The Kenyan police might really be cracking down too hard on Muslims after the recent bombings, but these charges of police injustice and brutality follow a familiar pattern: they’re remarkably similar to charges Muslim groups have made in the U.S. — that the FBI and police target Muslims indiscriminately, mistreat them in custody, etc. They’re also remarkably similar to the narrative of “Palestinian” jihadists, that virtually any and every action of the Israeli government to defend itself against the “Palestinian” jihad is “disproportionate,” brutal, etc. One might almost get the impression that these charges are always leveled against any counter-jihad action, as a tactic to clear away all obstacles before the advancing jihad.
And then comes the threat, also familiar: “If the government threatens to close down places of prayers for Muslims, arrest and shoot down Muslim youths indiscriminately then they are the ones radicalizing these youths who end up fighting for what they considered their rights.” We just saw the Muslim Brotherhood threaten the British government with jihad terror attacks if the Brotherhood were investigated there, and several years ago Ground Zero Mosque imam Faisal Abdul Rauf warned that there would be jihad terror attacks if the Ground Zero Mosque weren’t built. This, too, appears to be a common modus operandi of all too many putative “moderates”: they demand something, warning that if they don’t get it, they just won’t be able to restrain the jihad terrorists they ostensibly reject and abhor.
“Police Terrorizes Kenya Muslim Youth,” from OnIslam, April 6 (thanks to Maxwell):
CAIRO – Leaders of the Kenyan Muslim community have vehemently denounced the increasing rate of attacks targeting Muslim youth following the recent bombings that hit Nairobi’s district of Eastleigh earlier this month.
“The crackdown being carried in Eastleigh is in bad taste,” Faraah Maalim, former Deputy Speaker of National Assembly, told Standard Digital on Saturday, April 5.
“Our girls are being raped, property looted and our Sheikhs gunned down indiscriminately.
“We are asking the government to stop this madness,” the angry Muslim leader added.
Last Monday, the Somali dominated neighborhood, Eastleigh, was rocked by three bombs that targeted a local clinic and two small restaurants.
With no results announced yet on the perpetrators of the attacks, Muslim youth were paying the price.
Although there were no immediate claim of responsibility, police raised suspicion of terrorism act in the “little Mogadishu” area.
In the wake of the attack, police arrested more than one hundred youth as suspects.
Moreover, police evacuated all refugees, mostly Somali, from the urban areas in the capital, settling them in refugee camps.
Accompanied by Mohammed Shidiye, MP for Lagdera and other Muslim leaders, Maalim voiced growing concerns by Muslims in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Following Friday’s prayer at Jamiah Mosque in Nairobi, Shidiye warned the government against marginalizing the Muslim youth.
“If the government threatens to close down places of prayers for Muslims, arrest and shoot down Muslim youths indiscriminately then they are the ones radicalizing these youths who end up fighting for what they considered their rights,” he said.
Extrajudicial Killings
Along with Muslim arrests, the Muslim leaders accused the police of killing Muslim imams, including Sheikh Abubakar Sharif Makaburi.
Makaburi is the Muslim cleric who said a few months ago that “as per the Qur’an, as per the religion of Islam,” the Westgate mall jihad massacre “was 100 percent justified.”
“We are also concerned with recent occurrence of events where the government has gone out of its way to plant evidence against some of our Sheikhs so as to justify their killings,” Maalim said.
Shidiye has also cautioned the President and his Deputy not to allow the security personnel to carry out extra-judicial killings, warning that such acts could be divisive.
“Muslim is a religion of peace,” the Muslim lawmaker said.
“This why we are making it clear that we as the Muslim leaders we do support any radical Muslim or any individual who uses the Muslim faith to kill and harm innocent civilians,” he added.
It is estimated that there are at least 10 million Muslims in Kenya out of the total 40 million, most of whom live in the coastal and North Eastern parts of the country.
Kenya Muslims have been sensing eradication of their rights following Wetgate mall attack in which more than 60 people were killed which was claimed by Somalia’s militant al Shabaab group.
Though the attack was immediately condemned by leaders of the Muslim community, they have fallen victims of frequent police raids.
The Kenyan police crackdown on Muslim has extended to mosques when security forces raided Musa mosque in Mombasa’s Majengo last month, arresting about 130 people and killing a number of people.
The unjustified attacks were criticized by analysts as fueling anti-Muslim sentiments in the society as well as crippling Muslims’ efforts to eradicate radicalism.