the expansion into Minneapolis has nothing to do with reports of about a dozen missing Somali men. In fact, Gersten said Somali-American community leaders began contacting his office as early as February 2008, several months before the disapperances made news.
-Good for them.
The FBI has said the young men “potentially” may have gone back to Somalia to fight alongside a militant Islamic group.
And while concerns about the missing men did not trigger the outreach efforts in Minneapolis, Gersten said he expects community leaders will raise the issue once the formal discussions begin.
“I’m sure, as with any community, they would like to know what their rights are, and what their responsibilities are, in talking with state, local and federal agencies,” Gersten said. “And they’d like to have a better understanding of what programs are in place within the department to help them if there are missing persons.”
-This is a chance to make a difference. The immigrant Somali community has seen life under a backwards and violent society where human rights were not existent and no one had free will. Here is their chance for real change, we will see if they are up to the task.
The first community roundtable could take place as early as next month. This week’s visit to Minneapolis is primarily to meet with key government players based in the Twin Cities, ranging from immigration officials to City Hall, to find out what kind of Somali outreach programs already exist.
Muslims and other groups that have already participated in these discussions across the country have asked questions about U.S. policies, ranging from asylum status to airport screenings. The latter could prove to be a pressing question in the Twin Cities as well. Late last year, the leader of a Minneapolis mosque that some of the missing men had attended was denied permission to board a plane to Saudi Arabia for an annual pilgrimage.
-Sounds to me like someone inside of his mosque talked. (more…)
Opinionated Infidels