During his speech to the DNC Bill Clinton said, “If you’re a Muslim and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay here and help us win and make a future together, we want you.” Imraan Siddiqi responds: “The DNC is presenting itself as a more tolerant, open option in comparison to what the RNC has to offer. If we look a little deeper, however – it seems as though there is still much work to do. Bill Clinton’s comments were just a glimpse of this looming beneath the surface.”
Anti-Muslim graffiti and vandalism on a half dozen U.S. campuses lately shows growing climate of Islamophobia, which may well be enabled by Donald Trump’s statements
Due to a fear of Donald Trump’s candidacy, Ted Cruz suddenly seems palatable to the Republican establishment. He has garnered high-profile endorsements and represents for many the last hope of a “conservative” candidate to save the party in this election. But the facts remain – Ted Cruz is the most radical candidate in the field and he himself made this clear with his new advisors on national security: Frank Gaffney and Retired Lt. General Jerry Boykin.
As the GOP frontrunner Donald Trump continues to pick up victories during primary season his momentum and support base has become more emboldened. With each passing day the level of hateful rhetoric emanating from the campaign continues to shock the world and Trump’s popularity continues to rise as the hate rhetoric continues to flow. Imraan Siddiqi looks at the sharp upswing in violent incidents taking place at the hands of Trump supporters at rallies and beyond.
Imraan Siddiqi shares the story of Hisham Ghalia and Mounis Shaban, two men from Gaza currently being held indefinitely in a U.S. immigration detention facility. He writes, “The primary issue that has left these two men in limbo is: They’re essentially stateless. The United States government does not recognize Palestine as a country, therefore rendering them pawns in an endless diplomatic nightmare. As this nightmare continually unfolds, they sit in the ICE detention facility in Florence, Arizona.”
With November seemingly around the corner, the GOP candidates have honed in on cultivating Islamophobia as a sound strategy for drumming up their base. While the media focuses on the demagoguery of Donald Trump, the war-mongering of Ted Cruz and the sheer-unhinged nature of Ben Carson – the reality is that even “moderate” candidates, such as Marco Rubio are riding a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment, in order to seem tough on national security.
Imagine stepping out of your house of worship and seeing a group of screaming, belligerent hecklers ripping apart your holy book – spitting on and stomping on the pages. Imagine being shouted down, and told your faith is a lie by a group of people flashing gaudy, hate-filled signs and matching tee-shirts. This has become the reality for worshippers at the Islamic Community Center of Tempe.
Imraan Saddiqi offers a shocking survey of Islamophobic attacks in the US in the week since the murder of three young students in Chapel Hill, NC. He writes: The past week has shown a sharp increase in Islamophobia, which has put many communities on edge. Rather than helping squash this rhetoric, many elected officials and media outlets are using Islamophobia as a tool – which in turn is resulting in weeks like these.