Bristol councillor: We must all help fight terrorist recruiters
BRISTOL’S first Somali-born councillor has called on the city to unite to combat terrorism. Hibaq Jama’s plea came after a video emerged claiming Muslims from Bristol had been recruited by Somali militant group al-Shabab.
The Islamist terror group hit the headlines last month when they besieged the Westgate shopping centre in Kenya – leaving 67 dead.
Footage was released on Thursday by al-Shabab stating they were recruiting new members in Bristol, and other UK cities.
The hour-long video celebrating British Jihadists also asked British Muslims to follow in the footsteps of homegrown terrorists and launch attacks against the West.
Included in the video were several British Muslims from different ethnic backgrounds who, it is claimed, travelled to Somalia to train and fight alongside al-Shabab.
Ms Jama, a Labour councillor elected in Lawrence Hill last May, said the footage, titled “Woolwich Attack: It’s an Eye for an Eye”, should be of concern to community leaders. She added that everyone in Bristol now has a responsibility to help tackle the problem.
She said: “Everyone in Bristol has a role to play – from school teachers to coffee shop owners to police to mental health workers. The solution to issues like this is working to increase unity and broadening the dialogue so that we can discuss the difficult challenges we face.
“I am confident that Bristol’s Somali Muslim communities, supported by schools and police, will rise to the challenge and continue to combat all forms of dangerous, divisive ideology.”
Ms Jama, who was born in Somalia and arrived in the UK as a refugee aged two, said any recruitment would take place “underground” in Bristol away from the majority of Somalis.
She also warned that rare cases of extremism should not be misconstrued to represent the Somali or Muslim communities as a whole in Bristol.
She said: “For the vast majority of Somalis in Bristol, terrorism is the furthest thing from their minds.
“Somalis are our taxi drivers, shop owners, teachers and mums and dads working and raising their children.
“We as a community need to continue working with the authorities to ensure that we contribute to saving human life in Bristol and internationally. We all live in an increasingly globalised world which means we all need to be vigilant to terrorism and more subtle forms of divisive ideology.”
She added that any preaching of extremism represents a warping of the principles of Islam.
She said: “My message to people targeted by preachers would be to understand that the justification for killing innocent people is not a tenant of Islam.
“Actually this ideology is a warped version of Islam and I welcome the mosques in Bristol which are providing real Islamic education in the peaceful fundamentals of the faith.”
Police spokesman Martin Dunscombe told the Post: “Success tackling extremism in all its forms relies on us working closely with our partner agencies and the community.
“As well as neighbourhood beat teams and frontline officers we also have a small team dedicated to help prevent people being drawn into extremism.”
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