Trump lectures about terrorism
President’s Ramadan message puts focus on violence, irking US Muslims as a return to presidential campaign rhetoric
NEW YORK // Donald Trump has used his Ramadan message to call for the defeat of terrorism and remind the world of its shared obligation to reject violence.
“At its core, the spirit of Ramadan strengthens awareness of our shared obligation to reject violence, to pursue peace, and to give to those in need who are suffering from poverty or conflict,” the US president said.
“This year, the holiday begins as the world mourns the innocent victims of barbaric terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom and Egypt, acts of depravity that are directly contrary to the spirit of Ramadan. Such acts only steel our resolve to defeat the terrorists and their perverted ideology.
“America will always stand with our partners against terrorism and the ideology that fuels it. During this month of Ramadan, let us be resolved to spare no measure so that we may ensure that future generations will be free of this scourge and able to worship and commune in peace.” Some US Muslims complained that rather than using his Ramadan message to build bridges, Mr Trump had used it to lecture Muslims.
“It is very offensive and disrespectful,” said Jibril Hough, a community activist in Charlotte, North Carolina. “He would not do that to any other faith.”
Mr Trump campaigned in last year’s presidential elections on a platform to ban foreign Muslims from entering the US in response to the threat from ISIL.
He also insisted that “radical Islamic terrorism” was the best way to describe the dangers, which critics said risked conflating an entire religion with the acts of a small number of people.
However, the president adopted a more moderate stance last week when he spoke in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, substituting the term “Islamist terror” and emphasising the shared values of the world’s major religions.
Abed Ayoub, legal director of the Arab American Anti- Discrimination Committee, said Mr Trump’s Ramadan message marked a return to his familiar position of viewing Islam only through the prism of national security.
“It was not a message about spirituality, it was more of a message about terrorism,” Mr Ayoub said. “He would have been better off not making a message.”
It has also emerged that the US state department is not planning to hold any Ramadan events this year, and secretary of state Rex Tillerson has declined a request to host an Eid Al Fitr reception to mark the end of the holy month – a tradition initiated by Madeleine Albright 18 years ago.
Mansoor Shams, a former serviceman who travels the US as the Muslim Marine educating the wider American public on Islam, said he was taken aback by the state department’s decision. “They are supposed to be a non-partisan organisation representing all of America. What are we saying, what direction are we headed in when we can’t recognise a faith that’s held by 1.7 billion- plus people in the world?” he asked. A spokesman for the state department said it was “still exploring possible options for observance of Eid Al Fitr.
“US ambassadors are encouraged to celebrate Ramadan through a variety of activities, which are held annually at missions around the world.”
‘ It is very offensive and disrespectful Jibril Hough community activist