Somalia Campaign (resources for a PR campaign)

[Ibtisam]

You can also have a self set target similar to the one below to go with your letter:

 

 

ACTION PLAN

 

1. Try to obtain a target of 1,000 signatures or as many as you can by say Friday

 

2. Arrange an appointment to see your MP in your local area by either telephoning their office or emailing them via www.writetothem.com . Tell them that you wish to meet them in their open surgey

 

3 . Try to insist on face-to-face meeting. However, if this is not possible for whatever reason, make a photocopy of your completed petition sheets and post it to them together with a cover letter.

 

4. If you meet them, present your petition to them as a measure of how strongly you and your fellow constituents feel on this matter, and ask them for three commitments: What is he going to do, now that he has heard your concerns

 

5. Chase up your MP until you receive a written response from them. Once you receive a written response, please share the response, then we can measure who supports us and who does not.

[Ms DD]

Great ideas Xanthus. Keep them coming. I think it is about time i did something solid!

[Paragon]

^^Lol Dhucdhuc.

 

Xanthus thanks. I am taking notes.

[NGONGE]

Originally posted by Paragon:

^^NGONGE, maybe sharing with us how best you think the message can be conveyed would be nice. Should we try some play with emotions or stay firmly legalisitc?

I think both should be attempted. That way it will look like it's coming from a wide section of the Somali community (and other observers).

 

Still, what the media really LOVE is trouble. I'd suggest mad acts such as those attempted by Fathers4justice. However, with our names, I fear that when we get arrested it will not be for simple disruption but for far worse crimes (being Muslim, etc). Regardless, I would still be interested in seeing ideas along those lines.

 

ps

Remember how I opposed the demo for those beheaded in Saudi Arabia? That demo was pointless and got us no results. Now, really, is the time for a proper demo.

 

pps

Don't limit yourselves to one kind of uniform letter. Try to write ones with your own words (spelling mistakes and all). A few are bound to get through. In addition, don't just e-mail the newspapers alone. It's best to try targeting the writers too (many of them have their own public blogs).

[Ibtisam]

Ngong: ^^^Demos need to be well planned to make any sort of point, and even with planning it could still be a waste of time. And somali people are not good at planning, or turning up :rolleyes: Also stunts will just land us in belmarsh.

 

It seems it is just me, and Ms. D &D and Paragon who attend and send letters.

 

By the way why is this topic in the politics section, we should have posted in General (people don't really read the politics section, its just for the old racist people lol mostly)

 

And i thought it was going to be a sticky??

[Jacaylbaro]

Paragon is working for the Argagixiso ,,,,,,,,, Geeddi told me

 

 

Good job paragon ,,,,,, but note they'll accuse you of having connections with Al-Qaeda

[Ibtisam]

^^^who is Argagixiso^

[Jacaylbaro]

It is him, Paragon ,,,,, he is a terrorist as Geedi told me yesterday

[Ibtisam]

^^What, how can paragon work for himself yesterday, and Who the hell is Geedi? And why ar eyou even in this thread, get the hell out, you need to go and look for your gun and help them people!

[Jacaylbaro]

Like you huh ???

[Ibtisam]

^^^I just might! Sometimes the pen is as effective as the gun, the only reason somali needs guns now is because we lost the pen battle.

[Paragon]

Adigu kaftan ayey kaa tahay Jacaylbarow, balse, rag aan aqaano waa ka dhab . Aqli mee! And like Xanthus suggested, go away from this topic .

 

NGONGE, Lol@Father4Justice

 

I really think such a tactic would work but as you said a protesting Muslim in Britain is considered a potential terrorist. There is no longer freedom for expression for Muslims NGONGE. So we must only engage in effective communication of vital messages to the media and the public. I think we can do that by organizing a well planned demo and then simultaniously calling up a press conference. Send the press and internet news sites notices of the press release- send it to them after the conference.

 

What do you think?

 

Xanthus, I am have a good feeling that there would be other joining us .

[Ibtisam]

^^^I don't know if as a community we can mobalise that fast (i.e. with the next few days) and planning is one thing, getting people to stick to the plan is another. Never the less I think we should give it our best shot, anything is better than doing nothing.

[Ibtisam]

Some Points/ concerns i have when considering demostrations.

 

• Demonstrations should be the last resort, after MPs/ Ministers have picked a stand, it is used to force the "sitting on the fence guys" to make a choice and to to show that the campaign has the backbone and ensure that future threats of direct action is taken seriously. (currently our campign has no back bone!)

 

So i was thinking we should work on the support other organisations (allies) and ethnic minorities (MCB, MAB, MPAC) to form a smal solid backbone along with somali organisations, the other advantage of this is that at the same time we will be reaching both the average Joe (via demo) and other Muslims (via their organisations)

 

Demonstrations are tricky, hence why they are normally the last resort. The reason for this is because it could annoy the general public and turn them against our campaign. In order to minimise the risk of this i was thinking we should avoid week days and try not to annoy workers and the general public unless it is unavoidable ( also better trun out). Obstructing the highway/roads also needs to be avoided at all times (if possible). It must also be ensured that there is no breach of peace, this will enhance the public image of our campaign is positive and o avoid getting bad press coverage. At this late stage there should be main contacts in the media (I have got few) to ensure that same coverage is gained from the demonstration. The best day is Sunday, so that the demonstration will be covered by media outlets at the start of the week and therefore affects debates and discussion in the week. However in order for this to be successful, the aims and objectives of the campaign need to presented while the demonstration has the media spot light.

 

•The police, local politicians, mayor of London and the media need to be notified, my concern is do we have enough time? this will ensure that we have the legal backing and support and if anything goes wrong for example disruptions, they will be there to combat it before it goes out of hand. Also essential that provisions of 1995 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act regarding trespassing, aggravated trespass and the number of person allowed to assemble in one place is observed and consulted, again my concern is as somali's this is hard to estimate.

 

•The last issue with demonstration is that we should be prepared for a massive surge in support (healthy and safety measures) and the need for quick damage control if the turn out is not high, for we could cut the day short, which will save resources and minimise the damage of low turn out, but may at the same time get the message out.

 

hmmmm....

[Elysian]

I think a demonstration is a good idea, but only if you're sure you can mobilize a good number of people, if not you'll just get disappointed. Make contact with people or organizations that might support you and can recruit people to join your demonstration. If there are people with various background (ethnicity, religion, gender etc.) the impact will be greater. There are many peace organizations you could contact, and well known organizations such as amnesty, political parties, politicians.

 

When presenting to non-somali people, perhaps it's good to put the aggression on Somalia into a bigger picture - Ethiopia being USAs henchman (TFG being nothing but puppets) in USAs war on terror. Put it also into a historical context starting from the cold war. I think this is important since not that many people actually understands what this conflict is about, and we need to make them understand it's not just an internal Somalian issue... we need to educate people, so they can join our protests.

 

You probably already know all of this... it's just a reminder