It is a well-known fact that Donald Trump wants to restrict the immigration of Muslims into the U.S, but as long as he isn’t elected, he can’t hurt anyone, right?
Wrong.
He is assisting a dangerous atmosphere in which people are being hurt for what they believe in – definitely not what America stands for. Now we are trying to figure why, where and how people have this sentiment.
Wrong.
He is assisting a dangerous atmosphere in which people are being hurt for what they believe in – definitely not what America stands for. Now we are trying to figure why, where and how people have this sentiment.
Islamophobia has increased in the West in the past few years after the incidents in San Bernardino, Paris and Brussels, so Trump already has a platform for his campaign. He appeals to his supporters because he says what he thinks, appears to want the best for America, and can easily fund his activities unlike other politicians. The problem is that what he thinks is racist and Islamophobic, and this is happily catered to the hateful, both uneducated and educated. Trump is no more than a product of the former – a person like him, ignorant and blunt, was bound to step into the light at some point. For example, his supporters have voted in favor of bombing Agrabah, the imaginary setting of Aladdin, because it sounds Middle-Eastern. They have kicked harmless people out of rallies, even as with the knowledge that their preferred presidential candidate is often compared to Hitler – a man who was considered as a joke in the beginning but used powerful speeches and anti-Semitism to commit genocide and start the second World War. Trump will make up anything to justify his opinions and achieve his goals, and although he has admitted that some his statements are for show, lying and inspiring bigotry is how he wants to “Make America Great Again”.
Of course, we have yet to deconstruct the role of the media in this matter. First we must realize that every news channel wants the more views than the others, and they do this by inducing certain emotions: outrage and fear. What these feelings are directed at isn’t important as long as they can feed their viewers’ negative prejudices. Because of this, nowadays Muslims are very rarely on screen for a good reason. News channels speculate about terrorist attacks in Western countries, competing with other stations with any slightest development that supports the channel’s views while failing to mention the attacks on Muslims in their own country as well as in other parts of the world. Most of victims from terrorist attacks are South Asian, Middle Eastern or from Central Africa. Sometimes news anchors ask for the rest of Muslim population to denounce these attacks, even though they have condemned attacks again and again. 1.6 billion Muslims shouldn’t have to apologize for the activities of an extremely small percent of those whom they hate and don’t even regard as Muslim. Islamophobes are invited on panels to discuss whether Islam is a violent religion or not, and actual Muslim scholars are ignored or talked over.
Over the last few years, the rate of Islamophobic crimes has been rising in North America and Europe, because of the U.S election and media tactics. Women have had hijabs and niqabs (veils) ripped off in broad daylight and are barraged with verbal abuse, and a man in Queens was beaten in his own store after replying affirmative when asked if he was Muslim, just to name a few. They are denied justice when the police are convinced murders aren’t hate crimes, like after the Chapel Hill Shooting and more recently, the killing of Mohamedtaha Omar, Adam Mekki and Muhannad Tairab. Sikh men are assumed as Muslims and targeted for their long beards and turbans, and their temples as well as mosques are vandalized. It is as if the only way to prevent terrorism is to put pressure on visible Muslims, when Islam has as many sub-groups as any other religion. Where in minority, we are being seen as a foreign threat in our own countries.
The combination of outspoken Republicans, severely biased media outlets, the actions of misguided or maybe just racist and Islamophobic people, far-right political groups in Europe, and a strategically-placed passport found after the Paris shooting has Syrian refugees and Muslims who live in the West worried and afraid. The refugees especially have no fault in these incidents but are being discriminated against when they desperately need a place to call home. Muslims, like me, really don’t want to call any other place home, but just might have to if Islamophobia continues to grow.
Of course, we have yet to deconstruct the role of the media in this matter. First we must realize that every news channel wants the more views than the others, and they do this by inducing certain emotions: outrage and fear. What these feelings are directed at isn’t important as long as they can feed their viewers’ negative prejudices. Because of this, nowadays Muslims are very rarely on screen for a good reason. News channels speculate about terrorist attacks in Western countries, competing with other stations with any slightest development that supports the channel’s views while failing to mention the attacks on Muslims in their own country as well as in other parts of the world. Most of victims from terrorist attacks are South Asian, Middle Eastern or from Central Africa. Sometimes news anchors ask for the rest of Muslim population to denounce these attacks, even though they have condemned attacks again and again. 1.6 billion Muslims shouldn’t have to apologize for the activities of an extremely small percent of those whom they hate and don’t even regard as Muslim. Islamophobes are invited on panels to discuss whether Islam is a violent religion or not, and actual Muslim scholars are ignored or talked over.
Over the last few years, the rate of Islamophobic crimes has been rising in North America and Europe, because of the U.S election and media tactics. Women have had hijabs and niqabs (veils) ripped off in broad daylight and are barraged with verbal abuse, and a man in Queens was beaten in his own store after replying affirmative when asked if he was Muslim, just to name a few. They are denied justice when the police are convinced murders aren’t hate crimes, like after the Chapel Hill Shooting and more recently, the killing of Mohamedtaha Omar, Adam Mekki and Muhannad Tairab. Sikh men are assumed as Muslims and targeted for their long beards and turbans, and their temples as well as mosques are vandalized. It is as if the only way to prevent terrorism is to put pressure on visible Muslims, when Islam has as many sub-groups as any other religion. Where in minority, we are being seen as a foreign threat in our own countries.
The combination of outspoken Republicans, severely biased media outlets, the actions of misguided or maybe just racist and Islamophobic people, far-right political groups in Europe, and a strategically-placed passport found after the Paris shooting has Syrian refugees and Muslims who live in the West worried and afraid. The refugees especially have no fault in these incidents but are being discriminated against when they desperately need a place to call home. Muslims, like me, really don’t want to call any other place home, but just might have to if Islamophobia continues to grow.
—farah ghafoor, 15
Farah Ghafoor is a fifteen-year-old poet and a founding editor at Sugar Rascals, an online teen literary magazine. She believes that she deserves a cat and/or outrageously expensive perfumes, and can’t bring herself to spend pretty coins. Her work is published in places like alien mouth, Really System and Synaesthesia, and has been recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Find her online at fghafoor.tumblr.com.
