Terror Group Wants Somalia Rid of Christians - CBN.com

Terror Group Wants Somalia Rid of Christians

By Gary Lane

CBN News Sr. International Correspondent

Friday, April 13, 2012

SOMALIA -- Somalia's Islamist terror group al Shabab wants to rid the Muslim country of all Christians and is specifically targeting Christian converts from Islam. 

Al Shabab recently joined with al Qaeda and wants Sharia law implemented in the country.

An al Shabab video that swept the Internet in September 2008 shows the brutal beheading of 25-year-old aid worker Mansour Mohammed. His crime? Mohammed converted to Christianity in 2005.

Blindfolded, Tortured

One year ago, a Muslim convert to Christianity was awakened in his home by al Shabab soldiers. CBN News agreed to protect his identity, giving him the name "Abdi."

"They ransacked my house, searched my bag, and found several pages from a Bible," he told CBN News. "They had crosses on them."

Abdi was taken away, imprisoned, and tortured. 

"I was blindfolded and they put me in a dark, underground cell. They beat me up with a wooden baton," he explained. 

"They wanted to know where I got the Bible pages and if I knew of any others like me," he continued. "When they finally took the blindfold off, I noticed three dead bodies in the room. They placed them there just to frighten me."

Abdi's torturers said they were going to kill him. But late one night, he and two cellmates made a daring escape.

"The guards thought they had locked our cell door, but it wasn't locked. We opened it, ran to the wall, and started climbing," Abdi recalled. "The guards opened fire on us. Bullets killed one of my cellmates, but the other prisoner and I jumped over the wall."

Abdi reunited with his family and is now living in a safe place. He said he still suffers physical pain from the torture he endured. But spiritually, he said he feels closer to God.

"I was happy to go through all this because now I am stronger spiritually," Abdi said. "People prayed for me to escape. Their prayers are what saved my life."

Publicly Flogged

Somali Christian leaders estimate fewer than 200 Christians exist in this country of 10 million.

Secret believers, like one woman who asked that we call her Fozia, often suffer punishment and humiliation for refusing to conform to Islamic law.

Fozia said as a Christian, she could not bring herself to abide by al Shabab's requirement that women wear a burka. While Fozia dressed modestly, she did not want her face fully covered.

Al Shabab Sharia police, similar to those seen on patrol in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, noticed Fozia walking in public without a burka.

"They said the clothing I was wearing was unacceptable. They said I was naked," she explained.

Fozia received a public flogging -- 30 lashes -- as her punishment. Afterwards, she inched her way home despite debilitating injuries.

She told CBN News that a female neighbor came to her house to wash her wounds.

"I was bleeding; my flesh was peeling," Fozia recalled. "It was extremely painful."

Fozia said it is too risky to own a Bible, so she listens to nightly Christian radio broadcasts from neighboring Kenya.

Finding Refuge

Fozia found refuge at the home of a Christian friend in another Somali city. But what happens to other Somali Christians when their lives are threatened for leaving Islam?

Some are receiving help from an American mission group. CBN News traveled to a secret Christian safe house sponsored by Voice of the Martyrs. 

It's located in the Horn of Africa. The exact location cannot be revealed to avoid endangering the lives of the former Muslims who live there.

At the safe house, Somali Christians gather for a time of worship and Bible study. It not only gives former Muslims a place to eat and sleep, it provides them with spiritual fellowship and discipleship.

The house is run by mature believers who host no more than two people at a time. Eventually, it will help these temporary residents transition to life on their own.

Basmah was seven months pregnant when her Muslim husband divorced her. With nowhere to go, she returned to her mother's house, where she delivered her baby. 

But when Basmah's family discovered she had become a Christian, her stepfather kicked her out of the house.

"He said I was infecting the entire household and he threatened to kill me if I didn't leave," she told CBN News.

She was forced to live on the street with her infant until a VOM worker met her and offered her refuge at the safe house.

"I was praying that God would give me a house where I could sleep," Basmah said. "This is a very good house, a house of worship, a house of God. He answered my prayers." 

Pray for Endurance

Fozia and other Somali Christians are praying for a better life -- one free from the oppression of al Shabab and other Islamists.

"Pray that we Somali believers will live our lives closer to the kingdom of God," Fozia asked. "Pray that we will endure the weight of life in this Islamic nation."

New Somaliland Hebrews Flag

The Somaliland Yibir (Hebrews) have submitted the above new flag as their official flag effective April 20, 2012.

Yibraha Somaliland ayaa calanka sare inna soo gaarsiiyay waana calankooda rasmiga ah laga bilaabo April 20, 2012.

Haddii aan nahay Somalis For Jesus waxaan u hambalyaynaynaa Yibraha Somaliland oo u guntaday baadigoobka xaqooda.

