Trump’s travel ban puts American lives at risk

The San Bernardino attackers were American-born and American-raised. Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL, was a New Yorker by birth. 

None of the attacks in Europe over the last two years were committed by refugees or individuals who moved into the countries where they committed their cowardly acts; rather, they had lived in France and Belgium, for example, their entire lives.

US President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Muslims  is another demagogic tactic that uses people’s fears to unite Americans against one group of people, 99.9 per cent of whom are completely innocent.

More lives have been lost in the US over the last year as a result of toddlers having access to firearms. If one were to follow Trump’s logic here, every toddler should be deported, without even considering a weapons ban. 

It has been determined that it is statistically impossible for an executive order to stop terrorist attacks in the US. More worrisome is how the ban will worsen the threat of terrorism not only in the Middle East but in the US as well. 

Islam bears very little connection to terrorist activity: Britain sends nearly half the amount of foreign fighters to Daesh than Turkey, a 99 per cent Muslim country (2,000 compared to 760, December 2015). Turkey’s Muslim population is more than 25 times bigger than that of Britain.

When Islamophobic individuals like France’s Marine Le Pen or Trump spread messages that paint the entire Muslim populations as evil, there is little doubt that this will trigger an infuriated reaction and alienate Muslims.

Bans like Trump’s could be used by radicals to pervert the faith. People’s lack of education, coupled with frustration and sometimes pure hatred towards Western ideals, enables manipulators to take verses from the Koran out of context and lead people to condoning and even committing disturbing acts of violence “in the name of God”.

Captured Daesh fighters said in interviews that they joined so they could “kill Americans” after what America had done in Iraq.

Western countries that alienate their Muslim communities and Muslim countries are susceptible to terrorist attacks. 

France, for example, where the insistence on an extreme form of freedom of expression, sometimes dubbed freedom to offend, by Charlie Hebdo magazine, and the banning of the niqab, which, Muslim women say gives them a sense of freedom, shows how this alienation gives rise to terrorism.

Conveniently, an increase in terrorism plays directly into Trump’s divisive narrative. 

Using fear of terrorism and the actions of a handful to turn people against the religion of 1.6 billion people was a key part of his demagogic election campaign. 

He claims to put America first, but he is actually putting the lives of Americans at stake by creating greater anger and fear within the Muslim community.

This anger, this “us versus them” mentality plays directly into the hands of individuals like Anjem Choudary, a known British radicaliser who refused to condemn Daesh on multiple occasions. 

Trump has tragically failed to strike the terrorist agenda at its core. He is, unwittingly, helping Daesh. Many Islamist groups use him to gain political leverage.

One can now only hope that Trump drastically modifies his approach to “Islamic” terrorism.

America needs to create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for Muslims in order to stop hatred towards Western values that certain diasporas develop over time.

Promoting proper Islamic education will propagate the Islamic notions of respect for the law of the land Muslims live in and of treating non-Muslims with care and compassion, as well as the magnitude of the sin associated with taking an innocent life. 

Unfortunately, as Trump, who should use his position with great responsibility, continues to give radical movements reasons to promote their perverse agenda, America might be headed towards more attacks on liberty itself.

The writer is a student in the UK with interest in international relations. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.