Hassan Omar Mahadallah

No, I don't. The "Land of God" belongs to ancient Somali civilization, as much as the Mogadishu Ibn Battutah visited in the 14th century no longer belongs to today's demography. The same is true with Zayla. These are collective, ancient markers of civilization that precede our current clan structures. In fact, what you said never crossed my mind. Also, when I gave a lecture last August, I said that this predates clans and doesn't belong to a specific group. I am disappointed that this crossed your mind.

To explain the chaos on the horizon, Yeats wrote, "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world." Achebe later used the first line as the title of his famous novel. Now, in #Somalia, the weak center (the Third Republic, which began at Arta in Djibouti in 2000) is certainly "falling apart." In my view, no unilateral initiative by Villa Somalia can resolve the situation. Bringing the principals (government and opposition) to a neutral location to discuss and reach a political agreement on transition issues may be the only way out of this political mess. Act asap. Soomaali Nuxurku wuxuu ku dhan yahay tuducyadan kooban ee Axmed Sheekh Jaamac (Allaha u naxariisto). “Haddaan laga umulin way ba'daa, xaajo uur lihiye Amin xaalka joogaa markaa, la awal yeelaaye Irid loo mariyo qaabna waa, lala abaaraaye” Waxaa ila quman in runta loo soo dago oo laga wada hadlo halkii lagu kulmi laha iyo sidii looga heshiin lahaa is-baddalka xilli-dhaafay.

Ilhan Omer A queen from the ancient land of Punt or “Land of God,” which the Egyptians called Nejter, Ilhan is a distant cousin of Hatshepsut, a daughter from the land of poets, which became one of the most resilient law makers in the US. She is of a Somali pedigree known to bow to none other than to Allah. She withstood racist attacks by the GOP. But she never blinked. She indeed disappointed them; she broke their heart😭 Her people are known to hold up their heads high with pride and keep their self-confidence under duress . She, like her forefathers, is resilient, proud, and true to Gerald Hanley’s description of Somalis in his book: The Warriors: Life and death among Somalis: The Somali feels inferior to none, not even to the White man. And that is how she did carry herself even after the billionaire-turned politician, the GOP, and fake Fox News attacked her from all angles. Let us say she inherited strength from her ancient Somali community but also put her faith in America’s rule of law. For all these reasons, she is our north star. We salute Ilhan and say her victory is our collective gain.

During my tenure as Somalia's Ambassador to the EU, in April 2014, Foreign Minister Abdirahman Beyle arrived in Brussels as head of the advance team before the arrival of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for the 4th EU-AU Summit. This was his first trip overseas since he was just nominated, and it was the first time I had ever seen him. Since I was also non-resident Ambassador to France, I decided to take him to Paris for the weekend. The reason for the trip to Paris was to show him firsthand the deteriorating conditions of the two Somali diplomatic buildings in Paris. Somalia had two diplomatic buildings in Paris. One is the Chancery located near the most famous street in Paris, the Champs Elysees. The other is the Ambassador's residence located at the outskirt of Paris in Vacinet, twenty minutes away from the Embassy. For the entire train ride, we spoke about Somalia's unfortunate situation and how the country has collapsed because it has no leaders willing to defend it. He was telling me about the nationalist songs he had written himself. I was really impressed with the man. I thought to myself, this is a rare principled man. This man will serve the nation well. We were picked up by Ahmed Shire, one of the diplomats, and drove straight to our embassy in Paris, a building that had been left in total ruin. The moment we walked in, Dr Beyle placed his hands on the crumbling wall and broke down in tears. I was overcome with emotion and my own tears began to flow. It touched me emotionally in a deep way. A man nicknamed Tuute, the Military Attache who had lived in that building since 1991 to guard it and save all the diplomatic documents from being stolen or destroyed, looked at my tears and said to me, this man is a con artist. Do not trust him. I told him, do not judge him. This is a true patriot. I was wrong. Tuute was right. The man who wept over the ruins of our embassy now campaigns over the division of the country itself.

I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend, Professor Ali Jimale Ahmed. Our friendship began in 1997, sparked by my reading of his influential works, The Invention of Somalia and Daybreak. At the time, my own thinking was shaped by Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn, and we spent many hours engaged in academic discussions on literary criticism, postmodernism, and African literature. When he wrote a letter of recommendation for my graduate school applications in 2009, he humorously remarked that he had assumed I already held a graduate degree back when we first met in 1997. I will always be grateful for his enduring friendship and mentorship.