Djibouti Journal; Somalia's 'Hebrews' See a Better Day

Regional Flag of Somali Hebrews - Somali Jews

By IAN FISHER

New York Times

The sultan of the Jews in Somalia is a handsome, silver-haired man named Ahmed Jama Hersi who does not know the first thing about Judaism. He is a Muslim, as were his ancestors back at least 800 years. But he and his people are treated badly, cursed as descendants of Israelites. The name of the tribe is Yibir, or Hebrew.

''Even our young people,'' he said, ''they are ashamed when you ask them what tribe they belong to. They will not say Yibir.''

 Not much is known about the lineage of the Yibir, one of Somalia's ''sab,'' or outcast, clans. But if Somalis succeed in creating a new central government -- as they have been trying to do since March -- the Yibir will for the first time taste political legitimacy and respect. In the 225-member assembly envisioned for a new Somalia, the Yibir get one seat.

A conscious effort is being made to broaden political power in Somalia, traditionally held by old men from the four major clans. In the new assembly, women, the bedrock of Somali economic and family life, have been allocated 25 seats.

Minority clans like the Yibir, Midgan and Tomal will have 24 seats, if the assembly is ever translated from a nice idea at a peace conference here in neighboring Djibouti to an actual government in Somalia, which has been without one since 1991.

''This is the most broad-based process that Somalia has ever known,'' said David Stephen, the representative of Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, at the peace talks. ''Never before have women and minorities taken part in discussions about their country.''

The question is whether this means anything. It is far from certain that any new government will ever actually sit in Somalia, though hopes are high. Perhaps more important is whether the elderly men from the major clans will cede any of their authority. Mr. Stephen said some men bluntly say that they ''are only doing this to please the United Nations.''

But still the minority groups, who prefer to be called the Alliance, and women are talking about the power they theoretically hold if they vote as a bloc.

The top positions in any new government are likely to be doled out to the major clans, and any clan that makes alliances with the women and minorities in the assembly is more likely to win.

''We have to have one voice and one interest as women,'' said Asha Haji Elmi, leader of the women delegates to the conference. She conceded that there would be pressure for women to vote with their clans rather than as women. Twenty of the women's seats are assigned to the four major clans and the remaining five to the minority clans.

''It's difficult,'' she said, ''but we have to overcome the obstacles.''

It is, at any rate, a high-minded exercise, pushed strongly by the peace conference's host, President Ismael Omar Gelleh of Djibouti -- though Somalis are quick to point out that Mr. Gelleh's own government is not nearly so liberal as his vision for Somalia's.

''It is not in our tradition,'' said Mahmoud Imam Omar, an elder in one of the major clans, the Hawiye, speaking of the inclusion of women. ''President Gelleh has made us do it. But we have accepted it.''

A Somali businessman, Muhammad Ali Muhammad, said it was an experiment worth trying. ''We have seen how the men have devastated the country,'' he said. ''So maybe the women and minority groups would be better.''

A new government is, of course, no guarantee of equality. Then again, the Yibir do not have much to begin with.

Mr. Hersi, 68, who has been the elected leader of the Yibir for 22 years, was asked to speak at one of the opening sessions of the peace conference two months ago. He noted that the Yibir had suffered terribly during the years of war but wanted badly to forgive and move on.

''In the civil war I lost my son, my wife, my brother, my dignity and my self-respect,'' he told the delegates. ''But still I have come here to work for reconciliation.''

Part of the bad treatment, he concedes, is the support of many Yibir for the dictator Muhammad Siad Barre. When he was overthrown in 1991, Mr. Hersi fled the country with surviving members of his family to live in Nairobi, Kenya's capital.

But part of it is simply that they are one of the low castes of Somalis, and particularly that they are believed to be ethnic Jews in a strongly Muslim country.

''We were never given our rights,'' he said.

For many years the Yibir were forbidden to be educated, and Mr. Hersi says he can barely spell his name. They do work that is considered to be base, like metalworking and shoemaking.

Traditionally many earned money through the Somali belief, stretching back perhaps centuries, that it is lucky to give the Yibir a small amount of money when a son is born or at a marriage.

Mr. Hersi cannot say exactly how or when his ancestors made it to Somalia, though he believes that about 25,000 Yibir live there and in neighboring countries like Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. Stories passed down from his forefathers have it that they came as Arabic-speaking teachers more than 1,000 years ago.

He said there was no relation between them and the Jews of neighboring Ethiopia, many of whom still practice Judaism. It is hard to say exactly how the Yibir are Jews, or why they treated so badly because of it.

The Yibir not only know nothing about Judaism, but they also say they have no intention of converting or, like the Ethiopian Jews, seeking resettlement in Israel.

''That would only make more problems,'' said another Yibir, Muhammad Ali Hassan, a trader in the emirate of Dubai on the Persian Gulf.

The process of getting their one seat has been typically difficult. Mr. Hersi said he had never received an invitation even to come to the conference, though he made it here with the help of the United Nations. In negotiations with other outcast clans, the Yibir originally were given two seats in Parliament, but a few days ago, one was stripped from them. Still, he said, one seat is a start.

