California Muslims on Tuesday (December 8) rejected a proposal by Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump to ban Muslims from entering the United States, calling his comments undemocratic and dangerous.
On Monday (December 7), Trump called for blocking Muslims, including would-be immigrants, students, tourists and other visitors, from entering the country following last week’s California shooting spree by two Muslims who authorities said were radicalized.
It was the most dramatic response by a presidential candidate following the San Bernardino, California, rampage, even as other Republicans have called for a suspension of President Barack Obama’s plan to allow in 10,000 refugees from Syria.
“He can say whatever he wants but he can’t bring into force a law like that. Islam teaches good and what happened in San Bernardino isn’t Islam, it’s Islamic State. Everyone knows what Islamic State is and what their objective is. Islam is not like that and does not condone terrorist acts like that. And they shouldn’t do this, it’s not right, this is racism, there are many Arabs and Muslims here and this kind of talk is not right,” said Ehad, a Muslim resident of Anaheim who emigrated to the United States from the Palestinian territories.
Ehad said he expected an uptick in ‘Islamophobia’ in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting and Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric.
“We are not afraid, we are only afraid of Allah because what Allah has written will take place. However, we are expecting some things like more racism and to be treated differently, which is normal, but at the end of the day, it is what Allah has written that will happen,” said Ehad.
Trump on Tuesday defended his proposal to ban Muslims from the United States, comparing his plan to the World War Two detainment of Japanese-Americans and others in dismissing growing outrage from around the world.
The White House called on Republicans to say they would not support Trump, currently the party’s front-runner for the November 2016 election. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said his comments could undermine U.S. security.
“To be honest I’m new here in America and I’m surprised by these discussions that I’m hearing because America is always talking about democracy and freedom but at the same time you hear speeches by candidates for the U.S. presidency discussing ideas that are the complete opposite. Their speeches differ from reality, they don’t match. So that’s why we hope that U.S. candidates for the election follow the democracy that all citizens are looking for, whether they be Arab or whatever, and that they are allowed to follow this democracy with freedom so that it can be a true democracy,” said Iyad, who recently emigrated to the United States.
Condemnation of Trump’s comments came flooding in from around the world.
The prime ministers of France and the United Kingdom, Canada’s foreign minister, the United Nations and Muslims in Asian countries all denounced the real-estate mogul’s comments.
The Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations – Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA), Hussam Ayloush, said Trump’s comments have endangered Muslims in the United States.
“Trump is basically putting a target sign on every Muslim by saying that we don’t want Muslims here because potentially there could be a threat. He is basically saying to these people, or these angry people, who mostly are probably misinformed, that the average Muslim might be a threat. And that puts Muslims, their institutions, their Children under a huge risk today and subject to being victimised by Islamophobia, by hate crimes, by vandalism, so this is very dangerous of course,” said Ayloush.
“At the end of the day, itis a danger to America and the security of America and the principles of America,” he added.
Trump leads the Republican pack seeking the White House in 2016 with 35 percent of support in a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll. Nearly all of Trump’s rivals criticized his proposal on Monday.
Polls have shown a stark divide between Republicans and Democrats in how they view Muslims, who number about 3 million in the United States, or less than 1 percent of the population.
(Reuters)