I am a Christian of Arab descent. I grew up in Jerusalem together with my Muslim neighbors and friends. It infuriates me to witness the bigotry of a large number of politicians, particularly Republicans, toward Islam, the Syrian refugees, and the Sharia law.
The leading Republican presidential candidate has gone mad. Donald Trump has called for surveillance of U.S. mosques, the creation of a database of Syrian refugees and would not rule out creating a registry for all American Muslims. Trump also called for deporting the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in America and building a large wall along the border with Mexico.
Dr. Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon, presumably a smart man, who trails only slightly Trump among Republicans, insisted in a CNN interview that for a Muslim to become a U.S. president he or she has “to reject the tenets of Islam.” He also said he “would not advocate putting a Muslim in charge of this nation.”
On Nov. 19, the U.S. House passed a bill, with 289 members supporting it, including Democrats, that seeks to enforce unreasonable security demands on the U.S. admission of Syrian refugees – people who are fleeing a war-torn country and a brutal, inhuman and a savage terrorist group – ISIS. These refugees are part of the largest wave of refugees since World War II.
To add insult to injury, some 32 mostly-Republican governors signed off on orders saying that they would refuse to cooperate with federal efforts to resettle Syrian refugees fleeing the barbaric Islamic State group, known as ISIS.
Sadly, America has done this before, and we have not learned from our mistakes. During last century’s two World Wars, we did it to the Italians, the Germans and the Japanese. And, in peacetime, we persecuted Blacks (take note Dr. Carson), Jews, Asians and Latinos.
The First Amendment’s fundamental religious freedom guarantee and Article VI of the Constitution forbid religious tests for any government office.
This past week, the Democratic National Committee fired back. The DNC launched an ad titled “Inciting fear isn’t presidential.” The ad shows clips of an unlikely figure, President George W. Bush, saying, “We do not fight against Islam. We fight against terrorism. That’s not what Islam is about. Islam is peace.”
Between 1989 and 2006, the United States welcomed with open arms, as it should have, 325,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union countries. Are Jews human beings while Muslims are savages and terrorists?
All of us, except Native Indians, are immigrants to this country. The parents of Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are first generation immigrants and look at what their sons have achieved. They are members of the U.S. Senate. Why are then these two self-righteous bigots opposed to legalizing the status of illegal immigrants in this country (who are mostly Latinos) and not welcoming refugees from Syria?
Americans of Arab heritage have contributed greatly to this country. Apple founder Steve Jobs’ father was a Syrian immigrant. Professor Elias Corey won the 1990 Nobel Prize for chemistry. George Mitchell was the Senate Majority Leader. Candace Lightner founded MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving); and Danny Thomas founded St. Jude’s Research Hospital.
ISIS does not represent Islam, nor are they practicing Muslims. They are a bunch of thugs, murderers and rapists who commit their crimes in the name of Islam. The Quran only permits fighting in self-defense or to protect “churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques.” Any wars committed in the name of Islam have nothing to do with Islam. They are politically motivated.
Bishara A. Bahbah is a Scottsdale resident. He taught at Harvard University and serves on the national board of directors of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.