M E D I A , D I A S P O R A A N D T H E S O M A L I C O N F L I C T I d i l O s m a n Media, Diaspora and the Somali Conflict “Idil Osman examines the role of Somali diaspora media in maintaining the link between those who have been displaced to the far corners of the world by 25 years of war and state failure in Somalia and those who remain or who return there. Her account is striking for both its hard-hitting analysis and its gentle compassion. The author has been a participant observer in diaspora media for more than a decade. She uses her experience as a journalist and scholar to shine a light on her own community through displacement, conflict, and political recon- struction. The result is a fantastically wellinformed analysis that never forgets that it is concerned with real lives and real stories about people who, despite having suffered greatly, are above all resilient and creative.” —Dr Laura Hammond, School of Oriental and African Studies, UK “This book offers important insights into the complex, fluid, and often contested relationships between diasporic populations, homeland ‘remainees’ and external networks. Their use of and access to diverse forms of media play a key role in shap- ing the societies that are central to those networks. The Somali case is both appo- site for such a study, while also offering rich and contextually specific material in its own right. Idil Osman’s exploration of these themes provides a welcome addition to an area of increasing interest to academics and policy-makers alike.” —Dr Michael Walls, Co-Director of MSc Development Administration and Planning, Senior Lecturer, UCL, UK “This book systematically examines the role of media and diaspora in the context of conflict. Surpassing the limits of previous studies on media and diaspora, the book goes beyond diaspora’s identity maintenance and examines how transna- tional media become involved in conflict – both in reinforcing tensions and in advancing peace initiatives. By focussing on the Somali diaspora and its media space, the author offers a multidimensional and provocative analysis of the trou- bled and promising space of diaspora and transnational communication.” —Myria Georgiou, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK “The powerful role of the Somali media in inciting, inflaming and perpetuat- ing conflict is a vexed and often neglected subject. Idil Osman tackles it head on, with rigour, courage and humanity. She examines the influential and often destructive part played by diaspora media, but also explores how the explosion of Somali media outlets has given limited space to marginalised groups and has the potential, at least, to open avenues for a more constructive sharing of ideas and information. The book is an valuable contribution to Somali studies.” —Mary Harper, Africa Editor, BBC News and author of Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State, UK Idil Osman Media, Diaspora and the Somali Conflict Idil Osman Department of Development Studies School of Oriental and African Studies London, UK ISBN 978-3-319-57791-3 ISBN 978-3-319-57792-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57792-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017940373 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover credit: Pojbic Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland This book is dedicated to my siblings and the engine of our family, my mother. I am my mother’s daughter. A cknowledgements This book has grown out of my Ph.D. and I’m grateful to my doctoral supervisor, Prof. Simon Cottle, at Cardiff University whose subtle but persistent motivation has enabled me to keep pushing forward and for his tremendous insight, which he shared generously. Professor Helen Wood at the University of Leicester, for her generous time, support and advice, which has been especially helpful at the begin- ning stages of this book. Dr. Laura Hammond, Mary Harper, Peter Chonka and Dr. Michael Walls for their support and much appreciated constructive feedback. My dear friends Dr. Dafina Paca and Zenaida Morrison; thanks for listening, the encouragement and often-needed banter. Finally, to the Somali diaspora who have kindly invited me into their homes and social and work spaces and shared their frustrations, opinions, hopes and aspirations abundantly. I am indebted to you all. vii c ontents 1 Introduction 1 2 Contextualising the Somali Conflict 7 3 The Somali Migration: Diaspora Coming into Being 35 4 Conceptualising Conflict Re-creation 53 5 Transnationalising Conflict: Somali Diasporic Media in Action 81 6 Mediatising Conflict: Reason and Reckoning 107 7 Consuming Conflict: Somali Diaspora Audience 119 8 Conclusion: Looking Forward, Looking Back 137 Bibliography 147 Index 155 ix CHAPTER 1 Introduction During the summer of 2013, I spent some months in Mogadishu pro- ducing TV programmes as part of a UN-sponsored anti-piracy media campaign. Whilst there, my aunt was killed in a suicide bomb attack targeted at a restaurant where she was a shareholder. She came from London, along with five of her six children, to oversee the restaurant and to enable her children to spend some time with their relatives in their country of origin. The explosion occurred around midday and caused the deaths of more than 15 people and scores more were injured. My aunt was rushed to the hospital by distant relatives who happened to be nearby and she died of severe blood loss in hospital. In less than an hour, a mass funeral was organised for all the deceased. They dug the graves for my aunt and the others that had died and final prayers were said over them. She left behind six children between 6 and 19 years of age. Two of her teenage children, aged 15 and 17, were forced to dig their moth- er’s grave whilst everyone around them kept shouting for them to stop crying. “Everyone dies”, they said, “and soon you will too.” Of course, there is a religious element to this as it is the way of Muslims to bury the dead as soon as possible. Still, the agony and shock on those chil- dren’s faces was indescribable. What struck me among all the mayhem that was happening was how mechanical the proceedings felt. People had become so accustomed to death and killings that the compassion one feels towards the deceased and the loved ones they left behind had disappeared. Back at the hotel, I went online to see the reports of the explosion on the Somali web sites. Almost all of them had mentioned © The Author(s) 2017 1 I. Osman, Media, Diaspora and the Somali Conflict, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57792-0_1 2 I. OSMAN the explosion in passing, dedicating only a few column inches to describe how and where the explosion occurred and the number of casualties. The restaurant where the explosion occurred was back up and running the following day with makeshift plastic coverings hung over the areas where the damage was. People were eating, drinking and making conver- sations as if nothing had happened less than 24 h ago. It is professional and personal experiences like these that have moti- vated me to write this book. I spent more than 12 years as a journalist, mostly covering stories from the Somali conflict and diaspora communi- ties. Over the years I’ve witnessed the country enter into different stages of conflict and turmoil. I observed the unwavering engagement and sup- port from the Somali diaspora towards their brothers and sisters in the homeland. I’ve seen an insurmountable growth in diasporic media out- lets eager to have a stake in the affairs of their country. I have also seen how a never-ending conflict, which introduces new actors and old actors with new jackets too vested in maintaining the status quo, can desensitise and draw in its diasporas. I became curious about the role diasporas were playing, wanting to understand the com- plex nature of their engagement with their conflict homeland; a role that seemed to be simultaneously empathetic and susceptible to tremendous levels of humanitarian support as well as divisive, filled with enmity and driving conflict dynamics to the fore. Engagements such as these are emblematic of historically forming patterns that shape contemporary social dispositions. The media almost always plays a pivotal part. I therefore wanted to bring the focus on the media as we study the Somali conflict. The research that this book is based on takes a socio-historic approach to illuminate how changing social processes over time can inform present activities. The conventional approach to rebuilding conflict societies has thus far focused on rebuild- ing political settlements, the use of short-term peacekeeping missions and a rush to producing elections in the hope that it will result in a legit- imate government. But more than 40% of all post conflict situations have reverted to conflict within a decade (Collier et al. 2008) suggesting that these conventional methods aren’t very effective. We need a long-term approach that connects historically evolving patterns to contemporary factors of conflict. The socio-historic approach assumes that social pro- cesses containing structures are self-contained entities with lives of their own that to a large extent determine both the behaviour and conscious- ness of individual human beings in their orbit (Schwartz 1955).