''Before we had nothing,'' he said. ''This is the beginning, the first step.''

Jean-Paul Noel Abdi oo Geeriyooday

Ehelkii Cadaalada, JEAN-PAUL NOEL ABDI, oo Geeriyoodey (AHN)

April 17, 2012 By Geelle

Wadhaf News-April 17, 2012: Waxaan magaalada Marseille ee dalka Faransiiska maalintii jimcihii ee 13-ka April 2012 ku geeriyoodey Allah ha u naxariistee, JEAN-PAUL NOEL ABDI, Gudoomihihii Hay’ada Xuquuqal Iinsaanka ee Jabuuti ( LDDH). Marxuunku wuxuu 1947-kii ku dhashay magaalada Jabuuti.

Jean Paul Noël wuxuu ahaa halgame weyn oo xuquuqal iisaanka ah waxuuna geed dheer iyo mid gaabana u fuuley sidii xukunka Jabuuti u dhowri lahaa xuquuqda aadamaha, halgamahaas oo aad uga soo hor jeeday taliska madaxweyne Ismaaciil Cumar Geele.

Jean-Paul Noël wuxuu wax ku soo bartay Jaamacada Grenoble ee dalka Faransiiska, intuu ardey jaamacadeed ahaana wuxuu xubin firfircoon ka ahaa Dalada Ardayda Afrika iyo Ururkii Ardayda soomaliyeed ee France.

Ka dib markuu dalkiisa ku soo noqdey, Marxuunku wuxuu ka hawlgalay Wakaalada Badbaada Bulshada ( Organisme de la Protection Sociale)-OPS-. Marxuunku wuxuu isla markaas ahaa xubin ka mid ah ururkii gobanimo doonka ahaa ee LPAI ee u hogaaminaayay Xasan Guuleed.

Ka dib markii u dhacay Cali Caarif Burhaan, Marxuunku wuxuu noqday Kaliyaha Agaasimaha Xafiiskii Wasiirka Kowaad oo ahaa Cabdallah Maxamad Kaamil, wuxuuna u xil saarnaa inuu diyaariyo madaxda wadaniga ah ee maamulka cadaanka kala wareegayay.

Lix bilood ka dib wuxaa loo doortay Xildhibaan Golaha Baarlamanka ah, wuxuuna noqdey Xoghayihii Golahaas wakhtiyadii ay gudoonka aheen Axmad dini iyo Sacad Warsame oo ka dambeeyay. Xilkaas Xoghayenimo ayuu marxuunku iska casiley ka dib khilaaf siyaasadeed oo dhex marey shirgudoonka Barlamanka iyo xukumada.

1981-kii ilaa 1989 Jean-Paul Noël wuxuu ahaa Xoghayaha Gudiga joogtada ah ee Barlamanka, dabadeedna wuxuu ahaa Xoghaye Xafiiska Barlamanka  laga bilaabo 1992-kii ilaa 1997-kii.

Taariikhdaa kooban ka dib, Jean-Paul Noël wuxuu ahaa halyay u tafo xaytay difaaca cadaalada, difaaca dulmaneyaasha iyo inta itaalka yar, wuxuu ahaa shaqsi la safta xaqa kuna dhiiran inuu runta ka sheego xaqiiqooyinka dhabta ee ka jira dalka Jabuuti. Marxuunka iyo Hay’adiisu waxay ahaayeen halka kaliye ee laga helo war sugan oo khuseeya xaalada dhabta ah ee Xuquuqal iinsaanka Jabuuti. Halgankaas xaqnimada ah Marxuunku wuxuu u soo mutay tacadi badan, cadaadis, xadhig iyo cagajugleyn balse Jean Paul ma ahayn nin xagal daaca oo dulmigu ka libin helo.

Allaha ha u naxariistee Jean Paul Noël wuxuu ahaa shaqsi dadkiisa la sfatay, runta ehelkeeda, u hiiliyaha dulmaneyaasha iyo shaqsi ishortaagay kibirka iyo kalidii-talisnimada Afriki eedey. Jean Paul Noël wuu hoydey, ninkastoo reer Jabuuti ihina wuu u agoomoobayaa. Wuxuu la miisaan yahay shaqsiyada kalidood marka la waayo loo maleeyo iyo aduunkiiba gadoomay. Ilaahay Badal la mid ah reer Jabuuti ha ka soo dhex saaro.

Jean-Paul wuu inaga tag, dadaalkiisiise wuxuu ku xardhanaan doonaa xasuusta iyo qalbiga inta xaqa la safatay sidiisii.

Wadhaf News waxaydhamaan reer Jabuuti ka tacsiyadaynaysaa geeridan walaalkeen ehelkiisii iyo dhamaan reer Jabuuti waxaan leenahay samir iyo iimaan, isagana maqaam wacan Eebe ha geeyo.

Wadhaf News waxay

Ilaahay Naxariistiisii Ha ku Hagoogo –Aamiin-

Il Wareed: http://wadhaf.com/archives/9041