Sign in to follow this  
Admin

Somali American uses "averageMohamed" cartoons to lure young Somalis away from terrorism

Recommended Posts

Admin   

[youtube url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vJ-SlxjRrQ" controls="0" disablekb="1" hd="1" showinfo="0]A Minneapolis convenience store manager is on a mission to undercut the formidable online recruitment operations of overseas militants.Two years ago, Mohamed Ahmed decided to do something about the slick video pitches. At the time, he was frustrated that young men were slipping out of the United States to join Al-Shabab’s fight in Somalia, lured by messages that he says distort his Muslim faith.averagemohaSo he started a website, averagemohamed.com, which features cartoons refuting these pitches in the language of what he calls “Generation Simpsons.” The father of four felt renewed urgency after recent news that a small number of Twin Cities residents have left to join the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.“It frustrates me that we are unable to take on this ideology,” he said.[youtube url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoENlZNonqU" controls="0" disablekb="1" hd="1" showinfo="0]Ahmed’s cartoons feature Average Mohamed, a plain-spoken man who mocks and dismisses arguments made by Al-Shabab, ISIL and Boko Haram, the group behind the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls.Take “Flames of Hell,” a parody of the recent trailer for “Flames of War,” an almost hourlong ISIL recruitment movie chock-full of explosions and special effects.“You’d think it’s a ‘Rambo’ film,” Ahmed said. “It’s all glory- and action-packed.”Ahmed’s video counters with less heroic images, such as an ISIL execution of prisoners with bound hands, and a reminder of the Qur’an’s denunciation of killing innocents.Ahmed makes his videos on the cheap, with help from an Indian animator he found online. He hopes he will find backing to bring them to a wider audience. When he heard about a planned federal program to counter youth radicalization in the Twin Cities, he e-mailed the staff of U.S. Attorney Andy Luger.Somali community leader Omar Jamal recently showed the cartoons to his own kids and their friends. He said the videos spurred a lively discussion: What is ISIL? Why do they kill innocent people? Said Jamal, “The only way to fight an idea is with another idea.”source: http://www.startribune.com

http://www.somaliaonline.com/somali-american-uses-averagemohamed-cartoons-to-lure-young-somalis-away-from-terrorism/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ahmed makes his videos on the cheap, with help from an Indian animator he found online. He hopes he will find backing to bring them to a wider audience.
When he heard about a planned federal program to counter youth radicalization in the Twin Cities
, he e-mailed the staff of U.S. Attorney Andy Luger.

 

That entrepreneurial spirit at work!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Sign in to follow this