American dream dying

WITH the stroke of a pen, US President Donald Trump has sought to undo one of the founding principles of American society. His banning of nationals of seven predominantly Muslim countries cannot be seen as anything else but discrimination against a group of people on the basis of their religious beliefs.

This flies in the face of the strongly held value of freedom of religion that has seen the US flourish as a diverse, tolerant and inclusive society.

This is not to say that there aren’t many in the US who share Trump’s prejudice – that he is actually president attests to this.

But it is one thing to harbour personal prejudice and another to use the apparatus of the state to express and enforce that prejudice, and to jeopardise the lives and livelihoods of people who have pledged allegiance to American values and the American way of life.

Trump is standing against the defining feature of the US which is a nation built by immigrants who left their countries of origin to enrich the US with their talents and ingenuity.

Those Syrians, Iranians, Somalis, Sudanese, Iraqis, Yemenis and Libyans who now find themselves in limbo, stuck in territories that have threatened them for their willingness to stand up for and embrace Western ideals of freedom and tolerance, are part of that group of immigrants that has and is adding value to American innovation, academia and industry.

Governments across the world, particularly those of the West like Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom are right to strongly criticise Trump on this matter.

The banning order only serves to reinforce the narrative to extremists and jihadists in the Muslim world that there can be no coexistence between religions and that the only right course is therefore to use violence to eliminate the West and its ideals – what they describe as the “enemy” of Islam.

It is true that Trump has a responsibility to US citizens to guarantee their safety and security. However, the ban may only serve to make the US and the rest of the world more vulnerable to being targeted by extremist elements.

Under these circumstances, the US is now no different from those Islamic fundamentalists who use religion as a pretext to not only discriminate against others but even kill.

What is more alarming is that Trump’s ban makes the US hostile to refugees, people who have fled their countries because of a real threat to their lives. America, which was once viewed as a haven of refuge and freedom, has become a den of intolerance and injustice.

To echo the sentiments of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, fighting terrorism “does not justify putting people of a specific background or faith under general suspicion”. Doing this can only spread hate.